they have chosen to invest in the excelsior neighborhood. so we are bringing some of the solvency that you mentioned to make sure there is continued investment. we hope to continue community development, planning, work force districts. it is really that third s that you mentioned, and the community coming up with a stronger platform. thank you very much. [applause] thank you, terry, for your presentation. next, we have the district 11 council. stephen currier will become forward. he is also the president of the power -- outer misson district. >> thank you for being out here. there are almost 15 organizations under this umbrella organization. we have met a couple of time to talk about quality of life issues in district 11. not only in district 11, but in surrounding communities. i am going to enumerate them. there are five that i would like to talk about quickly. supervisor avalos, mayor lee, you all were out here three times. our first issue is, back in 1998, our neighborhood started working on the balboa park bart stations, which is the busi

i'm here to support the excelsior family connections. [applause] i have two kids. one is 2 1/2, and the little one is five months. with two kids, and working, i have a lot of stress from kids, from my husband, from my work. and financial stress. so the staff at the excelsior family connections some crying, and they came up to me and asked if i was ok. they are just like my family. i go there every day, and i see the staff there more than i see my siblings. they have therapist's there to help me solve my family problems, my stress, and they are the ones who told me that i have the postpartum depression. so i am so glad they found out my depression. and i am able to go to my doctor. i did not realize. without them, i think i would have gotten a divorce from my husband already and have a broken family. i really hope that -- please, do not cut the funds. and i really hope that they can continue the service that they have provided to me, and i really want the service to be able to provide to fit people like me and families like my family. thank you. [applause] >> good ev

we're here with supervisor john avalos, from district 11, which includes the excelsior, and will sign, our mission, and crocker amazon neighborhoods. supervisor avalos was elected to the board in november of 2008. we are going to get to know him and talk about the toughest issues facing the city. welcome and thank you for joining us today. tell us a lot about your background, where you grew up, went to school, the job you worked. >> i was born in a town called and los angeles. it was a lot of working-class folks. my father was a shore worker, my mother was an office worker at usc. my parents were divorced when i was 10 years old, and i moved to the east coast for six years before going back to california after high school. i went to school at uc santa barbara, graduated in 19988 -- 1988. i have lived in the excelsior since 1999. i have had lots of different jobs, but my main job is doing social work force and a disco, i have been a community organizer, i worked at a labor organization supporting janitor's working in our high- rise buildings. i was a legislative aide before .wr. i got

we have the excelsior, our mission, like mile, all the neighborhoods in between. it is exciting to see all the neighborhoods here this evening. tonight, we want to take you on a tour of our district. our tour guides include some of our neighborhood leaders, including young people, parents, from my staff, community organizations. we are all represented by many of the collaboration's in our district, including the omi community collaborative, communities united for help and justice. a first thought on our tore his desperation. -- stop on our tour is desperation. we know that low income communities are hit first and worse when economic problems it. our families are experiencing troubles from the immigration and customs enforcement, and are having trouble finding jobs. but we are resilient spirit and that leads us to the next up on our tour. the people in our district are doing amazing things every day, working hard, raising families, helping neighbors, a volunteer at school, celebrating culture, and there are doing it and develop, spanish, chinese, and over 70 other

i am the director of excelsior family connection. our center is located in the heart of excelsior neighborhoods. and the community i serve has the highest population of youth and families. the excelsior family center is the only family resource center. we offer quality family support resources that not only benefit the individual but the family as a whole and as a result, the entire community. we use a holistic approach to meet the needs of each member of the family peer the approach we use allows us to provide financial literacy, computer literacy, job training, school readiness, parenting class is offered in three different languages, support for victims of domestic violence, case management, and much more. these are services requested by the community with the community, and for the community. every year, we survey our families for their needs and priorities and modify our services appropriately to reflect their needs and what they have requested. for example, earlier this year, we offer free tax preparation program services to low

say, three years i have been really paying attention, there have been a lot of trees planted in the excelsior. that is in district 11, which i represent. but 23,000 trees that will be transferred -- are those trees that were earlier planted by the city, or was it planted by an organization or a combination -- >> it was mostly a combination of trees that were planted by both friends of urban forest, dpw, or even in some cases [inaudible] this will be the formal process of turning [inaudible] supervisor avalos: ok. >> [inaudible] what you see on the screen is a map of where privately maintained trees are all around the city. you can see they are all over the city in almost all the neighborhoods. we do have private property owners maintaining the trees. supervisor avalos: it looks like a forest. i wish it was like that. that would be great. >> it should be all green or more green. we're working towards. what you see here, trees that are currently maintained by dpw. in some of these neighborhoods, a good number of these trees were a good part of the trees for tomorrow. you can see quite a number

i have been in san francisco since 1989, have lived in the excelsior since 1999. the difficulty is, muni often sees it as an industrial area, not a neighborhood. we have to figure out how to make it work as a neighborhood and as a place that can service the light rail vehicles. i have had lots of different jobs. my main job has been doing social work for san francisco state university. i have been a community organizer, a social worker, but i have also been a legislative aide. i worked mostly for community- based organization supporting kids and families, working for labor. i got to see how city hall could be an effective tool to create change. i looked at running in 2007, 2008, and somehow i made it. i have been in politics for so many ways, doing work around central america, supporting people in central america against u.s. imperialism, their right to live, self determination. i did a lot of work on that on campus when i was in college. a bit of work on apartheid when i was in college as well. >> i never got involved in supporting a candidate. i never thought a c

but as we pull back from the work in the mission district and excelsior, i'm sure it's the similar thing in other parts of the city, we have not been able to keep up with the amount of trash that has been accumulating. we spoke earlier about ideas you might have and what ideas he might express and how we could have greater upkeep? mayor lee: the short answer is that you and i to saturdays from our going out and we are going to paint the town. we're going to start in your district. as you know, this is a big challenge for the whole city and i'm glad you have brought up. it continues to make me excited about why i came to work for the city. it is to work for these neighborhoods and make sure we are doing our best. it should not surprise you that i have been working as quietly as i can without a lot of money to make sure all of the concerns of the supervisors, particularly when it comes to graffiti abatement and trash and letter get hurt and we try to find solutions even in these worst economic times. there have been 100 your people on the streets for dpw, and that is affecting those condit

we are talking about a working- class community, the excelsior, the bayview, all of these different neighborhoods are smaller enclaves. we still see the same kinds of challenges. when the schools begin to perform a stellar academic programs, businesses will continue to relocate because the employees will want to live in san francisco and want kids to be educated here. it is a cyclical and symbiotic creation ship. another challenges that we have the highest unemployment rate in this part of san francisco. san francisco before, the numbers are starting to come down a little bit. we have high rates in the latter part of last year, but it is starting to -- it is starting to normalize. it goes back to education. what i would like to see our pathways. not everyone will become a doctor, lawyer, or journalist, fantastic tv host. what can we do? we live in a society where we need engineers. we need sound engineers. we need graphic designers. there are people who prefer to learn with their hands. they like mechanics. we need to bring back some shop back in schools and allow people an opportunity for a diff

another iconic street is persia street in the excelsior district. next speaker please. >> good morning. the key word for today is the iceberg. i consider my mother to be a victim of ex-mayor newsom's screening program. in 2008, this letter was received and underlined the department of public works will be responsible for the care, watering and long-term maintenance of the trees. short-term maintenance is my responsibility. as a caregiver, the letter basically said, we do not want a tree because there is no way we can maintain it. the letter was never replied to. phone calls came back with a staff member calling me. the intensity of the phone conversation was fine. it was basically, screw you, you are going to get a tree, whether you like it or not. pole speed ahead. -- full speed ahead. we were never notified that mayor newsom would include a tree program on church street. 30 years ago, my mother did not get a tree. as you can see on our block, there is a tree that had been there. it has been replaced. the sidewalk is going to be replaced again. the

appreciation for the funding we did receive through the block grant program, particularly our work in the excelsior neighborhood, serving over 15,000 filipinos, documented and undocumented. in the last year, we have seen a huge increase in the number of people who need our services. being able to come to a place that is centrally located in the community with a lit where we have been able to put people to work, help people find housing, address their needs around immigration and domestic violence, and this is because of our ability to provide culturally competent and neighborhood-based services. we know this is a difficult time and have had to readjust our programs and focus on the core strategies that are most in need in our community. while we have in the past increase resources around a point of support services, we are refocusing our program to address that difficult need in these difficult economic times. because of the funding decrease from the federal level, we're doing what we can to support increased funding from that level and doing advocacy work to make sure that these resources are avai

supervisor avalos: plans were in place by the excelsior action group a couple of years ago to do some improvements, switching the bus stop from one side to the other, but nothing has happened since then. i thought that something was in place. >> i am not prepared to talk in detail, but i can send you any information we have. yes, that intersection, there are three that were going to be constructed at that intersection. the other major improvement is the career right hand turning lanes for a pedestrian area in the northwest corner. those are the three or four major improvements, including moving overhead lines and upgrading the pedestrian signals at the intersection. but they are pretty comprehensive. >> good to hear. if there is anything else that can be tackled in the process, especially on the southeast side of geneva, it could use a lot of work. we will make sure that happens. supervisor campos: thank you, commissioner. supervisor wiener: if i could just make a request, since we will be voting on the next month, between now and then could you provide a breakdown, listing the projec

[applause] >> i'm jacki cash, president of the excelsior district improvement association. i'm going to say this wrong. we just need to get that out there ahead of time. the main thing i wanted to talk about when i got up here -- for one thing, yes, youth. anything for kids or for seniors. those are the most vulnerable populations we have. the people in the middle, the people who are able-bodied, the people of working age -- we will muddle through, but to take care of our most vulnerable population is the top thing because when you allow that to disintegrate, you end up with calcutta. you end up with these really creepy conditions that nobody wants to live in any way. people will just leave the city in droves if you have to look at old ladies lying on the street, which, by the way, i have to do. that comes into another thing, which is code enforcement. there is a lot of congestion in my neighborhood, and a lot of it has to do with people who are taking advantage of people of color, people of low income, dividing up their houses as much as possible, putting 18 people into a f

i was a kid who grew up in the excelsior district. i counted on a recreation director to be my father. it meant everything to me. when we had to lay off folks that are the common faces in your facilities that you can relate to on a daily basis, we understand that impact. what we are trying to do is hire some folks back as our budget recovers a little bit. we have been able to generate a lot of revenue. we have prioritized revenue over cuts. we are looking to hire, and faces again. jerry jack came up. he was a recreation director here. we are looking to hire him in a different capacity so that he can be back here at the center. i know that we are waiting for some position authority in order to have an after-school position here. he would be one of those folks we would be looking at to fill that position. he has been a recreation leader, which is a part-time position, which i understand people want to see his face. there were other folks who were here. victor jones is in theck

offered to see that a great deal of the resources go in the center part of the city, and a few would go out towards excelsior and son said, and to the extent that we are able to prioritize and make more things happen out that way, i think we will be getting our goals of being a transit-first city. to the extent i want to encourage you to do that, i would love to see that. >> ok, thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. we will open this up to public comment -- or, supervisor, do you have questions? supervisor mar: i was going to, on that. looks like the repair for sidewalks and disability improvement programs are based on analysis and prioritizing of the areas that need it the most, and also in conjunction with the mayor's office of disability. i know that a number of improvements i have been seeing already on different -- in different recorders, but my hope is that the neighborhoods with the most need are considered first, and it looks like that is the process. and then, for the mta proposals, it looks like it is based on input from a number of community-based organizations. i am guessing the bicycle coalit

the suspect, edwin ramos, is accused of killing tony bologna and two of his sons in the city's excelsior district three years ago. now, in a court hearing yesterday, prosecutors asked the judge to delay ramos's trial because of an ongoing federal trial involving other suspected members of his gang. the defense wants the trial moved out of the area because of extensive media coverage. ramos is due back in court on june 24th. >>> it's 7:47. a new study says that a large number of people who are ineffected with h.i.v. may not even know it until it's too late. the centers for disease control says of the 1.1 million people diagnosed each year, about a fifth did not know they had h.i.v. people who don't know they have the virus may be transmitting it to half of the 50,000 people who become infected every year. authorities in grease say they arrested an 18-year-old man who suspected -- who is suspected of hacking into fbi and international crimes fighting systems. they say the -- they say the arrest in athens cup -- comes after a two-year effort by french authorities and police. >>> a hollywood

the seats are built right here in excelsior springs. >> reporter: what about the back window?reporter: and we kept going. instrument panel, illinois. electronics, mexico. transmission, japan. doors, illinois. carpet, ohio. >> reporter: we also traveled to the toyota plant in georgetown, kentucky. [ horn honking ] where the camry is made. the seat from kentucky. tires, south carolina, but the camry seatbelts from canada. and the radio parts? mexico. while back at the dealership -- [ horn honking ] >> reporter: the stewarts were pulling back in. >> so? >> how was it? >> i liked it. >> reporter: which car did they like more? >> here's the thing. we don't even know what car they chose. it could be the toyota, the ford, or something else. tonight, they're actually going to drive it to the studio. >> and surprise all of us. the other big reveal which car creates the most american jobs in the country? surprised even us. and a formula everyone at home can use to check the car in their driveway right now. just how american is it? i'm david muir. >> and i'm sharyn alfonsi, abc news, new

offered to see that a great deal of the resources go in the center part of the city, and a few would go out towards excelsior and son said, and to

the city. i was with them last week. they had all these volunteers out helping us repair homes in our mission and excelsior for seniors, so it is a wonderful cooperation we have with wells fargo. how was the right coming in today? >> when a great way to start the morning. i wish i could start every morning like this. we have more than 9000 team members at work, so coming from marin county in the east bay from the south bay, so we are actively working with them and helping reduce greenhouse emissions. one of that is by the commute, so we are actively encouraging bike riding to work appear almost every one of our administrative offices has bike racks outside of it to help support our team members, so thank you, and thank you, mayor. >> joel. travel sf. our tourists and visitors are noticing this experience. what are you saying? >> travel and tourism in -- is san francisco's number one industry. 80 million people come here every year, and more than 1/3 are from international countries that are used to riding bicycles. the more we can make the city accessible for cyclists, the more people can get out to walk or ride the city.