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. >> good afternoon everyone. this meeting will come to order. welcome to the march 10th 2025 regular meeting of the ladies and transportation committee of the san francisco board of supervisors. i'm supervisor marina melgar, chair of the committee joined by vice chair supervisor cheyenne chen and supervisor bilal mahmood the committee clerk today is john carroll and i would also like to thank alina mendoza at s.f. captive for staffing this meeting. mr. clerk do you have any announcements? >> yes thank you madam chair. please ensure that you've silenced your cell phones and other electronic devices you may have brought with you into the chamber today if you have any documents to include as part of any of today's files you can submit them to me. public comment will be taken on each item on today's agenda when your item of interest comes up and public comment is called please line up to speak along your right hand side of the room. alternatively you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. first you may email your

written comments to me at g o h and period s.r.o. l l as f g of or g or you may send your written comments via us postal service to our office in city hall. the address is one dr. carlton be good place room 244 san francisco, california 94102 if you submit your public comment in writing i will forge a comment to the members of this panel and also include your comments as part of the official file on which you are commenting. items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervisors agenda of march 18th 2025 unless otherwise stated. >> madam chair thank you so much mr. clerk. >> please call item number one agenda item number one is an ordinance accepting irrevocable offers of public infrastructure associated with the treasure island and yerba buena island project for the bruton sanitary excuse me sanitary sewer pump station on bruton street and the cravath sanitary sewer pump station on cravath street both on treasure island and the mccullough sanitary sewer pump

station on mccullough road and the north gate sanitary sewer pump station on north gate road both on nearby bueno island dedicating this infrastructure to public use designating it for utility purposes or accepting the public infrastructure for city maintenance and liability. approving a grant deed for the mcallen pump station adopting findings under sequoia making findings of consistency with the general plan in the eight priority policies of planning code section one and 1.1 and accepting a public works order recommending various actions in regard to the public infrastructure as well as authorizing official acts in connection with the ordinance. >> thank you so much, mr. clerk. we are now joined by a frequent guest of the ladies and chance rotation committee at district six supervisor matt dorsey. >> so i'm going to turn it over to you before the tharp presentation. >> welcome back. thank you so much chair melgar and thank you committee members for being here today and for calendaring this item as chair melgar knows for many hearings that have happened in this committee over the last few

years we have finally begun to see some real progress on the long planned development of treasure island with the buildout of housing parks infrastructure and other public benefits. many of the earliest announced plans for treasure island actually paralleled my own earliest roles in the buildings here in city hall more than 20 years ago. so it's incredibly gratifying to see the promises that were made to treasure island finally being fulfilled. and when we talk about the amount of housing production that's going to happen there, it's close to 8000 units which is close to 10% of the the housing element reach a regional housing needs assessment targets that we have for our city before us today is the acceptance of a key component of wastewater infrastructure the sanitary sanitary sewer pump stations on the islands which sometimes for those of you new to treasure island will sometimes refer to the islands because it includes yerba bueno island. >> we are joined today by staff from public works who will give a presentation on this

acceptance and a brief overview of the new island infrastructure as well. tido director bob beck is here and available. hi bob and thank you for all your work on this. but he is here i don't think he has planned to speak but he's available for any questions as the person who was the you know the most knowledgeable authority on this through the chair i'd like to invite up desmond chan from public works for a brief presentation. >> welcome. good morning supervisors. my name is desmond chen and i'm a project manager in public work with the infrastructure task force. joining me today is bob beck, the director of title. i'll be presenting bob's file

number 250098 for the treasure island of baboon island development project regarding for acceptance of public improvements which includes four sanitary sewer pump stations two on treasure island and two on your boat an island. and we're requesting acceptance of this public infrastructure for public use as a general overview of this development, this project is a major development agreement project that is being developed by the treasure island community development or to produce up to 8000 homes including below market rate units extensive parks and open spaces, a ferry terminal and expanded marina hotels, restaurants retail entertainment and art. public works has managed the design and coordination and we're bringing the four pump stations to you today for acceptance and to update the committee on the progress on the islands. the project has constructed 974 units between a mix of affordable rental and market rate housing. in the next phase there is approximately 1250 units planned 725 market rate units

and stage one and 490 affordable units in upcoming stage two. as for the recently completed and upcoming parts parks we have four that are constructed and open to the public and we have three that will be completed this year. >> and just to orient you with the project as part of stage one shown here in the colored portion of the map there will be roughly 2000 residential units 10,000 square foot of retail space and 16 acres of parks and open space. back on february 6th 2024 of last year the street and public infrastructure for stage one of treasure island and your viewpoint island was accepted under b o. s file number 231245. this included new streets, sidewalks, curb ramps and landscaping. >> it also included all the underground public infrastructure such as wet utilities, sewer storm drains, low pressure water recycled water and supplemental fire water system and dry utilities joint trench electric communications and street lights. this last item remaining for acceptance and stage one are the four pump stations that we're presenting you today.

the locations of the four pump stations are shown here on the or in orange on this diagram these pump stations are currently operating and a pre acceptance license agreement between the sub divider treasure island development authority tighter and the city acting by and through spc sipc will be owning and maintaining these pump stations and tighter and sipc have provided their recommendations for acceptance . >> here's an overview of the new sanitary sewer system and the pump stations on treasure island and river point island. the pump stations are all operational but has final punch list work to be completed so previously it was not ready for acceptance for full formal acceptance in the city's effort to partner with a developer to support housing production, the street and public infrastructure which includes the sewer infrastructure for stage one was accepted in advance of the pump stations. now that all the work is complete the last item remaining is for this acceptance of the pump stations . >> >> here are some photos from 2022 and 20 23 of the construction progress of the

new pump stations on the islands. >> here are some photos from last year of the completed pump stations that are discreetly hidden behind these metal enclosures on the islands. >> in summary, the following is the proposed legislation acknowledging titus recommendation to accept the pump stations adopting bio's phone number 250098 that recommends acceptance of these pump stations adopting findings under the california environmental quality act making findings of consistency with the general plan and planning code section 121.1 accepting the pump stations for city maintenance liability purposes and dedicating the pump stations to public use. with your recommendation to the full board we need to accept these last remaining four pump stations so that the pre acceptance operating license between the sub divider and the city can end and the city through spew c can own and operate these pump stations. this concludes my presentation and i can answer any questions related to the pump stations. >> thank you.

>> thank you mister. yeah i don't have any i don't have any questions. >> i don't know if colleagues do. i don't have any questions. >> thank you mr. champion. thank you. presentation. and with that let's open this item up for public comment please. >> mr. clerk. thank you madam chair. land use and transportation will now hear public comment on agenda item number one. if you have comments for this item related to these pump stations on treasurer winner treasure island excuse me in your else please come forward to the lectern at this time. >> and madam chair to press we have no speakers. >> okay. without public comment on this item is now closed. >> mr. clerk. i'd like to make a motion that we send this out to the full board with a positive recommendation on the motion offered by the chair that the ordinance be recommended to the board of supervisors vice chair chin chin i. member marchman mahmud i melgar i melgar i. madam chair there are three eyes that motion passes. >> thank you. congratulations.

supervisor dorsey mr. clerk please call number two and three together. >> agenda item number two is an ordinance amending the general plan to reduce commercial development requirements in the central soma area plan and the transit center district sub area plan areas and agenda item number three is an ordinance amending the planning code and zoning map to reduce commercial development requirements in the central soma special use district and remove the transit center c30 sd commercial special use district. both ordinances affirm secret determinations from the planning department make findings of consistency with the general plan in the eight priority policies and planning code section 121.1 and adopt findings of public necessity convenience and welfare under planning code section three four zero and 302 respectively . >> thank you again. supervisor dorothy lazarus. >> continuing on with my role as special guest star for the land use committee meeting today. thank you chair melgar we had a very informative and productive hearing last week where the planning department presented

an overview of the central soma plan the commission's recommendations and in turn the amendments that my office and planning have been working on. we had a fantastic showing of support from various organizations and stakeholders and there is a lot of excitement to move forward on on this these legislative items and these amendments these amendments to item three the planning code language propose providing flexibility for developers to either build commercial or residential product projects within certain parameters while still ensuring that the expectations of the central soma plan come to fruition. the final version of these amendments have been circulated to you and to your staffs. to restate the concept of the amendments we are first focusing the exemption on the from the two thirds nonresidential ratio to only residential projects under 600ft through a residential density program and to retaining the key benefits negotiated for the plan's key sites. as you'll see in the language, we are creating this program by

calling out the key sites and the benefits that are associated with each. i do want to note the change to the long title so this will read and i was told i should read this into the record ordinance amending the planning code and zoning map to reduce commercial development requirements for certain residential project projects and modify the land dedication requirements in the central soma special use district and remove the transit center see three zero sd commercial special use district. >> affirming the planning department's determination under the california environmental quality act and making findings of consistency with the general plan and the eight priority policies of planning code section 101.1 and adopting findings of public necessity, convenience and welfare under planning code section 302i want to once again thank all the city staff and district six community stakeholders for their work and engagement on this thanks especially to madison tam from

my office for her tireless work on this and she asked me to extend my gratitude to others including from the office of economic and workforce development and topia and jacob bentley from the planning department director hillis audrey malone maloney joshua swiss ski and from the city attorney's office austin yang and peter mill, john miller, john h. and if i'm leaving anybody out i blame me not madison. after public comment i would respectfully request that the committee incorporate these amendments and send the items to the full board with a positive recommendation. >> thanks so much. thank you. supervisor dorsey we have a audrey maloney i don't see josh so it's key but at whoever is going to presenting or did you have anything to say? thank you chair melgar the department doesn't have anything additional to present. >> okay. thank you ms. maloney let's go to public comment first and then if you then we can adopt the amendments and okay, let's

have public comment first. >> thank you. land use and transportation will now hear public comment on agenda item numbers two and three related to central summer and transit center district commercial development requirements please come forward to the lectern if you have public comment for these two items. hello supervisors david wu with soma filipinas i wanted to again thank the planning department and the planning commission the mayor's office supervisor dawsey and iwd for moving forward these amendments so my pilipinas and som can and other community advocates have been calling on the city to keep its promises to community members regarding central soma and promise community benefits. we are glad the city has responded to our calls and amended the legislation to ensure that the key side benefits are retained. so my filipinas and and community members spoke at the planning commission hearing for this legislation last november regarding our concerns as a result of community advocacy, the planning commission made a recommendation that the key

side benefits be retained in this legislative change to the plan. we are glad that these recommendations have been incorporated and that the needs of low income working class and immigrant residents and families reflected in land for 100% affordable housing public open space and other neighborhood amenities are being prioritized. we hope that there could be more proactive ways that impacted communities are reached out to before legislation is introduced in the future and we look forward to working collaboratively with the mayor's office and the board of supervisors. >> thank you. thank you for your comments. next speaker please. >> good afternoon. supervisor zack eisenberger with young community developers. i just wanted to reiterate my comments from last week in 2021 why kd was awarded affordable housing development rights for the key site at 88 bloxham in central soma. initially we were concerned that this legislation would jeopardize our ability to deliver much needed affordable housing to the soma community.

however, we are encouraged by the inclusion of community requested amendments that guarantee the retention of public benefits including land dedication 400% affordable housing. >> these changes will safeguard our development rights and ensure that the city honors its commitment to the soma community. again, i want to thank supervisor dorsey, the mayor's office and the planning department for addressing the community's concerns by ensuring that public benefit commitments remain intact. as a city we must prioritize community serving infrastructure particularly affordable housing in high risk displacement areas like central soma. these amendments ensure that this priority is upheld. so i want to thank you for your partnership and consideration and thank you for your comments. >> do we have anyone else who has public comment for agenda item numbers two and three? >> madam chair okay with that public comment on this item is now closed. i would like to make a motion that we adopt the amendments as presented by supervisor dorsey at the file 2407873 on the planning code and zoning map.

>> okay let's let's take just amendment first. yeah we have a motion from the chair that the zoning map amendment item an agenda item number three be amended on that motion vice chair chin chin i member marchman my committee chair melgar i melgar i madam chair there are three eyes and then i'd like to make a motion that we send item to the general plan amendment and the amended planning and zoning map item three forward with a positive recommendation to the full board motion offered by the chair that agenda item number two be recommended to the board of supervisors and agenda item number three be recommended to the board of supervisors as amended on those motions. vice chair chin chin i remember one moment i chair melgar i melgar i madam chair there are three eyes once again right. >> thank you.

congratulations supervisor dorsey and thank you for all the community input into this really important item. >> thank you planning staff okay let's go to item number four please. >> agenda item number four is an ordinance amending the planning code to allow tourist hotels and motels to be used for interim housing without thereby abandoning or discounting sorry discontinuing the hotel use classification under that code it means the building code to allow interim housing without thereby changing the underlying occupancy classification of the property and amends appendix p to remove restriction that emergency housing be located on land owned or leased by the city. the ordinance affirms the planning department sequel determination and makes findings of consistency with the general plan and the eight priority policies of planning code section one a 1.1 and findings of public necessity convenience and welfare under planning code section three zero two okay i thank you so much. >> hold on ms. flores i'm going to have a supervisor dorsey

share a few remarks. >> thanks so much. thank you chair for letting me speak briefly once again on on this just before the presentation i understand that there are some amendments that will be offered today and that there are is some concern from labor stakeholders. for what it's worth i want to express that i share concerns of labor about the loss of hotel jobs and more broadly i have concerns about losing tourist hotels even if temporarily while lower hotel occupancy rates and hospitality is struggling right now. i think there are legitimate worries about the message that might be sent were it to be seen as us giving up on hotel uses for the long term. and i think this is particularly worrisome knowing what we know now about the unanticipated costs in damages to shelter in place covid era shelter in place hotels that were many of them i think probably a disproportionate level in my district that incurred significant you know,

not just damages but deterioration in street conditions but for the shelter in place programs damage costs alone ended up exceeding $60 million. so i do want to express my strong support for the sober living pilot that h. s h is working on in my district at the civic center motor inn. i really appreciate the work that you have done on this. we had a very promising community meeting on this project last week and it was gratifying to hear from neighbors and residents who obviously express legitimate concerns whenever there is a project in the neighborhood. but it was gratifying to me to hear from people who really understand the importance of doing more to support and incentivize long term recovery from those of us who struggle with addiction. there is no higher priority for me in this building so i really appreciate the exception for the sober living pilot. i think it's a narrow and appropriate exception. so thank you again chair melgar for having me and letting me speak to this item as well to

run the table on every item that i have something to say about and i promise this will be the last thing i say unless there's a question for me. but all i just appreciate it. >> thanks so much. okay. thank you. supervisor dorsey. >> now let's have ms.. flores to the presentation. thank you chair melgar, veronica flores planning department staff i'll keep this brief. >> the planning commission heard this item on december 12th and adopted a recommendation for approval with anticipated amendment and that anticipated amendment eight was to require h s h to work with the interim housing provider if any to relocate existing program participants when the interim housing closes . i believe that amendment is reflected in the revised version that was circulated this morning and we ask that that amendment be moved today. this concludes the planning commission report and i will hand it off to deputy director emily cohen. >> good afternoon chair members

of the committee my name is emily cohen deputy director at the department of homelessness and support of housing and i'm happy to be here with you today to discuss an amendment to the planning code that would allow hotels and motels to be used for interim housing without abandoning or discontinuing their land use designation. noting that through our engagement with stakeholders community stakeholders over the amendments today to speak to some of the labor concerns. we have heard and to narrow that to narrow the scope of the ordinance as well as to call out three specific former cip hotels that need to return to tourist statushen they wind down their use as shelter. so a lot of amendments6= presentation. but first i want to thank chair melgar for your support in this for continuing the item in february giving us time to work with the community to come to amendments that i think everyone can get very close to agreeing onround on

the amendment or on the ordinance. this is intended to be a tool to help us engage hotel and motel owners citywide to support the diversification of where we housed temporary shelters. you know, we did a request for information a few years ago to solicit interestrom hotel owners in partnering up with us to open shelter and got were hotels downtown and some of the feedback we got and by downtown i really mean tenderloin and soma and the feedback we got from hotel owners at that time was that there designation as a tourist hotel was too valuable in that evith us on the short term want t give that up and that's where this ordinance was born out of was intended to be an incentive for hotel owners to work with us. so we could diversify the location of many of our shelter programs as we look at expanding capacity, this legislation also aligns with various pieces of state legislation that that the

governor has recently approved to support the use of hotel and motor underused hotels and motels for interim housing. so the amendment or excuse me the ordinance amends the planning and building code to and motels without the site abandoning or discontinuing its hotel youth use authorization under the planning code the site owner will submit an application for interim housing to the planning department which would alleviate them of the onerous and often expensive process of regaining their tourist status. >> it exempts the conversion of interim housing from development standards typically applied to new construction supporting a more cost efficient and timely process. it also allows interim housing to be located on city owned or lease property or through a contractual agreement between the city and a third party such as a nonprofit service provider

. >> as was mentioned before this ordinance was heard at the building inspection commission in november and the planning commission in december and was supported. >> so as i will read when we get into the specific amendments we are narrowing the use of this ordinance because of the concerns of labor largely to focus in on the one pilot or the one pending project we have that we are looking at a motel conversion for a motel use and this is the sober living and sober independent living pilot program that we are in the process of opening in partnership with positive directions and the salvation army and this is an up to two year transitional housing program for people experiencing homelessness who are comm to recovery and sobriety. and it's a really unique model for us and it's very exciting way to diversify what we have to offer people coming out of the crisis of homel and

really provide a more client centered way to support folks in recovery who are als. >> and this property would require this kind of process through the through the planning department in order to retain its tourist designation after the use as a transitional housing program is up. okay so lots of amendments that we want to make today and all of this is really has been really developed out of talking with members of the board labor neighborhood groups, coalition on homelessness planning advocates really a whole host of community folks and i think we've come to a fairly agreeable term h as i mentioned we're proposing amendments to the ordinance to limit the scope to the civic center motor inn for uses the sober living transitional housing program so the big the first amendment chair i assume you'd like me to read this into the record.

okay. a general finding on page seven lines 16 and 716 through 17 and line 24 would be adding see a hotel or motel identified in this subsection 202. 15c interim housing is authorized at the following location block 3519 lot 006 in section 2o2 .15 page seven lines 223 and 24 to read a hotel or motel existing after april 1st 2020 5th may apply to establish interim housing pursuant to this section at the request of supervisor chen we're also adding a finding related to our intent around labor and union workers at hotels. so this is general finding i page three historiy and programmaticallyith our contracted

service providers to try and retain any existing staff. this practice encourages continuity a in their existing capacities. >> hsa has already begun conversations with west side community services, the nonprofit operator of the plan sober living program to engage the existing property owner in those conversations around staff retention continuing with the amendments the general finding page five of lines 21 through 23 i many hotels and motels are currently staffed by union represented workers. nothing in this ordinance is intended to interfere with successorship and suppose amendment that was discussed at planning commission is generally finding page five lines one through 11 the department of homelessness and supportive housing has

expertise working closely with building owners, nonprofit providers and clientsy wind down shelter programs in the client centered manner in advance of any interim housing ceasing itsions. hsa has slated that it intends to offer program participants a housing assessment through the city's coordinated entry system. h. s h intends to offer housing to any such participants who are designated as housing referral status through that assessment and comparable shelter placement while the participant awaits housing placement participants who are not eligible for city funded housing will be offered a comparable shelter bed if any all program if available. excuse me all program participants will at a minimum be offered a congregate shelter placement prior to the closure of interim housing. prior to the closure of interim housing h. s h intends to notify a broad set of community stakeholders notify excuse me community stakeholders section the next

amendment is section 2021.5 page eight lines 20 through 25 and page nine lines one through two termination of an interim housing use prior to the termination of the interim housing authorized under section 2021.15 the department of homelessness and supportive housing shall work with the interim housing service provider if any to relocate to relocate existing program participants prior to the time of expiration of any agreement to provide interim housing, the property owner or landlord shall provide notice to address each of its intent not to renew an agreement with the city or the interim housing provider in order to allow h s h and the service provider time to assist in relocating existing program participants of the interim housing is a little bit of administrative cleanup on page nine line 25 we're removing the

word planning code from line 25 sorry this is really in the weeds for everyone but the second set of amendments that i'm going to read into the record are really intended to to support the hotel owners who partnered with the city during the shelter in place crisis when the shelter in place or excuse me when the covid emergency ordinance wound down came to an end h s h closed the vast majority of our shelter in place hotels and because those were closed during the period of time of the covid emergency, those hotels were able to go back to their tourist use without a belabored process. we did hang on to three properties that have now been open past the covid window and are therefore no longer able to access a speedy process for regaining their tourist status. >> so we did create specific

amendments to call out the covid the monarch and the dante hotels. the covid is already closed but the monarch and the dante are still open. but when they close the intent is for them to be able to regain their tourist status without a burdensome process or extensive fees. >> and this is really in response to concerns from the supervisor but also from the neighborhood advocates who really want to see these properties return to a tourist use when they're done providing critical shelter capacity. and so this is an amendment to the long title page one lines five through five through six and eight. our ordinance amending the planning code to allow tourist hotels and motels to be used for interim housing without thereby abandoning or discontinuing the hotel use classification under the code and authorizing the reestablishment of hotel use for certain shelter in place hotels amending the building

code to allow interim housing without thereby changing the underlying occupancy classification of the property allowing reestablishment of hotels use for shelter in place hotels general findings j and k with background on this the shelter in place hotel program an expansion of the unintended consequences a former cip hotels not struggling to regain their tourist status the amendment is on page six lines four through nine item k as part of the initial response to covid 19, the city launched the shelter in place hotel program. the cip hotel program made a historic commitment to serving the unhoused population by providing non congregate shelters for over 3700 people experiencing homelessness who are most vulnerable to covid 19. over the course of the program hsa served 3356 adult guests

in these non congregate hotel sites and two thirds of eligible guests were exited to permanent housing. >> page six lines ten through 14 item l. one unintended consequence of the cip program is that participating hotels could have abandoned or discontinued the previously approved hotel use their previously approved hotel use it is reasonable to permit the hotels that participated in the cip program to reactivate their hotel use and not require strict compliance and then going on to page nine lines three through 18 i think you just read okay go back to the title page which is just specific just because you read this. okay perfect. >> okay. so then back to the long title page one lines five through eight and authorizing the reestablishment of hotel use for certain shelter in place hotels amending the building

code to allow interim housing without thereby changing the underlying occupancy classification of the property allowing reestablishment of hotel use for shelter in place hotels. >> thank you for your patience while i read all of that detail into the record i'm happy to take any questions and just want to thank so many folks in the community from the tenderloin neighborhood stakeholders labor stakeholders hotel owners, shelter operators and certainly the advocates supporting the sober living program for working with us to come to what i hope is a set of amendments that everyone can be pleased with and we can continue forward with implementing to support our hotel partnerships. >> thank you. thank you so much, deputy director cohen and so before we go to public comment, i had a couple of questions for our city deputy city attorney if that's okay. so a deputy director cohen read

two sets of amendments one having to do with just shrinking this to the civic center hotel. >> so are those substantive? good afternoon supervisors deputy city attorney brad vessey the first set of amendments that relate to the initial proposal the interim to establishing this interim housing use those amendments are not substantive and so the the committee can move them today and forward the amended version to the full board the second set of amendments that relate to the shelter in place hotel those require referral back to the planning commission and they're substantive. so i think what the committee could do is make the initial set of amendments duplicate the file make the second set of amendments and then that duplicate would go back to planning and then eventually come back to this committee after planning as considered at okay thank you so much. let's go to public comment on

the sidewalk and think thank you for the clarification. >> thank you madam chair. land use and transportation will now here agenda item number four we'll hear public comment for this item. if you have public comment for this item please come forward to the lectern and you can use either of those microphones. either one is fine. >> hello my name is david murphy. it's an honor to speak with you folks today. this is my first time ever doing this so please bear with me. as deputy director cohen spoke of we are participants of the salvation army harbor lights program and the joseph mcphee program you might recognize tim timothy stewart from the channel seven news. they did a spot on him with the bell ringing and what he's doing today at the joseph mcphee. but we are all grateful recovering addicts and we strongly support the interim housing ordinance as it offers an important tool to engage hotel owners.

this ordinance is critical for opening the pending sober living transitional housing program and we respectfully strongly urge that you do not delay. we need this ordinance to bring the sober living program to life and it really helps us people in recovery as we transition from addiction to sober, productive sober living. >> thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker please. hi. my name is timothy stewart and i'm a recovering addict and alcoholic and i just graduated from the salvation army and moved on to joseph mccarthy. had it not been for joseph mccarthy i would have had to go back to the streets and i know i would have went back to use it. i'm so grateful for joseph mccarthy so i fail in my heart. we need more places like joseph mccarthy. thank you. thank you for sharing your comments. >> next speaker please. hi my name's brendan harris. i'm also a resident over at the harbor light center salvation

army. you know, i'm also a former formerly incarcerated individual that just reentered society a couple of months ago and the need for housing is real especially for people in recovery who are serious about it. you just walk up and down these streets and you see the fat and all crisis and how bad it is and there's a lot of homeless people because of that more places like the mcphee center and other sober living areas need to be established in this city. if people want a healthy place that they can recover. yeah that's all i have to say . >> thank you for sharing your comments. next speaker please. hi my initially gomez and i'm a resident and harbor light so program for six months and then they offer us the next thing which is for another two years i'm told. so with that being said, i look forward to continuing this program. >> however i do not look forward to it to our to wait

for housing. so if you can help us get more housing available i would greatly appreciate and more motivating for us to continue to get into a better lifestyle and to support the community because we're all in need and we really do appreciate all your consideration. thank you. i say thank you for your comments. >> next speaker please. >> good afternoon supervisors cynthia gomez with know your local to the hotel workers union. so as mentioned we have been involved in a lot of conversations and with them and and those have led to some amendments but the problem is there's a poison pill in the amendments. the amendments were intended at least in terms of how they were described to really narrow this conversion program to only one site and then an amendment that just landed in my inbox at 1:00 this afternoon and it was read into record here said any hotel existing after april 1st 2020

5th may also apply to this program. so the scrambling to get these amendments done at the last minute was not our doing and it leads to unintended problems. so we've come here to ask that there actually be enough time to look at the text of these amendments to make sure that something that is permanent and long lasting doesn't inadvertently get sneaked in here against anyone's intentions. the intentions behind this particular program are very good and very strong. >> there is a huge problem however, with introducing something and passing something that allows hotels to convert back and forth, back and forth back and forth from tourist hotel to housing and it's a with a very good intention that there's language saying we would like you to rehire the workers. >> it's unenforceable when workers lose their good union jobs with a pension and

benefits and health care they can't retain any of those benefits in the new location. and so we've been asking that there actually be enough time to look at the full text of these amendments to talk through them, to understand what they mean so that nothing gets introduced that ends up having long lasting consequences. >> so that this can actually be done right to the maximum benefit and without inadvertently sneaking in harm but no one wanted to cause thank you. >> thank you for sharing your comments. next speaker please. hi good morning supervisors. my name is destiny pletcher. i'm with the salvation army and i am here to speak in support of the interim housing ordinance in particular as it relates to the proposed site on ninth street at the james baldwin place. i think you're going to hear today from our peers and colleagues about how important this site and the potential it has to make a difference a real difference in the community particularly in the recovery

community. it's going to be apparent and i think that this is a model and i am going to lean on the expertise of s.h. and the city attorney to to deploy this across the city. and i'm just want to be supportive of this ordinance. >> thank you. thank you for sharing your comments. next speaker please. >> good morning supervisors. my name is steve adami and i'm here to support the interim housing ordinance as a critical tool to open up the james baldwin place to sober living pilot project. it's going to be located on ninth street in soma. the city is in so much need of sober living. >> mr. dominick could you pull the microphone right up to you? sure. there we go. the city is in desperate need to expand housing options for people struggling with addiction. and this project a joint venture of the salvation army and west side community services is much needed and really critical to the success of people leaving drug treatment. so i hope you will help us and

extend a yes vote on this ordinance. >> thank you. thank you for sharing your comments. next speaker please. >> good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. my name is erin lauer's and i direct the joseph mcphee center a sober transitional housing program that houses nearly 100 men and women here in san francisco. >> and i can say that it is a resource that we are in dire need of more i am here to support the interim housing ordinance as it offers an important tool to engage hotels owner owners. this ordinance is critical for opening the pending sober living transitional housing program. please do not delay. we need the ordinance to bring sober living program to life and i have a waiting list of individuals who are in dire need of this resource. thank you. thank you for sharing your comments. >> next speaker please. good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. my name is louie gomez and i'm a grateful recovering addict as well. i'm here to support the interim housing.

understanding that it's really difficult to find housing upon completing program and it being an essential need to be able to continue on this recovery path you know enough so i'm here to support this. >> thank you. thank you for your comments. next speaker please. >> hello my name is ricardo contreras with the positive direction program and upon my completion i'm afraid of being homeless. thank you for sharing your comments. >> next speaker please. all right. good afternoon supervisors. so i wanted to say that i truly support this amendment and i just pray that we be able to work together as a city and work together to be able to effectively give people various options and especially keep a safe environment for those that are fighting sobriety and be in a safe place a healthy place and be a part of a

community within and also the outside community that's the city. >> so i thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker please. oh good afternoon supervisors. >> my name's kevin baker. i'm with a positive reaction to r p i think this will be a great investment for the city in the long haul because it takes a large people who's formerly incarcerated at home this getting job ready putting a place back in community where they can be an asset to the to the city you know the more people we know we help you know get jobs and get off the streets that's better for the city. you know, the city needs that. so i think it'll be a great investment. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker please. good afternoon. my name is joshua banks. i'm a resident at c r p a branch of the corrections community and i think it's very

important for housing after leaving drug treatment because a lot of people do this homeless on the streets after leaving treatment and it's hard to focus on your recovery when you're homeless and surrounded by people that are stuck in their addiction. it's hard to focus on school when you're around people that are stuck in their addiction. it's hard to focus on sobriety when you're homeless and you're stuck in your addiction. so i think the interim housing ordinance perfect place to start. >> thank you. thank you for sharing your comments. >> next speaker please. hi my name is delbert young. i think the amendment ordinance and wonderful thing i'm greatly in positive directions regarding attic i often think about housing what i'm going to do when i leave the program so i think the more available housing the better i definitely contemplate where i'm going to go and live when i leave the

program. so the more availability of housing the better. >> i think it's a great ordinance. arden's you thank you for your comments. >> next speaker please. my name is greg works i'm able to help program and i think it's very important that they keep this program going because there's a lot of people out there homeless and don't have nowhere to go, nowhere to stay on the street and if we don't keep the program that's going to be more people. >> thank you. thank you for your comments. next speaker please. and while that speaker is coming up, if we have anyone else who has public comment for agenda item number four from whom we have not yet heard you can line up to speak along that western wall. >> please begin. good afternoon. my name is james dilworth and i'm here in support for interim housing ordinance. i'm actually a participant at the joseph mcphee center who one thing i will say is that this is a place that is not only designed to keep you recovery, it also encourages

education, financial literacy, high school g.e.d. dog grooming you actually have plenty of participants that are already graduated in the culinary arts and are back into society making big differences in who are actually community and politically involved now. so that's all i got to say and so i hope that you put that into consideration. we definitely need more programs like this. >> thank you for your comments. next speaker please. >> hi abigail morales coming through salvation army harbor lights program you guys if you guys go through with this, we appreciate it. it's going to help a lot of us that are coming out of jail or just wanting to change our lives. >> that's all i have to say. thank you so much for your comments. do we have anyone else who has

public comment for agenda item number four madam chair, thank you so much. supervisor mahmood yes thank you chair director cohen can ask a couple more questions based on some of the public comment we heard of course i just to double check given that this ordinance is just a double check there was a comment about some april 1st deadline april 5th. can you clarify about what that is? >> yeah, absolutely. so originally we had intended to amend the ordinance to be hotels that entered into agreements to operate a shelter after april 1st so that it would prohibit hotels that you know for years and years and years had maybe had done this and we didn't we wanted to make sure that there was a clear line that we weren't going retroactive live and that's why we included the the date that does not supersede the narrowing to just the civic center motor inn. so it is intended to note that we want to keep that amendment in so that it does not allow

sort of historic partner hotel partners to access this provision but it is narrowed to the civic center motor in the monarch, the dante and the covered hotels. it's actually just a correct so you can it's a it's in there to actually ensure that the that no one else can do this effect correct yeah okay great. and then second is the the hotel that this does apply to is there's no union workers there currently. >> correct. okay. thank you. okay. i'm trying to figure out what our best way to proceed given the the comments from labor from ms. gomes. >> so i think that the first set of amendments are relatively non controversial. >> there's lots of community support so we i still want to make sure that everybody is okay so we could adopt them and

i think we could continue it and vote on them next week if that's amenable to you. the second set of amendments i would like to give folks a little more time to read and perhaps talk to you and so we could i guess after we amended the you know, the first set of amendments and duplicate the file. yes. deputy city attorney brad rusty so in order to provide the public access to the document with the amendments, i think the best way would be for you to make the initial amendments duplicate that file and then make the second set of amendments and then continue both till next week and then we can vote on them next week. you could do that? yes. okay. is that acceptable to okay. so just to be clear if miss gomez is still here, the second set of amendments still needs to be re referred to the

planning commission so there is an opportunity for the planning department to recommend modifications for the planning commission to do whatever they need to do and then it would still need to come back to this committee to be approved before it goes to the full board. >> right? ms. flores yes, yes, that is correct. >> chair so we'll still have that referral and come back to you with that recommendation. okay sounds good. so then you know there will be plenty of opportune nity for input from folks to the second set of amendments which is what folks were saying you know they've just got and haven't raptors mind around deputy city attorney i just wanted to skeptical yeah i just wanted to make sure that i'm not miss i'm not incorrectly stating what's going to happen with that duplicate and if the clerk can confirm what can the committee do duplicate amend amend that

and we'll continue it to next week or would it automatically get referred to planning at that point? >> it's highly unusual. okay to handle things in that way i will once if the matter gets amended on the duplicate i will refer it to likely tomorrow or on wednesday to the planning commission in that form. >> okay. but then if it was for whatever reason to be amended in additional time when it's heard at a continued date if there are additional changes then those would also be referred to the planning. >> okay. sorry supervisor mahmood so then perhaps to get to the goal that we're all sort of it sounds like we're all on board perhaps then we would be better off duplicating it next week when we vote on the first set of amendments and then doing the second set of amendments then because you can then just refer them immediately after that works as well. >> okay so that's what we should do then just adopt the first set of amendments then continue today and then continue it to next week.

>> is that is that work for you? okay. all right. >> consensus okay. introduce a motion to adopt the first set of amendments at this time. >> okay. and madam chair before we take that motion, just a bit of housekeeping, could you close public comment? >> oh, i'm so sorry. thank you mr. clerk. public comment on this item is now closed. >> thank you so member mahmud made a motion to adopt the first set of amendments presented to the committee on that motion vice chair chin chin i remember mohammed mahmood i chair melgar. i melgar i madam chair there are three eyes on those amendments and i want to introduce a motion to continue to the next meeting to next week the 17th of march on the motion offered by member mahmood that this ordinance be continued as amended to the 17th of march meeting on that motion vice chair chin chin i member marchman my committee i

chair melgar i melgar i met him here. >> there are three eyes on that motion that motion passes. thank you and thank you to all the members of the community for coming and are there any other items on our agenda? mr. clerk there is no further business. okay, we're now adjourned

[music] san francisco emergency

home program is a safety net for sustableable commuters if you bike walk take public transit or shares mobility you are eligible for a free and safe roadway home the city will reimburse you up to $150 dlrs in an event of an emergency. to learn more how to submit a reimbursement visit sferh. >> when i in height in addiction i did not see my future. i question if this is all i was minute to be. i was inspired to quit using when i was going to be a father. >> we will have this and she will [indiscernible] need to take the help now. since i stopped using, our life is night and day.

i'm able to withstand cravings, i don't are body acs. >> anyone can do it. >> we are living proof that >> my name is kristen cline the owner of two vintage stores in san francisco. vacation is a leave 11 years old. started in the tenderloin. it is vintage shop we buy from the public and keep in the store for avenue wn. it is an electic store. we moved from the tenderloin to north beach in 2022 in december we opened up our sister store 4 doors down. this is vacation and that is called work. we pay attention to the quality of things. we do everything from antique clothes from 1800s up to modern. i try to buy things that are

relevant and wearable for all typeoffs people. we have customers that are in there 70 and we got customers 17. everything is affordable as possible, but specialize in a lot of things that are expensive. you see a lot of shirts on the walls. those are super collectible and we have a big collection of those. we do vintage denim and 1930 and 40 clothe. we are saving from being gone forever. my second shop is with business partner sam and that is a a collective, 10 different sellers all under the one roof. it is fun watching people come into the shop, because you hear a lot of oo and a h or my mom had this or this looks like grandmas and i had thish in the 70

or this is what i wore in high school. the kids are trying it on. we have shoppers that know the store and come here as a destination, but the random foot traffic is always cool to see them discovering something that maybe they haven't seen before. i love san francisco and i feel i would never want to do this anywhere else. . >> (music).

>> the ferry building one of san francisco most famous that as many of 15 thousand commuters pass through that each gay. >> one of the things that one has to keep in mind regarding san francisco is how young the city we are. and nothing is really happening here before the gold rush. there was a small spanish in the presiding and were couriers and fisherman that will come in to rest and repair their ships but at any given time three hundred people in san

francisco. and then the gold rush happened. by 182948 individuals we are here to start a new life. >> by 1850 roughly 16 thousand ships in the bay and left town in search of gold leaving their ships behind so they scraped and had the ships in the bay and corinne woods. with sand the way that san francisco was and when you look at a map of san francisco have a unique street grid and one of the thing is those streets started off in extremely long piers. but by 1875 they know they needed more so the ferry building was built

and it was a long affair and the first cars turned around at the ferry building and picking up people and goods and then last night the street light cars the trams came to that area also. but by the late 1880s we needed something better than the ferry building. a bond issue was passed for $600,000. to build a new ferry building i would say 800 thousand for a studio apartment in san francisco they thought that was a grand ferry building had a competition to hire an architecture and choose a young aspiring architect and in the long paris and san francisco had grand plans for this transit station. so he the beautiful

new building i wanted it wider, there is none tonight. than that actually is but the price of concrete quitclaim two how and was not completed and killed. but it opened a greater claim and became fully operational before 1898 and first carriages and horses for the primary mode of transportation but market street was built up for serve tram lines and streetcars could go up to the door to embarcadero to hospitals and mission street up to nob hill and the fisherman's area. and then the earthquake hit in 190 six the ferry

building collapsed the only thing had to be corrected once the facade of the tower. and 80 percent of the city would not survive the buildings collapsed the streets budges and the trams were running and buildings had to highland during the fire after the actuate tried to stop the mask fire in the city so think of a dennis herrera devastation of a cable car they were a mess the streets were torn up and really really wanted to have a popular sense they were on top of that but two weeks after the earthquake kind of rigged a way getting a streetcar to run not on the cable track ran electrical wires

to get the streetcars to run and 2 was pretty controversial tram system wanted electrical cars but the earthquake gave them to chance to show how electrical cars and we're going to get on top this. >> take 10 years for the city to rebuild. side ferry use was increasing for a international exhibition in 1950 and people didn't realize how much of a community center the ferry building was. it was the center for celebration. the upper level of ferry building was a gathering place. also whenever there was a war like the filipino war or world war two

had a parade on market street and the ferry building would have banners and to give you an idea how central to the citywide that is what page brown wanted to to be a gathering place in that ferry building hay day the busiest translation place in the world how people got around transit and the city is dependent on that in 1915 of an important year that was the year of our international exposition 18 million living in san francisco and that was supposedly to celebrate the open of panama differential but back in business after the earthquake and 22 different ferry boats to alamed and one had the and 80 trips a day a way of life and in

1918 san francisco was hit hard by the flu pandemic and city had mask mandates and anyone caught without a doubt a mask had a risk ever being arrested and san francisco was hit hard by the pandemic like other places and rules about masks wearing and what we're supposed to be more than two people without our masks on i read was that on the ferry those guys wanted to smoke their pipes and taking off their masks and getting from trouble so two would be hauled away. >> the way the ferry building was originally built the lower level with the natural light was used for take it off lunge

storage. the second floor was where passengers offloaded and all those people would spill out and central stairway of the building that is interesting point to talk about because such a large building one major stairway and we're talking about over 40 thousand people one of the cost measures was not building a pedestrian bridge with the ferry building and the embarcadero on market street was actually added in and in 1918 but within 20 years to have san francisco bay the later shipbuilding port in the world and the pacific we need the iron that. as the ferry system was at

the peak two bridges to reach san francisco. and automobiles were a popular item that people wanted to drive themselves around instead of the ferry as a result marin and other roots varnished. the dramatic draw in ferry usage was staggering who was using the ferry that was a novelty rather than a transportation but the ferry line stopped one by one because everyone was getting cars and wanted to drive and cars were a big deal. take the care ferry and to san francisco and spend the day or for a saturday drive but really, really changed having the car ferry. >> when the bay bridge was built had a train that went along the lower level so that

was a major stay and end up where our sales force transit center is now another way of getting into the city little by little the ferry stopped having a purpose. >> what happened in the 40 and 50's because of this downturn we were trying to find a purpose a number of proposals for a world trade center and wanted to build it own the philly in a terrible idea objective never gotten down including one that had too tall towers a trade center in new york but a tower in between that was a part of ferry building and completely impractical. after

the cars the tower administration wanted to keep americans deployed and have the infrastructure for the united states. so they had an intrastate free plan the plan for major freeway systems to go throughout san francisco. and so the developers came up with the bay bridge and worked their way along embarcadero. the plans were to be very, very efficient for that through town he once the san francisco saw had human services agency happening 200 though people figure out city hall offender that the embarcadero free was dropped and we had the great free to no where. which cut us off from the

ferry building and our store line and created in 1989 and gave us the opportunity to tear down the free. and that was the renaissance of ferry building. >> that land was developed for a new ferry building and whom new embarcadero how to handle travel and needed a concept for the building didn't want- that was when a plan was developed for the liquor store. >> the san francisco ferry building has many that ups and downs and had a huge hay day dribbled adopt to almost nothing and after the earthquake had a

shove of adrenaline to revise the waterfront and it moved around the bay and plans for more so think investment in the future and feel that by making a reliable ferry system once the ferry building will be there to surface. >> television.

>> in 1948 swensen's ice cream used to make ice cream in the navy and decided to open up an ice cream shop it it takes time for the parent to put money down and diane one of the managers at zen citizen in arena hills open and serve old-fashioned ice cream. >> over 20 years. >> yeah. >> had my own business i was a firefighter and came in- in 1969 her dad had ice cream and

left here still the owner but shortly after um, in here became the inc. maker the manager and lead and branded the store from day to day and in the late 90s- was obvious choice he sold it to him and he called us up one night and said i'm going to sell the ice cream store what you you talking about diane came and looked at the store and something we want to do and had a history of her dad here and growing up here at the ice cream store we decided to take that business on. >> and have it in the family i didn't want to sell it.

>> to keep it here in san francisco. >> and (unintelligible). >> share worked there and worked with all the people and a lot of customers come in. >> a round hill in the adjoining areas loved neither ice cream shop in this area and support russia hills and have clean up day and give them free ice cream because that is those are the people that keep us the opportunity to stick around here four so many years next generations have been coming her 20 er thirty or 40 years and we have the ingredients something it sold and, you know, her dad said to treat the customers right and people will keep on

coming back and 75 or 74 years, you know that is quite an accomplishment i think of it as our first 75 years and like to see that, you know going into the future um, that ice cream shop will be around used to be 4 hundred in the united states and all gone equipment for that one that is the first and last we're proud of that we're still standing and people people are you tell people it's been around in 50 years and don't plan on television. >> (music).

>> my name is vet at a original artist based in san francisco. >> i love it i love it i've never seen something else and we see how the people see which is happening and what is going on. kind of cool i wanted to be part of that. >> i saw it 2, 3, 4, 5 minutes you yeah. >> so we have you - yeah. i started going when i was young but not the type of kid would get food but this is something i

really have been progressing on a talent from like other artists. >> this is amazing. >> this is so good yeah, it is so good like the artists. >> i love it. >> what a great project. >> part of the part for have i grants. >> yeah. i love it. >> i serve in for 2 two years now and i really am fortunate to live in a place for art. >> an effort creating places it serve san francisco soul and that makes them want to see this place; right? with the experience of art in san jose experience in from the get-go

sometimes our environmentalist has created tests but we have an opportunity for that and have artists in the storefront part of project you can walk in and experience and hoping we'll be there for a long time. >> this is the first farther easy way of going to spaces i didn't know how it is really cool it would be and we're forced to be in the moment when we're test and creating something really cool. >> makes us feel good. >> as far (unintelligible) done all temporary and took them down i like the temporary aspect base (unintelligible) (microphone distorted)

not permanent can enjoy it. >> book. thank you. >> (music). >> my name is orlando i'm the owner and operator of sf pizza. >> pizza is my expansion growing up i loved pizza and loved to cook and been in corporate banking jobs my that whole life wanted to own a pizza

or and moved to san francisco 45 years ago and couldn't find pizza i like so one day of saving and trying to figure out what i would like to do to fulfill my dream and to literally must be that i went out on my own toes an interesting things skills i again have to working on the slight changes to find the right product and came up with something i enjoy and continue it. so the positive important thing in years and years and years of trying to get it where i like it is for the sauce i use a unique sauce to bring out the flavors have to mats and capital improvement plan any and using use a high quality of cheese the products work together more

important to me have and made with love and what i try to keep it to be a comfortable foods or food and that's what i try to over and offers so having a really bus illegal day in the community and rile appeal to me and that's what i was trying to accomplish i have thought when i got into pizza the main thing if i can make a great cheese pizza he can do anything like growing up that's what i brought to to and now called san francisco

suppose you i have yet to meet i am kenny colter chief of protocol for the city and county of san francisco. it is my great pleasure to spend time with most of you this afternoon. this week on behalf of mayor darren flurry and the team at city hall, we are honored to

have you here to celebrate ireland. i feel i am welcoming not just colleagues and friends after this meeting today more than ever is a moment to remember the importance of personal connections and bridges. it has been the high point of my week to strengthen the bridges between ireland and san francisco bridges built in the time of the gold rush bridges further strengthened in the tech rush of today it has been a particular pleasure to welcome the delegation from our sister city cork led by lord mayor boyle as well as the san francisco city sister committee . >> we so value our four decades long relationship to council general smith your dedication towards expanding the relations

between our countries is vital and deeply appreciated and we thank hilda chassagne, president of the united irish societies of san francisco for her leadership and support of today's ceremony. to mark this occasion we offer you a celtic knot pen just finding it. you'll find it on your way out as a celebration of our interconnection. please know the city of san francisco is always open to you. i now welcome our master of ceremonies san francisco's former and longest serving big city fire chief and our beloved joanna hayes white to kick off the program. >> thank you. >> good morning everyone and welcome to city hall.

it's a great pleasure to be back. thank you penny for the kind introduction. i'm here today to kick things off for the flag raising. as you know, all of you that are gathered the irish have played an integral role in shaping san francisco across a wide variety of fields including the arts building engineering, science, medicine, education, art and my favorite puublic safety folks. and congratulations to our new chief dean crisp and dean todd a great career and will guide the city very capably. my father, thomas hayes emigrated from county limerick ireland in 1949. and like so many immigrants found opportunity and a warm welcome here in san francisco. he also found the love of his life. our mother patricia brosnan, a

native san franciscan whose parents hailed from county cork in county kerry. my siblings and i were raised with great pride in both our san francisco and irish heritage. and i'm very pleased today to have my brother dan and his granddaughter avery and my sister patty here today celebrating. and i should note my sister patty in 1980 to represented san francisco at the rose of tralee festival. so now it gives me great pleasure to introduce someone that has restored so much hope to our city. huge challenges but he is up to the task and so is his team. mayor leary you're off to a great start. and i speak for many when i say thank you for stepping up and thank you for stepping in. mayor daniel lurie. oh no, that's okay. joanne. thank you. before i get started i want to represent our soup.

my colleagues on the board of supervisors supervisor souder, supervisor chen, supervisor dorsey have i missed any supervisors? our assessor recorder joaquin torres. thank you for being here and wearing such a great tie. someone said to me as i was walking in. thank you for coming. and i was like i work right there. so thank you all for coming. we've done a few flag raisings to date under in the first eight weeks but this is by far the biggest crowd that we had to move it out here. so it is an honor to welcome you to city hall and to raise the irish flag. i don't have to tell most of you here that san francisco's irish heritage runs deep. listen to these numbers in 1856

over 6000 irish immigrants had made san francisco their home by 1870, just 14 years later that number had grown to over 30,000. and by jim just share this with me also and by 1880 nearly a third of the city's population was of irish descent. the irish were foundational foundational to san francisco filling the ranks of the police and fire departments holding leadership roles in public service business and religious institutions. today many of san francisco's greatest leaders from tech innovators to city officials proudly call themselves irish descendants or immigrants. over 60,000 people of irish descent call this city home today continuing to shape and define san francisco's future. on saturday, march 15th, we will celebrate the 174th

anniversary of the saint patrick's day parade. it's a tradition that has community together for generations showcasing, showcasing the rich culture and history the irish have contributed to this great city. many of you here aren't just a part of the irish community in san francisco you are part of the broader immigrant community. so it is fitting that this year's theme of the saint patrick's day parade is the immigrant's story. this reflects our city's diversity and the many stories that make san francisco special. today i'm especially proud to welcome the lord mayor of cork dan boyle and your delegation. it's an honor to have you with us and we've now seen each other multiple times this week. every time i see him he's having a great time and learning. and i look forward to visiting you all in cork. the relationship between san

francisco and cork founded 41 years ago has continued to grow and we look forward to deepening those bonds further. i want to thank the committee for their dedication and hard work including the chair of the san francisco sister city relationship san francisco cork sister city relationship dermot philpott where's dermot? >> dermot and by the way i've seen dermot multiple times this week as well. it's an honor to have you here. we also celebrate this year's parade grand marshal mark gorman and i want to honor the late honorary grand marshals gerald cassidy margaret marie gaffney and sister either hurley whose legacies continue to inspire us all. i want to thank i want to thank

our consul general from ireland, michael smith for his continued partnership and the services your consulate provides to many residents of san francisco. and as we both said, this might not be irish weather that we have today but we had a great time out on that balcony raising that flag. so it's an honor to partner with you as we raise the irish flag today we not only celebrate the past but we also look forward and ireland and san francisco that continue to thrive and grow. i am filled filled with hope for san francisco's future. thanks to the remarkable community and civic leaders gathered here today whose dedication and hard work are shaping a brighter tomorrow for our city. i want to thank you all for being here. let's make this irish heritage and friendship month month a reminder of the shared values that unite us all. at this time i'd like to invite up to the podium the lord mayor, the council general the grand marshal and dermot.

come on up here. >> i'm pleased to present you all with a formal proclamation on the occasion of this national day that this month of march will be known as the irish american friendship and heritage month in san francisco. let's go . i like to say next up before he sits down i'd like to ask. i michael smith is coming up to say a few words. few remarks. consul general smith, welcome.

thank you all. mayor leary lord mayor boyd, chief of protocol penny colter fire chief. i think we just arranged on the way out here that we're going to see each other in humble very soon. and i heard i heard grand marshal mark gorman. reverend fathers, my council colleagues my friends of georgia. the feel of poor drink plenty of it's a great pleasure to be here with you. and this most spectacular of buildings celebrating some patrick's day some patrick's month st patrick's season. i love this day it's gathering together to celebrate the green patch within this rich diverse tapestry of a city. it's also a great day because i get to wear this green jacket as well. only one of two occasions and this is the first. the second is not a themed cruise. i can assure you of that but

but it is actually on the parade itself on the 15th. and i want to thank the united irish society's hilda james chris. all of those liam everyone who's involved in threading together the st patrick's day a season here and in particularly putting together the parade on the 15th one of the oldest one of the biggest parades in the us and in the world. and again as the mayor said celebrating the immigrant story. this is a time of year that reminds us of the deep bonds that exist between ireland and san francisco between ireland and california and indeed between ireland and the united states of america. bonds that span generations from the early immigrants who built the city to the first responders who kept and continue to keep the city safe to the innovators, to the entrepreneurs, to the builders, the nurses, the doctors the teachers the police, firefighters refuge collectors that are shipping and ensuring the future of this great city

our connections our culture their musical, their sporting, their economic and their political and they continue to grow stronger. there are many bayhat excel and the european market through ireland and many irish companies that are growing here in this and in the bay area. irish owned enterprises employee about 115,000 people in the united states 25,000 of those are employed here in california and us goods exported to ireland create unemploy about 430,000 people across this country. we're very proud to have a very strong team ireland presence here in this city with the consulate, with enterprise ireland, with idea ireland with tourism ireland enabling that reci in economic trade and in people links to ireland and the us were steadfast partners. and as we reflect on a year of elections and political transitions, we remain committed to working together

closely with new administrations across the country, building on already strong relationships and ensuring our values administrations, me or larry?ew weeks we've seen the dedication, the focus the posi you have brought to this c i think claire and my daughter sophie are here today. my three boys aren't thank god they're in schools city. we privilege to live here. and we talk about how wonderful this city is as many opportunities as we come. with this community is much, much, much appreciated. and as a community and as a concert i thank ymz mayor larry arthur. actually our prime minister is currently packing the united states corkman he sends his best regards and best wishes to you. that will be communicated more officially just before some patrick' to say his regards to you and welcome to the lord mayor of cork and his delegation all our credit to the city to the county of cork. they're not shy about talking about great cork is as you'd

all imagine. but their dedication to this sister city relationship along with the sister cities committee is hugely commendable and greatly admired by us and the consulate and the. the chief of protocol penny colter. penny. amazing woman whose attentionetail enables her kindness and her thoughtfulness to have even more impact for us all here in the international community. thank you penny for all you've done for us since your arrival and all tweek with the cork delegation. >> thank you. and i'm finally as we start the st patrick's day season and as we embrace that season of celebration, i want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to this extraordinary community for your ongoing efforts to strengthen and honor our heritage here in this fantastic dynamic city. we have a great gaelic games scene out in treasure island. the mayor and i meet each other regularly and the sight of of

of feet as we hope that we see you on treasure island that the gaelic fields soon we have the united irish cultural center with huge ambitions for the future. the irish immigration and pastoral center are helping people day in day out. the irish network bay area and many many other organizations you look out for each other you reach out a helping hand, a friendly warm hand to other communities. and i want to thank you for that. so i wish you all a very joyful st patrick's season. >> go to hug. thank you. >> thank you consul general smith. and now i'd like to introduce celtic voices for their performance. thank you for being here today

. welcome to do it as well. okay. this is a special song from county leash where the grand marshal is from, is that correct? >> all right. county leash

i know i