What a great store. Thank you so much for inviting us into your home, your business. We know that this store is named after your great grandmother, and we really appreciate the work that you are doing here with the castro street merchants and all the incredible merchants that are here. Hey, richard. Good to see you. All the incredible merchants, im london breed, im the mayor of San Francisco, joined by the supervisor of district 8, supervisor mandelman to talk about the shopping and dining and 49ing, that didnt work. But the 49ers are winning. We are here today because we know that we are kicking off the Holiday Season. And there is nothing like nothing like shopping and hanging out at some of our great restaurants and other places in so many of our neighborhoods that really does put you into the holiday spirit. And so we want to encourage people to shop in places like stag and main, which is an incredible store as you can see, ornaments, furniture, bowls, plates, cups, you can come here and decorate your whole house for thanksgiving tomorrow. So this is one of the most incredible Small Businesses we have in the city. And i know its a favorite of the supervisor, along with so many unique neighborhoods. You can go to almost any neighborhood in San Francisco and discover something that you probably never saw before. Noe valley, the haight ashbury, the Western Addition, union street, so many great places that you can shop, you can buy gifts that will be unique gifts for our family members and friends, because they are unique Small Businesses in San Francisco. A lot of love and care goes into these places. And we want to make sure that when you are out shopping this Holiday Season, that you really look at your neighborhoods and different neighborhoods throughout San Francisco and support our Small Business community. Let me tell you. I still use a lot of the same places ive been using since i was a kid. Believe it or not, they are still here. I still go to the same dry cleaner. The lady who is been doing my nails for over 20 years is still doing my nails even though i didnt get them done today. The places i had the same dentist, a Small Business owner, since ive had teeth. Its so incredible to have these incredible relationships that you have because its a personal touch with the people who run these businesses. Because most often when you walk into any of these places, nine times out of ten, the owner of the store will be there and that is why he is here today because hes not only the owner, hes an employee. He works here every single day. So you see him on the news, come down here and see him in person. But part of shopping in San Francisco and so many incredible neighborhoods also involve making sure that we are being smart about parking. You know, theres no secret that we have a lot of challenges with car breakins, unfortunately, but i am proud of the work the San FranciscoPolice Department has done in reducing the number of car breakins significantly. And i know chief scott is here with us today to talk a little bit about how we park. I think that helps tremendously in helping to avoid becoming a victim, especially during this Holiday Season when we know people are paying close attention to what people are doing. We want people to have a great experience. We want them to come here to this store and hang out. Then we want them to head over to hot cookie and have a hot cookie. We want them to enjoy the amazing restaurants, castro, the Castro Community is our featured neighborhood this time around, shop and dine in the 49. And so we really wanted to highlight this unique place in our city and the supervisor will talk more about this amazing community. But if you can get out there and support our Small Businesses all over San Francisco, i know it will make a real difference. And youll have a good time. Because overall, we want your experience to be great from start to finish. We want the time that you leave your house to the time that you come to the castro, to the two, three, four, five, hours you spend walking up and down Market Street and castro street and all the bags that you are going to be carrying, you go and you get some food and hang out and then you go home and feel good and relax. Thats what i want people to experience during this Holiday Season in San Francisco. So it is so great to have all of you here. Thank you to the Castro Merchants Association for coordinating and thank you, i know commissioner adams is here to talk on behalf of the merchants association. But shop and dine in the 49. San francisco is an incredible, unique place where there is something for everyone. And with that, your supervisor to talk about this community and all the great places that you can visit during this campaign, it will be supervisor. Come on up. Thank you, mayor breed. Small businesses in San Francisco today. [applause] it is gray and rainy. And i was in puert o vallarta yesterday. Its been a little bit of a gray time in this neighborhood for the last few weeks. There was an awful fire on castro street. And i know we have a number of businesses represented here who have been impacted by that fire. And i want to thank the mayor and the office of economic and Workforce Development, joaquin and your team for stepping up for those businesses. And i know you are going to be doing a little bit on that later. But the response from the city, the Fire Department that was fighting the fire to the folks who came in later to help out the residents and the Business Owners have been great. And i want to, on behalf of the castro, thank you for that. Thats an applause line, yeah. [applause] but i think we also know the castro has had some problems for a while now and some of it is reflective around challenges for retail across the city and the country and some of it is unique to the challenges we have up here, some of the street behavior issues and the real challenges of operating businesses here in the castro. But this is a, as you all know, this is a wonderful neighborhood. It is a neighborhood that is embedded in the history of this city and the history of this country. Worldchanging things have happened in this neighborhood, done by, starting with a castro Small Businessman, harvey milk and his camera shop downcast row street. Today is the anniversary of the assassination. Some of us will be at a candlelit vigil later. But this neighborhood is part of the heart of San Francisco. So even till today, building on that tradition of harvey milk, there are so many great local leaders, from the merchants, thank you for the work you do and andrea, and all the merchants and staff who courageously stepped in to open this business just about a year ago, steve adams made sure i was here. Thank you, commissioner. And youve brought this wonderful establishment to this block, other brave, courageous folks stepped forward every year to try to share their dream with this community and other communities around San Francisco. And it is so easy to go online and buy that thing. But i ask, i hope that san franciscans, if you love your neighborhoods, if you love your neighborhood Small Businesses, you know, today, take a break on the online purchase, go out and actually support the neighborhood Small Business and the folks who are working so hard like staff both to share their dream with you and to make these neighborhoods work. We need our Small Businesses so desperately. They are critical to the vitality of our neighborhoods and they are great. And so im just pleased, madame mayor and joaquin, that you chose to have shop and dine start here with this event. I want to thank miriam, wherever she is, the most extraordinary Public Servant who made this happen. Mary ahn gets a little bit of applause. And tom and my office are working to make this happen. And i want to thank chief scott and the Police Department for your Partnership Around some of the issues i alluded to earlier. It is challenging up here, but we are getting tremendous help, i know, and im enjoying working with you and looking forward to continuing to work to make this place where people are safe, have fun, and where we have a healthy, thriving community. So with that, chief scott. [applause] thank you, supervisor. And thank you mayor breed. First of all, happy thanksgiving, everybody. We have so much to be grateful and thankful for. And i want to start by thanking the mayor for her great leadership in this great city and the supervisor, the office of economic and Workforce Development, Castro Merchants Association. We have a great city and a great community. And so its my job and all of our sa San FranciscoPolice Department officers that you see here, to give you some reminders to stay safe during the Holiday Season. As the mayor mentioned, weve made a lot of progress in our park smart campaign, because one thing that we want to do is not make it easy to be a victim. We want everybody to step back and have a good time and do your shopping and enjoy your families, but dont make yourself an easy target. So theres a couple simple reminders. First and foremost, if you are going to shop, you probably are going to have packages and bags and all this great merchandise. Make sure you dont leave it in your cars when you go and dine afterwards in the 49, make sure you dont leave it in the car to make it easy for somebody to take it to you. One of the simple things in Crime Prevention is dont make yourself an easy target. So lock your cars, dont leave anything visible in your cars. If you have merchandise, if you cant carry it with you, put it in your trunk. Its always a good idea, oftentimes if you are going to be dining and you are going to go to the restaurants and take advantage of the great food in this area, have a plan in terms of how you are going to shop and do your merchandise. A lot of times the stores will hold things for you or you hold it and come back and purchase it after you eat. So theres just some basic common sense things that we can do to make ourselves not be easy targets. Heres the other thing. If you see something, report it. Say something, call us. We will have officers around this city thanks to the support of the supervisor, mayor breed and the budget we got this year. We have officers on the beat. We have foot beat officers out here in the castro as around the entire city. Call us. We are there for you. We want to be a part of your experience, and we want that experience to be a good one. So call us if you see something thats amiss. If you see somebody staring into cars and you think thats suspicious, we dont mind coming out. Thats a call you should make to us. Lastly before i wrap it up and turn it over to commissioner adams, Pay Attention to your surroundings. You know, we are so distracted in todays world. Everybody has phones. I think i have two me right now and im always looking at them, making sure i answer the mayors messages. [laughter] but when we do that, it distracts us from paying attention to whats around us. I cant tell you how many people have had their phones snatched out of their hands because they werent paying attention to whats around them. We cant prevent everything but we can prevent a lot of things. So Pay Attention. We know people have to make calls and you have to answer your calls, but Pay Attention as you do that because it just makes for a more vigilant and resilient San Francisco when you do that. So have a wonderful thanksgiving. Remember to shop and dine in the 49. Youll see many of us out there shopping as well. My daughter is here in town and i promised here i was going to take her shopping. [laughter] so thank you. With that ill turn it over to commissioner adams. [applause] thank you. Im going to be very brief. First i want to thank mayor breed, supervisor, joaquin, mary, jorge, for bringing this event to the castro this year. I want to acknowledge the president of the castro merchants who asked me to come in today. And i love this event. We also have several castro Board Members here, brian springfield, j. B. , and isaiah with body. Some of the some of these guys have had a rough time with the fires. So if theres anything we can do to come in and support their business. Body is back open so you can come shop, eat, drink in the castro. I also want to acknowledge rodney with the chamber of commerce and the s. P. A. Is also here today. Weve got everybody here. Castro, we need some loving here. I especially want to thank the mayor and supervisor for changing up some of the zoning laws in upper market here where we are now able to fill in second story businesses and ground floor businesses like this one to get them open, to get them open quick and for people to enjoy it. So thank you for that. So with that, happy holidays, everybody. We have our Tree Lighting on monday at 6 00 at castro and 18th street. So come shop, eat, drink and stay in the castro. Thank you. [applause] and andrea, come on up. Hi, everybody. Good morning. Yes, im andrea with the Castro Community benefit district. We are responsible for keeping the castro clean and safe. So have no fear, we will be keeping these streets clean for all the people to come and shop in the castro. I want to thank mayor breed for having us here this afternoon. And i also want to thank seth for inviting everybody and opening up his store and taking the risk of having all those cameras. Making sure nothing breaks because he has wonderful things in this store. And i also want to thank regina who is here this afternoon with the Small Business commission. So thanks so much, regina. [applause] so we all know that san franciscans love Small Businesses. And everyone here has appealed you to do the right thing to shop local and shop in the castro or the haight or wherever your best neighborhood is. But i want to remind everybody why the best reason to shop local, to get out and get offline is because shopping is fun. And its social. You remember how it used to be when you would go with your best friend and you would go shopping and get that special thing for your mom or get that special thing for your boyfriend or girlfriend or whoever it was or your dad, shopping is fun. And thats why its important that you remember you go back to what it used to be like. And i want to encourage everyone to take a challenge this weekend and not shop online. To get out and shop in the castro instead, because, again, shopping is something that you do with your friends and family, and you can enjoy your relationships and build on that and have an experience that is really fun and interesting and unique. And we have some really great, unique stores in the castro, as a matter of fact. Theres local take on 17th street where that little f line turn around is, local take. Sells handcrafted artisan kinds of things. So you can go there and you can support local artists, and at the same time you are supporting a Small Business in the castro. You can also shop here. You can shop at stag and manor. The castro has three home decor Small Businesses. Theres stag and manor, theres the kenneth winguard store that has really unusual and special gifts, and then theres this little shop that is hidden so if you like to explore the neighborhood, its down on sanchez street. Its called, i think the address is 286 sanchez. Its called s16 home. They have unique items there for that very special someone in your life or someones. Also right next door to this place is the incredible place called d h sustainable jewelers. This Jewelry Store is high end. So if you have a special person that you are looking for this incredible, unique piece of jewelry, its sustainable in nature, which means you are helping the environment, and you are also being able to purchase a really unique piece of jewelry for that very special person in your life. What else . Oh, and i did want to mention theres this very cool shop on castro. We are in the castro, after all. And they advertise themselves as the dayest shop ever, the official name of the store is nobs, its 432 castro street. You can go there with your friends. They have a runway so you can tryon your newest styles try on your newest styles and model and experience what it would be like to walk around in those new clothes. The castro has really unique businesses and its a fun place to come shopping and i want to remind everybody the castro is open for everyone. We want to serve businesses business to everybody. So come and explore the castro during the day. You probably know the castro at night, but the daytime its a great place, and experience what shopping is like and purchasing those special gifts for you and maybe even yourselves. So thank you very much. [applause] and i know that seth from stag and manor wants to say a few words. So next up is seth. [off mic] i didnt even know i was going to be speaking today but i want to say thank you all for coming to stag and manor. Its such an honor to serve this community which is my community, the community ive lived in for many years now. Its been such an honor to have the shop open for a year this saturday with incredible customers coming through every day with so many wonderful things being a part of it all. And i hope we are all just sharing these experiences with all our friends and neighbors to get more people out, because now is the time to really support Small Business. Im so happy, andrea mentioned the friends i was going to mention to make sure they got a shoutout. Ill add crystal way, another long time Small Business that does wonderful work. Come out on next thursday for the castro artwork at one of our Wonderful Community events. Also the following saturday our neighbors are going to be hosting the rocket Dog Rescue Group next door as part of a promotional event to show our community and the way we work together. So again, thank you everybody, such a pleasure. Come on up. The cookies that [off mic] finally. So everyone gets one. These are from hot cookie . Yes wow, look at that. Doesnt look like a cookie, it looks like a cake. Wow. Thank you. All right. Thank you, again, thank you mayor breed. Such a pleasure to have you in the shop. Thank you, seth. [off mic] well, as was mentioned by the supervisor earlier, unfortunately there was a fire that happened just a few weeks ago. And the amazing men and women of the San FranciscoFire Department did an incredible job. And afterwards, the people from the office of economic and Workforce Development did a extraordinary job stepping in, meeting with people, working with the tenants as well as the Small Business owners to provide whatever support we could. We know that experiencing fire oftentimes you lose everything, but then its not just the people, its also maybe the employees and meeting payroll and how you get up and running. You run a Small Business, you know, youre probably you know, again, the person who is the owner and the employee and sometimes you are lucky if you are able to hire other people. And then to add a fire to a situation makes it even worse. But im really excited that the city has a Disaster Relief fund that provides an opportunity to support our Small Business community in a way that gives them what they need to not worry so much. I mean, its not a lot, but it is more than what it used to be, which was nothing. And this is an opportunity to support our Small Business community, because what we want during the time of rebuilding and dealing with all of this, that we provide a little bit of support that will help in whatever way possible to at least keep those persons on their feet as they go through this most challenging process. And so i want to thank Joaquin Torres and his office for working so hard. In bureaucratic years, this is really fast to happen. [laughter] supervisor, you know, to have checks ready to go. We are going to be presenting four checks today to osaki sushi. Mr. Wang, thank you so much. And they had to do work for this. They had to fill out a whole application and everything else. And sam from cafe mystique. Met sam on the way in. Thank you, sam. Thank you. I appreciate it. And let me tell you, some of these businesses, you have been there since who has been there . There was a business thats been there, body oil or body since 89. And body. Andrew. Come on up. Isaiah oh, who is andrew . [off mic] oh, well, body, since 1989 this business has been in the castro. And how amazing is that . So we are so happy that you were opening right away. So make sure you stop by and purchase some items. Im so glad to have you. And last but not least, q bar, john . Are you here from q bar . Here you go. Thank you, really. And let me just say how much more important it is that when these businesses that arent back on their feet get back on their feet, that we support them. And that we go and we visit and we spend money as much as we can, because this im sure was difficult. It wasnt just the merchants. There were other People Living in the building. I think four are back in their apartments. But there are another eight people that arent. So very difficult time for all of you. We are glad to have you here today. We are hopeful that the rest of the businesses will open and then that you would get a lot of business so the merchants association, the San Francisco chamber of commerce, you got work to do to advertise for this community, these Small Businesses, lets support our incredible merchants in San Francisco. Lets have a good time in the castro. And lets eat these cookies, because they look good. [laughter] [applause] thank you so much. I wanted to welcome everybody i am going to do an abbreviated version of the agenda, so speakers, please cut your time. And once this is over, we will go upstairs. You will see the building, and you will be invited for some appetizers and we will continue to have our speakers upstairs. So it is with great honor and pleasure, and im very humbled to stand here in front of all of you guys to say that we are here [speaking spanish] there are so only people to think. I dont have enough time to thank everyone but i wanted to start off by thinking mayor breed for her support and through all of our ordeal. The board of supervisors, where here today. Supervisor walton, safai, supervisor ronen, they all have been instrumental in the support of us, the save the building coalition, the partners of the consortium, mehta, jamestown, i wanted to thank san ruiz for doing the lastminute last minute negotiation when i gave up. I want to think i want to thank so many people. You are welcome here. This is a place where we are organizing, and forever we will carry that legacy of advocating for the citywide. Thank you for joining us today. I wanted to bring up our mayor to give us a few words. Thank you mayor breed. Thank you, tracy. First of all, theres nothing like having a place in your community to call home. When i grew up in the Western Addition with the africanamerican culture complex , those were the places that were safer we had an opportunity to be part of some amazing programs. And m. Lvs has been that Community Space for over 40 years here in the mission. It started with the help of my Mothers Union and the labourers and the work that they have done [applause] to open the doors of opportunity for people who need a place to go to feel safe and feel secure and develop the skills and develop the language and do so many amazing things, but most important, to have a community. This place represents so much, not only to this community, but to this city. And so theyre what it wasnt even a question as to whether or not we needed to make sure that we provided the necessary money to help secure this facility. It was not even a question with any member of the board of supervisors. It wasnt even a question with the officials who work for the city. It was really about what the community wanted and deserved deserves to have in this neighborhood. [applause] i want to start by thinking Assembly Member david to who you all know came together with the folks from mehta, Mission Neighborhood center and jamestown and through that, those discussions early on, we developed this consortium which stayed consistent and persistent in its pursuit to get the job done, led by this incredible lady here, tracy brown, and the work that she did. [applause] it was absolutely amazing. And so to all of the folks in the community, you made this happen. You came together. You put aside any differences, any issues with the sole purpose of ensuring that this facility is here now and for generations to come, roberto. For generations to come. So i am so honored to have played a very small role in supporting these efforts. Im looking forward to seeing the Culinary Program grow. Im looking forward to the tutoring and a lot of the other things that you have done and will continue to do for so many people who would need the programs and operate right here. So thank you for this great opportunity. But before i walk off because tracy told me to keep my comments to a minimum, i just want to really recognize the work of tracy brown, especially, and myrna melgar, who first of all, two phenomenal women who are relentless in their pursuit to take care of their community. I just want to present a small token of appreciation for the work that you all did to make this possible. In bureaucratic years, i actually said this happened fast once we got going. Faster than most things happen in San Francisco because we understand the importance. These two ladies were instrumental in making sure it got done. On behalf of the city and county of San Francisco, thank you for your work, your tireless commitment to the community, and everything that you have done and continue to do to be such a blessing on so many lives in our city. Thank you so much. [applause] okay. Thank you. Thank you for coming. I also wanted to shout out the chef who prepared things upstairs. The staff of oewd, you are amazing. Thank you for believing in us and also to our legal team. Victor marques is here and the staff of the legal team. Thank you again. Now i wanted to bring up david to. Good afternoon. Are we ready to celebrate . All right. This is a very special day. Thank you for being part of the community that made it a special day. We are on hallowed ground. It was in this spot 51 years ago that latino immigrant workers came together and said, we need a place to call home. I know we have a lot of labourers here. This is also a space where we are under a guardian angel. Her name is russ audio. Name is rosario. We can feel her. Because of her and because of all of us who are here and part of that spirit, we carry on. It was a couple years ago that if you Community Leaders came to me and said we want to you to be part of a movement. Tracy brown, all of you saved mlvs. There are so many folks who i know have already been recognized and i want to thank the mayor of the mission for recognizing so many of these folks. Let me take a moment and recognize another person who play recognizes a bit of an unsung hero. I remember you night after night after night, along with mike, the board, so many of you who are part of this and angels often come in three, as the charlies angel movie tells us. There are three organizational angels that came together with their leaders. Jamestown, led by mirna, thank you. Saintlouis is led by our m. N. C. Led by sam or wheeze and we have louise here from mehta. You came together in a way when i was frankly asked for those who are possible. It took a village. It took not just Community Leadership and nonprofit leadership, but it took a mayor and an oewd department the said, yes, we will put our money where our values are. Thank you. Thank you, mayor breed. It also takes the private sector i know we have representatives. Thank you so much for a four and a half Million Dollar loan to be part of this. Let me just say and conclude with three brief opera observations. It takes a village. It takes all of a sudden together. This is how it gets done. The second thing i want to say is at a time when our latino community, the immigrant communities are under assault from a socalled occupant of the white house and from economic forces that are looking to push us out, we have to stand up. We have to come together in coalitions with families to say, we are not going away, we are here to stay and no one is kicking us out. [applause] but the final thing i want to say is, what is so important for all those here is we know this is a building, this is an institution where tens of thousands of immigrant families and workers are kids and kids are going to walk through. And because of the work were doing here, we are going to be raising not just the next mayor of the mission, but the next supervisor of district nine, the next Assembly Member representing eastern San Francisco, and some day, long after mayor breed is gone, we will elect a mayor of San Francisco likely from a community that was nurtured by mlvs. That is why this is so important this is why im honored to be part of it. Longlived mlvs. [speaking spanish]. [cheers and applause] thank you to the mlvs board. I know some of you guys are just arriving. I wanted to also shout out my family for putting up with me during this year, and now i wanted to bring up supervisor hilary ronen who has supported our Capacity Building for the past few years. Without her, we really could not have survived this ordeal. Thank you, supervisor ronen. [applause] this feels so good, doesnt it . This is truly nothing short of a miracle. Aside from the money that david was talking about, for those of us who took a look at the tangled legal mess that this building was in, i didnt know how we were going to get out of it. I honestly didnt. I had just come into office when this whole thing exploded and bob and some of the mlvs board came to me and said, we have asked david to help us try to figure this out. And i said please, do. Keep talking to him because i have no idea how to fix this mess. But what happened is we got together, or i should say some of the strongest and fiercest and sometimes the most difficult personalities in the mission [indiscernible]. [laughter] [applause] they even brought in victor marques. They got together and stuck it out together to unravel this nightmare that had happened. And if it wasnt for their tenacity, their willingness to stick it out when times got tough, because yes, times got tough and number number of times , without the support of mayor breed, we didnt hesitate for a second and said, im here for you, im with you, ive got you, none of this would have happened. It is part miracle and part a testament to the strong leadership that this community has. And their tenacity and unwillingness to give up until there is justice for their community. Congratulations. I couldnt be more proud of you all. [applause] and victor wanted me to correct the record and say the bank of San Francisco, not the bank of america. [laughter] and i, too, have the certificate for the two organizations that are currently occupying this beautiful and historical building. I will give this to tracy. She will probably want to say it is someone elses responsibility now. [indiscernible]. [applause] okay. Lets move quick here. I wanted to introduce the Jamestown CommunityCenter Executive director me or no melgar. She is here representing the consortium which we share. I also just wanted to shout shot out dr. Garcia who serves on my board. I wanted to bring them up. [cheers and applause] thank you for being here with us to celebrate this historic occasion. I feel so honored to be part of this club. It is amazing. I want to recognize firstly our mayor. [cheers and applause] many folks dont know, but it was her brainchild that jamestown get involved in this. That this collaboration of agencies could save this building with the citys support not only was it her idea that jamestown move here and get involved with this, but she also but the citys money behind it. Making sure we saved this Important Community assets. Thank you for your vision. And also for your commitment to keeping our community in place and our cultural and Nonprofit Institutions strong. I also want to recognize the individuals who put this together. First to tracy brown. [applause] her persistence, her tenacity, or leadership and commitment to the community has led not only to the success of mlvs, it is on a different foot know because of you, but also to the success of this collaboration. Tracy, i have always admired your vision of one mission and of latino unity and collaboration. These are the fruits of your labor. Thank you very much. And thank you to michael and santiago. It is your intelligence, your connections, your keen strategic mind and your longterm planning that has led us to the anchoring of the Mission Neighborhood centers is one of our most Important Community institutions in the mission. And today we celebrate your legacy, your contribution to the reclamation of this space, but also to your support of others, especially me and tracy. Thank you for doing that. Thank you for your support of others in the community. Also thank you to since about to for all of your work that you put in this deal. [applause] and for being here for mlvs when they needed you. And last, and certainly not least, i want to express my vast appreciation for luis and also to caroline. Luis has led the Mission EconomicDevelopment Agency through a transformation from a Small BusinessDevelopment Support nonprofit to a National Leader in the work for the civil and economic rights for latinos. They have been at the forefront of unapologetically Holding Ground for our community, for our culture, for our people, with a community that we created thank you for your vision and for your support and for your incredible leadership. [applause] and also to caroline, whose hard work was with serious diplomatic skills and have enabled not just this acquisition, but the development of the Community RealEstate Development and savings the home of thousands of latinos in this city and stabilizing nonprofit space here in the mission, which we definitely need. Now to the crew. I want to thank kelly, karen at community vision, thank you for all of the time, energy, and support in technical assisted opportunities and investment you provided for this collaborative and also through your stewardship with the nonprofit investment fund. You made magic happen. Thank you. And also to stefani for shepherding jamestown and the consortium through all the technical issues. Last but not least to walking, to the incomparable josh, for all of your support and assistance. [speaking spanish] thank you to Patrick Valentino for your support, advice, and also for pushing us. Thank you so much. And i would lastly like to thank the bank of San Francisco for stepping up. [applause] for providing the financing that we needed to support this effort thank you for being truly a San Francisco bank and for the access and personal attention you provided. Also thank you to cars a permanente for providing the funding thank you to Kaiser Permanente for providing the funding to complete this. We are so grateful for the support. I will leave you with this from my people. [speaking spanish] thank you. [applause] i am going to have my closing remarks. I wanted to shout out our building people. And all the people who have invested in us. Lets get to the ribboncutting. I have someone from mlvs. Lets do it holding one side and someone from jamestown holding the other side. This is a nontraditional ribboncutting because in the mission, we cant just do one person, can we . We are going to all come together to do this. Thank you again to all the mission. I will call up the Consortium Members and call up the mission leadership, the save the building committee, and anyone else who feels invested. Please come up. We will be cutting this ribbon all together. Supervisors, please join us. Board of education, thank you for joining us today. Come on up. [indiscernible] community, anybody who wants to come up here. [laughter] five, four, three, two, one. [cheers and applause] [applause] in 201,755. 7 million passengers traveled through San Francisco international airport. We have on average 150,000 people traveling through the airport every day. Flying can be stressful so we have introduced therapy dogs to make flying more enjoyable. The wag brigade is a partnership between the airport and the San Francisco therapy Animal Assistant Program to bring therapy animals into the airport, into the terminals to make passenger travel more enjoyable. I amgen fer casarian and i work here at San Francisco international airport. The idea for therapy dogs got started the day after 9 11. An employee brought his therapy dog to work after 9 11 and he was able to see how his dog was able to relieve passengers jitter. When we first launched the program back in 2013, our main goal was to destress our passengers however what we quickly found is that our animals were helping us find a way to connect with our pang. Passengers. We find there are a lot of people traveling through the airport who are missing their pets and who are on their road a lot and cant have pets and we have come in contact with a lot of people recently who have lost pet. I love the wag brigade. One of my favorite parts is walking into the terminals and seeing everybody look up from their device, today everybody is interacting on their cell phone or laptop and we can walk into the terminal with a dog or a pig and people start to interact with each other again and its on a different level. More of an emotional level. I just got off an 11. 5 hour flight and nice to have this distraction in the middle of it. We look for wag brigade handlers who are comfortable in stressful situations. I like coming to airport its a lot of fun and the people you talk to are generally people who are missing their dogs. They are required to compete a certification process. And they are also required to complete a k9 good citizen test and we look for animals who have experienced working with other orgorganizations such as hospits and pediatric units and we want to be sure that the animals we are bringing into the airport are good with children and also good with some of our senior travelers. I think toby really likes meeting kids. That is his favorite thing. He likes to have them pet him and come up to him and he really loves the kids. Our wag brigade animals can be spotted wearing custom vets and they have custom patches. There is never a day that repeats itself and there is never and encounter that repeats itself. We get to do maximum good in a small stretch of time and i have met amazing people who have been thrilled to have the interaction. The dogs are here seven days a week, we have 20 dogs and they each come for a two hour shift. There is a lot of stress when people have traveling so to from these animals around to ease the stress and help people relax a little bit. I think its great. One of our dogs has special need and that is tristine. He wears a wheel around. He has special shoes and a harness and we get it together in the parking lot and then we get on the air train. He loves it. Little kids love him because he is a little lower to the ground so easy to reach and he has this big furry head they get to pet and he loves that. He doesnt seem to mind at all. Probably one of the happiest dogs in the world. Many people are nervous when they travel but seeing the dogs is just a wonderful relief. What i absolutely love most about it is the look on peoples faces, so whenever they are stressed and flying is stressful these days you get these wonderful smile. I am the mom of lilo the pig and she is San Franciscos first therapy pig. Lilo joined the wag brigade as our firs first pig. Wag brigade invited us to join the program here and we have done it about a yearandahalf ago. Our visits last 1. 5 to 2 hours and it does take a little bit longer to get out of the terminal because we still get a lot of attention and a lot of people that want to interact with lilo. I feel honored to be part of the wag brigade. Its very special to meet so many people and make so many feel happy and people that work here. Its been a great experience for me and a great experience for to totoby. Its been an extremely successful program, so the next time you are here, stop by and say hi. role call . Hi, everyone. The second item on the agenda is the approval of the november 19, 2019 minutes. The minutes are in your hands and after youve had an opportunity to review, make any comments you desire, i would like a motion to adopt those minutes. So moved. Is there a second . Second. Further comments . All those in favour,