mary ellen caroll can answer that. >> yes. so we made reference to a linkage center and we will have people who are experiencing substance abuse disorder, they can link up with the department of public health resources. they can link with community based organization resources and treatment. we can find out where they are in the housing system if they need housing and we can also meet them where they are with some basic hygiene, food. we really want people to -- this is really intended to be a warm intervention with people to engage people. i think i can tell you personally and i think a lot of people feel frustrated with the lack of intervention and the lack of ways to intervene with people who are suffering on the street. and so this is a place that we can pull people in and get them warm, get them dry. get them fed and have them connected to all of the many services and resources that the city has. >> question: [ indiscernible ] >> answer: yes. it is voluntary. people can come in on their own. people will also be given choi

mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well positioned to respond to variants. our vaccine rate is high. more boosters ar

public safety leaders in the city including director of the department of emergency management, mary ellen carol, dr. grant colfax, our fire chief jeanine nicholson. and chief deputy lizar and we're here just to talk with a number of our dispatchers here at the 911 center and i just want to thank the dispatchers and the people who are part of this center because i think what people don't realize is every single day, 24 hours a day, the people who work in this building, they are fielding calls on a regular basis of people that sometimes sadly are experiencing one of the worst times in their lives and they're looking for help. and these folks in this building who show up time and time again for us despite the pandemic, despite everything that's been going on in this city for the past year and a half. they've been here. they are wearing their mask and doing their jobs and they're showing up for san francisco. so i want to that our 911 dispatchers and their hard work and commitment to san francisco. we just heard back from a number of things they, of course, want to see change and they want the publ

mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well positioned to respond to variants. our vaccine rate is high. more boosters ar

today by supervisor matt haney as well as the director of the department of emergency management mary ellen carolnt of public health behavioral health

today by supervisor matt haney as well as the director of the department of emergency management mary ellen caroldepartment of public health behavioral health director dr. hillary kunis and we are also joined by our police chief bill scott. i am here with our various leaders in san francisco to officially declare a state of emergency in the tenderloin community of the city and county of san francisco.

melanie: mary ellen carol will spearhead the effort. >> an emergency declaration allows san franciscoed tape, to obtain the contracts, the resources, and the personnel that we need to address the crisis, conditions in the tenderloin. melanie: it's welcomed by community members. >> residents need action. they're going to be excited to see that somebody is finally paying attention to the residence. melanie: christy is the director of community organizing and resident voice at the benefit district. she says last week mayor breed met with approximately 50 tenderloin residents. >> she listened to their stories about getting assaulted on the street or hiding from gunfire in the middle of the day at a park. melanie: the group spoke with the mayor's policy advisers about changes they would like to see in the neighborhood. >> i hope that the help that's offered is long-lasting. melanie: mayor breed says it is. >> the goal is to not let anyone stay out in the streets. >> everything that was said today only enhances our ability to do our jobs. enforcement, we have to enforce. we have to arrest p

melanie: mary ellen carol will spearhead the effort. >> an emergency declaration allows san francisco to cut through the red tape, to obtain the contracts, the resources, and the personnel that we need to address the crisis, conditions in the tenderloin. melanie: it's welcomed by community members. >> residents need action. they're going to be excited to see that somebody is finally paying attention to the residence. melanie: christy is the director of community organizing and resident voice at the benefit district. she says last week mayor breed met with approximately 50 tenderloin residents. >> she listened to their stories about getting assaulted on the street or hiding from gunfire in the middle of the day at a park. melanie: the group spoke with the mayor's policy advisers about changes they would like to see in the neighborhood. >> i hope that the help that's offered is long-lasting. melanie: mayor breed says it is. >> the goal is to not let anyone stay out in the streets. >> everything that was said today only enhances our ability to do our jobs. enforcement, we have to enforce

now, with that i'd like to introduce the director of the department of emergency management mary ellen carolor breed. i really appreciate the fact that you took time to come in today. we got some feedback on the implementation of the skirt teams and some of the other teams and we're super grateful for that. i just want to thank my colleagues, dr. colfax, chief nicholson, of course, deputy chief lizar for your support and commitment to developing alternatives for people in crisis. the role of emergency management is to provide coordination and there is no significant crisis than what we see of the the tragedy happening on our streets. this includes overseeing multi-department operations. we need to unify all of these different groups to figure out are we doing this most efficiently. are we getting the results that we need and ultimately our goal is to improve the conditions on the streets and the sidewalks and our conditions. just to reiterate, we have increasingly more resources at our disposal to aid people working on the streets. again, to echo the mayor, we need to trust their expertise.

mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well positioned to respond to variants. our vaccine rate is high. more boosters ar

public safety leaders in the city including director of the department of emergency management, mary ellen carol, dr. grant colfax, our fire chief jeanine nicholson. and

and now with that i'd like to introduce the director of the department of emergency management mary ellen carolor breed. i really appreciate the fact that you took time to come in today. we got some feedback on the implementation of the skirt teams and some of the other teams and we're super grateful for that. i just want to thank my colleagues, dr. colfax, chief nicholson, of course deputy chief lizar for your support and commitment to developing alternatives for people in crisis. the role of emergency management is to provide coordination and there is no significant crisis than what we see of the the tragedy happening on our streets. this includes overseeing multi-department operations. we need to unify all of these different groups to figure out are we doing this most efficiently. are we getting the results that we need and ultimately our goal is to improve the conditions on the streets and the sidewalks and our conditions. just to reiterate, we have increasingly more resources at our disposal to aid people working on the streets. again, to echo the mayor, we need to trust their expertise. p

mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well positioned to respond to variants. our vaccine rate is high. more boosters ar

now, with that i'd like to introduce the director of the department of emergency management mary ellen carol. >> thank you mayor breed. i really appreciate the fact that you took time to come in today. we got some feedback on the implementation of the skirt teams and some of the other teams and we're super grateful for that. i just want to thank my colleagues, dr. colfax, chief nicholson, of course, deputy chief lizar for your support and commitment to developing alternatives for people in crisis. the role of emergency management is to provide coordination and there is no significant crisis than what we see of the the tragedy happening on our streets. this includes overseeing multi-department operations. we need to unify all of these different groups to figure out are we doing this most efficiently. are we getting the results that we need and ultimately our goal is to improve the conditions on the streets and the sidewalks and our conditions. just to reiterate, we have increasingly more resources at our disposal to aid people working on the streets. again, to echo the mayor, we need to trust

i also heard this promise from mary ellen carol who i have worked with over the last couple of years weekly and pretty much trust her when she tells me something because she's never lied to me. i want to get that all on the record. that is important in how i vote today. thank you for that. my second question to the appropriate person to answer this, i very much believe because we're getting hundreds of e-mails from our constituents saying this. if you read all of the press from the mayor announcing this major effort in the tenderloin, she has left the impression and has said it, i believe, that she will have police officers approach people that are very sick on the streets and say, rer offering you treatment and if you don't go to treatment, we're going to arrest you and put you in jail right now. is that how this plan is going to work? >> thank you, supervisor. that is not how the plan is being constructed and developed. our -- what we've been doing and we've been working since mid-november to try to accelerate and plan for what we could do in the tenderloin. our emphasis for the pe

i also heard this promise from mary ellen carol who i have worked with over the last couple of years weekly and pretty much trust her when she tells me something because she's never lied to me. i want to get that all on the record. that is important in how i vote today. thank you for that. my second question to the appropriate person to answer this, i very much believe because we're getting hundreds of e-mails from our constituents saying this. if you read all of the press from the mayor announcing this major effort in the tenderloin, she has left the impression and has said it, i believe, that she will have police officers approach people that are very sick on the streets and say, rer offering you treatment and if you don't go to treatment, we're going to arrest you and put you in jail right now. is that how this plan is going to work? >> thank you, supervisor. that is not how the plan is being constructed and developed. our -- what we've been doing and we've been working since mid-november to try to accelerate and plan for what we could do in the tenderloin. our emphasis for the pe

i also heard this promise from mary ellen carol who i have worked with over the last couple of years weekly and pretty much trust her when she tells me something because she's never lied to me. i want to get that all on the record. that is important in how i vote today. thank you for that. my second question to the appropriate person to answer this, i very much believe because we're getting hundreds of e-mails from our constituents saying this. if you read all of the press from the mayor announcing this major effort in the tenderloin, she has left the impression and has said it, i believe, that she will have police officers approach people that are very sick on the streets and say, rer offering you treatment and if you don't go to treatment, we're going to arrest you and put you in jail right now. is that how this plan is going to work? >> thank you, supervisor. that is not how the plan is being constructed and developed. our -- what we've been doing and we've been working since mid-november to try to accelerate and plan for what we could do in the tenderloin. our emphasis for the pe

public safety leaders in the city including director of the department of emergency management, mary ellen carol, dr. grant colfax, our fire chief jeanine nicholson. and chief deputy lizar and we're here just to talk with

mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well positioned to respond to variants. our vaccine rate is high. more boosters ar

i also heard this promise from mary ellen carol who i have worked with over the last couple of years tells me something because she's never lied to me. i want to get that all on the record. that is important in how i vote today. thank you for that. my second question to the appropriate person to answer this, i very much believe because we're getting hundreds of e-mails from our constituents saying this. if you read all of the press from the mayor announcing this major effort in the tenderloin, she has left the impression and has said it, i believe, that she will have police officers approach people that are very sick on the streets and say, rer offering you treatment and if you don't go to treatment, we're going to arrest you and put you in jail right now. is that how this plan is going to work? >> thank you, supervisor. that is not how the plan is being constructed and developed. our -- what we've been doing and we've been working since mid-november to try to accelerate and plan for what we could do in the tenderloin. our emphasis for the period of time from the time that this decla

mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well positioned to respond to variants. our vaccine rate is high. more boosters ar