Rip that thing down. And by the time thenstate senator quentin kopp transferred the property to the city for one american dollar, willie brown was mayor. And there was a little neighborhood fight about what we were going to do with those parcels. One was going to be a police station, one was going to be a butterfly museum, one was going to be Affordable Housing. I am pleased to say that today, they are all Affordable Housing for the city and county of San Francisco. That is remarkable. [applause] supervisor peskin now, it is true that i wanted this site, even though my friends at the Barbary Coast neighbors disagreed, i wanted this to be a temporary navigation site. But the mayor and i and supervisor haney have teamed up to find one not so far away. And i also want to agree with the mayor that Affordable Housing is actually not that affordable, and we all know the numbers that we just saw, the homeless count. And its just not San Francisco, its portland, seattle, and los angeles, continue to rise. So here are 53 units that are going to keep some of my seniors and this is the district that has the highest percentage of seniors in the city and county of San Francisco from being homeless. But you know what . Its not affordable to many of our seniors, which is precisely why miss hartley, mayor breed, president yee and i teamed up to create what we called s. O. S. , senior operating subsidies which is in this years budget for shallow subsidies for seniors so they can actually continue to live and age in place. This is a great day for the city and county of San Francisco, one and all, particularly to the workers who are building this thing. Congratulations. [applause] a. Supervisor peskin all right. This is a weird jurisdictional thing, because you think the owner is the city and county of San Francisco, but it is the port and held in trust by the city and county of San Francisco and lands owned by the public works. Now weirdly enough, the port land is inland, and the public works land is closer to the water, which ive never figured out. But instrumental to this entire project was the port of the city and county of San Francisco, their executive director, miss elaine forbes. Hello, everyone. Its very great to be here today. We all love a ground breaking. As you all know, the port manages 7. 5 miles of waterfront property. Our future is very brite since the loma prieta freeway came down, but nothing makes us prouder than to welcome the neighbors and residents who will come to enjoy this community. We are proud to announce what will be a solution to the Affordable Housing crisis. I want to acknowledge, and supervisor peskin knows this very well, it takes the port quite a long time to figure out what to do with its property, and 88 broadway was a very long conversation. And actually, it was the Community Residents that said they would like to use we would like to use these underused lots that youre using for parking. So tom ammiano provided us a bill to be able to use this for housing. Here is another example where we can welcome low, mod, seniors, and formerly Homeless Housing to our waterfront. For us, the northeast Waterfront Advisory Group helped us provide standards for 88 broadway. It was a very patient process, and it did improve the project. Its that kind of collaboration, that kind of problem solving that got us here today. Theres a lot of port staffers in the audience that have been working here for sometime. Thank you so much, and id like to introduce liz minnick from the bank of america. [applause] good afternoon, everyone, and what a glorious afternoon we have for this fabulous day today. Bank of america was founded in this very city in 1904 and has a long history of helping people get in homes and working towards Affordable Housing. From the work after the 1906 earthquake to the recent work with the San Francisco r. A. V. Commission and the rehabilitation of sorry. Well let the coast guard get back. 29 properties for which we financed over 2. 2 billion. For these two properties that we are discussing today, bank of america has provided over 133 million in financing. First, thank you to all of our bank of mercteams to continue their efforts on america teams to continue their efforts on helping to provide housing. And now, i will introduce brynna cantor. [applause] good afternoon. We were involved in the long process of the design of this building. Its just incredible that were going to see more family and Senior Housing here, which is really important to keep our city diverse. We certainly need more of them. It also includes a child care facility, so thats why i have my daughter here, simone, who has become a conoisseur of all the child care facilities in the city. Since this center is going to have a playground, i think shes going to want to check that out, right, simone . Mmhmm. Thanks to the Mayors Office of housing and all the great inclusive bidding that we had during this process, and of course, John Stewarts wonderful team, including us along every step of the way. Had countless meetings. Our supervisor, aaron peskin, and the previous supervisor, julie christiansen, who really got the project going for us. Again, just really impressed with the outreach from the community stages of the project. The team reacted to Community Concerns along the way and modified the project to a very mature building which you see on these drawings here today. In particular, were really impressed with the ground level uses for the community, the services, retail, etc. , that that activate the street. This was a great example of how our project should happen. So you think thats good . Yes. So ill keep it here with introducing one of our Barbary Coast representatives, bob hauer. Thank you, bruno. Good afternoon, everybody. I know its hot, so ill try to be as brief as i possible can. First of all, i want to say on behalf of the Barbary Coast neighborhood association, im very happy to be here today as this project starts to take almost a concrete step forward to bring some badly needed housing to San Francisco. And i also want to express my sincere appreciation to the port and the Mayors Office of housing for all the opportunities that they gave to listen to the neighborhood and to work with us and to resolve well, not resolve, but to work with us to help design a project that really will work for the neighborhood. I think there were many, many discussions and meetings and a number of outcomes that are very positive. Two id like to mention in particular. First of all, if we look at the residents, not only will this housing unit have room and units designated for the formerly homeless and lowincome, but it will also have units for the middleincome households. And this is a first in San Francisco, and its my understanding that thisll be the first large multifamily unit for Affordable Housing that will have units for the middleincome households, and i think everybody should be aware of the shrinking population that we have of the middleincome population in this town. Secondly, i think the development of the ground floor is another real positive outcome. Rather than having a large parking garage that wouldnt add to the ambiance of the neighborhood, we have a location for child care for the children. All of this will serve to activate the neighborhood further. I think it will create a much more pleasant experience along this area of broadway. And then finally, i want to mention the certainly our appreciation to the John Stewart Company and bridge housing. The design is attractive. Theyve gone through a number of extra measures to make sure its not a boring, institutional structure, and i certainly appreciate all the different opportunities that they have provided to for the neighborhood to get some input. So with that, ill just close by saying i think this project is a tremendous asset, will be a tremendous asset to the neighborhood, and it will make this stretch of broadway even more inviting. And so with that, i am done, and i will let john stewart handle the closing of this ceremony. Thank you. [applause] thank you. I have to add one codicil to whats been said. We observe neighborhood reactions to the concept of formerly homeless, and they run screaming from the run. Theres a lack of opposition. On this project, theres six entities that reviewed all of all of our designs and plans and our sociology. Not once did i hear anybody say oh, wow, youre going to have formerly homeless . Therell be 37 formerly homeless . That to me was a first. And also, i think they liked the idea of combining the two. That hybrid between formerly homeless making general assistance 30 of a. M. I. And people making 10,000 a month will be a grant interesting social experiment that we as a company have not tried before, and im sure our supervisor will be making many calls to us. In fact, i can hear you now, aaron. His battery has gone dead. I will quickly say there were a few other stars in the community. I just want to give a quick shoutout to ed stan hayes. Janet, barbara, janice, and ken. The fabric of this neighborhoods going to change with the additional units. Architect, l. M. S. Bill letty, Aaron Thorton were in every one of the Public Meetings that we had over four years. Theyll bore you to death talking about quotes, but theyre really nice people at heart. Lenders, b of a, and the woman with the money, kate hartley. Thank you, and thank you. The contractor, what can you say . Cahill happened to be the contractor 17 years ago at north beach place. Actually, i think Howard Carlson was one of the supervisors then, and he still is, so thats what i call good employee retention. We have alex shafer, don brooks, and of course, chuck pele is one of our stars. Hes fantastic. And the port, weve already done that, elaine forbes. Mickey tuzanni and michael martin. Gail gilman and Victor Makras are on the commission, and theyre here today, and thank you for attending. Cindys staff are what we call our intrepids. Thank you, mayor breed, for causing them to be so totally active. I would start with kate hartley, kudos to you. You were with this thing from the beginning. We appreciate it. Youve got a great team. Luther from social services, cushman and wakefield are all going to be contributors to this. We do have a cafe and a restaurant going in here, and youre all expected to come and be big tippers when we open up that restaurant. Bridge side, and i have to say, im looking at cynthia, marie tabor, give her a raise. She paid me to just say that. You owe me, marie, and in our office, several people have dedicated a large part of their lives to this. Lastly, there are some empty chairs who represent back in the day. Olson lee, well have the cobblestones along with the make America Great caps. Last, mayor ed lee. He loved this project. I remember talking to him about this the week before he left us, and he loved this. What a fantastic legacy for you to carry on, and dont think we forget about it, supervisor peskin. So with that, i stand between you and a free lunch, and there is one occasionally, so we are now going to do the ground breaking. Somebody needs to get a shovel, and we need some earth. Well do that, and then, well all get a free lunch. Thank you very much, everybody, for coming. The hon. London breed five, four, three, two, one. All right. Get to work i lived in the Mission Neighborhood for seven years and before that the excel see your district. 20 years a resident of the city and county of San Francisco. I am the executive director of a local art space nonprofit that showcases work that relate to the Latino Community and i have been in this building for seven years and some of my neighbors have been here 30 year. We were notified from the landlord he was going to sell the building. When we realized it was happening it was no longer a thought for the landlord and i sort of had a moment of panic. I heard about the Small Sites Program through my work with the Mission Economic agency and at met with folks from the mayors Housing Program because they wanted to utilize the program. We are dealing with families with different needs and capacities. Conversations were had early in the morning because that is the only time that all the tenants were in the building and finally when we realized that meda did have the resources to buy the building we went on a Letter Writing Campaign to the landlord and said to him we understand you want to sell your building, we understand what you are asking for and you are entitled to it, its your land, but please work with us. What i love about ber nell height it represents the diversity that made me fall in love with San Francisco. We have a lot of mom and pop shops and you can get all your resources within walking distance. My favorite air area of my homes my little small patio where i can start my morning and have my coffee an is a sweet spot for me and i. Neighborhood in San Francisco are also diverse and fascist as the people that inhabitable them were in north beach about supervisor peskin will give us a tour and introduce is to what think of i i his favorite district 5 e 3 is in the northwest surrounded by the San Francisco bay the district is the boosting chinatown oar embarcadero financial district Fishermans Wharf exhibit no. North beach Telegraph Hill and part of union square. All of San Francisco districts are remarkable im honored and delighted to represent really whereas with an the most intact district got chinatown, north beach Fishermans Wharf russian hill and knob hill and the northwest waterfront some of the most wealthier and inning e impoverished people in San Francisco obgyn siding it is ethically exists a bunch of tightknit neighborhoods people know he each other by name a wonderful placed physically and socially to be all of the neighborhoods north beach and chinatown the i try to be out in the community as much as and i think, being a the cafe eating at the neighborhood lunch place people come up and talk to you, you never have time alone but really it is fun hi, im one the owners and is ceo of cafe trespassing in north beach many people refer to cafe trees as a the living room of north beach most of the clients are local and living up the hill come and meet with each other just the way the United States been since 1956 opposed by the grandfather a big people person people had people coming since the day we opened. It is of is first place on the west that that exposito 6 years ago but anyone was doing that starbucks exists and it created a really welcoming pot. It is truly a legacy business but more importantly it really at the take care of their community my father from it was formally italy a fisherman and that town very rich in culture and music was a big part of it guitars and sank and combart in the evening that tradition they brought this to the cafe so many characters around here everything has incredible stories by famous folks last week the cafe that paul carr tennessee take care from the Jefferson Starship hung out the cafe are the famous poet Lawrence William getty and jack herb man go hung out. They work worked at a play with the god fathers and photos he had his typewriter i wish i were here back there it theres a lot of moving parts the meeting spot rich in culture and artists and musicians epic people would talk with you and youd getetetetetetetetetet good morning, everyone. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the july 22, 2019, meeting of the rules committee. I am supervisor hillary ronen, chair of the committee. Seated to my right is vicechair shamann walton, and seated to my left is rules Committee Member gordon mar. Our clerk today is victor young. And i would like to thank the staff for staffing this meeting. Clerk please make sure to silence all cellphones and electronic devices. Completed copies of any documents to be included as part of the file should be submitted items acted upon today will appear on the july 30 supervisors agenda unless otherwise stated. Chair ronen thank you so much. Can you read item number 1. Clerk item number 1 the to the clerk. Motion approving rejecting the mayoral nomination for the appointment of Eduardo Santacana to the board of appeals, for a chair ronen thank you so much. Mr. Santacana, come on up. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I am honoured to be nochl nateded to serve as a commissioner on the board of appeals. I would like to start by thanking the mayor for nominating me, executive Julie Rosenburg and commissioners rig swig, daryl honda and racism tanner for speak being to me about the boards work. Ive been a resident of San Francisco for nine years. I live with my wife, my 1yearold daughter and my motherinlaw in the inner park side neighbourhood. For the past four years ive worked as a trial lawyer in jackson square. Before that i had the privilege to serve as a law clerk for judge john tiger here in San Francisco in the Federal District court. In my work i litigate a wide variety of cases, mostly commercial disputes and intellectual property disputes to provide you a recent example of what i do that im particularly proud of, i respected the oakland alamena Council Authority in an arbitration against the Golden State Warriors arising out of the 1996 renovation of the oracle arena in oakland. When the team decided to leave oakland for San Francisco, they sued the Coliseum Authority because they argued their lease entitled them to skip out on 50 million of public debt that renovated the arena for them to play there. My trial Team Successfully persuade the arbitrator that they would have to pay that public debt even if they left which was a significant victory for the taxpayers of alamena and oakland. Im also proud of my commitment to a for pro bono work. I am helping migrants seeking asylum or other forms of immigration relief here in the bay area. I also helped spearhead our challenge to president trumps travel ban along with my colleague who is here supporting me as well. In addition i serve as a board member and prochair for the committee of the bay area chapter of the constitution society, which is a network of progressive lawyers in the bay area that gather at events and panels to discuss relevant issues at local and national committees. I am thrilled to be nominated to the board of appeals. My interest comes from a sense that i could do more in this community and in particular through Public Service. Im aware that the board has often has lawyers on it, but that currently there isnt a commissioner with that set of skills. So my hope is that i can contribute in this unique way to the work of the wonderful commissioners who currently serve on the board are already doing. As a law clerk on the d. C. Circuit, i had the privilege of doing work similar to the work of the board of appeals. In particular the d. C. Circuit hears many administrative appeals for federal agencies and decides whether those agencies have followed federal law. While i was at the d. C. Circuit, i learned the skill set required to study new cases in technical areas of the law and in complicated industries and those skills, as i see them, include ensuring that all parties feel heard, preparing diligently for each case, working to find an impartial and fair solution that serves the ends of justice and the policies enacted by the legislature, and providing consistent guidance to the community so that agencies can act predictably and fairly, not only in the cases that are appealed, but in the many cases not appealed. These are the skills ive developed and honed over several years and i think i can apply them readily and well to the boards work. Im also aware that the boards work involves very emotional disputes, disputes where commissioners must hear neighbours who have disagreements with their own neighbours, disagreements with the way the iis being run, and they are all running for the boards consideration and the boards task is to remain impartial and fair while also remaining to the laws it is charging. As a lawyer helping two different judges perform this task, i can attest to the challenge of threading that needle. I think im wellsuited to the task of exercising independent judgment in these types of cases, while hopefully making sure that even though there must be winners and losers, everybody believes they have a fair opportunity to be heard and their city is working for them. Thank you and im happy to answer any questions you may have. Chair ronen thank you so much. I just say youre absolutely unbelievably qualified for this position. Thank you, madam chair. Chair ronen and i appreciate your willingness to serve in this capacity. Colleagues, do you have any questions . No. Im going to open this item up for Public Comment. If any member of the public would like to come forward now is your time. Good morning, esteemed supervisors. Im rick swig and the board of supervisors appointee as the commissioner to the board of appeals, and i currently serve as president of the board of appeals. Eduardo has been very diligent in investigating what his responsibilities would be with the board of appeals. You know, we serve many masters, we serve those who appeal, those who are the permit holders and of course we serve the city and its departments to make sure as a quasi judicial body we make the best decisions possible. In speaking with him, he was very clear on that subject and hes taken the time to come to our meetings. Hes taken the time to interview my fellow commissioners. We are all very, very comfortable with the opportunity of him joining us on the board of appeals and i hope you feel equally. As he mentioned, we are not only lacking a commissioner, but we are also lacking a commissioner with specific legal skills and he would be very, very helpful in filling out the skill base that we require to do our job. So i hope that you find positively with regard to his appointment. Thank you very much. Chair ronen thank you so much. Next speaker, please. And if anybody would like to speak on this item and if you can line up over to your right, my left, that would be great. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, im john kecker. I started the law firm where eduardo works and im here to vouch for him, but first ive got to say im so thrilled to be here because in 1977, i ran for supervisor the first time they had district elections, Diane Finestein won and i lost in district 3. Harvey milk won in district 5 those days i got more votes than the Democratic Club and harvey milked it because in those days there were a lot of feuds unlike now. Anyway, its great to be here. I worked with Eduardo Santacana in various contexts. I worked with him on the Alameda County case that he talked about that he was instrumental in winning and saving oakland 50 million. I worked with him on the pro bono cases he didnt mention, hes been an absolutely sensational lawyer. To be a good lawyer, you have to be a good man. He is a good man filled with integrity and judgment and were lucky to have him. Chair ronen thank you so much. Next speaker. When you get this job, id like to see you Pay Attention to the most Vulnerable People who are in the city and county of San Francisco and the area. Id like to see you start off with the people not included and inclusionary ordinance thats been voted for by the people in San Francisco, but every time there is a housing opportunity the most Vulnerable People are not included. Every time the city claims that its 100 Affordable Housing, the only people that can afford it is the people in high income brackets. A lot of these appointments that come out, the lowest income thats accepted for a person to put in an application is like about 80, 90,000 a year. If you are who you say you are, that is a violation of constitutional law pertaining to the 14th amendment, due process and equal protection under the law. Thats not equal protection under the law, providing housing opportunities for only people in high income brackets and as far as people in income brackets thats below the target, as far as being acceptable and eligible to put an application in for the housing opportunity out of the Mayors Office on housing where you claim you are an equal opportunity Housing Organization is disgusting. Thats called discrimination. Thats why youve got a minimum of 8,011 people out in frisk and it turns out on a review that it says 30 more than that. There is a total of 2,000 people in San Francisco and its because of this price fixing and price gouging. I want to put a strong emphasis on it. You represent that people economically disadvantaged as a pro bono, i do some work for several years myself. So if you get nominated and i think you will, id like to see you focus in on that. Can you promise me that . All right. [ bell rings ]. Chair ronen thank you, mr. Wright. Next speaker, please. Good morning and thank you. My name is simona amaluchi. I am a partner at the kecker law firm. Ive known eduardo for four years when he started working at the firm. I remember thinking this guy is going to be a star and he has absolutely proven that correct. Over the past four years, eduardo and i have had the opportunity to work closely together on various large matters, and im also his official mentor at the firm. So over time, weve had conversations about professional goals, about the purpose of our jobs, about life, about being working parents, and i feel that ive really gotten to know him, not just as a lawyer, but as a human being. The thing that strikes me the most about eduardo is his deep sense of commitment to justice and his ethics. Hes a terrific lawyer and anyone who meets him will know that, but what sets him apart is that he cares about justice, truth, and serving the underprivileged. And as a result of that, hes devoted a large amount of time to pro bono cases, some of which ive worked with him on. Just last week, weve got news that one of eduardos pro bono clients an unaccompanied minor from el salvador called oscar got his papers after fleeing Death Threats from ms 13 because he refused to join the gangs and they put a literally death order on him and he ran for his life and eduardo saved him. Now, when one of my friends nannies needed help because she too had a sister who was fleeing fers persecution, eduardo steppedup to the plate and took her asylum case and hes representing her now. Its not just our paying clients that he devotes his time to, its the people who are the most vulnerable in society. Eduardo understands [ bell rings ]. Chair ronen thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Good morning, supervisor ronen, fellow supervisors. My name is maxwell pritt. I am here this morning as the chair of the bay area lawyer chapter of the American Constitution Society. In that capacity, i have known eduardo since 2012, and for everyone who doesnt know what the American Constitution Society is, we are a group of a progressive lawyers that believe the law should be used to improve the lives of all people. We believe in genuine equality. We believe in meaningful access to justice. We believe that transparency and truth are the enemy of tyranny and that it is the life blood of democracy. I believe that eduardo, having known him since 2012 in this volunteer capacity, will work to achieve these things for the city of San Francisco and the people of San Francisco in this capacity. So you know, he has been a member of the board the lawyer chapter board since 2012. The board is comprised of about 20 to 30 lawyers from the attorney generals office, the doj, from private practice, from city office, every aspect of progressive lawyering in the bay area. We also have an Advisory Board that includes individuals like City Attorney dennis rara, our good friend and dear friend who passed away jeff adachy as well and many others. [ bell rings ]. Eduardo has not just been a member of the board. He has taken an active role in one of the most difficult things for our board, which is programming chair, and which he has served in that capacity since 2006. We put on roughly two dozen programs every year, and this year under eduardos leadership we received a Programming Award from the National Office of the American Constitution Society at our National Convention in washington, d. C. So i just wanted [ bell rings ]. Chair ronen thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Good morning, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. My name is Jay Rappaport and i am an associate at eduardos law firm. As mr. Santacanas colleague, i would like to echo what the other speakers have said about his skill, integrity to pro bono service. As his colleague we see that every day and everyone at his firm shares great pride in his nomination. I feel an added pride because mr. Santacana is not just a coworker but has been my friend and classmate for well over a decade. If you told me when we met as law students long ago that he would have received this honour, i wouldnt have batted an eye. His passion and commitment to Public Service are readily apparent when you meet him. If theres one instance that exemplifies that spirit, its his leadership to join our effort to fight the travel ban. Mr. Santacana mentioned our efforts to fight that in court, but what he didnt mention he was on the ground at sfo within hours of the travel ban coming down. He was there to bring his skills to bear, not because he thought it was glamorous or would help his career, but the great needs of those in need demanded it and thats the kind of person he is. Those values are in the best tradition of the bar, of course, and theyre ones i would hope to see in any public servant. Of course for my perspective mr. Santacana would not be just any public servant. For many years ive benefitted [ bell rings ]. And his unassailable values. Whenever i have a problem, whether its legal or personal, hes the first person i would turn to. I can say from experience that our city would benefit tremendously from his talents. Im proud as a colleague and friend to support his nomination and i promise you, you wont regret his nomination. Chair ronen thank you so much. Is there any other member of the public who would like to speak on this item . Seeing none, Public Comment is closed. Again, mr. Santacana, thank you so much for your willingness to serve in this capacity. Its a very important undertaking and it seems like you do a lot of volunteer work and all of that work you do is so much integrity and passion and were really appreciative that youre going to bring your talents to the city of San Francisco. Does anyone want to make a motion . I would like to make a motion of amending item 1, removing approving rejecting chair ronen without objection, that motion passings unanimously. Thank you so much. Mr. Clerk, can you please read item number 2. Clerk item number 2 is term ending july 1, 2020. clerk of the board is a hearing to consider appointing three members terms ending november 30, 2020. Chair ronen i would like to give time if you would like to speak about your appointments. Good morning, im Betty Packard. I came to San Francisco in 1982. I had my first newspaper job in 1953, and served chair ronen you look very young. I was. I was in high school, as a matter of fact. And served as a newspaper reporter on four different newspapers, one in franklin indiana, two in indianapolis. Then i married, had two children. My husband was killed. I went back to school, got some more education and was a director of High School Journalism at the largest high school in indiana. Then i became an adjunct professor at bal state for weekend education. 15 years i raised my children in indiana and then suddenly i found this great guy and married and one day he said were moving, and i didnt understand why but he was a career army officer. So we arrived here i arrived here as a result of the United States army in 1982. We served at the presidio. When he retired in 87, we decided maybe we would like to stay. I had been serving on the california abortion Rights League board and doing president of the California Press women and doing some work here and head of the High School Journalism contest for both San Francisco and california. So i was already pretty much involved in the work when i received a call and said from the California Broadcasters Association that they needed a representative for the Ballot Simplification Committee. This was 1997. And i said, oh, i just dont have the time to do that. They said, its just a twoweek commitment. Will you please come for the two weeks and do this commitment because we really need a quorum for this very vital committee. And i thought, well, sure, i can do that. I showed up. The room was packed. The hallway was packed and i thought id never done this before. I thought what are all these people doing here for my appointment and it was the cross at mount davidson. So i learned a little humbleness at the moment. But yes, that was 1997. Here i am 22 years later. This is the 12th time ive appeared before this committee. I now represent the National Academy of Television Arts and sciences because the California Broadcasters Association joined forces with them. So i have chaired the committee since 2004. I am very proud of the job we do. I am a constituent of supervisor walton, but he will never see me at any political meeting because its one of the things i do as chair of this committee, i never attend a political meeting. I never want anybody to have the privilege of saying im biased or im walking into something with a bias. I work very hard to keep the committee on a very straight and narrow chair that so that we hear everybody. I know, i think it was chris daily who used to be we are the epitome of democracy and would say go here to bettys committee because they are democracy in action, and im proud of the fact thats been our reputation over the years. For the moment we have been operating at a real disadvantage because the school board has failed to highlight and put forth a nomination. So instead of five people, weve only had four, and it and were going to come through this session with only three because mr. Patterson is travelling and cannot be here for this session. But the fact that were going to have a huge session for november, im happy to have him back. But im very proud of our group. One of the things ive learned to do is go out also and speak to public groups before the election and talk about the need to get out to vote, try to explain the ballot, try to explain why we have a Ballot Simplification Committee, in fact, what a Ballot Simplification Committee is, because a lot of people dont [ bell rings ]. They not only dont know, but dont appreciate it. I ask not only do you approve myself and ill let ashley take the floor here in a minute, but that you also approve scott. Hes a valuable member of the committee too and you dont need to come back to hear him again so that he can come back in november and meet with us. So im very proud of the work that we do and the work that ive done. [ bell rings ]. I hope you move us forward. Chair ronen thank you so much. Were getting in touch with the school board to make sure they make their nomination. [ laughter ]. They used to answer chair ronen were on it. My name is Ashley Raveche. I thank this committee to listen to my application for reappointment to the Ballot Simplification Committee. I served last term. A little bit about me. I am up for the league of women voters seat, so the Ballot Simplification Committee is a league legacy. We are the champions that brought this committee to San Francisco government as a transparency and accountability measure as well as to streamline election electio elections so that citizens didnt need a law degree in order to vote. So often it is a thorn in the legislators side. I want to say we are a partner in this work and that we really do appreciate and understand the nuances of what youve prepared for us to dismantle and digest into an eighthgrade reading level. So its really im happy to participate on this committee again if you approve my nomination and im happy to work with every board supervisor whos bringing a ballot measure before us. A little bit about how i became a part of this is that i served three years as the league of women voters president for San Francisco, where we do Community Engagement, advocacy, Voting Rights work. Currently im a mom, i have a 7yearold and a 5yearold, as well as doing Community Engagement at the state level and doing human rights lobby work for aca 6 which is a free to vote, as well as reforming yeah, theres a rally out front. It wasnt planned, but you will see the work were doing. Also reforming use of work in the state. So were getting a bill on the governs desk and hes ready to sign. It was exciting because we utilized San Francisco as a model for use of reforms in the state. I wont take up any of your time. Im welcome to questions. Thank you. Yes, please hopefully consider Scott Patterson as well as Betty Packard for the reappointment. Chair ronen thank you so much. If any member of the public would like to speak on this item, now is your chance. Seeing none, Public Comment is closed. I wanted to thank you both for this crucial job. It is one of the leastknown, mostpowerful committees that we have in the city and county in San Francisco. For those who are watching or are here who dont know about the Ballot Simplification Committee, when there is an initiative on the ballot or an ornss or a charter amendment, the City Attorney prepares the question which could makeorbreak basically a measure depending on how you word it, the voters might be more or less inclined to support or oppose the measure. But it doesnt just stop there. It goes before a public body, the Ballot Simplification Committee, where a group of citizens who are appointed from various Interest Groups that want to protect our democracy and make sure that its fair and open, get to sit on the decisionmaking body to rewrite the question if they want to. They are the final arbiters of what the official ballot question is on the ballot, and us as citizens, we get to go and argue one way or the other. What was prepared by the City Attorney wasnt answered and heres why. Their other job is to make sure that every single thing thats written on the ballot is understandable to someone with an eighthgrade education. So its just incredibly important. As some forces in our society are trying to weaken our society, this Ballot Simplification Committee is strengthened. I would like to thank you for your work. I would just echo all of chair ronens comments about the importance of the this committee, and also thank you so much to ms. Packard and ms ms. Raveche for all of your commitment and to serve on the committee and the city. I would like to make a motion to move this forward to the full board with positive recommendation. The appointment of Scott Patterson to seat 1, Betty Packard to seat 2 and Ashley Raveche to seat 3 as the Committee Report for consideration at the july 23rd board meeting. Chair ronen and without objection, that motion passes unanimously. Congratulations and thank you so much. Mr. Clerk, can you please read item number 3. Clerk item number 3 is a rules and regulations supporting Assembly Constitutional amendment no. 6 to allow automatic restoration for Voting Rights to those on parole upon completion of a state or federal prison term. Chair ronen thank you so much. The sponsor has joined us. Thank you so much, chair ronen and supervisors mar and walton for having me here today and thank you to all the Community Members who are here who just joined us moments ago for a rally on the steps of city hall in support of aca 6. The free the vote act will give california voters on the 2020 ballot, the opportunity to restore Voting Rights to people on parole upon completion of a prison term. Aca 6 is currently on the Assembly Floor and is expected to be up for a floor vote in the last two weeks of august. Once it clears the floor, it will head to the senate. This resolution is supported by my colleagues walton, mar, brown, mandelman ronen and fewer. It was coauthored by many colleagues as well as our isnt that true senator wiener. I want to give a brief background and turn it over to our experts who have been leading this fight of that. California law permits an individual who is a United States citizen, a resident of california, and at least 18 years of age at the time of the next election to register to vote. It also allows otherwise eligible individuals to preregister to vote at age 16 or 17. However, an exception to this law is people serving in state or federal prison or on parole for a felony are prohibited from voting. This will amend sections 2 and 4 to restore Voting Rights to individuals upon the completion of their prison term. By eliminating an arbitrary barrier to voting, this will align california with 18 other states and washington, d. C. , which have restored Voting Rights on release of prison or have laws in place at all. The ban the box legislation and San Franciscos ban the box ordinance help formerly incarcerated people by prohibiting employers from considering any conviction prior to making a job offer. This is a positive step in the right direction, but we have to go further. Roughly 50,000 californians are unable to vote as a result of felony disenfranchisement laws. Disenfranchising people on parole is marginalizing people in our state and countrywide. This has disprorntly impacted the voting power of black and brown communities to this day. On the 50,000 people on parole three out of four of those individuals are people of colour. According to the department of corrections and rehabilitation, data shows that in San Francisco specifically of the 772 people on parole, 347 of them are black, 117 are hispanic, 202 white, and 106 identify as other. This means that 45 of the people who cannot vote in San Francisco because they are on parole are black, even though black residents make up less than 6 of San Franciscos overall population. These statistics are consistent with the states findings that the majority of people on parole are people of colour. Many of the 50,000 californians on parole are working, paying taxes and positively contributing to their communities, but are unable to vote at any level. Initiate justice conducted a survey in 2018 of more than a thousand people in prison and on parole in california. 86 of those surveyed said that voting would help them feel more connected to their communities. 95 of those surveyed said they want to have a voice in society and elected leadership. Our society is stronger when it includes voices of those marginalized. Aca6 is the next step towards ending the legacy of African Union disenfranchisement and enjoying the growing freedom to vote. I want to thank the Many Community advocates here including all of us or none, initiate justice, aclu of california, antirecidivism coalition, the league of california women voters. White people for black lives, as well as Author Assembly member kevin mccarty. I also want to thank arc who are here, San Francisco and alameda Public Defenders Office and some staff from my office for