The agenda for today. Chair nuru thank you, our meeting is adjourned. Good morning, everybody. First of all i would like to thank our california state attorney general and the staff for working so closely with the city and county of San Francisco. I want to begin by thanking our late mayor ed lee for initiating the Police Reforms and responding to create a Historical Partnership with the attorney general offers. I would like to acknowledge a number of people, chief of police bill scott. London breed, senior cohen and the Mayors Office and all those who made it possible. I would like to thank them for engaging with us. In 2016, our city grappled with crisis seen in a lot of american cities, the dissolution of trust among the community and Law Enforcement. Responding to cries from our community for improvement, mayor lee reached out to attorney general lynch and the department of justice and San Francisco entered into an agreement to evaluate the Police Department and get independent analysis of how we could serve our city. The department of justice presented recommendations and our city embraced all recommendations and to work closely with the justice department. To date we have started more than half of those reforms and huge credit to the police chief bill scott and the men and women of our Police Department that have embraced the reforms. We have some of the best officers in our country. And we are seeing promising improvements with use of force incidents down 18 just last year. Unfortunately, attorney general Jeff Sessions announced that the department of justice would no longer provide assistance or guidance to departments seeking to improve the trust between the police and the public. But under mayor lee, we were determined to push forward as a city. That is why mayor lee turned to our state partners to push forward the reform process. With the help of an independent partner. Today, were here to announce that the California Department of justice will evaluate and report onion going reforms ongoing reforms. This partnership demonstrates our commitment to the reform process and includes measures needed to ensure it will be unbiased and transparent process. Today, marks the beginning of a chapter in the reform process. One that stays true to our goal of transparency, accountability and most importantly of trustbuilding here in San Francisco. Mayor lee started us on this path and i will continue the journey he began. Again, i want to thank our police chief scott and the Police Commission for their leadership and the men and women of our Police Department. I want to close by thanking our attorney general for his commitment to our city and to the reform process. His leadership here and at the state level are unparalleled and were incredibly happy to have him here. I would like to introduce our attorney general of california. [applause] first, mayor, thank you very much for bringing us together to chief scott, thank you for so early on reaching out as well to see if this could be a possible course of action and i have to tip my hat and give a shoutout to mayor ed lee. Because from the very beginning of my tenure as attorney general, mayor lee reached out to me and said the city of San Francisco wants to be your partner, we want to continue to make improvements and any way we can work together, i want to do that. So when we found the u. S. Cops program and you the u. S. Department of justice abandoned its work with the city of San Francisco, right away mayor lee and i were in conversation. And i just got to say to ed lee, we miss you, but were here doing your work. This is a product of what ed lee wanted to see happen and i think its important for us as leaders here from the city and county of San Francisco, the leader of the Police Department here and certainly the city mayor to say on behalf of all us, we all owe ed lee a great deal of gratitude for always putting the people of San Francisco first. [applause] he said something very important when he began this, to help families in San Francisco, our men and women in uniform, believe there could be confidence and trust to do the best job. He said, fair and just policing that treats everyone the same and places the sanctity of life above all else was important. I think today, thats our mission. Those of you who reached out and have been reaching out to help all of us come together so that families throughout the state, certain here in San Francisco, can feel confident about the work that is being done to provide them with the Public Safety should look at todays announcement as a sign that in San Francisco theyre serious about getting the job done. We need that kind of focus. And we need this memorandum of understanding between the city and county of San Francisco, the Police Department in San Francisco, and the state of california through the department of justice, to make live those reforms that were proposed by the city more than 270 of them, and make sure they get implemented. That is how you gain the confidence of the people of your city and county. I think its important to note that simply because the federal government decides to abandon ship, did not mean we were going to let the ball drop. There is fumbles that can cost you a whole lot and we saw a fascinating game yesterday at the super bowl, but i will tell you this, at the end of the day, the people in the city and county of San Francisco are going to be the big winners, because we picked up the ball and were going to run with it and do this for the people of california and San Francisco. [applause] my team at the department of justice stands ready to be with you as a partner. I cant tell you how important it is to have independent eyes overseeing these reforms. Accountability, transparency, confidence and trust all come from giving people a sense there will be independent review of the work that is being done. I believe the people of the city and county of San Francisco should be heartened that it was the leaders of the city and county of San Francisco and their Police Department who asked for the independent eyes to come forward. So its all about working together. And i got to tell you, Public Safety is as much a team sport as anything youve seen on tv in the last 24 hours. We have to do this together. Nothing is more important than Public Safety. Nothing is more important than public trust. We hope to build that public trust by working through this memorandum of understanding. And if i can send one last message to the people of this great city and county in San Francisco, this is the work that we must do. We hope that what is done here will become a model for what other communities can do. I will tell you that the work at the department of justice wont end with this. In the next few months, the men and women in uniform here in San Francisco will start to employ the work that they must do now to make sure that identity profiling is not something that is a reality anywhere. Well begin to see the ripa regulations take effect where all the contacts there are made of people on the streets, in our communities, will be documented. And well be working closely with the men and women in uniform to make sure that happens. Well look forward to working with the city and county of San Francisco and the Law Enforcement agencies to make sure as we go about documenting who is in a gang and who is not, we get correct information into the cal gang system and not Incorrect Information that could harm the lives of people moving forward. So were going to be doing a lot of work to get people that confidence. And that trust. That we in Law Enforcement are doing this to provide Public Safety. So i am pleased to say that todays announcement is just the beginning of a process that the city and county of San Francisco began and i hope that what we can say, it wont end with the city and county of San Francisco. That many communities will see what you do here can be replicated elsewhere and there begins the trust and confidence that people need, that our leaders are working in our best interests. With that, id like to now turn it over to your leader when it comes to Law Enforcement, chief bill scott. [applause] thank you, attorney general, and mayor farrell. I would start my comments off with thanks as well and then touch on things that are important for you all to know. Let me thank the members of the community that are here and those that couldnt be with us, because really this is about policing the community with the community. The people you see in this room, many of them, we sit down have indepth discussions about Public Safety, keeping our city safe, when there are things, whether Violent Crime or car breakins, these are the people we partner but, but at the same time, theyre demanding a Police Department that is fair and just. Its that commitment that is a win that pushes aura needs to change, where we need to change and reform our department and the way that makes us better. Let me start with my thanks to the members of the community who are there with us, hold us accountable and again, theyre here with us this morning, so thank you. [applause] also, the people standing with me at the podium. Attorney general, who has been willing to work with us, mayor farrell who is continuing the work started by mayor lee and got continued by acting mayor london breed. And today, is the beginning of the rest of the journey in terms of making this department a better department. Also to my left, i cant i would be remiss without mentioning supervisor cohen. Who has always been a champion for reform. When i stepped in the door, i think one of the first things i did, before i started and got sworn in, i sat down with supervisor cohen around saw her passion for having a Police Department that not only does its job and protects the community, but is a fair and just Police Department. She has always been a champion for Police Reform, so thank you for that as well. The people along the wall, the teams of the attorney general, the California Department of justice and on my right, captains and in the back, our president of our Police Officers association. I cant say it any better than attorney general did, this is a team effort, this is a total team effort. Without everybody in the room working together, all oars in the same direction, we cannot get this done. Its the ultimate team effort. Its not a sport because were talking life and death, but its the ultimate team adventure. So without the people in this room, none of this work can get done. My last thing goes to our Police Commission. President turman couldnt be here this morning, but his guidance is vital to our success. They oversee the Police Department and they take that responsibility very seriously and we definitely appreciate all that they do to keep us going in the right direction. And also with former president , who was the commission when i got hired, but never had the opportunity to work with her. Thank you for all that youve done to get us to this point as well. So we know that collaborative reform, the initiative that we started with, the cops office is positive results for the San FranciscoPolice Department and the communities that we serve. The mayor mentioned it, the 18 reduction in use of force, we have reductions in complaints. I think those are all indicators were going in the right direction. Were committed to focus on improving our department and the California Department of justice assessment will provide independent assessment of the work were doing. Unfortunately, when we concluded or the u. S. Department of justice concluded the work, they were in the process of writing the first assessment report that never got released and wont be. Its really important that the public see from an independent review, independent eye, that were doing. I mean its one thing for us to report what were doing, its another for someone totally independent to come in and assess what were doing and report to the public. Thats one of the benefits of this collaboration with the California Department of justice. There are other benefits. Technical assistance. Part of the last agreement we had with the u. S. Department of justice, there was Technical Assistance provided. There are many areas where we need to go outside of the city and outside of the department to call on experts, many of who have done the work before, many who have ideas that maybe we didnt think about and that Technical Assistance is a major part of a collaborative reform agreement. With the California Department of justice, with the partners we have in place, we believe that Technical Assistance will continue, we believe that it will help us with the improvements we know we need to make. And ultimately, our commitment is about becoming the best Police Department we can be. Working with our community partners, weve already accomplished a lot. Many people in the room are part of the groups put together to have the public input we need to get better. We cant do this youll hear me say this over and over again we cannot do that without the public. Our use of force dropped 18 , we hope that trend continues. We expect it to continue. We saw 9 increase in citizen complaints in 2017. There are several components of this initiative that will continue. One is addressing bias. And how we deal with some of the disparities and disproportionate we see in the city of San Francisco, not only here in San Francisco, but across the country. Although we can only focus on our city, we believe we can be a model for good policing across country. Were addressing bias. One of the things weve done is our automated electronic audit of all Electronic Devices owned by the department. That is in effort to root out bias, deal with it if in fact we see instances where bias is afoot. Weve also integrated procedural Justice Training into the Continual Development curriculum, which officers must attend and procedural justice is an important recommendation because it goes not only externally, its about fairness. Its internal. And with the people standing on the wall, the command staff, the Police Officers association, i think what were all looking for is fairness. Fair innocence the way we police, in the way we run the department and the procedural training will help us get there. Weve dedicated new units, that really their job is to listen to the community. We instituted a Community Engagement division. Our captains of our districts do a great job in doing that very thing, listening to the community, but one of the recommendations was that the department needed a more robust structure. So this process is institutionize and weve seen good results. Were also focused on accountability and were demonstrating that through the use of a body cameras. Body cameras is a whole new dimension that opens up a world that we didnt have in terms of accountability and transparency. Im very proud with the work that has been done on body cameras, because for a department this size to implement that policy and equipment as quickly as it did, thats astounding. Although there are things to improve, it helps our department be a better department. Were recruiting a diverse force. Very important. Diversity brings perspectives that we need. Perspectives from different cultures and different religions, countries, educational background, Different Levels of experience, diversity brings perspective, perspective brings better policing. So very proud that we are moving forward in our efforts to be a diverse department. Instituting and sustaining these changes wont be easy. We know that. And we accept that challenge. The people along the wall on both sides, along with the community we understand it will be a challenge. Change is hard. Most people dont like change. Change is a very difficult thing, but were committed to doing the changes that we know we need to. And it wont be an easy task, but were committed, focused and well get it done. Out of the 16 Law Enforcement agencies that were once a part of the u. S. Department of Justice Collaborative review process, were proud to step forward today to continue this work and i think were really the First Department that has taken this on in this form. So again, San Francisco leads the way. Were proud to do that. And we really think this is going to be valueadded to get us where we need to go. The California Department of justice will provide us with the technical experience and assistance to help us stay on the right track and achieve the goals that we committed to. This agreement gives our work validation, the attorney general mentioned it, gives us credibility. It gives us transparency. And more importantly, this is about maintaining and Building Trust with the community we serve. We believe this is a means to get there. Ultimately, all we want to see is the best department that we can, we want to see less use of force, we want to see answers to some of the questions about disproportionateality i believe that San Francisco will lead the and i dont say that bragging, i say that because were proud to get to that leadership position in Law Enforcement. This is another challenge, a big one, but its just another challenge im confident and the people along the wall are confident well get there. Thank you all for being here and thank you to the folks standing with me at the podium for your leadership on this matter. Without further adieu, id like to present president of the board of supervisors, london breed. I want to thank our attorney general and our mayor ed lee for working with supervisor cohen and i on the request to partner with the city to implement the 272 recommendations proposed by the department of justice. Issues of Police Reform are very personal for me. Ive seen firsthand the consequences that stem from the lack of trust between communities of color and Law Enforcement agencies. I grew up in a community where the police were not always called when violence occurred, but that is not the future that i want for San Francisco. In the ten years i spent as the executive director of the africanamerican art and culture complex, working with young people and my five years as supervisor, ive worked with the flifrs our community Police Officers in our community, from Northern Police station and i know some of the former captains are here today. As well as our fearless leader during the time she served as Police Commission president , to work with the community on a better model for community policing. And i am so proud of the work that we did together, working with the community, working with the department, working with a lot of the folks who are here today, like sean richard from brothers against guns, and the healing circle with mattie scott. It was an incredible effort and im proud of the work we did in the western edition community. Our residents and our Police Officers all want the same thing. They want our city, our families and our communities to be safe. This is our charge as leaders. President obamas task force on 21st Century Policing recommended that the Police Departments request investigations of use of force incidents in order to increase transparency and accountability to the communities they serve and we have done that here in San Francisco. We continue to follow those recommendations. Two years ago i, along with supervisor cohen had a resolution for the department of justice to conduct a thorough independent review of our Police Department. For me, it was important that we put San Francisco on record requesting this review through a formal action of the board of supervisors, but we didnt stop there. At the same time supervisor cohen and i held regular hearings on use of force policies in order to have a public discussion to evaluate how training procedures could be improved to prevent escalation of violence and to ensure that we put the right policies in place to prevent these tragic incidents from ever happening to anyone else. No poll alone can no policy alone can account for every scenario, but the review i fought for from the department of justice shows that we clearly have work to do. It identifies several key areas where we need to improve, updating our use of force policies, addressing Inadequate Police data. It included the 272 recommendations that weve been talking about here today and as said by our chief, more than half of which, weve already begun to implement. Recently, the current federal Administration Made it clear that the Reform Efforts between the department of justice and local Police Department was not a priority. Under attorney general sessions, the department of justice will no longer issue audit reports or suggest reforms for local Police Departments. As they see it, the elimination of these Reform Efforts fulfills their commitment to respect local control and accountability. But not here in San Francisco. We wont accept that. We are not going to let this go. Were not go to stop our collaborative efforts to improve relationships between our Police Department and communities of color. That is why im so grateful that our attorney general is working in partnership with our city. Were going to continue to do everything we can to implement those 272 recommendations. These reforms, in an effective manner, and im committed along with, i know, supervisor cohen to doing all we can to do that. I am more hopeful now than ever. Our values in San Francisco are just as important. Our fight never more clear and our role to implement these reforms never more needed. I look forward to working with attorney general and the California Department of justice. Our chief, our Police Commissioners, the Police Officers association and many of our communities that many of the folks from our communities that are here today to implement these really important Reform Efforts. Thank you all so much for being here. With that, i want to introduce my colleague on the board of supervisors, supervisor cohen has been a champion on Police Reform effort, including her ballot measure on Police Accountability that was passed by voters to make sure that there are independent investigations when there is an officerinvolved shooting. With that, i would like to introduce supervisor cohen. Good morning. I know this is a heavy topic, but i wanted to affirm that we all in this room come together to stand collectively for peace and justice. Particularly paying attention to those members that we have lost in the community that no longer have a voice. That is the spirit that i bring to this body of work. That im really proud of. Its been very difficult. Today we stand before you patting ourselves on the back for work that we got over the line in 2018. But this work has been going on and quite frankly, for generations and unnoticed. There have been people in the communities that i represent, that president breed represents that have been crying out for generations, for transparency, justice. Today it feels good because its a culmination of the blood that has been spilled, the tears, that we stand before you recognizing that finally policies are stepping up and catching up. I started this work really in 2015 when mario woods was shot and killed. Through a series of conversations with mothers that were grieving, with Community Members that wanted to do more and couldnt understand why things were happening. So we introduced and got past the series of legislation that created a department of Police Accountability that is head by paul henderson, formally joyce hicks, who was part of the initial conversation. The one thing consistent through all of this, as a result of that Pivotal Moment in 2015, i had a conversation with ed lee. And ed lee listened. And he helped me and he rolled up his sleeves and we went to work. We didnt do it alone. We can never do anything alone. President of the Police Commission at the time was instrumental in helping us get through policies that had not been touched in 20 years. Use of force policies hadnt been touch since the 90s. Fortunately, we started laying the groundwork and started doing the work, which allows us to be here today. Which allows mayor farrell to step in the death of ed lee to celebrate. Which allows our attorney general to step in the very big heels that harris occupied. It was the work of women that brought us where we are today. Its the mothers that remind us we must get the murders solved. Its the mothers that remind us why we do what we do. So, im very pleased to see representatives of the community here today. Its important important announcement. See what it means is that with this memorandum of understanding, it brings us one step closer to bringing truth and transparency, to heal the rift that we have been experiencing for generations. And i know that every officer in this room, every Law Enforcement officer in the department, always wants to do what is right and what is best. I dont have any question in that. That is why you see a decrease in officerinvolved shooting because we got serious, we created policies and said were not tolerating this anymore. That is the movement that were here to celebrate, to talk about. This memorandum of understanding means that we are continuing to do the work that we set out to do years ago, when nobody was paying attention. When sometimes i felt nobody cared. So, gentlemen, thank you, chief scott has stepped in and stepped up. But it was greg that started the process, that came to the table, thank you for picking up that mantle, chief, and making sure that these 272 recommendations and a couple hundred more if you include gascon and his recommendations, all of these efforts are all to make sure that Law Enforcement are safe when theyre policing. And that there is trust when we call the police into the community, that there will be fairness. Chief mentioned some legislation that i passed also a few years ago about counting. If we dont keep track, we dont count. We must know who is getting stopped, where, for what reason theyre getting stopped. Collecting this data matters because every life counts. We must continue to pay attention. I will end on a very positive note, im exuberant, happy to be here, happy to be part of that considering i was there in the beginning. And many of you have been here from day one. And i just want to say thank you. [applause] well take a few questions. Hi, this is for the attorney general, what message do you think President Trump and Jeff Sessions are sending in not wanting to pursue these Police Reform measures . All people decide to take whatever message they take from what is going on in d. C. The Important Message is what you hear today. I think all of us understand when our mothers are watching us, we better do it right. And the only message i hope that people hear today is not one emanating from washington d. C. With all its dysfunction, i hope what people hear today is that we know how to make it work, were going to do this as a partnership and all of us, whether its city leaders, whether its everyone who wears the badge and every family that is looking for that opportunity to say we have confidence, the work starts here. Its our mothers who are watching us. Could you outline some of the work that is what broadly is still in the works of these 112 outstanding recommendations . And does that include finalizing an agreement with the District Attorneys Office to take the lead in the shooting investigations that are officerinvolved . Were in the process of meeting on that. Mou. Ive been here a year and weve been in that process the first part was negotiating language to get us to a meeting to confer. And we had to sit down with the Police Officers association, by rule, and meet and confer on this process, because it impact the membership of the Police Department. Thats in process and we have to go through that. As i said, what i think we all want is fairness. We cant there are the best recommendations in the world, but it has to be done fairly. Were doing that, following the rules, and then well see how it comes out. But its our intention to do everything we can to implement the recommendations. To the other part of your question, what remains to be done . There is a lot of work that that remains to be done. Accountability is one of the five findings we have to work on. Over half of those recommendations still need to be implemented. The finding that weve done the worst not the best in terms of implementation is use of force. Over half of those recommendations are in the process of being implemented, so we really are pleased with that. But there is, i mean, each category has significant recommendations. One of the recommendations is to what supervisor cohen mentioned, the revising of our policies. Coming up, i think in the next Police Commission meeting, there is policy to set the stage to have an actual schedule to revise our policies in a timely manner. Thats a huge recommendation and improvement in the department. So i think ill be here all day if i list out all that needs to be done, we have a lot of work to do, but the point were trying to make are the attorney general made it, the mayor, both supervisors and i made it, that were committed to this work and we wont stop until its done. Last september or october when the department of justice announced the end of their collaboration, they said they wanted to work with the Police Department on locating areas, including tactics to target drug and gun violence, you know the list better than i have they been doing that . Well, yeah, clear that was the focus. There is a process to that as well. If its funding that is involved in that, we have to apply for the funding. And so we have at this point not gotten any funding for Violent Crime, thats one of the areas they wanted to focus on. But were committed to addressing those issues. There is a lot going on there. There is lot going on in the question you asked, but the bottom line, were committed, were going to use every resource available that is appropriate for us to use and were going to keep pushing forward. How would you assess the department of justices interaction with since you took over . [laughter] thanks for clarifying. No, we still have a relationship with the department of justice, we have to. Theyre in the same business we are. And their goal is to have a safe country, our goal a safe city. How are they working with you . Theyre working with us just fine. I want to stay focused on the reform for this purpose, but were working with them just fine. They concluded the work and efound a way we found a way to continue it, thats what is important. [inaudible] no secret, might as well tell the truth, the Trump Administration and Jeff Sessions have all of the initiatives of mr. Barack obama. We still got miles to go and promises to keep. Before we fall asleep. Let me say finally, [inaudible] situation here, that it was on the heels of ferguson that we had a come to jesus meeting at the third baptist church. And to our former chiefs credit, he was honorable, he listened, and i presented to him that 21st century document that came from the Washington Bureau of the National Association of advancing colored people. Nd [inaudible] we owe a lot to our late mayor ed lee. Who met with naacp, who listened and was committed and he was the one who looked down to los angeles and brought the sky here. That the truth and nothing but the truth. Now weve come to this day. Naacp was the agitator, made sure we stirred up the coffee with a spoon, and be able to say [inaudible] Maxwell House slogan. It was good to the last drop. [laughter] thats the way its going to be in this department. Good to the last drop. Thank you, chief, for stirring it up on this day. [applause] thank you, the attorney general to the attorney general, is there funding here involved that you will for sure, the city of assure the San Francisco that these policies for all to build . The commitment i thank the chief as well, the Police Department has made a commitment to move forward with the reforms even in the absence of the federal cops program to oversee the reforms. The city and the Police Department never dropped the ball and continued forward. Theyre going to do these things. On my side, this is just too important not to do. And so im not going to wait until sacramento, the legislature decides to give me resources to do this. Were going to do it because the city and the chief, the mayor, the supervisors, leadership here has said they want to see this through and have the independent review continue and so, theyre committed and so were going to be in there with them. Well find the resources to make it happen on our end as they are finding on their end the resources to make it happen. Its just too important not to get it done. And it shouldnt be excuse you cant find the money to do right, so we will do right. [applause] thank you. Working for the city and county of San Francisco will immerse you in a vibrant and dynamic city thats on the forefront of economic growth, the arts, and social change. Our city has always been on the edge of progress and innovation. After all, were at the meeting of land and sea. Our city is famous for its iconic scenery, historic designs, and worldclass style. Its the birthplace of blue jeans, and where the rock holds court over the largest natural harbor on the west coast. Our 28,000 city and county employees play an Important Role in making San Francisco what it is today. We provide residents and visitors with a wide array of services, such as improving city streets and parks, keeping communities safe, and driving buses and cable cars. Our employees enjoy competitive salaries, as well as generous benefits programs. But most importantly, working for the city and county of San Francisco gives employees an opportunity to contribute their ideas, energy, and commitment to shape the citys future. Thank you for considering a career with the city and county of San Francisco. About two years ago now i had my first child. And i thought when i come back, you know, im going to get back in the swing of things and ill find a spot. And it wasnt really that way when i got back to work. Thats what really got me to think about the challenges that new mothers face when they come back to work. When it comes to innovative ideas and policies, San Francisco is known to pave the way, fighting for social justice or advocating for the environment, our city serves as the example and leader many times over. And this year, it leads the nation again, but for a new reason. Being the most supportive city of nursing mothers in the work place. I was inspired to work on legislation to help moms return to work, one of my legislative aids had a baby while working in the office and when she returned we had luckily just converted a bathroom at city hall into a lactation room. She was pumping a couple times a day and had it not been for the room around the hallway, i dont know if she could have continued to provide breast milk for her baby. Not all returning mothers have the same access, even though theres existing state laws on the issues. These moms usually work in low paying jobs and returning to work sooner and they dont feel wellsupported at work. We started out by having legislation to mandate that all city offices and departments have accommodations for mothers to return to work and lactate. But this year we passed legislation for private companies to have lactation policies for all new moms returning to work. With the newcome accommodations, moms should have those to return back to work. What are legislation . We wanted to make it applicable to all, we created a set of standards that can be achievable by everyone. Do you have a few minutes today to give us a quick tour. I would love to. Lets go. This is such an inviting space. What makes this a lactation room . As legislation requires it has the minimum standards, a seat, a surface to place your breast on, a clean space that doesnt have toxic chemicals or storage or anything like that. And we have electricity, we have plenty of outlets for pumps, for fridge. The things that make it a little extra, the fridge is in the room. And the sink is in the room. Our legislation does require a fridge and sink nearby but its all right in here. You can wash your pump and put your milk away and you dont have to put it in a fridge that you share with coworkers. The new standards will be applied to all businesses and places of employment in San Francisco. But are they achievable for the smaller employers in the city . I think Small Businesses rightfully have some concerns about providing lactation accommodations for employees, however we left a lot of leeway in the legislation to account for Small Businesses that may have small footprints. For example, we dont mandate that you have a lactation room, but rather lactation space. In city hall we have a lactation pod here open to the public. So the more we can change, especially in government offices, the more we can support women. I think for the work place to really offer support and encouragement for pumping and Breast Feeding mothers is necessary. What is most important about the legislation is that number one, we require that an employer have a lactation policy in place and then have a conversation with a new hire as well as an employee who requests parental leave. Otherwise a lot of times moms dont feel comfortable asking their boss for lactation accommodations. Really its hard to go back to the office after you have become a mom, youre leaving your heart outside of your body. When you can provide your child food from your body and know youre connecting with them in that way, i know it means a lot to a mommy motionlely and physically to be able to do that. And businesses and employers can just provide a space. If they dont have a room, they can provide a small space that is private and free from intrusion to help moms pump and that will attract moms to working in San Francisco. If you want more information visit sfdph. Org breastfeedingatwork. Look at that beautiful jellyfish. The way to speak to students and motivate them to take action, to save the planet, they do, they care and my job is to speak to them in a way that they can understand that touches their heart and makes them feel powerful with simple actions to take every day. I was born and raised in the desert of palm springs, california. My dad was the rabbi in the community there. What i got from watching my father on stage talking to the community was learning how to be in the public. And learning how to do public speaking and i remember the first time i got up to give my first school assembly, i felt my dad over my shoulder saying pause for drama, deliver your words. When i was a kid, i wanted to be a teacher. And then when i got into high school, i decided i wanted to get into advertising and do graphic art and taglines and stuff like that. By the time i was in college, i decided i wanted to be a decorator. But as i did more work, i realized working my way up meant a lot of physical labor. I only had so much energy to work with for the rest of my life and i could use that energy towards making a lot of money, helping someone else make a lot of money or doing something meaningful. I found the nonprofit working to save the rainforest was looking for volunteers. I went, volunteered and my life changed. Suddenly everything i was doing had meaning. Stuffing envelopes had meaning, faxing out requests had meaning. I eventually moved up to San Francisco to work out of the office here, given a lot of assembly through Los Angeles County and then came up here and doing assemblies to kids about rainforest. One of my jobs was to teach about recycle, teaching students to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost, im teaching them they have the power, and that motivates them. It was satisfying for me to work with for the department of environment to create a message that gets to the heart of the issue. The San Francisco department of environment is the only agency that has a full time educational team, we go into the schools to help teach children how to protect nature and the environment. We realized we needed animal mascot to spark excitement with the students. The city during the gold rush days, the phoenix became part of the city feel and i love the symbolism of the phoenix, about transformation and the message that the theme of the phoenix provides, we all have the power to transform our world for the better. We have to provide teachers with curriculum online, our curriculum is in two different languages and whether its lesson plans or student fact sheets, teachers can use them and weve had great feedback. We have helped public and private schools in San Francisco increase their waste use and students are working hard to sort waste at the end of the lunch and understand the power of reusing, reducing, recycling and composting. Great job. Ive been with the department for 15 years and an environmental educator for more than 23 years and im grateful for the work that i get to do, especially on behalf of the city and county of San Francisco. I try to use my voice as intentionally as possible to suppo support, i think of my grandmother who had a positive attitude and looked at things positively. Try to do that as well in my work and with my words to be an uplifting force for myself and others. Think of entering the job force as a treasure hunt. You can only go to your next clue and more will be revealed. Follow your instincts, listen to your gut, follow your heart, do what makes you happy and pragmatic and see where it takes you and get to the next place. Trust if you want to do good in this world, that