Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20240714

In increasing the health and Safety Standards within chinatown, outside of chinatown and i have to say, despite the irrational fear of the government and Health Inspectors in particular, particularly in the Restaurant Industry, lisa is incredibly regarded by the community because she understands the local business culture, the local culture, the practices, she is fair, she is patient, accommodating and takes no shit. I rarely use words like that but that will summarize lisa. She was so thought of in the community that she was invited to be the grand marshal of the Chinese New Year parade which says a lot. She always had the sense to call me to say, im shutting down a restaurant in your district and your phone is about to ring, but i knew everyone would start screaming at me and rose would say she called and did the right thing. She is a legendary fixture at the department of public health, as patient as she is with ignorant owners, she is equally, and i mean it, no nonsense when dealing with selfserving operators who intentionally avoid doing the right thing, the legal thing and the healthy and safe thing. At 5foot two and 110 pounds, which is just about my size in wait, lisa can lisa, where are you, come on up here. [applause] you are a force of nature when it comes to protecting the public. Here is lisas infamous winwin question. There are a couple of them. One is, this is of course, a hearing with an alleged offender this is lisa. I am appalled at the conditions in your restaurant. After reading the report and reviewing the photos, how many days a week are you at your restaurant . The operator says, i am only there a few times a week. To which lisa says, well, there you are. How can you be expected to be responsible for a restaurant if you dont commit to be there on a regular basis . Look at these disgusting photos. Or, alternatively, the operator says, i am there without fail, to which lisa says, really, you are there were there every day . It is negligent. Look at these disgusting photos. Whatever the operator, the alleged offending operator chooses, lisa ensures that the operator admits fault, takes responsibility for the conditions of the restaurant, and most often, lisa and her team doesnt shut them down. A little bit of education and they are back on line in a few hours or maybe overnight when they call people in, and as a respected manager, she is remarkably, was remarkably, and im sure will continue to be a remarkably will be remarkably committed to her staff that she mentored, and loved her, and she would bring them all together for lunch is, and occasionally i would have the honor of being invited. Under her leadership, she was instrumental in establishing the first online food application and the entire state of california and has been recognized by the California Council Environmental Health directors as the winner of the food Safety Leadership award in 2015, and most importantly, i have her 100 clean record in my kitchen, which he actually never inspected. And after four decades, she decided to enter her retirement last month where she will finally enjoy spending some time with her family and her newly born twin grandchildren. I wanted all of you to know that i introduced a piece of legislation last week and the last week before last. It will change the restaurant Rating System to green, yellow, red, which i think the Restaurant Industry or Restaurant Owners will appreciate, and lisa, it makes good sense. It is used in many other counties in the bay area. Lisa, from the bottom of my heart, i wanted to thank you for your decades of tireless, mature , and constructive commitment to the people of San Francisco and i love you very, very much and i want to give you a certificate of honor and some flowers, but first, the floor is yours. Thank you very much, supervisor peskin. I appreciate working with you and having you understand the important work that the environmental Health Inspectors do every day to protect your public health. They are a great team of inspectors and we dont just regulate, we enforce and we empower businesses and therefore empower communities. It started out and chinatown but we do it citywide and the inspectors, thank you for the recognition. This isnt really just for me, it is for the great work that they do every day. Thank you, and think all of you. [applause] thank you. Before i give you the certificate of honor and these flowers, i just want to say lisa suffered many epidemiologists and Department Heads and survived with valour and honor. [applause] thank you. Supervisor brown, please present your commendation now. Thank you. It sounds like a day of retirement for people who have been in the city a long time. Today i am commending Elizabeth Murray who is retiring this month from 38 years of services to the city and county of San Francisco at the war memorial and performing arts center. Forty years ago, Elizabeth Murray began her career of service to the citys arts and Performance Community as a secretary at the louise Symphony Hall construction project. In 1982, she joined the war memorial as executive secretary to the board of trustees an assistant managing director. She has guided the war memorial to most consequential a longstanding commitment to preserving the War Memorial Building has enabled millions of people, as well as the patrons of ballet, opera, symphony, and Chamber Music to benefit from the Historic Resource at the heart of San Francisco. Over the years, elizabeth has also shaped the structure and growth of the war memorial workforce, engaging directly with employees in helping them to develop a sense of occupational pride in their work she has truly proven her worth as a leader, as head of the war memorial serving under seven mayors, wow, seven, and guiding the war memorial through major Capital Improvement projects, economic recessions, presiding over unprecedented periods of growth and success. The residents of San Francisco, as well as anyone who comes to visit our city and as landmarks are indebted to keep the war memorial open and available for all. Today we recognize her skill, her leadership and her vision for the San Francisco war memorial. And to extend to her the best wishes as she is entering a welldeserved retirement. Elizabeth, please come up. Elizabeth, before you say something, there is supervisor peskin who would like to make a comment. Thank you. Having been on two tours of duty with you and your department and others, i really want to salute to you. I thought that project would never actually happen despite beens rosenfield deep commitment to it. Congratulations for getting it done in stewarding that incredible resource for all of these many decades. Thank you. I am very grateful. I thank you so much. My job has been a gift to me. It is a labor of love. I didnt always have a great relationship with band, but i do understand i was persistent and i did want to get i thank you very much. [applause] i lastly, we have supervisor mandelman. Would you like to present the commendations . I would pick one of the privileges is getting to present the demon family and today i want us to honor her. [applause] she was born in chicago, moved to the west coast shortly after. She spent most of her youth in the bay area, graduating from high school before earning her bachelors degree in social work from the university of the pacific. She met her husband, who when he retired was the longestserving judge in San Francisco history. [applause] they were married one year later she conditions with food runners which works to alleviate hunger by turning over 17 tons of leftover food into 20,000 meals a week for sa san franciss in need. Shes best known of a tireless supporter of the local democratic party. Where she has helped many local candidates get there are start in politics. Registering voters doing an amazing job of tabling outside safe ways with jane morrison. Inside firstdegre. Many of us hf the woodland parties she hosted. In 1976, she was appointed by mayor george boskoy i remember where she joined the San Francisco landmarks and throughout her years of service shes fought to preserve and create open space and expand our urban tree can pee. Today she is the c. E. O. Of her household and keeping her husband and children safe, clothed and happy. For each of these contributions, i am proud to honor ina deerman. [applause] now, shes brought a good chunk of Ashbury Heights down with her. Among the folks we have here is kelly deerman, her daughter. And colleagues, you may know kelly as executive director of the ihsf public authorities since 2014. Prior to that she was president of the Human Services commission, ran her own small law practice and in 2008 founded sf urban c. H. C. , a nonprofit buying Financial Literacy for low and moderate industry. I think kelly was going to say a few words. President fung supervisor peskin. Thank you, i apologize for popping up. When youve been on this board on and off for 20 years. I remember ms. Deerman when i used to go to the planned marks reservation board before it was a commission. And ms. Deerman had a profound sense of figuring out who was cheating and speculating and who was doing the right thing. Ive never forget what she said, i like your blue eyes, i do not like your protec project and shd no and brought the rest of that with her. Thank you ms. Deerman. [applause] president fung the floor is yours. Thank you. Supervisor mandelman thank you so much for this honor. My mom and i ask the discussion last night and she said did i have to speak and i said no. Ill do it for you. I can honestly say on behalf of my whole family its probably better that i am up here. If you know anything about my mom, her most famous saying is i speak the truth. I would say for all of us who have lived with her and know her and love her we know its the case. We also know with my mom, that one thing might get you down but theres always a reason to get up. Mom proves that everyday by get being up, standing tall, reading the paper, reminding us of all the work we have to do. This honor is very much appreciated on behalf of all of us and i thank all of our family and friends and colleagues that have come out to join us to support her. She would tell me to stop talking and tell you there was much work to do so please, continue doing it. Thank you so very much. [applause] [applause] supervisor yee thank you for bringing this great set of people to honor today. That would conclude our special commodatons. Lets go to items 2124. Clerk items 1224 comprise the special order of 3 00 p. M. For public hearing of persons interested in the decision of public works dated june 6th, 2019. Approval a map for a threelot subdivision project at 2146 through 2150 union street. Item 22 is the motion to approe and item 23 is to disapprove the departments decision and to disapprove the tentative map and item 24 is the motion to direct the preparation of findings. Supervisor yee these will be continued to next tuesday, july 16th, 2019, with the understanding these items will be continued. We will now take Public Comment on the continuance. Are there any members of the public who wish to speak on the proposed continuance of this appeal . All speakers should be allowed two minutes each. Seeing no other speakers, Public Comment is now closed. And i will make a motion to continue the items. Supervisor yee are you making the motion . Were going to take a motion to keep the hearing open and continue these items for july. Motion made by supervisor peskin and seconded by supervisor safai. Without objection we need a roll call. Mandelman is not here. Supervisor yee ok. Roll call, please. On the continuance to july 16th of items 21 to 24 [ roll call ] there are nine ayes. Supervisor yee this area will remain open and items 21 to 24 are continued to july 16th, 2019. Madam clerk, please call the next 3 00 p. M. Special order items 25 and 26. Clerk i have 25 and 26 comprise the board of supervisors sitting as a committee as a whole and this public hearing was scheduled pursuant to a resolution adopted may seventh, 2 2019. Its to consider the subject matter of item 26. Which say resolution to establish renew and expand the property based Business Improvement district known as the union square Business Improvement district ordering the levee and collection of assignments against property located in the district for 10 years commencing with the fiscal year 201920. Subject to conditions as fess tied and tspecified and make the appropriate environmental findings. Supervisor yee were now sitting a as committee of the whole. Colleagues, the purpose of this hearing is to take testimony on the proposed levee of assessments of the property and Business Improvement. Pursuant to the board resolution of intention we adopt it on may seventh, 2019. As described in a management district plan, the proposed district would be approximately 620 identified parcels located on the 27 hole or partial blocks. Details of the cover area are in the file. At the conclusion of the public hearing, the department of elections will tabulate the ballot and report to the board of supervisors. Members of the public may view the ballot tabulation by the department of elections on the basement level of city hall in room 59. The board of supervisors will either levee the assessments or approve the establishment of the district if theres a majority protest. Im sorry, let me say that again. The bother of supervisors will neither levee the sisment. If theres assessment. The publis follows, we will first hear from all speakers in support of the assessment district. Each district will have each speaker will have two minutes. Then we will hear from all speakers in opposition to the assessment district. Each speaker will have two minutes. During the hearing, a property owner, who has not voted yet, or wishes to change their vote may speak with the department of elections staff. They are at the table just outside of the Board Chamber and will provide you with an affidavit and ballot. After the hearing closes, the ballot will be counted. Before we begin, supervisor peskin, would you like to make any opening remarks . Thank you, president yee. I want to acknowledge the burgundy blazer. [laughter] more importantly, i would like to acknowledge the work of ms. Flood and the staff at the union square improvement district. This is created in late 1990s amid the remarkable controversy. I had the honor and pleasure of presiding over its first extension which was approved unanimously by the board. More importantly, voted by an overwhelming super majority of the Property Owners that will actually pay for the safety and public realm improvements that continue in the Union Square Area and as that Business Improvement district has expanded, it was continued yet again by my predecessor, supervisor chu. I will not in anyway forecast the outcome of this election. If theres not a majority vote, we cannot vote to have this be extended but i am hopeful, if not confident, that the good work that ms. Flood and her staff have done will lead to that majority vote and after the votes of counted, i will hopefully be able to be in a position to extend the time length to the city and county of San Francisco. Thank you for your work. Supervisor yee do you have a word or two to say. Thank you. Senior program officer. As the resolution stated this is a renewal of the union square Business Improvement district for an additional 10 years. Id like to thank supervisor peskin and his staff who have been nothing but fantastic throughout this renewal. I would like to command karen flood, the executive director, den horn as well as hobby silver on a phenom enam outreach effort they did throughout this renewal and expansion campaign. This would not be possible without the city departments in particular the Clerks Office and the department of elections. In particular, from those offices id like to thank alicia somaro, erika major, john carole, juan clock, regan wang and alice law for the assistance on the renewal campaign. With me today is karen flood who will be showing you all a brief presentation on the upcoming renewal of the bid. Thank you so much, chris for that nice introduction and for all your good work in helping us renew this bid. Good afternoon. Resident norman yee, aaron peskin for sponsoring this legislation and supporting us and also supervisor haney who also also part in his district and all members of the board of supervisors. My name is karen flood and im the executive director of the union square bid and im pleased to have this opportunity to present to you today the case for why to renew the union square bid for another 10 years and present our plan. So the union square bid, were proposing to renew for another 10 years until 2029. We are proposing minimal changes to the current 27 blocks. Just to round out the borders. We are proposing some enhancements to the following services which really are based on over 18 months of solid outreach to the stakeholders in our district. So namely were proposing a 20 increase in the clean and safe staff team wages. We think this is really important to pay a fair wage and keep our staff we are proposing to increase our Members Services to 24 7789 thi7. This is the number if they want a rapid response. Were proposing expanded cleaning and Safety Services and in the afternoon and evening hours and we see more pedestrians moving throughout the district and theres a cleaning and safety during those hours and expansion of our security program. We have 350 cameras on private buildings through out the district. They cover 60 of the district and were hoping to expand that to about 100 of the district and to activate the public realm and our allies, our open spaces and to invite everyone downtown to experience union square and make the area more beautifulment to do all this, were proposing the increase to 65 to take us from 3. 7 million to 6 million. Its a big ask but were really pleased on petition that we received 50 of the properties of the weighted assessments and its incredible and you only have 30 and we believe that the turnout of the votes today will reflect that same very high number so here are our boundaries and to the east is kearney and a jagged line at mayson and taylor. Were proposing two zones in this reiteration of the bid. The pink in the center is really the core of our district and we believe this area and based on feedback from our stakeholders, this area really needs more service. This received calls and incidents throughout the 10 years and this is where theres foot traffic. This is where rent is higher. This needs more services. Were proposing twice the level of the Current Service this is this area. The gray area a 1. 5 level increase to this area. This is the frequency of our cleaning and Safety Services and you have the power front in powt of you. Were increasing the frequency so our properties get two cleanings a day and well propose four cleanings in the core. The pressure watching twice a month and every week in the core and so on. Our assessment methodology is based on a benefits point system and this is similar to the c. B. D. S and they are here to answer questions. Its technical. We believe the harder it is to understand it the fairer it is so believe me and trust me. Its fair but essentially, its based on three factors, sidewalk front age is 70 of the assessment building. 15 lot size and theres four types of land uses and Condominium Properties and theyre all assessed at a slightly different rate or using different points. You may more in zone two because you get more service. A renewal budget brings us to 6 Million Dollars i 6 million ande another 524,000 which would bring us to 6. 5 million were upping this to 64 but this is again the take holders wanted and theres a real need downtown for additional cleaning and Safety Services. But were also looking forward to providing more public realm, marketing and advocacy to create continue to have a vibrant and residents to come through in union square and management admin rounds out the budget at 14 . This slide goes into detail about the cleaning and the different types of cleaning and the theme cleaning and again upping the frequency and ill let you review that on youren. Here are some of our cleaning embassadors and some of the good work they did in 2018 and they picked up 572,000 pounds of trash and this is a lot of garbage and this is about two large dumpsters that we fill everyday in union square park. Its a lot that gets picked up. We expect it to get picked up even more Going Forward. We pick up a lot of needles. 9,000 needles everyday. And 17,000 graffiti tags and stickers. Here is a snapshot of the safety programs and again we hope toen chance with additional frequency and ill height lie here we have one officer 10 hours a day and it will be a second officer and we do pay deerly for this and 100 out an how and we plan to do that and we have a overnight Security Patrol to cut down on some of the incidents happening at night and the drive throughs in our store windows that were hoping to prevent Going Forward as west beck. Here is our safety team right now. They give out directions all daylong. They address many quality of life issues. From excessive noise to aggressive street behavior. Its up to the sfpd to enforce the laws but we provide eyes and ears for them on the lots and ordinance on the books in San Francisco. Economic impact, union square impacts a union punch. We represent 3. 5 of the land mass in San Francisco yet we are bringing in considerable dollars for the city. In forecast, we bring in 34 of the citys generated sales and consumer goods. 13 i think of all of our goods. 27 of the citys tran see ant and we have workers and daily, monthly rather, we have 4 million visitors. Theres a lot of people moving through union square everyday. So weve gone above and beyond our Management Plan over the last 10 years and im so proud of the work that we have done with launching our union square foundation. It enables us to go above and beyond the clean and safe and provide Workforce Development through our downtown street theme. Theres a representative here today with downtown streets. They hire Homeless Individuals and get paired up with a case worker. We have hired these individuals to our regular crew and were proud of the partnership that we have there and another organization we partner with recently is miracle messages and we have outreach workers in union square that go around and talk to some of the homeless folks to deif they can recorrect them with family members they lost touch with and we have nice stories of where there have been reconnections and such so were proud of that work and we hope to continue more of that Going Forward. Our place making. We have been working closely with supervisor peskins office to see how much more we can activate cam ton, some of these public spaces to invite people downtown and then encourage them to stay downtown. To enjoy foods from the food trucks. These are our paparazzi dogs. Were so proud of our winter walk which started as a mitigation effort for the subway construction which is tough on all of us down there. We created this incredible public popup plaza for five years where we welcomed 2. 2 million visitors. Were going tmore on come on thy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you so very much. Supervisor yee any questions . I dont see anybody on the roster. I guess we will now take a open public testimony. If you are here in support of the assessment district, please come up and go ahead and make your comments. You have two minutes. In support. Good afternoon, members of the board of supervisors. Supervisor peskin, thank you very much for being the real i was on the renewal committee, which as was explained started over 18 months ago. We did extensive outreach to Property Owners, surveys, stakeholders, and held Community Meetings to find out what people wanted in the district. Again, this outlined what the result of that was and got our petition reaffirmed to the Property Owners. Well get what they want and theyre willing to pay for it and if the boa vote comes out as supervisor peskin thinks it will go, i ask you to vote yes to renew the bid. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is raymond. Im the lead project manager for downtown streets teamment im here today to share our support of the renewal of the union square bid. They create an Inclusive Community for all individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk of experiencing this and we provide Workforce Development experience where our team members chose an area and many of them have chosen union square to beautify the streets picking up debris and needles and we work on members gaining employ and housing. Since union square has had us working with them we picked up over 200,000 pounds of trash and over 5900 needles and weve been able to help employ 27 team members and house 15 team members. A number of those team members have been hired within the union square bid as well. And all those numbers show the metric lies impact on the community, the personal impact created for our members is far greater. The bid has brought our team members to appreciation lunches, they invited them to various events such as tulip day and more. They have empowered our teams to be a neighbor, friend and family. We support the renewal for the bid and look forward to empowering many more individuals and the time to come. Thank you. Supervisor yee next speaker. Good afternoon. Members of the board and board president yee. Im the general manager for golden gate and board member of the union square b. I. D. Given what we do, we often partner with city agencies like d. P. W. , d. P. H. And union square b. I. D. We have constant merchants and corridor walks to identify problems and fix them proactively. With the birds eye view i see, the staff that ive experienced are very courteous and they work hard. They provide valuable services to the community. They remove graffiti before they are spread over the other areas, pressure wash to keep pedestrian and pathway street clean. Pick up trash before it attracts more dumping. Top off city cans before they are overflowing. And report abandon waste via 311. They also provide job training and permanent jobs for those who want to work. And some have found permanent housing as you heard before. It is really the model for other b. I. D. S. Under the leadership of karen, the renewal will provide betterpaying jobs, expand in services and will be a 24 7 operation. They will allow the jam to continue to flourish. I urge the support from the board of supervisors for the renewal of the union square b. I. D. Thank you. Supervisor yee next speak or. Good morning. Ive been a union square worker for 37 years. Its hell. I work over cardboard boxes, needles, camping equipment, just to get to my door. Im here to voice our support for the renewal of the union board district. Last year, San Francisco welcomed over 25 million visitors who spent 10 billion here. That generated 771 million in taxes and fees for the citys general fund. Many of those visitors are going through union square or the first time or returning for a repeat visit. Its our front door to the world. San francisco remains inviting and welcoming to all the exhibitors. The bid provides extensive cleaning services as well as Public Safety with 10 officers and overnight security. The bid embassador provides assistance to visitors who need help with wave finding and directions. Without the bid this would not be provided and we hope you support the renewa renewal. Thank you. Good afternoon, president yee. At t has had a long history with San Francisco. Over 100 years. We have thousands of employees that live and or work in the city of San Francisco and thats one of the reasons that at t chose to locate our flagship store. 1 powell is smack dab in the heart of the city and union square. Formerly the bank of italy. Its a beautiful building. We chose it because its right there at the cable car turn around where thousands of people pass every single day. With the current problems that were seeing in that area, including Public Safety issues, cleanliness, homeless drugs, Mental Health issues, sometimes the heart of the city right there in union square can look like a broken heart. The bid works really hard to mend that broken heart throughout reach to the homeless, coordination with city agencies and all of the non profits that karen mentioned, continuous cleaning, graffiti cleaning, i cannot imagine how union square would be without the bid. With retail facing constant changes and challenges, it has been a real advocate from public realm improvements to securing grants for public art, marketing, place making, all these things that keep people coming to union square when really people could just shop at home in their pajamas, i urge you to vote to keep the bid and keep it a safe place to visit, live and work. You it. Good afternoon, supervisors. Thank you for your time and sum or the. My name is ton thomas. I love on the board of directors. For the club donna tell owes association, part of the building at beautiful corner of the post and mayson. We took a step of faith 10 years ago when we said well tax ourselves more money in order to improve our neighborhood. I did not know what i was getting myself into when karen and a few others said don we would like you to serve. Ive been serving on the board. I volunteered to serve on the clean and save committee. If you really want to get involved in the boots on the ground experience, we have meetings every other month. Between the sfpd, d. P. W. , block by block, neighbor streets team, miracle messages and a number of other people, were beginning to change peoples lives one day at a time, one life at a time. Im excited about the future and so were going to take another step of faith. For another 10 years. We appreciate your support for that. Thank you. President yee, members of the board of supervisors, good afternoon. My name is richard lighter. Im a presenc principle and owna breweries and restaurant. The Herbert Hotel at 161 powell and the Stratford Hotel at 242 powell. I have had the pleasure of serving on the board of the bid union square bid. It is critical we renew this bid and it adds a tremendous amount of value to the community and i urge your support. Enough has been said, its just a positive movement for the city and in all things good. Thank you. Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is jessica and im the executive director of miracle messages. Miracle messages is a Nonprofit Organization that helps people experience homelessness reconnect with their loved ones and been working with the bid since october and weve connected 10 people with loved ones that they wouldnt have had the digital access, Digital Literacy or emotional ability to reach out. This has changed lives and through the bid support weve been able to send out two formally Homeless Community embassadors twice a week to canvas the streets to be a friendly face and say a kind word to the people experiencing homelessness and offer them the opportunity to overcome the emotional shame of the disconnection that effects them. Its been an incredible partnership and one of the stories that i think you all should know is of the story of a man named wayne who was disconnected from his loved ones for 16 years who is now in housininhousing due to the efff the bid and the miracle messages. This is a really Important Service that the bid has allowed us to provide and we love working with the bid and we hope you support it. Hello, good afternoon members of the board of supervisors. My name is michelle and im with west field San Francisco center. I will be in zone 1 of the Business Improvement district and since my time with west field, which i just anniversaried 12 months, right off the bat, my Vice President who will be speaking next, encouraged me to develop relationships with Business Improvement district and in that 12 months, theyve helped me create personal and business relationships that helped develop the experience for our 14 million guests that walk through our doors every year through safe and clean efforts as well as advocacy for all members of the community. Im definitely here in support of renewing the union square bid. Thank you. Good afternoon members of the board of supervisors. My name is leah and im the Vice President of Shopping Center management at west field. Im on the board of directors at the Business Improvement district and sat on the renewal committee. Im absolutely in favor of the renewal of the bid. Theres not a day that goes by that we dont discuss the safety, security and clean lessness of the square. The bid has and will continue to be a partner in ensuring that Critical Services are available to our residents, tenants, customers, and employees. The renewals paramount to our future success. I simply cannot imagine what the square would be without the bid. Consensus has been reached that approximate partnership must be maintained and that services should be enhanced and a testament to the work of karen and her team. Thank you for your time and look forward to seeing you at the square and shopping at wes westfield. Good afternoon members of the board of supervisors, my name is spencer. Im a citizen of San Francisco and i lived here since 1999. I reside in district 5. And im the director of Business Development for a Company Called inpark and a longterm member of the board of the union square businesses improvement district. My company manages 15 Parking Facilities for the sfmta, the department of real estate and the board of supervisor including the fifth emission garage in the union square Business Improvement direct. We manage about eight Parking Facilities serving valet. As a result of this ive got to spend a significant amount of time in the Union Square Area and our company gets the opportunity to serve thousands of union square businesses, momenhotel guests, citizens and visitors on a daily basis. When i moved here in 1999, i didnt frequent union square that much and no offense to karen and my fellow members, i thought it was shady at the time. But, over the course of the last 15 or so years, ive seen union square become that destination that now i want to visit as much as i can. This transformation didnt happen overnight. It took a lot of collaboration with the city of San Francisco, departments and the union square b. I. D. I urge you as members of the board of supervisors to continue your support like you have for so many years. Thank you. Good afternoon, members of the board of supervisors. My name is amy howl and i represent trinity. I moved here from the east coast in 1990 with my sister and the first thing on our bucket list was to go to union square. The union square i remember gave me a sense of San Francisco. I really feel that union square is absolutely part of the world stage. The millions of visitors that come to union square leave with an impression they dont forget. I havent forgotten mine. And mine was one of, this is the friendliest city. People are so nice. I was comparing it to new york where i came from. I also thought it was a really clean city. And a really approachable city. And i couldnt wait to make this my home. I now have the pleasure of assisting and managing not just residential communities but iconic buildings on union square where we have people come to work everyday. When you come to work everyday u. Its your home. Its your home away from home. Some of the things that i recognized through the bid, im in support of the union square b. I. D. Renewal. The Camera Network has been inspirational to me and i am mimicking it across other parts of the city. It has stopped crime. It has been a real aid to our Law Enforcement professionals who need that assistance and back up. I think of what the renewal could offer with extended services into the evenings. A place for people to find happiness and comfort and cleanliness as they enjoy the city that i love so much. I hope that you vote to renew the bid. Thank you. Good afternoon members of the board of supervisors. My name is kelly powers and im the director of the Hotel Council of San Francisco and we have members of both hotels and businesses as part of our partnership. Im also a member of the union square Business Improvement District Board and i also sit on their foundation board. First, the twoprong message is i want to provide today to urge you to support the renewal is the clean and Safe Partnership that the Hotel Council has with the union square Business Improvement district. The main question Many Organizations ask themselves to understand the power of an organization like the bid, is to imagine what it would be like without it. What would that Downtown District look like without all the services that the bid provides . It would very much look like a different neighborhood without their support. On the community side, the union square Business Improvement districts creates a fabric of excitement, engagement and diversity. The bid works to incorporate those working to improve their lives like the downtown streets team and the union square cares program. They support the beautification efforts such as tree planting. And they provide fun activities like the downtown ice rink every holiday season, the winter walk. Were losing some of the attractions where families can come together and celebrate, shop and celebrate special times of the year. I thank you for being supportive of the union square Business Improvement district. Thank you. Its a natural reflex to respond when i see its involving business and professional cults pertaining to tax regulations. You give twitter millions of dollars of taxfree money and smaller businesses have not been able to enjoy the freedom of getting taxfro billions of dollars and big yun o billions. They have been paying payroll taxes required by state and federal law. Twitter and the Hitech Companies have not done anything for low income people, people homeless out on the street. These organizations have been helping people giving them a chance and opportunities to get permanent housing above the minimum page that is being paid by city street clean and i agree with renewing their organization and i further like to see them expand and build Affordable Housing for low income and very low income bracket people. These that come from me by the time they get to you it takes several years for you to wake up and smell the coffee and doing what i propose. Just like this 600 milliondollar tax by for low income housing. Ive been talking to you about this for years and now you are doing something about t i dont want you to wait that long to take care of this problem here. These organizations are doing to help people in low income and put them to work. Id like to see you expand and build Affordable Housing for those very same incomes of people that you employ. Because you are in position to do so and you can be a leader and theyll follow your