that would be my motion to swap out charlie's name for nicole rivera. president chiu: supervisor avalos has made a motion to amend. is there a second? seconded by supervisor mar. supervisor mar: i just wanted to add that he has been active as supervisor avalos mentioned in community-based efforts. we need his experience on this advisory committee. i know he has got tremendous expertise and community planning. there is tremendous knowledge of community-based organizations. building alliances and unity among other neighborhoods and a low-income neighborhoods in the city. i will be supportive of the motion. supervisor kim: i also support this amendment. i said on the rules committee. the board of supervisors gets to appoint four members. we reflect and advance the concerns and needs of our low- income neighborhoods. it is to strengthen the social and economic infrastructure of the low-income neighborhoods. we have folks that work and represent folks in the communities. and now as an organizer, i think he complements peter cohen in being able to represent a

i am very impressed with nicole rivera, i would love to help her get appointed to another committee. she does a lot for the city and county of san francisco and is qualified to serve. the board of supervisors is trying to get representatives at work in the community, he is more appropriate for charlie. supervisor cohen: the issue that i specifically want to speak to has to do with being in favor of cohen. i'm concerned about charlie. the reason i am concerned, one of those things that i have heard when speaking to my colleagues, the committee has spoken in support of charlie, and that is wonderful. i wanted to bring to people close the attention -- people's attention. it is only a matter of time. it is a last-minute amendment. and having adequate time, when they could also add equerry rally troops. -- adequately rally troops. i am very concerned that what happens, people they characterized for who they work for on a short snapshot. they have written her off because of who she works for. i cautioned that you use to a person's employer is to evaluate their ability to serve san francisc

that said, i have to say that nicole rivera is the kind of individual you want to see on a city commission. this is a young woman who has pretty stellar qualifications. from my perspective, where she works is something that is positive and that adds to her credentials. i actually see it the opposite. i actually think this is the type of experience -- quite frankly, in thinking about this appointment, with respect to someone like nicole, there are prominent commissions were you want to see this kind of a talent. there are some openings coming up. i hope and then will be in consideration for those. i know there was exploration for a commission on the environment. i can think of a number of commissions where i think she would have the expertise and talent to serve this city well, but i think it is unfortunate that we find ourselves in this position. but i will be supporting the motion. thank you. supervisor avalos: just a couple things i want to respond to. i am not sure. i'm not sure if charlie talked about his ethnic background, but he is egyptian american. he has ties to turkey. i think he

i am here to support the candidacy of nicole rivera. i found her to be a woman of great integrity, works really diligently with the communities and partnering with the city and working with speaker of the house nancy pelosi. very responsive to the needs of san franciscans. she has a keen understanding of the worked necessary to do work force development and really mesging the need -- meshing the needs of disadvantaged communities as someone born in the mission. her capacity representing the mission and other communities throughout the city. thank you so much. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am a senior project manager at the neighborhood development organization. the executive director said you eaton email. i have personally known peter for over 10 years. they know him well from his work across the city and the community as well. he has been at asian neighborhood design where we work with him on some community- based planning. peter is that the community housing organizations, which i attend the meetings of, that is a very broad based

i am here to support the candidacy of nicole rivera. i found her to be a woman of great integrity, works really diligently with the communities and partnering with the city and working with speaker of the house nancy pelosi. very responsive to the needs of san franciscans. she has a keen understanding of the worked necessary to do work force development and really mesging the need -- meshing the needs of disadvantaged communities as someone born in the mission. her capacity representing the mission and other communities throughout the city. thank you so much.

i am here to support the candidacy of nicole rivera. i found her to be a woman of great integrity, works really diligently with the communities and partnering with the city

i am here to support the candidacy of nicole rivera. i found her to be a woman of great integrity, works really

lastly, it made it really hard to decide whether i was going to not select -- not vote for nicole rivera or not. the fact that she was a staff member for nancy pelosi made it difficult to want to make this amendment because of that relationship. there is a lot of power in that relationship. there is also a lot of access to community people from a different perspective i think is valuable. it is based on the work turley has done in the community that has made me make this amendment. i hope you could change your mind and support me on that effort. thank you. supervisor elsbernd: as a member of the rules committee who did not support the gentleman being put forward today but actually supported the other candidate, maybe give me a few seconds to explain why. people have begun to nip around the edges. for me, the biggest concern i have about a community development block grants is not whether enough communities are being served. we all recognize that is a challenge and we are all trying to do that. but i think any objective observer would recognize the biggest threat to community grant money

i would like to hand over the podium to nicole rivera, who put this together. she will introduce the panelists and go over some logistics. i want to point out quickly that we are being recorded by san francisco government tv. the camera in front is only aimed at the podium. it is not taking shots of the audience, only the podium for people who want to ask questions. so do not worry, you are not on tv if you do not want to be. >> thank you for your patience. i am a representative with leader pelosi, and i'm thrilled to have you today to learn more of our best practices for accessing credit. it is a priority for our office. we are very well aware of how small businesses are running up against the wall right now in terms of trying to get the credit and loans they are looking for, so i will try hard to bring the brightest minds in this room so you can effectively fix their range and learn more about what you can do better to fix your business plan and what it is they are looking for. first of all, i will introduce everyone. mark quinn is the san francisco district