[applause] again, thanks to the advocacy of our public defender jeff hadachi and the d.a.'s office. this debt is owed by over 21,000 people. in our community, an average amount of $1500 per person. i want to make sure everyone knows how important this is. a lot of people don't know what happens when people are released from jail or exit the criminal justice system. they are charged thousands of dollars in fees. fees only meant to recupe costs for our city and our county and our courts. but we know the reality. the fees pile up, thousands of dollars in debt and drive people into the underground economies and make it harder for them to re-enter and be successful in their communities. i saw this time and time again when i was the executive director of the african american art and culture complex. we believed in the second chance. we opened the doors to opportunity. and i saw how hard many of these employees work after paying their debt to society and receiving a second chance. they wanted to make a fresh start and they grew discouraged when they started to see their paycheck garnished