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Tuesday, March 12, 2019
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>> President Yee: good morning,
welcome to the March 12, 2019 meeting.
Madam Clerk, please call roll.
[Roll taken]
>> Clerk: all members are present. >> ladies and gentlemen, would
you please join me in the pledge
of allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america.
And to the republic for which it
stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
>> President Yee: so, on behalf
of the board I would like to
acknowledge the staff at sfgtv,
that would be michael and
kalina, who record each of our meetings and make the transcripts available to the
public online.
Madam Clerk, any communications.
>> Clerk: none to report.
>> President Yee: colleagues, approving the minutes from the
February 5, 2019, board meeting
and February 6, 2019, special
meeting minutes at the budget and finance committee meeting.
Are there any changes to these meeting minutes?
Seeing none, can I have a motion to approve the minutes as
presented? Approved after public comments. Please call the 2:00 special order.
>> Clerk: item number 1, welcome
the honorable mayor london
breed, present in the chamber to
engage with formal policy discussion, each question and
the corresponding answer two
minutes each. Public comment during general
public comment and May address
the board up to five minutes.
>> President Yee: do you have
any -- any open remarks?
>> Mayor Breed: I do, thank you
President Yee, members of the board, and the public. Great to be back in the chambers.
A number of hearings discussing our response to homelessness. The solution we all know to
addressing homelessness is to build more housing and provide more supportive services.
We can't just keep talking about
what we are doing, we must do more.
My shelter crisis legislation,
which will be before you next
week, helping us to maximize our
investments to deliver shelters
and services, to get our unhoused neighbors off the
streets and do it quickly with compassion. Thank you to the co-sponsors of
this legislation, supervisors
brown, walton, haney, mandelman
and stefani, and a safe navigation center in the south beach area.
I know district 6 is doing more
than its fair share in services and housing.
And reiterate commitment to find
other suitable shelter locations throughout the entire city.
My team is working around the
clock to vet sites that they are proposing to our office and I sincerely hope that we will be
able to announce a site west of van ness avenue this year. I look forward to your support
on our shelter crisis ordinance,
and shelter locations within the next week.
And with that, I'm happy to take your questions.
>> President Yee: thank you, mayor breed. madam clerk. Please call the first topic.
>> Clerk: topic was submitted by the board member representing
district 10, supervisor walton, regarding the violence
prevention services city-wide.
>> Supervisor Walton: thank you
so much, for being here with us this afternoon.
My question is when will there
be a point person coordinating
violence services city-wide.
>> Mayor Breed: thank you for your question and hopefully in the next couple of weeks. We plan to hire someone to help not only facilitate the
coordination of a number of services that we have to address violence prevention on our streets but also to propose the
kinds of policies that are going
to help make our streets safer.
As you know, based on your work
in the past young community developers, working with our street violent intervention program, we know that getting
involved and developing programs and working with members in the
community before anything
happens is a key to keep our community safe. Something I have been committed to my entire career and that's not going to change.
We need to make sure we are investing in the right programs. We provide opportunities for all
young people before they even
end up getting involved in our criminal justice system in any
capacity in the first place.
This is why I launched opportunities for all where we
will provide paid internship opportunities for all high school students in san francisco.
we have to really interrupt the cycle of violence that's sadly has destroyed our communities in san francisco for far too long by shifting and making the right investments and yes,
coordination of services is critical to the success of keeping our communities safe and
I am here to work with the
partner on these particular
efforts with you.
>> President Yee: thank you. You May now ask a follow-up question directly related to the
opening question if you have one.
>> Supervisor Walton: thank you
President Yee, and mayor breed. Opportunity for all, I'm excited about the initiative and the work that's going to be done through that.
Are there specific jobs
available with the community initiative work that's happened
the past summers with exposing
our young people to careers in
law enforcement, etc., under
opportunities for all, ex spapd
panding that?
>> President Yee: mayor breed
you May respond to the follow-up question.
>> Mayor Breed: the goal for opportunities for all is make sure every young person has access to an opportunity, but we
also understand that there are challenges with some young
people who May have difficulty add justing to a work environment and May need a little bit more support.
In fact, the 9,000 spots that we
have been able to secure, 1,000
of those spots are targeted at our young people who have really the biggest challenges, the ones who need a lot more support, a lot more attention and a lot more resources.
With the goal of providing opportunities, yes, through our
cadet academy, yes, through city
employment, yes, through our
non-profit agencies, but also so many opportunities that exist
right downtown in our financial district.
Our tech sector, our health care industry, all of these opportunities our young people need to get exposed to them now.
We need to begin the process of
creating a work force for the opportunities that exist here in san francisco with our young people in san francisco and it's something that I am extremely
committed to as someone who started off in the mayor's youth employment and training program, learned some of the basics about
working in a professional environment, what that did for my life provided opportunities that I never knew were possible.
But sadly, too many people that
I grew up with didn't have that opportunity because there
weren't always enough slots for young people.
No young person should be turned
away from being exposed to an opportunity to be successful and that's why opportunities for all
is so important because we can't continue to fail young people by
not exposing them at an early age to all that this city has to offer in terms of a great future
for each and every one of them.
>> President Yee: you May ask a question of supervisor walton or
any other in attendance, the
same topic but not necessarily
related to the previous yes. And mayor breed said she's good.
madam clerk -- I'll just call. Supervisor safai, you have a question.
Please go ahead and state it.
>> Supervisor Safai: thank you,
President Yee, mayor breed for
joining us today and for me the
topic I came up with had a lot
to do with the focus of -- for black history month, and that
tone was youth on the rise and made me think about the condition of african american
youth as well as latino, and other communities.
But in particular wanted to dive in on the condition of african american youth having worked with them over the years, beginning at the housing
authority and moving on to many other positions.
When we think about the current condition of that community when
it relates to the infant
mortality rate, when we think about the unemployment rate, when we think about the
graduation rate, when we think
about the incarceration rate,
probation rate and murder rate,
we see a community in crisis,
and as there's been a lot of
conversation in this chamber
about our unhoused population, and the condition of that community.
It is about the same size of the population of african american
youth, around 8,000 people. But yets the conversation is not in your face every day. I wanted to say to you, what are we going to do, what priorities
are you going to make to address
some of these crisis?
When you look at an unemployment
rate of 15% and incarceration rate, bookings almost at 40%, it is a community in crisis and I know you are committed to it but I wanted to see how you are
committed in this upcoming budget and as part of your priorities.
>> Mayor Breed: thank you supervisor safai for your very thoughtful question.
In fact, it's really sad -- I grew up of course as an african american kid going to public schools and I'm the exception in
terms of being able to succeed and not the norm.
And part of my life's work as I
said before was addressing a lot of the violence and challenges
that exist in the community that
prevented our young people who wanted to succeed, prevented
them from succeeding. And the investment in the right opportunities has been what the biggest problem is.
Look at the statistics in our san francisco unified school district and the schools that are the most, suffering the most in terms of the young people,
many of the schools in the southeast sector of our city.
And what does that mean? Challenges retention, mental
health support and services are
needed, to address the issues in
order to really target those particular schools and really wrap our arms around those young
people and invest in them in a
way we never have before to ensure their success. We got to be willing to do something that we have never done before.
Business as usual can't continue to happen.
And so investments in our budget
will of course include ways in which I can continue to work with the school district to
provide incentives for retention in those schools.
Mental health professionals, reducing the class sizes, opportunities for all and other programs with our non-profit
agencies who are effective in serving these young people. The truth of the matter, as someone who came from the non-profit world we know which
programs were effective in serving young people and which weren't.
And that can be the difference between life and death.
Can't be afraid when advocates
say don't take away my funding. We have to hold these organizations to do better and
how we allocate funding and work with different department heads.
Our kids and the future of san
francisco, especially young african american kids are
counting on us to make better decisions.
>> President Yee: supervisor safai, a follow-up question?
>> Supervisor Safai: I ran out of time. A lot of the conversation about
the out migration, 1980 the population of african americans was close to 20%.
Today it's 5% or less. And so if we are talking about
out migration, we have to think about the condition of those that are 18 or younger, and supervisor walton and I share
the highest concentration of 18
and under in the entire city. Highest concentration of african american youth and other youth
in the entire city and so for me
if you are going to have a
conversation about out migration, you have to talk about the next generation and how you provide a pathway for
that generation to remain in san francisco, whether it's employment opportunities and
away from -- you talked about the unified school district and incarceration rate.
We have to have solid intervention practices to keep a
population here that will see an
opportunity to not leave this city.
My follow-up question to build
on the previous one, how do you
plan to merge the two in terms of stopping the out migration and dealing with the existing population?
>> Mayor Breed: you know, in this city a number of the
policies, sadly, that we have
implemented have really
destroyed the fabric of a very thriving african american community. And I lived through it. It's one of the reasons why I
got actively engaged in the
political world because I got
tired of everyone else speaking for my community when I wanted
to speak, you know, with a voice
of someone who had lived through
it and I think part of what we have to do is make sure again that we make very creative policy decisions and make the right investments.
For example, we worked to pass neighborhood preference legislation through this board of supervisors and I've got to tell you it was really challenging and there was a lot
of double talk, you know, on the one end, you want african americans to have access and be in san francisco.
The other end, you don't want to support this legislation because you are concerned.
Well, the fact is, we got the legislation passed and it is working. There was just a hearing I think that you all held to show that folks in communities,
especially, you know, a number
of african americans, who have disproportion disproportionately left out of access to affordable homes ab
then not access once they are built, that it is working to help address the issue.
No, I can't turn back the hands
of time and right the wrongs we
know that have been done under
bad policies, including the former san francisco redevelopment agency but I will continue to do make sure we are calling out what we know the data has said for decades.
There is a real issue and we
need to make real investments. We can't keep saying we want to do it and when I present a budget to the board and ask for support in doing it and then all
of a sudden changes and other things more important. We have to put our money where our mouth is and those investments have to take place if we are going to make some
real change and we can't wait 'til tomorrow. We have to start today if we
want a better future, if we want to make sure the san francisco continues to be a diverse city, city we all love, we have to make these investments now for
the future.
>> Supervisor Safai: thank you.
>> President Yee: ok, mayor
breed, you May ask a question to
supervisor safai or any other
supervisor in attendance,
pertaining to the same topic but
not necessarily related to the
previous question.
>> Mayor Breed: all right. I'm ok.
Thank you very much.
>> President Yee: oh, darn. All right.
Well, I guess -- with no other
questions, I want to thank mayor
breed once again for joining us today.
This matter has been discussed and now filed. Ok.
Madam Clerk, can you please read the consent calendar.
>> 2-7 on consent, items are considered to be routine, a
member May object and cause an item to be removed and
considered separately.
>> President Yee: colleagues,
would anyone like to severe any
items from the consent agenda?
Seeing none, then Madam Clerk.
Call roll for items 2-7.
[Roll call vote taken]
>> President Yee: passed
unanimously.
Madam Clerk, go to the regular agenda.
Please call item eight.
>> Clerk: ordinance to retroactively authorize the
department on the status of
women to accept and ex pend
approximately $385,000 grant through the blue shield of
california foundation for domestic violence programs and provide for addition of one
grant funded part-time position beginning January 1, 2019,
through December 31, 2020.
>> President Yee: ok. Colleagues, can I have a motion to excuse supervisor walton from
this item?
motion, please, motion made by
supervisor stefani and seconded
by supervisor brown. Ok. Do I -- need a roll call for
this?
Roll call, please.
[Roll call vote taken]
>> President Yee: supervisor
walton excused.
Please call roll on this item.
[Roll call vote taken]
>> President Yee: this ordinance finally passed. 10-0 vote.
Madam Clerk, please call items 9 and 10 together.
>> Clerk: two ordinances called
together for 175 golden gate
avenue, also known as the academy.
Map one of the downtown area
plan to include 175 golden gate avenue in the downtown commercial district area.
Item 10 amends the map to rezone
from residential commercial high
density to commercial downtown
general, designate for
preservation purpose, and make
the appropriate finding for both items.
>> President Yee: roll call, seeing nobody on the roster.
On items 9 and 10.
[Roll call vote taken] Rz
11.
>> President Yee: finally passed unanimously.
>> Clerk: item 11, ordinance to
amend the police code to establish procedures for the office of cannabis to issue
permits authorizing sales or consumption and to provide a
mechanism for the waiver of
laws, amends the business tax and regulations code to
establish application fee for such permits to amend division
one of the transportation code,
temporary waivers of article 19l of the health code in connection
with events and to approve the
ceqa determination.
>> Supervisor Brown: every year san francisco's biggest cannabis
event happens in my district in golden gate park.
It's called 420.
As a district 5 supervisor, my highest priority is ensuring the safety of attendants, followed by mitigating issues of traffic
and cleanliness that impact the surrounding neighborhoods.
For this reason we really hope
this cannabis legislation would
be in place to permit on-site
cannabis spending in this year's 420. Unfortunately, there just was not enough to develop the regulatory framework and get
everything in place about of this year's event.
So, there will not be permitting cannabis sales on-site this year for 420. It's important attendees not
purchase cannabis from street vendors in or near the park.
Last year a horrifying number of
people had to be rushed to the
emergency room at the 420 event
as a result of cannabis-laced with fentanyl.
We are asking everyone to please tell their constituents and
friends to buy their cannabis
from legal dispensaries before
coming to 420. We just want everyone to be safe as possible. If passed, this legislation will
help us ensure that future, that
the 420 events are safer and I hope you can support this. Thank you.
>> President Yee: supervisor mar.
>> Supervisor Mar: thank you, President Yee. I just wanted to start by saying
I support the intent of this legislation to regulate existing
sales and use of cannabis at
events, especially cannabis-focussed events like the 420 event. And this is an important effort to promote public safety and public health in cannabis use and sales. But I'm concerned about how this
May undermine our existing
policies and protections from secondhand smoke exposure.
It's very well-known, you know,
by the board, and by the public,
that the serious dangers of
secondhand smoke exposure and there's tens of thousands of
people that die from that every year.
And this is why over many years
the public health community has
worked very hard to create laws
and policies to protect first
workers in the workplaces from secondhand smoke exposure and then those laws that have been
expanded to public spaces. So, I have a question for the
city attorney about this legislation.
State law section 11362.3 of the
health and safety code,
prohibits smoking cannabis or smoking products wherever smoking tobacco is prohibited.
Would this ordinance potentially allow permits for tobacco smoking at certain outdoor events since the consumption of
cannabis and tobacco are linked by state law?
>> deputy city attorney.
The ordinance would not allow special permits for tobacco smoking, but if there is an
event permitted by the office of
cannabis, and the city waives --
the prohibitions on smoking say in a park that would otherwise apply, then both tobacco and cannabis smoking would be allowed under this ordinance,
and that is because of the state law restriction that you mentioned.
>> and Mr. Givner, any way to
delink cannabis and tobacco use in what we are trying -- what
the intention of this
legislation is, given the state framework? >> I don't believe we could
write this ordinance in a way
that would allow smoking of
cannabis, but not allow smoking of tobacco.
>> if we create permits for cannabis consumption, we would
be legally obligated to legally
permit tobacco consumption.
>> it depends how you word it.
Allows cannabis smoking, then we
also must allow tobacco smoking.
We could allow cannabis consumption other than smoking
without allowing other types of consumption.
>> thank you.
So I -- I guess I, I guess given
all the work that the public health community and I would say even the board of supervisors
have taken to protect workers and the broader community from
secondhand smoke exposure, and that includes 15 different ordinances that we passed here
at the board of supervisors,
creating smoke-free spaces, one
of which is smoke-free outdoor
events ordinance, I can't
support a carve out or weakening
of our no smoking ordinance understanding these dangers.
So, I would propose amending the
legislation to limit permits to
sales only or to sales only or
to limit cannabis consumption to ingestion only rather than
smoking.
>> President Yee: motion on the floor.
Is there a second for this?
Seconded by supervisor safai. Supervisor safai, do you have a comment?
>> Supervisor Safai: actually
had a question for the office of cannabis. Through the chair. How many events do you
anticipate this legislation
would potentially impact?
>> thank you for the question, supervisor.
In the pilot phase, about seven events.
>> can you name those events? >> sure. Eugene hillsman, acting
director, office of cannabis.
Right now we have 420, outside
lands, hardly strictly, how
weird, clusterfest, pride and carnival. >> to give us background through
the chair, what was the motivation for this?
Were there individuals or event promoters that were asking for this opportunity? >> question to me? >> yes. >> sure. So, I think one of the things we wanted to do is essentially
create a pathway for regulated activity with a situation in which we saw significant amounts of unregulated consumption and
to create a legal pathway for consumption that we knew was tested product in places in
which there was already existing consumption.
>> just for -- you don't have to answer this question. Maybe to deputy city attorney.
Do we allow the consumption of
alcohol in public parks?
>> Mr. Givner.
>> I cannot remember whether the
code specifically prohibits
alcohol or weather rec park
regulates it in certain spaces. I could find it out probably during this conversation.
>> the reason I ask for the record, there are some
activities that go on somewhat unregulated but don't necessarily have the former policy authorization.
So, just wondering, and many of
these events have informal and formal alcohol consumption and I
understand the nature of the intent of what supervisor brown has highlighted, and I
understand this is an ongoing issue.
I just was curious, because sometimes there's informal and for malpractices.
I also am worried about the
issue of the inability to
decouple tobacco smoke and the smoking of marijuana.
It is legal, legalized, but
there is a big difference in
terms of the impact to people's health.
Tobacco and so it's a little bit
harder for me to open that door
again for the smoking of tobacco at these types of events. When we spent so many years working against that.
I'm just curious about what the origination of it was. There was one event that happens
once a year, grown bigger and bigger or now the intent, we
went through a whole process of authorizing and I was one of the
lead authors of that, of
authorizing moving from medical cannabis to adult sale and on-site consumption and we went through a significant, significant process with the department of public health to
regulate the exposure of smoking
and on-site consumption, and I
think there's only, what, 7 or 8
dispensaries that have that authorization.
So, now we would be expanding
that to a public place and exposure and some ways in contradiction to the policies
that we spent a lot of time to
put in place to not expose people to secondhand smoke whether it's tobacco or marijuana. So I just wonder if this is somewhat of a contradiction of the work we have already put in place, although well intended.
>> President Yee: was there a question?
>> no, more of a statement.
>> Supervisor Mandelman: thank you, President Yee.
You know, I think as we look -- the intention of this language
is not to open up a new category of events where we are going to
be allowing cannabis smoking where it has never happened before. What we are recognizing here is that there are events and have
been for a time and memorial where people have been smoking
cannabis and as supervisor brown
pointed out, with some anxiety,
last year 420 as a semi
unregulated event was an event
where 12 people purchased fentanyl-laced cannabis.
This is a public health, life and safety issue.
We want to have these events to
be legal, permitted, safe, and I
think as powerful as the city
and county of san francisco is, the notion that we can dictate
that people stop smoking cannabis on 420 or other events
is not -- is not something that
I want to put to the test.
So, I'm not, again, in
sponsoring this legislation and putting in this amend which was requested by the department to have to oversee these events, I'm not suggesting that we want
to backslide in terms of our commitment to stopping people
from smoking, and discouraging activities that cause lung cancer and other problems. But I think that for this very
small number of events that we
need to get regulated legalized
and safe, 420 top of the list, and again, as supervisor brown said, that is not going to happen this year. People are going to need to look
out for their own safety.
They should not be purchasing cannabis at 420, but going forward I think we need to recognize the reality a very small number of events people will be smoking cannabis,
expecting to smoke cannabis, smoking cannabis, whether or not
we allow that and if we want to
actually effectively regulate those events we need a provision like the one here in this subsection e.
So, I would encourage colleagues
to reject the proposed amendment and vote for the resignation. Thank you.
>> Supervisor Brown: yes, thank you.
One of the reasons that i
decided to pull 420 out of being
a regulated cannabis event where we can sell cannabis at the
event is because with cannabis
sales you have to be 21.
So, between 18 and 21 we didn't
have a plan and I knew for 420 that was not going to work to
try to carve and push 18 to
21-year-olds back from this regulated event, permitted event
was not going to work. We didn't have enough time to figure this out. 420 this year will probably
bring in 20 to 25,000 people
around hippie hill and haight ashbury. When I'm talking to the police about it, they even say it's
something that's hard to control.
And so for us to think that we
are going to be able to control
smoking at these events is going
to be pretty impossible. And as we are planning for this
event this year, my main concern
is the health of people coming
to the event and not buying
cannabis anywhere on the streets
at the event, which now that it's legal people think oh, hey,
I can buy cannabis, everything must be safe.
That's not the case. And we saw that last year. And so I am going to be doing press releases and we are going
to be talking and I'm going to actually tell people where they can go as they are walking up
all the cannabis clubs, as they are walking up or taking a bus
up to haight ashbury where they
can stop if they are 21 to buy
their cannabis.
I just feel -- I've been to 420
many times as someone who was a legislative aide and trying to go in there to feel the temperature and yeah, you get
pretty much a contact high and there is smoke everywhere. So, I mean, you don't even need to buy cannabis if you smoke it,
you get the high hanging out there.
But it is -- it's just something
that we have to control safety-wise and safety of the neighborhood and merchants.
A lot of merchants close during this, it's just too much.
So, I feel that now that it's
legal we have to make these choices to regulate it.
They are going to smoke, they
are going to smoke at hippie
hill and around it, anyone that doesn't want to be around smoke.
I say 420, stay away from haight
ashbury and hippie hill, thank you.
>> President Yee: mandelman.
>> Supervisor Mandelman: I think office of cannabis May have some insight into how smoking would
work at the very small number,
perhaps only one event where
smoking would be permitted and pursuant to state law.
So if the office of cannabis
could pea in how it May work in practice. >> thank four your question.
So the state regulations do require a separate and distinct
premises for smoking area, so there is a requirement the area be compartmentalized. We would work with our partners
at the city -- excuse me, the department of public health to
develop a framework for
consumption permits as they do
for regulate businesses for
retailers, written consumption
regulations and we follow them.
>> President Yee: supervisor mar.
>> Supervisor Mar: again, I do
support the intent of the
legislation to properly regulate
cannabis smoking and consumption at events like 420 and the six other events mentioned. I assume those are events, I
have not been to them myself, but where this is happening
already in an unregulated manner. It's important from a public health perspective.
You know, my concern is how this
might lead to undermining of all
the work this we have done to create protections from secondhand smoke, including outdoor events in san francisco.
So I guess I have a question,
maybe for the department of cannabis.
What's the protocol for like
adding more events, or to consider other events beyond the
seven that you just mentioned
that would be considered for -- >> thank you, supervisor.
One of the things it allows us
to do, inform the process for
moving forward so a limited pool in pilot phase, seek to understand best practices,
evaluate the success or failure of the pilot process, then
consider regulation, a process
in which the pool is finite and going forward, another
conversation about how to permit future events. One of the things we have discussed before at the recommendation of supervisor
fewer is to include a report that would essentially provide the information to informed decision making going forward.
>> President Yee: ok.
Thank you, Mr. Hill. supervisor safai.
>> Supervisor Safai: through the chair, just have one last question.
So, I mean, I guess part of my point was similar to the alcohol question.
Is there going to be a designated area where it's going
to be encouraged, and are you going to then enforce when people are not smoking in that area? I believe it's going to be pretty hard, if there are 25,000
people, pretty much all of them smoking, right?
So, are we are really going to be getting into enforcement? I'm truthfully being serious.
It's hard to -- I don't think there's going to be enforcement. I think it's going to be encouragement to follow the
rules and then so my question is
similar to the, we have rules on the books for alcohol consumption in parks but I
mean -- they are not ever really enforced, and I'm not saying we shouldn't be making laws to create better behavior, but I just wonder, are we getting into
an issue of enforcement, are we creating policy and/or undermining other areas we spent a lot of time? That's one of the biggest problems I have with what's being proposed.
Not that it's not well intended, I don't see at the end result there's going to be a significant impact on change in behavior. That's essentially what I'm trying to say.
I just wonder if you wanted to comment on that. Do you really think the proposed policy is going to change
behavior or create an avenue to hopefully strive toward a changing of behavior?
>> what this would do is essentially, it would not
replace existing enforcement authority. Office of cannabis thinking about our responsibility would
allow for the regulation of cannabis businesses, for people
engaged in sales, those would be permitted cannabis retailers in
which we have a number of opportunities to restrict bad behavior. In thinking about things like
selling to underage youth, we would have notice of violations in serious cases, even possibility of revocation of permit.
So, in thinking about the public health requirement and public safety, that's the reason why we would think about enforcement
for people who are able to participate in sales. In the pilot phase, one of the things we have committed to
doing is essentially having a member from the office of
cannabis on sites to make sure
that operators were engaging in compliant behavior.
>> President Yee: supervisor
mar, restate your motion so that
we are clear what we are voting on this amendment.
>> Supervisor Mar: proposed
amending the legislation to limit permits to sales only or
to limit cannabis consumption to
ingestion only rather than smoking.
>> President Yee: a motion made
and seconded by supervisor safai. Roll call.
>> before you do, this deputy
city attorney. This is an amendment we have not
prepared or signed off on at this point.
What the board could do today is
reverse the amendment made in committee, amendment made in
committee allowed the city to
waive no smoking requirements in
places where there is a permit
for a cannabis event. If you would like to go beyond
that and limit ingestion or
otherwise modify the ordinance, you should, the board should
continue a week and make the
amendment next week.
>> President Yee: what's your pleasure, supervisor mar?
>> Supervisor Mar: you know, since I wasn't at the committee
meeting where that amendment was made, can you just describe it a
little bit more?
>> President Yee: supervisor mandelman.
>> Supervisor Mandelman: I --
maybe
>> maybe describe the purpose or how it works.
The document in front of you on
today's agenda shows all the amendments that were made in committee in double underline font.
So essentially, the amendments
as the title reflects provide a
way for the city to waive the prohibition on smoking where
there is a cannabis permitted event.
Beyond that, I defer to the
office of cannabis on the policy.
>> President Yee: Mr. Hill. >> is the specific question what
the opportunity is to restrict sales and whether that will be
allowed?
what does the amendment do?
>> to waive the ordinance for smoking -- >> basically, sorry, if you have anything on top of what I said to clarify. >> I don't, I don't have any
addition.
>> President Yee: and supervisor mandelman, do you have a response?
>> Supervisor Mandelman: the
amendment is in 1621.5 events,
the amendment is the addition of
subsection e, temporary waiver of certain city laws.
City entity May after discretion considering public health and safety temporarily waive for a period not to exceed the
duration of the proposed event,
any city law that would restrict
or prohibit smoking, blah blah blah. I think what the counsel is suggesting to strike that
addition here at the board, so
May be that that's what, or alternatively, suggesting continuing. >> I would suggest we don't do either. But I think -- I'll leave that --
>> and sorry, just for, just to
technical clarity, additional
amendment on page seven, section four, amending the
transportation code to be consistent with the amendment
supervisor mandelman referenced.
>> President Yee: ok.
Once again, supervisor mar, do
you have a preference?
>> Supervisor Mar: I appreciate
the suggestion from Mr. Givner
and I think what you proposed would better address my concern
around wanting to maintain our strong protections against secondhand smoke at public events. So, what would be the motion that I would make?
>> President Yee: I think you
need to withdraw your motion. The original motion first.
Would you like to withdraw --
>> and I would like to know what would be the new motion.
>> President Yee: ok.
>> it's essentially a motion to
amend the ordinance to remove
the provisions that would allow a waiver of the prohibition on
smoking. >> thank you.
So, I would like to withdraw my
first motion.
And then -- and then I would
like to make a new motion to
amend legislation removing
the --
to remove the provisions that would permit the city to waive
smoking prohibitions.
>> President Yee: ok. There's been a new motion made
and is there a second?
Seconded by supervisor safai.
Roll call on this amend, please.
[Roll call vote taken]
>> Clerk: there are two aye and
nine no, with walton, yee,
brown, fewer, haney, mandelman,
peskin in the dissent.
>> President Yee: fails.
Roll call on the item.
>> Clerk: on the original item.
[Roll call taken]
>> Clerk: there are nine aye,
and two no, supervisors safai
and mar in the dissent.
>> President Yee: passed on first reading. Madam Clerk, I think we are
passed our 2:30 commendations. Call that, please?
>> Clerk: yes, supervisor walton, mandelman and ronen would like to honor members of
our community.
>> President Yee: ok.
So, why don't I ask supervisor walton to go ahead and bring up
your honoree.
>> Supervisor Walton: thank you so much, President Yee.
So today, as part of the month-long celebration of
international women's day, I am honoring visitation valley
native, Miss Sonna yee.
Granddaughter of 88, a visitation valley resident, fell victim to unfortunate crime in January. Since the incident, Miss Yee has
been inspirational in creating
racial unity and healing spaces between communities through various community spaces.
She has dedicated her time to
trans formative justice, improvings public safety across our communities and working with our office and President Yee's
office to increase bilingual offices.
Miss Yee is a transformational
activist and bilingual yoga teacher, passionate about health and wholeness on all levels.
Teaches yoga through the lens of access and trauma providing
compassionate support to underserved and underrepresented
communities such as at risk and immigrant populations. By giving people the tools to
connect deeper with themselves
and each other, she firmly
believes we can heal core
wounds, build resilience, and transform many lives.
The ripples of infinite. Her own journey has showed her
what is possible, peace is possible. Therefore, Miss Yee not only
sees viscerally feels the connection between an individual's pain and the pain of a community. It is the same.
She now embarks on the journey
of healing visitation valley and
knows that peace in the southeast corner of san francisco is possible.
I want to thank Miss Yee and her
entire family for your courage,
resiliency, and inspiration. Thank you for your dedication to
building racial unity and transformative justice. You are an avid leader in building bridges and healing our southeast neighborhoods such as visitation valley.
Thank you for being such an
inspiration across all communities by creating a
powerful healing space for peace.
And I just want to say that in
the day we were sworn into
office we had a violent incident
happen to one of our seniors in vis valley, the grandmother of Miss Yee. Most people would not be able to
necessarily process that and
focus on positive and bringing community together and unifying community. Miss Yee has worked hard to do
that along with her family, and
we honor and commend her for that.
And President Yee, I would like
for her to say a couple of years.
>> President Yee: I want to
thank you and susana all you
have done in transforming this
tragedy into powerful community organizing and healing.
I have been so inspired by you,
susana, and look forward to our
continued collaboration to bring the necessary resources to
provide the safety and security our communities so deserve. So, at this moment I would like
to give you an opportunity to
say a few words. >> could I just echo supervisor --
>> sorry, I just wanted to add
in my also personal admiration for you.
You are just larger than life
extraordinary human being as supervisor walton and President Yee said. You have inspired us so much on the board of supervisors and I just feel very grateful that I
have met you, and I've learned
from watching you, you know, just operate with tremendous grace and understanding and
empathy in the most trying times and really congratulate you today.
Thank you, supervisor walton, for honoring this extraordinary
person.
>> President Yee: susana. >> wow, thank you, thank you to
the board of supervisors,
President Norman yee, supervisor
walton and his chief of staff, natalie, and responsiveness to
the needs of the community. The police department and the hospital staff for your tireless, would, thank you to our neighbor who called the police, thank you to all the community leaders for your
compassionate work bridging our
communities and family and friends for your love and support.
While this award is for me, it's not about me.
This recognition is for paw paw,
the true inspiration, I saw her at the hospital yesterday and
she's able to say her name. Yes. Yes.
Ma is her maiden name.
This is also for my ma, who is so brave and outspoken.
For my extended family who loves each other so much. So I see this recognition as the
city's way of saying hey, young lady, keep shining that light
into dark corners, keep bringing
peace to the southeast corner of san francisco.
I will use my pain to transform it into our collective gain.
I will use my words instead of
my fists because I know an eye
for an eye will make the whole world blind. Ghandi and Dr. Martin luther
king moved mountains with their nonviolent ways, galvanized the country to make changes. Time for us to step out of our suffering, to not suffer in
silence, to speak up for justice. You'll find that suffering is
actually the bread crumb that will lead you into the light and into the darkness.
I know that firsthand.
I wonder what lessons we can
gain from our own personal pain.
So, after an horrific crime we hear people saying we need public safety.
Well, I kept wondering what does safety really mean?
I wonder when it takes to feel safe in these bodies that hold so much trauma.
You all know what it feels like to keep checking behind you to
make sure you are not stalked. These feelings of constant
vigilance sends adrenalin
through our nervous systems
24/7, stress over time, stress
causes diseases, diseases of the nation.
Join me in a creative healing
space, many spaces where people
can feel safe, can be fully seen. Where they can express
themselves without judgment. Lastly, I want you to remember
these words by Dr. Martin luther king.
Power without love is wreckless and abusive.
Love without power is
sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love
implementing the demands of
justice and justice at its best is power changing everything
that stands against love. I hope your love for grandma,
who represents all our grandmas,
is not only sentimental, but can
implement the demands of justice. I know all of our love can transform hurt. Join me in this effort. Thank you.
[Applause]
>> thank you, everyone.
>> President Yee: thank you, susana.
Next I would like to ask supervisor mandelman, please
share your commendations.
>> Supervisor Mandelman: karen
lee around?
Come on up.
Karen lee is amazing.
She's tenacious, bay area native
and valley resident since 2010. Last year she received the
letter that every tenant living in san francisco fears, she
received a notice of the eviction at her building.
This is the third eviction
notice that karen has received
and no fault eviction at various residences around san francisco. But this time karen decided to fight. She organized her fellow tenants
and made it clear that she and her artist housemates would not go quietly. She was and remains determined
to not be one of the hundreds of
district 8 residents to be displaced over the last decade, and she's not stopped there,
with just her own building.
Karen has taken the next step to
help her fellow san franciscans.
Last week she organized and to
get out the word to make sure
her neighbors were aware of
their rights and stand up for no cause evictions.
Last year she received a year extension, but that will expire the end of this month. Karen will keep on fighting and continue to inspire others to
stand up and in the best of san francisco, best san francisco tradition, organize and fight back. On behalf of the board of supervisors, I want to extend my heartfelt commendation to karen
lee for all that she's done for her neighbors and the wider san
francisco community. >> thank you, supervisor mandelman.
Board of supervisors. I'm karen lee. And I would like to tell you briefly the story of how I came to be standing here. Our original landlord purchased
what we lovingly refer to as the
compound in 1970 and as an artist ab teacher, recognized her friends and colleagues were
not able to afford to live in
san francisco so she bought the
property and rented the units
below market to keep us in the
city. Three of the six units have been occupied by the same tenants over 20 years.
We knew we had something very special, we cared for the
property, fixings it ourself,
and created an amazing sanctuary.
Also ran a small art gallery for emerging artists. Last year she was forced to put the compound up for sale. What we didn't realize, we were
a speculator's dream come true.
Long tenancy, loving care of the property and lower income meant we were prime target for speculation. Speculators seek out properties
with high percentage of seniors, disabled and low income tenants. Rent rules are lower so the sale
price is a song and speculators world.
And then by simply clearing the buildings of tenants, the
buyouts and evictions, increased
property value by 20 to 30% and increases the profits more, as
they renovate them to luxury units to sell at huge profits. Nothing more than pure greed
that are driving the evictions
and speck la tory housing market this moment and it's predatory.
In days of purchasing the
compound, the speculator began
buyout negotiations and
threatening eviction. Three of us took buyouts, two are still here. Sadly the compound is not unique
in the make-up. I know this for a fact.
With these evictions, I became
part of a new community. I learned my speculator was
either do that to three other buildings the same time as us. Thanks to cynthia at the housing rights committee, we all found
each other, banded together and
began meeting regularly to
compare notes, warn each other of the tactics. Adam is the speculator, we called ourselves the adam's
family and I could not have had the courage to fight without them.
I understand most people can't
fight these evictions as I have
been able to. Ironically, I am also a small property owner and landlord.
In 2015, my aunt passed away
leaving my sister and I a rental property.
Inspired by my former landlord,
teks, we chose to keep 50% below
market to rent to librarians,
teachers, non-profit workers.
My sister is a farmer, I'm a
gardener, combined income is laughable. My accountant said when I told him of our plans, I would like
to remind you that you are in no financial position to be offering subsidized rents. In fact, the property manager we
hired to help us at the beginning wanted us to charge twice as much for a unit and we told him we were not interested
in charging that, he fired us. As the tenant in san francisco
and a landlord in the bay area,
I see firsthand how the framework of our housing
policies tip in the favor of greed and speculation.
And sb50 on the horizon is a developer give away.
Why aren't there incentives for landlords to keep units below
market and offer affordable housing.
Why aren't they incentives to
sell in the land trust and why
as tenants when we get evicted, only to be informed no money to compete in the housing market. San francisco is not having so
much of a housing crisis but an affordability crisis.
All of us getting evicted joke, we can find lots of places to live in san francisco, just can't afford them.
The tenants who depend on our
affordable housing to live here are some of the city's most diverse and needed citizens.
As policy makers of the city, I implore you to find ways to save
our affordable housing stock a
priority, because the greed is destroying the city and its communities. Thank you so much.
>> thank you, karen. I want to acknowledge cynthia from housing rights committee is here as well. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your work in my district and all of our districts.
>> President Yee: thank you.
>> President Yee: ok. Thank you.
Now let's go to supervisor ronen.
>> Supervisor Ronen: thank you
so much.
I would like to call up members of the defense of prostitute
women safety project. Hello, thank you so much for being here.
This month we are honoring the contributions of women across
the globe and it's a fitting opportunity to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the san francisco-based coalition that
works to increase safety for some of the most vulnerable
women in our society. Today I'm honoring the in defense of prostitute women's safety project.
Formed in 1998, the defense
project is a collaborative effort.
Legal action for women, women in
dialogue, and the U.S. Collective. Support services for women and lgbtq sex workers and to develop
public awareness campaigns to educate the general public. Project was born out of the historic reality that sex workers across the country have
had to endure paralyzing stigma
and increasing cycles of violence.
Due to sexism, bias and multiple forms of oppression, violence
against sex workers is often
silenced and often the violence is viewed as an unfortunate side effect of the job. Some california police
departments have referred to sex
workers who have been brutally
murdered as subhumans,
classifying them as N.H.I., no humans involved. In defense of prostitute women safety project has been challenging these trends for
their 20 years of effective advocacy. This ordinary organization is
led by fearless women, working tirelessly to ensure the safety
and dignity of sex workers
through community outreach,
education, policy advocacy. Organizational motto is, when
sex workers are not safe, no
woman is safe.
Currently the project is working with senator scott wiener to
pass bill 233 we have a resolution to support that as well, shields sex workers from the threat of prosecution when reporting violent crimes.
This bill would extend local protections that we already have here in san francisco for sex workers to the state level and
also prohibit the use of
condemns as prosecution for sex work. Thank you for your work to advocate for the rights of some
of the most vulnerable women and gender nonconforming people in
san francisco and throughout the state.
We honor your 20 years of service and thank you for your
20 years to expand safety for everyone in our society.
[Applause]
>> thank you very much,
supervisor and all of you. We are very proud that the city
of san francisco, where there is
a strong sex worker rights movement, is working on ending
violence against sex workers and
we are the three groups that
make up, sydney from women in
dialogue, I'm from the U.S. Collective, and attorney, and
the three of us collaborate.
We had a celebration in a city room before this hearing, and we
look back at, you know, when we
first started in 1998, and at
that time you know, violent men,
attackers of sex workers and other women were regularly let out on bail.
You might remember the case of
jack bowcan, attacked three
women and was let out of jail,
and attacked a fourth woman.
Three of them were prostitutes,
twice, despite of 22 charges against him for violence he was let out of jail. And that was the kind of thing that happened at that time and
sex workers were denied compensation for rape.
And we had a year-long campaign
to get the state compensation program to grant compensation which should be a right, it shouldn't -- you shouldn't be discriminated against and we won that fight.
So, we feel like you know, in
the 20 years we are seeing
progress and as has been mentioned, there are city policies now. It took three years to get them
where we met, we and other organizations met with the
police and the district attorney's office for three
years and hammered out the fact
that sex workers can't report rape enough and afraid of the
police they will be arrested
themselves if they report rape.
We got those policies, very
solid policies for amnesty from arrest and prosecution reporting
when you go and report rape, and
we are very pleased that that's
being extended to
california-wide with this bill,
sb233, which we are supporting.
Unfortunately, nationwide as we know, there are terrible laws
coming down, one forcing more women out on to the streets
where it's way more dangerous to work. We are seeing the streets in the mission as a result, you know,
all areas of the bay area, more
women out there in the streets, disproportionately women of color because of less resources and less access to safer places. Very young women on the streets. People are horrified, what's going on? Well, these kind of laws are coming down.
So, you know, we are glad san
francisco is setting an example
as it always does and the state takes it up. And working to end violence against sex workers. Thank you.
[Applause]
>> President Yee: someone have
their phone on?
>> President Yee: ok. Thank you.
So, Madam Clerk, let's go back
to our regular agenda and call items 12 and 13 together.
>> Clerk: item 12 is resolution
to approve amendment number 1 authorizing the director of real
estate to extend a lease of real property at 1360 mission street
with fsp216 mission street llc
as landlord, through September 21, 2020, base rent of
approximately 321,000, 3% annual increase. Item 13, resolution to authorize the director of real estate to
enter into a lease of real
property located at 729 filbert street with william j. Piedmonte
as landlord for a five-year
term, annual base rent approximately 531,000.
>> President Yee: ok.
Roll call please.
[Roll call vote taken]
>> Clerk: nine aye.
>> President Yee: resoluted
adopted, 9-0.
Madam Clerk, next item.
>> Clerk: 14, approve amendment
number 1, conard house and department of public health for
behavioral health services to
increase the agreement amount by 36.2 million, not to exceed
44.8 million and to extend the
term by four years for total
agreement term through June 30, 2023.
>> President Yee: same house,
same call, without objection.
This resolution is adopted.
Madam Clerk, 15 through 17 together.
>> three resolutions to
authorize the fire department to expend and accept grants.
15, approximately $400,000 grant from the federal emergency
management agency to purchase
rescue boat, September 21st,
through June 30, 2021.
And $2.7 million grant from the
federal emergency management agency for tools, and to waive
and direct cause. Item 17, the fire department training division, authorizes the fire department to accept
and expend donation of a roof
training prop valued at $24,000
from j and j roof prop.
>> Clerk: 15 through 17.
[Roll call vote taken]
>> Clerk: ten aye.
>> President Yee: ok.
Resolutions adopted. 10-0. Please call the next item.
>> Clerk: resolution to retro
actively, friends of laguna
health, for the gift fund for
materials, supplies and services
at laguna honda.
>> President Yee: same house,
same call, adopted unanimously.
>> Clerk: item 19, resolution to
retroactively approve a contract agreement between the city and
dominion voting
systems inc.,
for the software and supportive
services through March 31, 2033,
21-year options to extend, and
not to exceed 12.6 million.
>> President Yee: please call roll.
[Roll call vote taken]
>> President Yee: thank you. Resolution is adopted
unanimously. Madam Clerk, please call the next item.
>> Clerk: resolution to nominate
supervisor aaron peskin for the north coast central seat on the
california coastal commission.
>> President Yee: do you want to say something before I --
>> Supervisor Peskin: I would
like to be recused.
>> President Yee: so motion to
excuse supervisor peskin from this item.
Made by supervisor fewer, and
seconded by supervisor mandelman. Objection, supervisor peskin is
excused without objection. Roll on this item.
[Roll call vote taken]
>> Supervisor Stefani: is it ok
to proceed or --
>> President Yee: can we --
rescind the votes, please.
>> Clerk: motion to rescind the vote.
>> President Yee: made by
supervisor fewer and seconded by supervisor mandelman. Vote is rescinded. Supervisor stefani.
>> Supervisor Stefani: thank
you, President Yee. Colleagues, happy to carry this resolution to nominate supervisor peskin to the coastal commission.
He has served on the commission
since March of 2017, seeking reappointment for a four-year
term through May of 2023. Decades in experience of environmental and land use policy and he has proven to be a capable mediator on land use issues before the commission. Diligently attended meetings and
I know he will continue to do so for another term.
If nominated for another term, he understands the need to balance public access to the coast with the need to prepare for the environmental impacts of sea level rise and I'm learning
how true that is as I serve as
his alternate on the bay commission.
And commission for the north coast central seat on the
california coastal commission.
>> President Yee: thank you,
roll call, please.
[Roll call vote taken]
>> Clerk: ten.
>> President Yee: resolution adopted unanimously.
Madam Clerk, please call item number 21.
>> Clerk: motion to appoint
roisin isner and richard rothman
to the open space advisory committee.
>> President Yee: please call the roll.
[Roll call vote taken]
>> President Yee: this motion is
approved unanimously. Madam Clerk, please go to
committee reports.
>> Clerk: item 22, considered by the government audit and oversight government at a regular meeting on thursday,
March 7 and was forwarded as a committee report.
We have an ordinance to authorize settlement of multiple
lawsuits filed by 1049 market
street against the city. Challenges the city's enforcement of the planning codes requirements for conditional use authorization
for elimination of residential uses and the city's enforcements
of planning and building code violations against the property owners of 1049 market street.
Settlement would provide for a
loan in 2.4 million by the city.
>> President Yee: colleagues,
same house, same call, without objection. Passed unanimously on first reefing.
>> Clerk: supervisor safai for new business.
>> President Yee: that means pay attention.
>> Clerk: supervisor stefani.
>> Supervisor Stefani: please defer.
>> Clerk: supervisor walton.
>> Supervisor Walton: requesting resignation with supervisor haney from the city attorney to
work on creating an independent
and oversight body for the sheriff's department,
allegations of misconduct allegations and consequences
when allegations are proven. The san francisco sheriff's department as a law enforcement
agency lacks an oversight body.
Multiple cases of allegations of
mistreatment of inmates and district attorney's office dismissing a case against a
former employee and two current employees of the sheriff's department demonstrates the need
for oversight on the sheriff's accident.
As we heard in the hearing at
government and audit oversight
committee last thursday, the sheriff's department should not be conducting their own
investigations of allegations about misconduct.
When the sheriff's department opens an investigation, they
have one year to complete the investigation.
In 2016, the sheriff's
department opened up 62 internal investigations against their
sworn deputy officers.
Of those cases, 30% were sustained.
In 2017, sheriff's department
opened up 58 internal investigations.
And those cases, 26% were sustained.
In 2018, sheriff's department
opened up 119 internal
investigations, and 67 cases are still opened.
21 cases forwarded to the department of police accountability.
These cases were initiated on
December 3rd of 2018.
We continue to have families of inmates who have experienced abuse from sheriff's department
reach out to our office as well
as the public defenders office
for support for public
accountability of the sheriff's
department and we can in the sit by and let this happen.
[Please stand by]
-- this acknowledgement makes
this legislation more inclusive
by recognizing the surrounding nations that have moved in and out of this area. It ak
acknowledges the fact that san francisco was a site resulting in a large number of native people representing
native nations throughout america, all of whom contributed to the vitality of this city today.
These edits also remove incorrect references to
resolutions from other
localities and innovative and groundbreaking resolution that
our neighboring city of berkeley passed for the recognition of the aboriginal people of this land.
This closing I want to thank the
first nations for their 526
years of indigenous resistance.
And today I'm sad to report that
on sunday a person experiencing homelessness died on the street in my district.
At hayes and schrader. He was 64 years old. This is a small offering of acknowledgement of this person's death and therein their life.
Like all of us, he deserves dignity. There's so much that -- there's so much of this that is heartbreaking about his death,
but perhaps most of all is that
he is one of many deaths every year here.
Too many of these deaths are preventable.
We know that basic warmth, shelter and health care and food can be the disimps difference between life and death.
This death is also emblematic of
the growing number of seniors on
our streets.
As kevin feigen from "the chronicle" highlighted in his moving reporting this weekend, nearly half of older people first become homeless after the
age of 50, and the problem is especially acute here due to housing costs.
We must not be unaware of this plight of our neighbors or our seniors. In closing I would like to ask that we adjourn today's meeting in memory of the unnamed person who passed away on the street at
hayes and schrader this sunday.
may we pray for the dead but continue to fight like hell for the living.
The rest I submit. >> thank you, supervisor brown. Supervisor fewer.
>> Supervisor Fewer: thank you, Madam Clerk. I have a resolution in support
of H.R.1384, the medicare for all act.
The united states spends nearly twice as much per capita on
health care as all other comparable companies and ranks only 35th in the world by global health standards. There's currently no relationship between what health care costs in the U.S. And the quality of care or the access to care.
While the affordable care act
had the expansion of medicaid in some states and limits on some
insurance industry abuses, it's
still left tens of millions of
americans with a continuing crisis and in accessing care. According to a 2018 survey by
the west health institute at the university of chicago, more than 40% of all U.S. Adults under the
age of 65 forego needed medical care. 30% fail to fill a prescription
or take less than the recommended dose. And one-third said in the past year they had to choose between
paying for food, heating, housing or health care. The inability to pay medical bills continues to be a leading cause of personal bankruptcy and people who need medical care should never face bankruptcy as a result of needing care. The medicare for all act would establish guaranteed universal
health care for all U.S. Residents. Various stories, both conservative and progressive, have estimated that the U.S.
Would save from $2 trillion to $5 trillion over 10 years, over what our country is projected to spend under the current system
due to massive savings in administration costs, lower prescription drug prices and improved efficiency through a
uniform payment system without the waste for billing and marketing and profit taking. I would like to thank
supervisors mar and safai and
mandelman and peskin and stefani
and walton for signing on as co-sponsors of this resolution. The board of supervisor adopted a resolution supporting
california state senate bill
562, the californians for a healthy california act, that
would have established a
universal single-payer health care system in california. Health care is a human right and I hope that I can count on all of your support and reaffirming this city and the county of san francisco's support for universal health care. Thank you.
>> Clerk: thank you, supervisor fewer.
Supervisor haney. >> Supervisor Haney: colleagues, I ask that we
adjourn today's meeting in honor
of tess rosstein, tess rosstein
was a self-described world
traveler and a co-op founder and bicycle ist.
She formally worked at median. She graduated in 2012 from stanford with a degree in
psychology and a focus on anthropology. She was known as a creative
designer and an active community
educator and volunteer. Tess was deeply involved in her local community, advising and volunteering with bay area women
against rape, race ford, a racial justice innovation system, and the digital public library of america.
Last friday around 8:30 A.M.,
tess was riding her bike to work along howard street as she did
on most days, when she was tragically killed. She was just feet away from a protected bike lane. Her friends and colleagues have responded with an outpouring of love and sorrow online. I think that I have received over 300 emails about tess over the last three days. And I wanted to take a moment to
share some of their words. Tess was courageously curious and open-hearted. And we feel lucky to have worked with her, one colleague said.
And another colleague said,
"tess was one of the most curious, fearless people here. She was never afraid to ask the tough questions.
She was someone who owned the room and most of all compassionate. We were planning a trip to tokyo to meet our hosts and guests in two weeks.
I will Miss Her."
"tess was an incredible soul and
I'm sad that she's gone. Her death was not the result of
a bike accident, it was a fatal collision that should have been prevented by a protected bike lane. her many friend whose have reached out to me over the last
few days have expressed sadness, shock, frustration and anger. They also asked us to take
urgent action to save lives.
In honor of tess' life and cyclists who are impacted by street infrastructure, that is
severely lacking, we as a board must increase our resolve and action to make our streets safer for everyone.
To not put cyclists at risk we must put in place protected bike lanes for the full length of howard and fulsome streets and fast track progress on building our high injury corridor city-wide in the next year. I'm so very sorry that our city has failed tess and has failed
to make our streets safe for pedestrians and cyclists.
I mourn tess with her friends, family, colleagues, she was a kind, caring and compassionate soul she will be missed. Thank you to the hundreds of community members who have reached out and May you rest in
peace and possess, tess rosstein." the rest I submit.
>> Clerk: thank you, supervisor. Supervisor mandelman.
>> Supervisor Mandelman: thank you, Madam Clerk.
I have a memoriam and to adjourn
today's meeting in memory of
angus j. White who passed away in palm spring, california, at age will 1.
Angus was born in 1937, in car michael california to joseph
white senior and after
graduating from high school in sacramento, angus went on to earn degrees from U.C. Berkeley and the university of washington. He had a deep love of the french
language and cuisine and in 1959
traveled to france where he
taught english under a full fellowship. His passionate for music brought
him to the netherlands in 1963
to pursue harpsichord studies
before having a time in salzburg, austria.
He liked to play his music
written by bach.
Angus' love led him to write short stories entitled "after winter tales" and he was working
on "the lavender blade" and he
fell ill and passed thereafter. And he dedicated himself to service in each community. In the early days of the lgbt
center, angus was a steward,
helping to streab a resilient anchor for our community. He operated a charity that
donated artwork for displays in
hospitals and healing centers.
Angus is survived by his
husband, thomas, and his sister bonnie white of washington, and several cousins in california and michigan and a world of
beloved friends and admirers.
He will be missed for his generous spirit and his colorful wit. May he rest in peace and the
rest I submit.
>> Clerk: thank you, supervisor.
Supervisor mar.
>> Supervisor Mar: there's
been a lot of press coverage of tech companies set to go public this year. We have seen the aftermath when major start-ups go public
before, including facebook and twitter, transforming hypothetical money into real
money andmenting thousands of millionaires and billionaires overnight. Referring to the potential
consequences of these upcoming I.P.O.S, the "the new york
times" said, quote "thousands of new millionaires are about to eat san francisco alive."
as more companies look to go
public, including lyft and uner and airbnb and more, I'm calling
for a hearing on the impacts of multiple san francisco companies
reportedly planning to hold public offerings in the near future. This includes business tax revenues and housing costs and gentrification in our city.
I'm requesting that the
comptroller and tax collector to report. Thank you to supervisor haney
for co-sponsoring this hearing request.
I'm requesting information and policy recommendations from the
budget analyst on how large I.P.O.S have impacted us in past and how they might in the
future and how we as a city can
mitigate the most harmful consequences. As a city with one of the largest wealth gaps in the world we must better understand the consequences of this extreme inequality and a rapid injection of new wealth. We have already seen this before. We have already seen new wealth pour into this city to the benefit of the few and to the harm of the many.
We have seen its impacts, not just on our affordable housing crisis, but on traffic congestion and our transportation infrastructure, our public goods and services and the health and well-being of the people in communities who call this city home. We have a moral responsibility
to stand up in the face of growing wealth inequality and
demand that the forces fueling
these disparities pay their fair share. And as we grapple with what's
coming I will consider all possible policy solutions to
address it. Finally, I'm introducing an ordinance amending the campaign
and governmental conduct code to modify the deadline for participation in the city's
public financing program and the operation of the individual expenditure ceilings for participating candidates.
In my race in district 4 last year, two of my fellow candidates were disqualified from participating in public financing due to the unclear deadline for filing their
statements of participation. The administrative burden placed on grassroots independent candidates is high. And this ordinance will help to
prevent this unfair outcome going forward by giving an extra three days to file this
statement after the nomination deadline. In addition, this ordinance will
authorize the ethics commission to increase individual expenditure ceilings as soon as
this ceiling is broken by any amount. Rather than waiting to adjust it
until the full increment above the current ceiling is spent. this allows both the ceiling and campaigns themselves to be more responsive to outside spending
by super pacts and it gives campaigns a better chance to respond. This also increases the incremental adjustments to the
ceiling to $50,000 for
candidates and $250,000 for mayoral candidates to better
reflect the cost of campaigns
and empower candidates to respond to outside spending and reduce the huge number of adjustments to the ceiling currently being made by the
ethics staff, often multiple times per day. All together these amendments seek to streamline and modernize
and improve a few comb poapts of our successful public financing program. My office has worked closely with the ethics commission and the ethics staff and outside stakeholders on these amendments.
And this ordinance has already unanimously passed the ethics commission and now needs only the approval of this board to become law. I'd like to thank everyone who worked on this ordinance,
including ethics senior policy
analyst pat ford, and executive
director leann pellam, and
deputy city attorney andrew chin and the advocates, especially
steve hill and john gallanger. Colleagues, I look forward to engaging with you on this important issue in the coming weeks. The rest I submit.
>> Clerk: thank you. Supervisor peskin.
>> Supervisor Peskin: thank you, Madam Clerk.
I'd like to also close today in
the memory of Miss Katherine liu lo. She was married for over 60
years to the late Dr. Lao and is remembered by the chinese
community as his better half,
but cathy was also a champion for social justice in her own right and admired for her willingness to stand up and to
speak out for just causes,
advocating for the most disenfranchised through any number of organizations,
including ccaa, chinese for affirmative action and chinese hospital and scare and circle
club and was the recipients of many awards and honors. She passed away peacefully in the east bay on February 18th at the age of 82, and is
survived by their children,
larry, randy and yvonne and grandchildren, brennan and
lauren and marnie and the family invites family and friends to a funeral service at the chapel of
the chimes in oakland this sunday, at 2:00 P.M..
And in lieu of families the family requests that donations
be made in cathy's memory to 17 walter eulam place.
And the rest I will submit.
>> Clerk: thank you,
supervisor.
Supervisor ronen.
>> Supervisor Ronen: I'm introducing a ordinance for the office of the district attorney
to accept an extended grant in
$2 million from the john dean Mccarthy foundation. It's part of the safety and
justice challenge, $148 million
national initiative to reduce over incarceration by changing the way that america thinks about and uses jails. The hope and the reason that I'm talking about this publicly,
because generally we don't, is because we're hoping that this funding will help us to eliminate the need for a replacement jail facility, something that I know that we're
all struggling with greatly in this city. We don't want to build a new jail, but we know that we haven't reduced the population to the levels that we need to do
and we have more work in this area. And we're hoping that this grant
will help us in those endeavors. The district attorney's office and I are requesting that the President Grant a 30-day waiver, given the high priority of this project and the need to expedite
the hiring for the grant funded
positions and the rest I will submit.
>> Clerk: thank you, supervisor ronen.
Supervisor stefani.
>> Supervisor Stefani: today I have a resolution in line with supervisor walton's question to
mayor breed and mayor breed's responses, about championing the kind of policies that would make our streets safer and making sure that we're investing in the
right programs and investing in preventative measures to keep people out of the criminal justice system. The resolution that I'm introducing is in support of increased state funding for the california violence intervention
and prevention program, known as calvet.
It provides grants to community-based organizations
that work to save lives by preventing violence.
Last year more than 120 city and
community-based organizations
submitted grant applications but
there was only funding for 16 applicants. Luckily, huckleberry youth service, an organization in district 2 and right on the border of district 1 and supervisor fewer's district, was one of the community-based organizations that received funding. Huckleberry youth services for 50 years now has partnered with
teens and families to overcome adverity by working to strengthen families and empower young people with services that
promote safety in times of crisis.
Failing to address gun violence and all forms of violence has
fiscal and moral consequence, costing california taxpayers millions annually in health care, law enforcement, and criminal justice costs.
The financial burden on this date does not capture the toll of the lives lost, nor does the count for the effect on local communities which are often torn apart as a result of gun
violence, domestic violence and all forms of violence. We know that california is a
national leader in gun violence prevention yet it is underfunded
and our state lags behind others with highly successful analogous grant programs.
The current budget proposal has
$9 million for calvet for the next fiscal year. This resolution asks legislators
to increase that amount to $39 million. Other states such as new york
and massachusetts, allocate $1
per capita and $2 per capita respectively for similar programs.
The funding level is only.23
cents per capita in california.
An increase to $39 million will bring california more in line with states like new york. I would like to thank the activists out there that are championing this budget increase. And I know that this is an important step towards ending all forms of violence and the gun violence epidemic in our country. Thank you. The rest I submit.
>> Clerk: thank you, supervisor. Mr. President, that concludes the introduction of new business.
>> President Yee: thank you, colleagues. Madam Clerk let's go to public comment at this point.
>> Clerk: at this time the public May address the entire board of supervisors for up to
two minutes on the subject
matter of jurisdiction items, including the mayoral appearance. The approval of the February 5th board meeting minutes and the February 6th
special meeting minutes, and the -- whether or not to go into
closed section, that is item 26
and that is item -- 25, thank you, Mr. President.
And items 26 through 31 on the adoption without reference to committee calendar.
>> President Yee: okay.
every speaker will be allotted two minutes and restrain from directing your comments to any
individual supervisor or any
items already heard at the board. So first speaker. You're up.
>> thank you, honorable
President, norman yee. Angela calvillo, the clerk of the board, and honor members of the board -- the san francisco board of supervisors.
My name is rubin david goodman
and I'm an employee of the department of mental health.
I'm also a retiree of the
assessors office and I helped
richard lee to be elected as successor.
I'd like to speak in support of
supervisor walton's effort to
have an independent oversight of
the sheriff's department deep tees.
I, unfortunately, during the
care not cash campaign was the
victim of a savage beating by
deputies in what is known as a safety cell.
My only offense was trying to
enter city hall to testify against care, not cash.
I did not agree with gavin
newsome's plan to take the few dollars that the general assistance recipients received away from them.
As I was attempting -- as I was attempting to enter city hall
from the grove street entrance,
I had already passed the metal
detector and a deputy was charging down the hallway to try
to prevent me from entering city hall.
He was charging -- I used a
six-piece defense technique of non-violence resistance and laid down on the ground on my back
hoping that the deputy would stop.
And he called the intake at 850boin and told them that I had kicked him. I was grabbed by the deputies at the entrance to a safety cell, taken to the floor and savagely beaten.
I had to force myself to my feet with blood running down my
throat so thick that I thought I would choke to death. I was almost murdered by deputies in a safety cell. Every inmate knows that in a
safety cell it's an unsafe place place.
>> President Yee: thank you.
Thank you, next speaker, please.
>> Clerk: Mr. Goodman, your
time is concluded.
>> good evening, the city by the
bay, known as san francisco.
We are here in city hall, y'all. I'm ace, ace washington. I'll try to get this in under two minutes. But I'm here mainly talking
about the a2 area, the west end
addition, you know it as fieldmore.
But I call it "feel no more."
[Laughter] That the first time that you heard that? It's a well known corner. But the bottom line is -- I'm not here to criticize, just
simply to analyze all of the lies that has been going on
since 1948 from the invention of
what we have known as redevelopment.
Now we call it ocii. And, ladies and gentlemen, boys
and girls and everybody that got curls, I'm trying to tell y'all that this city by the bay needs
some investigation from somebody
bigger than room 200.
And I ain't pointing a finger. Would you call the F.B.I. In here?
So are you new supervisors, you
have the power to help out my supervisor in district 5.
And I'm respectfully -- since
I'm the fill more corridor
ambassador, not the bastard, I'm
the czar of outmigration. I drive that car.
Right now I'm asking
respectfully -- I have it on video -- that all y'all get together and help my district 5
and let's have a public hearing on district 5.
What's going on in the fieldmore? No black businesses.
The feel no more -- I heard that
they pimp no more in the feel more. That's how bad it is. I'm just literally talking. I got 14 seconds.
So, again, -- [Laughter] I know how to work this thing.
I'm asking you respectfully for a public hearing. Somebody be courageous enough, don't have me call it, to talk
about what is having in field more. My name is ace.
>> President Yee: thank you,
next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors.
My name is kimberly hill-brown.
I am the proud secretary of the
public housing city-wide tenant association.
I'm a resident of public housing.
I started my work in community
service as a young youth at the
patrol neighborhood house with a mega-boys club.
And through those efforts and --
through those efforts, year
later after I returned home from
college, I became an employee of
the san francisco housing
authority where I was in a
department, community and supportive services, which was the only department ran by
public housing residents.
And we successfully case managed
and the self-sufficiency
programs and family coaching to residents of public housing. I'm here today because I'm very
concerned about the conversions.
Although my site is going through conversions, our board is very strong and has a very
good working relationship with
our developer Mccormick ballord salazar. And our concerns are met and we meet with them on a regular basis, but I'm here today
because I've always advocated
for the less fortunate, and a very diverse population.
I would ask the board of
supervisors in your districts
you have -- you have senior developments that were once
under public housing, who have transitioned to red and these
residents are in a very critical
distress situation whereas these
developers are not sensitive to
the needs.
>> President Yee: thank you, thank you.
Next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors.
My name is joyce armstrong and
I'm the very proud -- proud, proud President Of the public housing tenant association,
better known as phta.
I'm a resident of the apartments where I'm also the President.
And I would talk about rab but the seniors are more important today. I guess that I'll be back if necessary.
In particular the building at
430 church, for instance -- let me read this so I will not run out of time.
People with known health issues
are evicted, on site services
and not assisting them at all.
Donte ogram, mental issues, evicted. And I know that that they would be very upset.
And carlos flag, mental health
issues and evicted from 430 church street.
And sherry gallow, mental health issues, 430 turk street.
And anthony marks, mental health
issues in court for eviction.
And damon hart, threatened with eviction and he won his case, thank God.
And dominica and mary brad ford,
sisters mental health issues, 951 eddie, constantly threatened with evictions.
People with mental health issues are evicted from properties and to fight it you have to go to the supreme court. What's with that?
We wanted it rad but we want
ready to displace us and the developers decide they don't want them and they sell it and start renting at prices that they want to.
Management is threatening them,
and the seniors don't feel safe. They don't trust the management that lives on the site, coming in their house anytime they want with no warning. They violate tenants' rights and they are very unprofessional. There's a high turnover of the management and administration staff. there's a high threat of eviction and the management
always threatens the residents with eviction.
The sites are harsh...
>> President Yee: thank you.
Next speaker.
>> my name is teresa lee and I stand before you today not just
as a 28-year veteran of the san francisco housing authority but
as a member of the sfiu local
1021 union and the child of a
long-time community activists who through their hard work and tenant leadership fought for and
won housing improvements for the low-income residents of san francisco chinatown. I don't say any of this to brag or boast but I mention my family background to give you an idea of how I was raised and how I have applied all of this to my work with the san francisco housing authority. For my siblings and me and my parents taught us that public housing was not a deadend, but, rather, a stepping stone for greater opportunity if we were willing to work hard for it. My parents raised the eight of us with my father working multiple jobs to ensure that not only did we have food on the table and clothes on our back and a place to live and a potential for a better life when we came of age but that important lessons would be instilled in us at an early age. We learned the value of giving back to our community and that
our voices mattered, despite how others May have perceived us. And most importantly we learned that being born and raised in public housing did not mean that we were less valuable or worthy than any other person from a more privileged background. It's for these reasons that I became an employee of the housing authority and endeavored to honor my parents' legacy and their commitment to the low-income public housing community by being a public servant in the truest sense of the word. With my background I was able to more easily to relate to the concerns issues and struggles
and obstacles that a housing authority clients and tenants face.
I was not only to have a strong repore with them but a relationship of trust built on mutual respect. This type of long-standing relationship with tenants is one
that is not easily replaced and not even with the promise of laminate floors and granite countertops or a fresh coat of paint. It is particularly disheartening
that for me and many of my co-workers to learn that despite our years of dedicated service and contributions towards the
housing authority and the standard performer or any idea of the other accomplishments and successes that we have, that none of it matters. That we as employees May all be
replaced and that the agency is privatized. We ask the san francisco board
of supervisors and mayor breed
as public servants...
>> Clerk: your time is concluded.
>> President Yee: thank you. >> hello, I'd like to say that this concerns every resident and
citizen of san francisco.
i see the bicycle coalition,
people on bicycles, they -- they want their rights for safety
and, yes, you know, I believe
that it's a very difficult task
to get everyone to be safe pedestrians, people with disabilities, seniors, you know,
and unfortunately this is something that is going to affect every single person in
the city.
And I -- I just want to bring it up to everybody because the day that you want to take your mother or your father or
somebody that you love to
doctors appointments or get them safely across that bike lane -- it is a live lane.
And it could caused aboutly
cause bodily harm
and we need safety for the people and the residents to feel they have some support from the
board of supervisors, if not beyond, you
you know, to make these decisions. A long time ago those ramps on
every corner across the united states -- nobody wanted them, you know. And a lot of people like me, a lot of people like you, fight
for these rights and now, you know, I believe that we need ramps in front of people's
houses, you know, to get up on that curb, you know, because we
are taking that curb for granted.
And being close to that curb or having a wheelchair accessible
ramp on that curb will help, you
know, all of us live together.
You know, safely on the streets.
And, hashtag -- not hashtag,
safe zero -- safety -- you know,
safety for every citizen on the streets. Including people with disabilities and we need to
include them in our conversation
and I don't want to see nobody hurt. Thank you.
>> President Yee: thank you.
Next speaker.
>> hi, my name is aaron mayfield and I am an eligibility worker at the san francisco housing authority for about 4 1/2 years.
I'm here on behalf of my sfciu members and I'm here because
mayor london breed released an article and basically letting us know that we May be in jeopardy of losing our jobs.
As an employee among the several
others here today who tirelessly serving this community I can
note that the city and county finding value in the people that have worked and invested their
time and efforts to this agency.
While the agency has not had a positive reputation, we the employees as the face and forefront of this agency, have always remained focused and consistently providing positive impact on our community. All I ask is that while we are in transitional time of uncertainty, that you view us,
the employees, as an assest that
brings value to the community
instead of a liability.
[Applause]
>> Clerk: before the next speaker I will remind the audience that your comments are welcome at the appropriate time
but there is a board rule which prohibits applause or any audible sounds of approval. If you would like to share you are welcome to use your quiet fingers. thank you.
>> hi, I'm harriet wood and I have worked for the housing
authority for 25 years. San francisco housing authority consists of mostly african americans and minorities and we feel that the politics are
trying to erase us from this city. We're employees and we're residents, we're the
professionals that support and protect and we help the
residents on a daily basis. Upper management has strung us along and fooled us into conducting business as usual throughout the entire
privatization process as it pertains to ready and the
bombshell was just dropped about third-party takeover and we won't be considered or even be
part of the new vision for housing. We, the employees, have been
told countless times that the
ready progress is the complete program that will have more units of housing to manage and there will be no job loss. In fact, we were told that more jobs would be needed.
Today we see that was not true. We the employees see mismanagement of funding in the agency and we have seen landlords that are no longer
housing section 8 clients,
complaining daily they want them to have containment. We see upper management travel
to trainings and seminar and not educate or inform employees of what they have learned. We see the agency hiring
staffing and pay them astronomical wages to do jobs
that we the staff in place could do. And we the staff are made to work in hostile environments but
we the staff are the true professionals, we helped residents, we make the best out
of any situation.
And we the employees work to
service residents, obtain and remain in housing. We the employees assist the residents to get the services they need.
We are in the business of
housing people, not evicting people. That's why the populations in communities that we serve trust
us and they count on us to continue to help them.
The employees have no control of
mismanagement issues or budget...
>> President Yee: thank you
for your comments.
>> I'm marvin harrell Jr. I'm with the housing authority.
In January of 2018, I filed a
complaint with the department of
fair employment and housing for
hiring practices and promotional practices at the san francisco housing authority. There are no african american
males in any upper management
positions. In February, I filed a complaint with the san francisco housing authority board, the commissioners, along the same lines. But also relating to their
financial practices as a result.
And as it relates to the rent
increases, and then in March, I
filed a complaint with hud inspector general's office with
the financial aspect as it
relates to rent increases and their hiring practices, etc.
in August 2018, the housing
authority placed me on ad ministrative leave for trumped up charges that have yet to be proven with any truth to it.
I'm on paid administrative leave for eight months. The relationship that I'm here today -- I could retire tomorrow -- the reason that I'm here today is because the san francisco housing authority has suffered tremendously. I have been there 13 years and
it's never, ever been managed correctly.
And the result of that is now these folks are about to lose their jobs.
The services they provide to the low-income, less fortunate individuals in san francisco, are going to go away and then they're going to be put in
disarray by a separate agency, a private agency. We're trying to prevent that.
We want these jobs to stay in san francisco. Today you guys have spoken on homelessness many times. You guys are about to create -- I mean, the housing authority is going to possibly create a lot more homeless people. We don't want that to happen. We wanted these jobs to stay and to go with the city of san francisco. Have a good evening. Thank you.
>> President Yee: thank you.
Next speaker.
>> thank you for your time commissioners.
>> Clerk: pull the microphone close, thank you. >> I work for the san francisco housing authority and, again, thank you for your time today.
i am here because we know that
hud is requiring that this city
take administrative action and control over the housing authority.
But they don't have to third party administer, right?
We saw with ocii and the san francisco redevelopment agency
who was abolished by california state supreme court, taken over
by the city, absorbed, and 50 employees from that agency were
able to stay and to continue their work. And what we're asking here today
is that instead of having a third party come in and to do the work that we already tirelessly do for the residents,
is to allow us to continue to do that work and allow the city to
come in and take over upper management of the agency.
Thank you for your time.
>> President Yee: thank you,
next speaker.
>> hi, my name is alexis and I also work at the housing authority. I just want to piggyback on what she was saying. You know, all of us employees
are doing our job and it's
management that is screwing us. You know, I'm a single mom. A lot of us are single moms and I lost my husband two years ago
to cancer in March and I can't afford to be homeless.
I can't afford to lose my job because of what management is doing.
We ask that all of you here, hear what we're saying and please help us out. We're begging you and I'm begging you -- I'm begging you all, I can't afford to lose my job. neither one of us. We all got mortgage car notes, you know, some of us are single parents. Like, we need all of y'all help, please help us. Get rid of management. They're screwing up, not us.
Thank you.
>> President Yee: thank you.
Next speaker, come on up. >> good afternoon, everyone.
My name is alvira navarro. I'm a junior clerk at the san francisco housing authority. I came in through the P.S.T. Program. I used to sweep the streets of
chinatown and I used to be in
those alleyways playing hockey with those roach this is big. I even brought pie daughter to show her how the struggle is real and she said, mommy, I admire you. Pie daughter graduated from organize, she's a duck, and he
told me today, mommy, make me proud.
She lost her father to gun violence.
And I have been trying to keep my head up.
And I have been responsible for
maintaining and scanning and entering all tenant documents and keeping track of every document that comes through that mail and through that door. That is my job.
And I do it very proudly. And I am a team player.
And you guys are -- please help us. We... I don't know what to say. I don't want to be homeless.
I live in the engelside and in
between st. Francis woods and lakeview.
>> President Yee: thank you,
next speaker.
>> hi, my name is carol holmes
and I'm also an employee of san
francisco housing authority.
Many of us -- my fellow 1021 members, have all asked
ourselves why -- why us? And the only reasons that I can
come up with is that just like they have all said -- mismanagement of funds.
We have nothing to do with that.
We are mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, we have so
much on our backs that we cannot
afford to lose our jobs because
management has repeatedly mismanaged the funds. And each time they do the mismanagement of funds we the
workers are the ones who are penalized for that.
While they go on to get raises and bonuses because they have done their jobs.
Well, we have taken -- we have
had our 7% taken away from us.
And here we are now again, being
put on the line, because of
management. We're going to lose our jobs. We're asking you to actually
help us to keep our jobs, to
keep us so that we won't be homeless, so that we can keep our bills paid, just like the rest of upper management.
Thank you.
>> Clerk: thank you, next
speaker, please.
>> hi, my name is carolyn damian
and I'm an eligibility worker.
I have five kids and I need my job. Four things that we need to survive is housing, food, health, and employment.
With this letter that Miss Reid
has sent us, our jobs aren't sure.
so there's a way for us to have shelter and a way to feed our
kids and our health -- our health will probably get worse because we won't have health care because we won't have employment if you outsource our jobs.
We work hard and we have over 500 clients that we have to take care of.
It's time consuming and we have a lot to do. I mean outsourcing won't make it better. Just like everybody else said that we'll end with no job.
Thank you.
>> Clerk: thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, board of supervisors.
My name is radida mason and I'm one of the program managers in the section 8 department and one of the residents of san francisco, one of the few remaining african americans. I wanted today to just share
some of the achievements that my members, fellow employees, have done with the san francisco
housing authority. Which is so important, because we do the work. So one of the things that we did was that we managed to basically transform public housing into
one of the largest rental administration development conversions. We were against it but we did our work.
So now we are the leader in that particular area.
We've also maintained our standard designation in hud for
our housing stature program for three years. and so I'm trying to figure out why are we being shut down and being contracted out. So what I would ask for you guys
to do today is to make sure that we remain employed. That the city and county take over the san francisco housing
authority, but that we remain employed.
No contracting out sfha services. We are not the cause of the financial turmoil at the san francisco housing authority. I would love for you guys to make a commitment to us to make
sure not one of our employers -- there's 237 employees affected by this, that none of us are displaced. Thank you.
>> Clerk: thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners.
My name is kendra crawford. I wanted to first say this is a very uncomfortable thing to have
to do to get up and -- the risk that we're taking is just showing the sacrifices that we're making for our families.
To get up and get on tv -- anyway.
So I want to say that my name is kendra crawford and I work for the san francisco housing authority. I was born and raised in san francisco and I live in hayes valley.
I have two sons, ages 13 and 17. Who are also going to school
here in san francisco. It is an honor and a pleasure to
be able to raise my sons here. As I was raised. My mother worked for housing authority for 25 years starting
as a resident hire in sunnydale where we live. And the san francisco housing authority is my dream job and working in the communities where
I lived, my grandmothers, my cousins and everyone still
lives, even myself, is an honor and a privilege for me that I don't want to go away. The decision that is being made
to impact our jobs, we want -- you ought to see a face and hear our stories to know what the decisions that are being made. If you are not the people who make the decisions maybe you're the influencers.
So we just want you all to see our faces and hear our stories and know that this is about our families. It's more than money. This is something real to us. And we have been uncomfortable ever since that email came out. So when we're uncomfortable moment for me, I'm uncomfortable and I feel that
that is until we know that I'm stable again. I want to say thank you and praying for a positive outcome for everyone.
>> President Yee: thank you, next speaker.
>> hello, my name is amelia meana and I'm a housing inspector at the san francisco housing authority. I'm here on behalf of myself and
all of my 1021 union members and all of the san francisco housing
authority employees.
I'm just saying -- I just want you guys to listen to us and
hear us and know that we are hard workers.
We want our jobs and we need our
jobs and we are begging to keep
our jobs.
It's not our fault that we are in this position. Again, I just wanted to remind you all that we have nothing to do with the finances, we didn't
steal any money, we didn't mismanage any money.
We did our jobs and we are
performing standards and we do our job list.
And I just want you guys to hear
us and what we are asking is that the city take over the housing authority but that all of us keep our jobs. Thank you.
>> President Yee: thank you,
next speaker.
>> hello, my name is volanda green and I'm a housing authority employee and a member
of the union 1021.
I've been an employee since 2010
and ever since then I feel
personally that my integrity have been attacked every year. I have never been to city hall and fought so much at any job that I have ever been in. And mainly it's the upper
management against us. And each year I thought, why am I doing this? Why am I fighting against people that I see every day that tell me that we're doing a great job and you're wonderful, we appreciate you. And it's just something that is
all of us that this is where we are, this is our home. I was born here.
And I see the effects of everything that we do -- every positive connection, every relation that we have, we know that people -- their mothers,
their fathers, their grandmothers. We relate with them. And we're not just jblght workers and inspectors and managers. We're family members and community advocates for these
people as well.
And I just wish that it wasn't always against -- we always had to fight.
But now I feel that it's for a
reason and now this is just the
top -- I've never had to fight so hard. And I don't think that we've
ever had to fight so hard.
I feel -- I'm feeling like a common human resource, like I
can be thrown away wherever -- at the drop of a pin. And I wish that you guys would
really hear us out and listen to us. We have been fighting for longer than I have been there. And just to look at the history, to take action and to really point the finger and grab the people that are really in charge
and responsible for this, not us. Thank you.
>> President Yee: thank you. Next speaker.
>> good afternoon, my name is
catalina pinata.
And I'm also a native san franciscoian who lives in san francisco and I say that humbly. I have been with the agency for 27 years.
And I urge you to please
reconsider outsourcing our jobs, because if the new people come in they'll offer us jobs but they won't give us the pay wage to stay in san francisco. Thank you for your time.
>> President Yee: thank you. >> good afternoon, my name is jasmin crow and I'm a project manager at the san francisco housing authority. I'd like to preface this by saying that I'm absolutely terrified of public speaking but I'm forcing myself to stand up and to say something today because my livelihood and the
livelihood of 236 of my co hear workers is at stake. With the outsourcing of all of
our jobs, we'll be losing 237 good jobs. These are jobs that pay a living
wage, which is remarkable in the metro area, as expensive as this one.
And my co-workers and I, we don't understand the logic
behind throwing money for a for-profit third party consultant brought in from
kentucky or texas or whatever. Why do this when you have staff that know this work inside and out? We have staff with five, 10, 20, even 30 years of experience. Why throw all of that away and
punish the frontline staff when we are not the reason why the housing authority is in default? For me personally I have been
with the housing authority for 18 years now.
And one of my focuses has been
on our senior and disabled
residents, whenever they have reasonable accommodations needed in their apartments with grab bars and wheelchair ramps and hand rails. I love my job and it's something
that I would love to continue doing for as long as possible.
Thank you.
>> President Yee: next speaker
speaker.
>> hi, my name is samatra gerad. I'm a single mother of seven. I work for the san francisco
housing authority for 21 years.
When I got this letter from
Indiscernible: I have had
nightmares and I have just laid there. I see me losing my home. How can I make the payments if I don't have a job?
So I'm asking for all of my co-works and to still be able to do my job. I'm 58 years old and I'll compete against these young people for jobs? They're not going to hire me. They're not going to hire me.
So I see myself homeless or having to live with one of my kids. And I have already talked to them and they said you better fight for that job. [Laughter] You know, so that's what I'm here today to do is to
say that I want my job. I want to work for the san francisco housing authority.
I've never taken anything -- a pen, even if I took a pen I brought it back.
I am coming to you today to say I'm 58 years old, I have been with them for 21 years and I'm happy, I want to continue to
work there.
And please consider our jobs.
>> President Yee: thank you.
Next speaker.
>> how are doing, supervisors?
My name is marsh johnson and I have been with the agent
agency for 28 years. And we are all fighting for employment with our families and we'd love to stay with the authority. we know that the transition is coming, you know, it's been mismanagement for years.
>> President Yee: sir, sir,
just a bit to the mike.
>> it starts from the top and barbara smith is the head of the
agency and so you can't blame
the employees who work hard on the direction of her and upper management to make the mistakes. She's been doing this and it's not just her but it's been going
on for years. Mismanagement in the upper management division. So you have employees like myself who actually apply for
upper management positions, at least seven times in the last
three years, and I have a complaint against the authority for african american males not
having an opportunity to expand their kroors.
I have that -- careers. I have that as well.
So this is not about me, this is
about my employees who have been
working hard and impact the city of san francisco.
Everybody has a story, everybody
impacted, hundreds of citizens around san francisco. We have the experience, we know
what we're doing. You absorb with us the city and we'll be okay. We'll impact this city for years and years to come. We just ask for the opportunity to do that.
Thank you.
>> Clerk: thank you, next
speaker, please.
>> good evening, supervisors.
I just want to say that approximately eight to nine
years ago I was on welfare.
I had to take public assistance
to help to support my daughter through public assistance and I went to the welfare-to-work program. And through that I was trained
and my whole time that I was going through that program I
wanted a good job. About eight years ago, eight to nine years ago, I was hired by the san francisco housing
authority as a 90-day temp.
In that timeframe I have went
from a 90-day temp to a project manager for san francisco housing authority. And the opportunities that were
given to me personally in the housing authority were wonderful.
And it is my dream job.
I have never known the meaning
of "I love my job" until I went to work for the housing authority because I truly love
my job.
I would like to just agree with
all of my co-workers here that I would like to see that if the city takes over that we get to
keep our jobs. And that it doesn't make sense to put other people in.
We have a feeling and a love for the community and I worked out
as a property manager also in the patrol hill area where I got very close with my tenants who I feel like family to that area in
bayview and in the whole area.
And I as the ready project manager -- rad project manager, I have the opportunity to go back to these old properties
when I as an employee come on, and the tenants still are happy to see us.
And they ask how my co-workers are doing and they still remember us by name. thank you.
>> President Yee: thank you.
Next speaker. >> hello, my name is cindy gomez and I'm the commission clerk for the board of the commissioners of the housing authority.
I'm here just in solidarity with
my local 1021 members and I am
really urging all of you to support us if and when there is
a transition.
This is a very tough time for all of us. I'm a san francisco native and
I'm the highest earner in my family.
So I do hope that I can continue to work for the housing
authority and I can keep my job. You know, we really need all of your support. Thank you.
>> President Yee: thank you.
Next speaker. >> good afternoon, President Yee and supervisors. My name is christina fong and
I'm the deputy director of the municipal executive association, and we represent the managers of the housing authority.
As you have heard from so many of the line staff and a few of our managers here, it's about keeping their jobs and it's
about a solution to what's happening. As has been reported on
April 8th, the city is to have
an M.O.U. In place for
transitioning the housing authority employees.
It's 27 days from now.
Communication is key during this process.
Mayor breed's letter of March seventh, says that the city departments are to work closely with not only the municipal executives association but with
the other unions as well to
mitigate the impacts to the housing authority employees. However, we haven't been contacted by any of the city departments to discuss any transition plans.
We need to partner with the city
and developing a plan to assure continued employment of our employees of the housing authority.
And we need to be able to show our members that the city is
committed to their continued employment. The housing authority staff provide the only oversight that the city has to ensuring that public housing recipients continue to have long-term
housing stability. Our members and the staff at
housing authority are dedicated, long-term employees and work with the san franciscoians on a
daily basis to serve their housing needs.
As those who grew up in public
housing know, there's a dire need. And we encourage you to do everything possible to ensure the continued employment of these members and we need your support. Thank you.
>> President Yee: thank you.
Next speaker. >> good evening, everyone.
I am kwad joseph and I'm a
representative with local 1021. The testimony that you have heard today is filled with
emotion and frustration, understandably so. But what I wanted to do is to
also let you guys know that mary
palmer is yielding her time to me.
But what I also wanted to let you know is to clarify and to specify what is our message here today. Our message is not to point the
finger at any individual person, but to highlight for you the problem with the privatization of public housing.
There are two things happening at once here. The first is the attack on jobs of people of color. And the attack of housing of people of color and people with disability in the city.
We will soon be holding a press conference and bringing the victims -- and by the victims we mean the people with mental
disability that have been targeted, who have been issued eviction notices and who have
been evicted in their places of residence.
So we can't help but to conclude
that this is an effect of a
systemic racism and discrimination. What I want to do now is to highlight for you the effect of rad or the privatization of
public housing throughout the nation. This study was done by the G.A.O.
And it states that the
department of housing in urban development put procedures in place to evaluate and to monitor the impact of conversions of public housing properties under
their rental at assistance rad program.
Rad is authorizing legislation
to have hud to assess and publish findings about the amount of private sector leveraging. husband
hud uses med ricks
for the outcomes but the measurements with the share of private versus public funding
for construction or rehabilitation of assisted housing has limitation.
For example, hud's leveraging
ratio found that some public resource...
>> Clerk: sir, we welcome your
comments but there are no provisions to yield time.
Thank you, sir.
>> President Yee: next speaker. >> I'm david cannon, the san
francisco director of sfiu 1021. It represents the majority of the workers at the housing authority and a few years ago we
were involved in negotiations
to -- that led to the privatization of about two-thirds of the unit of the public housing authority. And we warned the public housing authority and the city at that time that the privatization of these units was not the long-term answer. Both for the residents and the workers of this agency. And we were told, no, in moving forward we actually are going to need more inspectors and more eligibility workers and the
programs of today are earmarked for privatization, we were told that those programs would grow because those are the programs that we will keep and maintain. So to hear a few weeks ago now that the city has been instructed and it looks like the city supports the complete
privatization of the housing authority, weigh
authority we think that it's a disaster for the residents and the workers.
A city with $11 billion budget which absolutely can afford to absorb this unit as part of this city, we are asking for the city, yes, to take over the
housing authority, but not to privatize and to move ahead with
the privatization of all of the programs, including the programs that are for the oversight of the housing authority. Without the housing authority there will be no oversight over these non-profits. In the long term we have seen what happened in chicago. In the long term what happens is that people get evicted. Those units will no longer be
units for public housing and san francisco will have no public housing program.
And so we ask you to intervene, supervisors and to help us to stop this. We don't want people -- we're not here to ask for severance, we're not here to ask that people be made to retire. We want folks to keep their jobs
and to keep them employed as workers for the city and county.
We ask you for you to absorb this department. It is true they have a really hard time with the accounting so maybe that's an expertise that the city can lend to the housing authority.
But not privatize the housing authority. Thank you.
>> President Yee: thank you,
next speaker.
>> tom gilberti. I'm curious, did they ever catch
the people that were spicing our
weed with fentanyl?
right here, right now, what we
have is the community, the
threads of our society, saying that we want to stay threads of the society. The city has the right to cut
the threads right here, right now. And we don't want that.
We don't want more neoliberal politics in the government of
san francisco.
Four years ago I brought this
magazine, overhead please --
into the city, it's "the new yorker." and it was about -- I brot it
in and I mentioned that it was a
good article on government lobbying.
And friends f israel --
overhead again -- and it was the
apac, and brian berg was
investigating part of it and the article, and he ran for congress. And he basically said that they
like you, you get $200,000 from apac, bundled from apac.
And if they don't like you, your opponent gets $200,000.
So that's a $400,000 swing.
Again, if they like you, they
can influence 344 house of representatives to vote against
the goldstone report, which
basically favored what
Mr. Barrett saw when he went to israel.
And basically they see us, the house of representatives and congress, as basically up for sale so they just want us to play our game.
Lifeoves along, unfortunately,
so did my time.
>> President Yee: thank you,
next speaker.
>> just another example of people in authority of position picking on people that are not their same size. Each and every one of those people that spoke before you,
they're unaware they can file a class-action suit against you,
because each and every one are losing their jobs because of people in authority positions.
That's a violation of the united states of america code service. They don't know it but they could file a class-action suit against that housing authority
and incorporate the city of goddamned san francisco as an ak sethry after the f I'm here to speak up for not only people being prosecuted like the people who just left the building but speaking up for the homeless people who are having the police and the department of public works to gather and steal their property and claim that they're doing their job.
I want them to quit messing with people that don't have nothing
to do with that problem and don't have nowhere else to go. When the case law matter of the homeless people in the county
and the city of los angeles, the
federal district court judge,
ruled as follows. The complaintants that were homeless that were having their properties stealing from the
city officials got a $500,000 judgment against the city for
taking homeless people's property.
And just like the people in this county who are stealing people's property, I move to have you
hand down a $500,000 judgment for all of those people that came in here last week and explained how the city is taking
their property. It's disgusting.
About 50, 60 people came in here and the people that didn't show
up can't come here because of wheelchairs. The district court judge ruled
that the city prevented the police seizing of homeless people's property and having other officers contact the B.I.B. To have the security officers to do so. And you're doing the same damned thing here by having the police call the department of public
works to take their property.
>> Clerk: Mr. Goodman, you are
not allowed to speak again, sir.
>> President Yee: sir, did you
speak already?
Indiscernible: .
>> President Yee: excuse me.
>> President Yee: Mr. Goodman,
thank you, Mr. Goodman.
Indiscernible: .
>> Clerk: please proceed,
Mr. De costa.
Indiscernible: I'm ashamed
of y'all, really ashamed.
Really ashamed. Okay, now sitting in the
chambers and pretend that you're listening to people and you're
going to do stuff.
Some of you supervisors I am
ashame of y'all. You
we are dying in the hadn'ts and
in the hundreds.
The mayor, she's are she
she was going to help us. And the supervisors out here, dark money.
I have to go now, I'm sick. I have to get up from the bed
and I have to go to 555 franklin
to fight for this principle.
That principle. to say to get a job.
What is happening to our city?
This is the land... Reexercise the right of refusal.
So if you have other plans or tribes, tell them to exercise
the right of refusal and we'll
embrace them and somebody who has this nonsense should talk to me once and for all.
I'll give all of the papers that give me right to represent the
first people.
Supervisors, the big one is coming. And when something like the big
one comes, then you'll get the reality check. Come on, man.
Some of y'all, I know y'all, you
wanted to do good but your heart
is not in the right place. How can you get a heart
transplant or a brain transplant, sometimes you analyze this thing I think that
is what y'all should go for -- a heart transplant and a brain transplant.
Thank you very much.
>> President Yee: next speaker
speaker.
>> the mayor and supervisor
peskin, affordable housing.
A real estate developer who has
invested over 60 properties,
mostly in san francisco, only
two residential units in 2650
high street, and planning and title company said that it was a
two storiy two unit building with two bedroom when she purchased it. After he kicked out that tenant
in the lower unit he changed it
to -- the lower unit for a bedroom to a studio as entertainment facility.
He cut off the roof to expand to
build and adding a new roof deck.
Indiscernible: And then added
two more bathrooms and a den in
the lower unit. He has another bathroom.
He changed the two story to four
story building and from 2,548 to
3,663 square foot building. The whole building is used by his family of four people and
used that lower unit of three
bathrooms to entertain his guests.
When many low-income families in san francisco are living in a room and sharing a small bathroom and kitchen with other families. You have to power to set housing policy and you should consider
the situation how we develop and eliminate the rental units for huge profits successfully. I don't have the time to show
you but I do have a document to
support my statements. Thank you.
>> President Yee: thank you. Miss May, through the President, if you, ma'am, would be as kind
to walk down to my office room 273, my staff would like to get those documents and talk to you. >> okay, thank you.
>> President Yee: just turn left out of the doors and down the hallway to the right.
>> okay, thank you.
>> President Yee: any other public comments? Seeing none, public comment is
now closed.
Okay, why don't we now -- Madam
Clerk, call the reference
calendar items 26 through 31.
Out of order.
And we'll come back to item 25 later.
>> Clerk: items 26 through 31 were introduced for the adoption
without reference to committee calendar. Those resolutions on first reading today May go to committee at the single request
of a member but those items on
second reading today no longer
are able to be subjected to that privilege.
>> President Yee: okay. Supervisor mandelman.
>> Supervisor Mandelman: I'd
like to sever item 28.
>> President Yee: supervisor stefani.
>> Supervisor Stefani: sever item 26.
>> President Yee: okay.
>> President Yee: any others,
colleagues, can we take items
27, 29, 30, 31, same house, same call? Without objection.
These resolutions are adopted unanimously.
Madam Clerk, we're on number 26 I believe, right?
>> President Yee: item 26 is a resolution to support california's state senate bill
281, authored by scott wiener to prohibit the sale of firearms and ammunition and to require the formation of a joint powers authority to develop the property for implementation to
commence January 1, 2020.
>> President Yee: okay,
supervisor stefani.
>> Supervisor Stefani: thank
you, President Yee.
Colleagues, I support senate
bill 281 to ban began shows
gun shows, because we have been trying to do this for years, not just san francisco but elected officials. This is the eighth time that we
have tried to do this. We've had students, mothers and fathers, who have lost their
children to gun violence out there protesting these gun shows over and over again.
And they are protesting because there's more schools, theatres,
churches, bars, and outdoor concerts and every other place in america that continue to be
shot up in mass shooting after mass shooting. The reality that the
glorification of guns and the widespread availability of them is a sick problem in this
country that cannot be denied.
Today we are mourning oakland
Councilwoman Macalhaney who lost her son over the weekend to gun violence. There are too many guns in this
country and they are too easy to get.
San francisco daily city and san mateo county have all unanimously adopted local ordinances banning gun shows in their cities and counties.
And I ask myself, why haven't we
been able to ban these gun shows? What has stood in the way, we
all know that this bill also creates the cow palace joint powers authority.
And when I answer that question,
I realize that it's the state
entity that runs the cow palace, the california department of
food and agriculture. Why have they continued to allow
these gun shows to take place?
Why have they refused to listen
to us over and over again?
And it is my opinion that if
they need these gun shows to
sustain the cow palace, they are doing something wrong.
Those are not our values.
These gun shows perpetuate this country's sick gun culture and
any denial of that can only be
rooted in insanity. I want you to know about the
vendor that the cow palace has
five times a year.
The crossroads of the west,
they're gun shows, list the cow palace on its traveling rotation. Their shows in our neighboring
state of arizona are the largest
open air market for anonymous private party firearm sales in the country without background checks. But they get to come into our backyard and make tons of money at the cow palace.
A research doctor at U.C. Davis who follows these shows listened
as a customer in san diego
looked to buy multiple assault type weapons that would have
been illegal here, and this is common, the seller told the
buyer that he'd sell at the crossroads show in phoenix. This happens all the time.
This country is awash with guns and yet we continue to try to get them to stop having gun shows at the cow palace and they won't. So when I have a bill in front
of me that once and for all might ban the gun shows at the cow palace and it does create a local body that oversees what
happens there, a local body
where this board gets to appoint three members.
A local body that is much more
likely to listen to their constituents.
I am going to support it.
I hope that finally I hope that
you will join me in supporting this today and I think that it's the only thing that we should be doing. Thank you.
>> President Yee: supervisor walton.
>> Supervisor Walton: thank you, President Yee.
First I want to thank supervisor stefani for introducing this
resolution which I feel is important. This really allows san francisco and san May
May
mateo county to decide what takes place at the cow palace and to decide the future of the cow palace.
If we look at it over the years
it makes no sense for us to
allow within our city limits or near our city limits things like
gun shows that promote and provide access to weapons that
we don't even allow in our city limits, that we don't allow in
the state of california. And it goes against our values. So not only will this give us
the ability to stop the gun shows and to fight something that continues to go against what we promote and what we fight for here in our city, but it also allows us the
opportunity to determine what activities, what events take
place at the cow palace, or to determine what we want to do with the future of the cow palace as a whole.
I cannot see any reason why we would not want that ability as
this body and as this city to provide that oversight. And to have the ability to
determine what happens in the place like the cow palace.
So I'm very supportive of this resolution.
I hope that my colleagues really
get behind this resolution that supports -- this bill presented by senator wiener because at the end of the day this is something that we really should -- it
should be under our auspices and
to have the ability to control what happens at the cow palace in the future.
It's snag we should be getting excited about.
>> President Yee: supervisor safai. >> thank you for putting this forward, as a supervisor that shares proximity with supervisor walton to this important piece of land I'm sure that it's
already been said but 68-acres
of land, that straddle both the
county of san mateo and san francisco presents a phenomenal opportunity to have a
conversation about the future of
that -- ed adjacent county supervisor, along with our entire state delegation is in support of this resolution. I think that it's an important conversation to have. And nothing in terms of what
will be developed or would be
discussed to be developed has been predetermined in any way. This is simply about controlling for the conversation about gun shows which would ban that once and for all and I think we all agree with that. And then allowing for a pathway
for the joint powers authority, which our board is very familiar with, and it's very supportive
of in many other instances. So we ask and urge you to support this resolution. And follow the leadership of our
state delegation as well as the neighboring county supervisors. I think that there's been some confusion out there. I have heard some folks talk about this being a land grab or the opportunity to do some
private -- none of that has been discussed or contemplated in any way, shape or form.
And, again, I would just say
supervisor it's -- scawz me,
the assembly men are all in support of this important resolution. So we ask and urge your support today am.
>> President Yee: supervisor peskin.
>> Supervisor Peskin: thank you, President Yee. I wasn't going to say anything
but I would just offer a couple comments. I am going to vote for it, not for the reasons respectfully
that supervisor safai stated because most of this property is
actually not in our county, but with the exception of a piece of the parking lot, the vast
majority of that 68-acres is in san mateo county.
And far be it from me to tell senator wiener how to legistate, but, frankly, I don't think that
the governance piece and the
sale of gun piece belong on the
same piece of legislation.
And it's a complicated piece of
land-use politics in san mateo county.
Having said that I did check and
senator hill who represents san
mateo county is supporting
sb-281 as is assembly member mullen and for those reasons I
will be voting in the affirmative.
>> President Yee: okay, thank
you, any other colleagues want
to make any comments on this item?
seeing none, colleagues can I
take this same house, same call?
Seeing no objection, then this
resolution passes unanimously.
Item number 28, please.
>> Clerk: item 28, a resolution to state the city's support of the national open to all campaign, to declare the city and county of san francisco
an open to all city, to urge san francisco businesses to sign the open to all pledge and to urge
the california state legislature
to enact legislation in support
of the open to all campaign.
>> President Yee: supervisor mandelman.
>> Supervisor Mandelman: thank
you, Mr. President. Colleagues, I thank you for considering the resolution before you today declaring san francisco open to all and I want
to thank my co-sponsors, supervisor waltor and supervisor brown. And thank mayor breed and her team for joining us this morning
to kick off the "open to all" campaign here in san francisco. For people in search of acceptance, refuge or opportunity, san francisco provides a safe place to be who you are. From young queers seeking a community that embraces and
supports them to families who immigrate here to create a better life, san francisco welcomes and celebrates our diversity. Unfortunately, in more than half of the country discrimination is still protected under the law. Only 20 states have full legal protection against discrimination and public
accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Hate-fueled attacks are on the rise with the F.B.I. Reporting a
17% increase in hate crimes in 2018. And as we in san francisco resist a President Who works to divide us all we must continue to lead by example in the fight against hate. The resolution before you will do just that by officially declaring san francisco's support of the open to all campaign. Open to all is a national campaign to build awareness and understanding about the importance of protecting people from discrimination and the bedrock principle that when businesses open up their doors to the public they should be open to all. And the open to all campaign was launched by the movement advancement project in the wake of the decision which ruled that owners of a public serving business could be granted exemption from anti-discrimination laws based on religious beliefs. Thus, protecting the business' right to refuse to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. Today open for all has support
of over 200 national and state organizations committed to civil rights and racial justice and
lgbtq equality and health care. And disability rights, including
the aclu, and the lawyers committee for civil rights and
glad and the aflcio and many more.
It also has the support of more than 1500 businesses who have declared that they are open to all.
That said, a city has not yet declared itself to be officially open to all as part of that campaign until now. Though san francisco and
california already have strong anti-discrimination laws and policies in place, participating in open to all will encourage
other municipalities to join the campaign.
And I'd like to thank claire
fally, and mary anne thompson at
the oewd, and the office of the
small business and tom tomrano to work to plan and coordinate the launch to open to all.
And thank you to daniel and the merchant association for their help to kick off the campaign this morning. Colleagues, I hope that you will join me support of this resolution and the open to all campaign so that san francisco can send a message of acceptance and inclusion and safety to the rest of the country.
>> President Yee: supervisor fewer.
>> Supervisor Fewer: please add me as a co hear
-sponsor. Thank you.
>> President Yee: okay.
The house has changed,
supervisors just left the room.
Can I take this item, same house, same call?
Without any objection, this item
passes unanimously.
Madam Clerk, let's go back to item 25 which is scheduled
pursuant to motion number m- m-19-015 approved -- approve arkansas proved
on January 29th, 2019.
>> Clerk: item 25 is closed session for the board of
supervisors to convene today with the mayor's office and the
department of human resources with labor negotiations with labor unions representing city employees.
>> President Yee: colleagues, public comment has been taken
for item 25 during general public comment.
So we will now convene in closed session. Members of the public, we ask
that you exit the chamber and to lock the doors behind them.
We will reopen the chamber once we finish with the closed session and the public will be
allowed to re-enter.
Okay?
>> we are now back in open session. May I have a motion that the board finds that it is in the best interest of the public that
the board elect not to disclose
the closed session deliberations. The motion moved by supervisor
brown and seconded by supervisor fewer.
>> we need a roll call.
Please.
[Roll call] >> there are nine AYEs.
We will not discuss our closed session deliberations.
Madam Clerk, please read the memoriam. >> for the record, Mr. President, no actions were
taken during the closed session.
>> today's meeting will be
adjourned in memory on behalf of
supervisor brown for the late
64-year-old senior male who
being homeless, was found passed
away at corner of heys.
On behalf of supervisor mainly haney
and for supervisor mandelman angus jay white and supervisor press
peskin cath lynn. >> that is the end of our agenda. Is there any other further business before us today? >> that concludes our business for today.