Transcripts For SFGTV Aging And Adult Services Commission 20240713

Good afternoon. Welcome to the San Francisco board of supervisors land use and Transportation Committee for today, monday, january 13th, 2020. Our first Land Use Committee meeting of the new year. I am the chair of the committee, aaron peskin, joined by my right vicechair supervisor safai and for his first meeting of the Land Use Committee, our nuecesesnewestmember, dean pres. Also another first, our new deputy City Attorney to the board of supervisors anne pearson is joining us for her first sole solo meeting. Our kirk is erika major. Do you have any announcements . Silence all cellphones and electronic devices. Completed speaker cards ex copies of any documents to be included should be submitted to the clerk. They will appear on the january 28th, board of supervisors agenda unless otherwise stated. Thank you. Could you please read the first item . Item number 1 is the health code to authorizes the director of department of publichealth to allow an existing medical cannabis dispensary to operate under that permit at a new location provided the permit. Thank you, this ordinance is sponsored by our former committee member, matt haney, and on supervisor haneys behalf, if you want to speak to that that would be great. If if we have any quiz for them. The floor yours. Thank you, supervisor peskin. Im speaking on behalf of the supervisor haney. Our office introduced this ordinance to amend the health code allowing for some limited for cannabis dispensaries under the article 33 permit. The main reason our office is taken this on we saw an opportunity to support smile business and what we continue to see in San Francisco is that cannabis businesses are incredibly vulnerable to conviction. Businesses that have otherwise been good actors can lose all of their investments and jobs at the whim of their landlords. As the city rolls out its article 16 license and moving away from article 33 we wanted to make sure we provided protection where possible especially for equity business applicants without providing openings for predator tee big money cannabis operators to push out Small Businesses or further incentivizing landlords to inconvict their tenants to turn a bigger profit. We worked very closely with both the department of cannabis and publichealth to make sure that we are both supporting the needs of vulnerable businesses and balancing that with making sure that this limited portability is narrow and specific enough to prevent abuse. This ordinance would authorization the director of the department of health to allow a gathered permit tee to change the associations with the permit with the following criteria are met. One, the permity submits a written request requesting the change and identifying the proposed new location. Two, the permity has been verified by the office of cannabis as an equity applicant. Three, the permity has been evicted from the location associated with the permit been notified that the lease at the location will be or has been terminated or not renewed. Four, the new location has an existing authorization for medical cannabis dispensary use. Five the the permity has complied with all applicable requirements of article 33 of the health code, the planning code and the police code with respect to the new location and six, the Planning Department department of building inspection, Mayors Office on disability, fire department, and office of cannabis, review and inspect the new location as required and report their determinations to the director and the director determines that the permity has satisfied all of these requirements. Additionally, our office in discussion with the departments, is requesting an amendment that adds a requirement the permity has been listed in the article 33 permit application submitted on or before january 25th, 2018 as an applicant or a person who would be engage in the management of the m. C. D. Again, the goal of this legislation is to further strengthen the ability of equity cannabis businesses to survive without creating loopholes for abuse and the knowledge this is in some ways a gap measure until the city has phased out its type 33 licenses. We believe more can and should be done to protect small cannabis retailers in s. F. And this legislation hopes to accomplish one small part of this work. I have copies of the amended legislation as well as an updated legislative gu digest tt outlines what i have presented to you. Thank you, well come grab those. Supervisor peskin do you have any questions for supervisor haneys staff . Would you like to hear from the office of cannabis or the department of publichealth or is that sufficient and ms. Majors handing around the amendments, if not, are there members of the public who would like to speak to item number 1 . Please, come forward. First speaker, come on up. Morning or afternoon. My name is bram goodwin. Im with the San Francisco social club and also the browny mayor democratic club. I want to start by welcoming my supervisor, because i live until the hait, dean preston. Its a thrill to see you here and i appreciate your service. Thank you. I urge the support this item so that relief, one of our legacy cannabis dispensaries can relocate. Service their local customers including many medical users like myself. Relief was one of the original cannabis dispensaries when there were future choices. Which being around then helped me buy Legal Cannabis. We are now two years into cannabis legalization which has brought some positives, such as legalization, giving us our rights, lab testing, some new dispensary openings. But, it is brought my much higher prices to consumers. Very high cannabis taxes leading to greater market share fort Illegal Cannabis market. Slow roll out of additional cannabis businesses due to red tape. The lack of compassion programs due to legal issues. In the concern that some new equity dispensaries could be back doors for national change. That is why it is important to approve this agenda item so one of our local communitybased dispensaries will be able to continue to service this community. I would urge all of the supervisors to read the recently released control report on the state of San Francisco cannabis. To take a closer look how this newly emerging industry forming. Help guide it to a consumerfriendly local based enterprise. Thank you. Supervisor peskin thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is gilbert and im a disabled veteran. I believe you should reward a good behavior. The relief is one of the few clubs that is honored 2 15. Ive gone to clubs and they have no idea what im talking about when i ask for my discount. Anyway, theyre one of the good players and it would be sad to is he them go. Reward good behavior. Grandfather them in and also, theyre also into compassion, equalization, and legacy. Anyway, the thing is that right now, over 100 veterans are benefiting from their compassion program. You are going to hear from some of the veterans here. Theyre in the evac program. You know, you know about our veterans getting shortchanged by the federal government. Its good to be able to give them a break once in a while. Thank you. Supervisor peskin thank you, next speaker. Good afternoon, Committee Members. My name is greg. Im a former Harm Reduction Service Director of access to love sf. Cofounder of the black and brown cannabis possie. A group of concerned medical Cannabis Patients dedicated to preserving Compassion Services as well as our legacy dispensaries. We stand in support of supervisor mainlys legislative situation legislation im sorry. Solution, im sorry, in order to preserve one of our legacies dispensaries. I have had the privilege to work with hiedi and the relief team, which i might say, she and her crew has been in the business of serving our community for over 15 years. And have supported Compassionate Services with us at access to love and throughout the city. Let hiedi and the relief dispensary be a rule instead of an exception. And ones again, thank you supervisor haney for your leadership, and thank you for your consideration. Supervisor peskin thank you. Next speaker. Access of love sf cannabis Harm Reduction and we were next door neighbors to the relief club. Relief were great neighbors hoping to improve our block and generous supporters of all patients sad vow k advocacy gron francisco. Theyre part of legacy group of San Francisco which excuse me. Which upheld traditional compassion values. We urge your vote yes on today and we are looking forward to the City Attorney developing a plan of Restorative Justice for all the legacy, medical cannabis dispensaries and compassion programs. Lets move forward with legacy and equity and compassion reparations. Thank you. My name is larry ferie. Im getting locked up here. Just reading the paper today, in this paper they have an article on the marijuana problem in the sense that theyre going to raise the tax on marijuana again, higher, which makes it hard for shops and stuff to sell marijuana because there are less shops around and more people are going to buy illegal marijuana. Theyre going to kill themselves with things that have been stepped on, drugs that have been put into these illegal drugs, you know, are killing these people. Its not the marijuana clubs, which are certified, their dope is been tested. Its like ok, so most of the cities dont want marijuana clubs. But then that means permit. It would be better for the health of the veterans and stuff. Im taking marijuana right now and stuff because i have a lot of problems. Im 78yearsold. I need this drug. We need a place where we can buy these drugs legally. Thats why im here. Thank you. Supervisor peskin next speaker. Good afternoon, land use and Transportation Committee. My name is june bug and im born and raised here in San Francisco. Im a San Francisco voter and i live in district 5. Congratulations, dean preston. Im here as a Cannabis Patient today and im also the cochair of the rose kenyan group. Im in support of this permit because this deals with having safe access to our medicine. 350 face closure and that was one dispensary that provided safe and Affordable Access to medicine, a. K. A. Cannabis. In 2012, patients faced another crisis of losing a lot of the legacy dispensaries that provided safe access. To Cannabis Medicine for marginalized patients for San Francisco. So relief was actually one of the few dispensaries that actually was still providing Compassionate Services to the community of over 15 years. So having this permit is vital. Its a vital asset to our community and it continues the legacy of providing safe and Affordable Access to real patients who nee need it. Thank you. Supervisor peskin next speaker. Hi, im kendra sagger. Back in 2015, i had 14 heart attacks. I died 12 times. I am on s. S. I. I cannot afford cannabis at the higher prices in the taxes. Relief is always been somewhere where i can go and get help. Please help them. They closed down. We need help and compassion. We need to quit dem onizing weed and marijuana. Its not a killer, its medicine and i need it. Please help us. Supervisor peskin next speaker. Good afternoon. My name is gabrielle. I was an employee at relief herbal cooperative. Man, its been six years since ive been around there and wasnt an employee for six years but just being around them and getting to know people they gave me the opportunity to be a part of their family. Were looking forward to hopefully coming back and continuing on building a new community somewhere. We built an Awesome Community the past six years when i was able to see everything. Hopefully everything goes good today. We can continue on and get our jobs back and move forward. Thank you. Supervisor peskin thank you, necnext speaker. Show your support by waving your fingers. Good afternoon. Im edward from the o. E. G. This legislation before you is about keeping this citys legacy and equityowned medical cannabis dispens dispensary frog dease placed through no fault of their own. Its an equity owned dispensary thats been a pillar in the community for 15 years. They have served the medical community faithfully. They have provided affordable cannabis products for our citys low income, they hire locally and provide a great wage. They have a Community Plan that serves veterans and provides mentorship for equity applicants. The owner of relief is born and raised in San Francisco and is always run their operations compliant with all city and state requirements. I can personally say that they deeply care about their business, they care about their employees and the city they come from. Please vote yes on this legislation to keep relief of San Francisco institution and their employees from permanent displacement. Thank you. Supervisor peskin thank you, next speaker. Good afternoon, im john glen with access of love. He would remind you of the socially conscious Business Practices that relief has engage in. They have helped at Risk Communities and their closure has harmed at Risk Communities. So i would strongly urge you to green light their relocation so they can resume the help and support that theyve given to those who are ill and those who are low income. So they can resume what theyve been doing all these years so well. Thank you. Supervisor peskin thank you, next speaker. Hello. My name is denise dory. I serve district 6, primarily we support a quick fix for the legacy club relief, which is based in the district 6 area and its based in equity and compassion and has, without any problems, served our area and improved neighborhood safety. We also urge the City Attorney to immediately recede the handful of legacy clubs that served our locals, patients and consumers successfully for so long. We know how successfully because we see what is happening to folks without them. Its not pretty. And so, we are very concerned that Legal Cannabis is not affordable and equity and compassion are not being preserved by the because of the difficulty in relocating our legacy providers. So, im in favor of grandfathering relief legacy dispensary they have been participating and advocating for compassionate programs. And many non legacy dispensaries are priced too high and theyre more focused towards the tourists, thank you for your time. Thank you, next speaker. Good afternoon, my name is reece benton. I am also a womanowned cannabis business here in San Francisco soon so open. When i started using cannabis again, relief was the second club i went to here in San Francisco. And then eventually when i got into the business, i met hiedi anshe has helped me. I went to her as a mentor and she gave me her resources. I dont see her as a competitor but a legacy and we need these people that started cannabis to be around because they are the leaders and theyve been doing this and we need old people or grand fathers in this business because theyve been here from the start and they knows the inns and outs. I feel, as a business owner, and the same sector, that her not being able our relief not being able to move on to another location is a disservice to everybody. I mean, it would be unfair. Im not open but i dont want to see another club go down and not be open and not be able to service their patients because its really the patients get attached to people and you have a bond. It would be a disservice for her not to be able to give her patients the medicine and for her not to be able to mentor more people and for her to be stagnant while were opening and shes not. I hope you vote yes on this because its well deserved and if shes not moving on, we shouldnt be moving on. Supervisor peskin thank you. Next speaker. Good morning. My name is david im a disabled American Veteran born in San Francisco. I believe that we need relief to help with more affordable cannabis. It helps with arthritis, stress, everything. Before this medical cannabis, my personal, i usually do not patronize a lot of these cannabis dispensaries because theyre much too expensive. Years ago, i would go to dalores park in the 70s. Now, today, it should be more affordable for veterans, people accessible to help the public and im standing behind backing cannabis for relief. Ive been at relief before and ive been at a few different cannabises clubs in the past. From my experience, theyre very expensive and the real crime would be when theyre out on the street. People are fighting. Thats the problem. And relief, thats what we need. Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you, next speaker, please. Hello, my name is franco. Im a vietnam vet. Ive been on opioids for 20 some years. Through the v. A. Hospital and the use of cannabis i was able to get off of opioids. I feel much better. Its really cannabis is one of the things that really has saved my life, i believe. It helped me get through the vietnam war and it helped me through all the pain and suffering that i had after the war. I have very, very low income. I cant really afford cannabis or the stuff i need. And they have places like relief that helps us. We are, as veterans, have helped you guys in the past so will you please help relief to help us so we can feel better and end the suffering. Thank you. Supervisor peskin thank you, next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is timo and im a San Francisco native born and raised. I also am a cannabis business owner. Ive been displaced from San Francisco. I cant afford to live here and i cant afford to do cannabis business here so i had to go to it would be a misery if original San Francisco people like this cant continue to have business here. Dont let them leave like i had to leave. They are helping these people and theyve been here from the beginning. They are hiring people from the neighborhood when they were in the mission. Im here to say this needs to be passed. It should be a formality and i hope it will already go through. Thank you. Next speaker. Good afternoon, board. My name is arrow. Im a San Francisco native. Im a former member of the board of Mental Health seat number 12 i held for six years, i termed out after six years. I am here to speak for new relief for the veterans that are in here. Im a veteran along with a lot of my other veterans who are here along with me. People that i live with. We all go to new relief and we have been going to new relief from the beginning. I have came from living in the streets to living in tenderloin to getting a suitable housing with my other veterans. I live in the veterans commons and its a very nice place. And through new relief, i was able to rise up and come from these depths of being homeless and going and living in tenderloin and ratinfested hotels to living decent and through new relief, i was able to get help with my Mental Illness through acupuncture and they have different types of therapies that they do there and its been a lifesaver for me and i know a lot of other veterans here in have the same thing to say. Please, please, help new reloaf. Next speaker. How are you doing . As well as a veteran myself 2311 ammunition peck mission. What is going on is that dal provides, the ownership of relief provides not only help and support for other Small Businesses like myself who have the ability to hire employees and helping other families using another different context it also basically gives people the ability to do what theyre all begging you for which is theyre begging you not to push them to heroine or towards opioids and theyre bigging you to help them maintain their self respect and their dignity as long abiding citizens to purchase a good they feel helps them with everything from post Traumatic Stress all the way up to the daily rigors of things we face on a daily basis. The only thing that we know and this particular environment that has been given to us, is that the ownership of relief provides good prices, they are communitybased and they interact with us and they help us do things that get our children, including mine, off of the streets and into a working environment where they can in turn pay taxes which helps to pay your salary so please, please, take into account the people that have shown their faces in front of you are humble, most of them are nervous thats why their voices are shaking because theyre only asking for one thing to be given a dignity to be able to purchase a product and a safe environment without having to be harassed or arrested or put in any type of inconveniences. Next speaker, please. My name is alan steiner. I reside in oakland, california but ive been a licensing consultant in Cannabis Space for the past three years and i just want to call in, i want a second everything that everybody has said about the value of this business on the value of the plant and has just, were talking about the longest operating cannabis dispensary in the city one that has fully supported compassion and the value of that and one that has been a great neighbor, i have a friend who lived on lass ski and he cannot say enough good things about this business and i dont think can you live any closer to relief than on that street. Right now as an industry were dealing with a huge lack of shelf space that hurts every producer in the industry having the loss of a dispensary is a very, very deep wound. Right now in this moment is the reason for this, is the change in ownership that led to a change in banking and a bank that does not want, that has challenges with being an owner on a cannabis business. Were not talking about a failure in compliance. Were not talking about a failure in being a good member of this community. This committee absolutely needs to vote yes on this. The detriment is extreme. Thank you, very much. Thank you, next speaker. Good afternoon. Ive been a street artist for 35 years and a volunteer with the street fair for the past 42. I have seen a lot of things in this city and ive seen a lot of club is the green cross had to move and its going to go out and go over to oakland and you need the money to support the seniors and we need the medicine and do your job. Thank you, very much. Next speaker. My name is direct remills and im a retired air force veteran. I can tell you personally that theyre good for the community. They go above and beyond to help you out. I mean, i like giving you deals and theyre family oriented and i consider him family everyone in this door consider me family. I consider him where they went by land would be a benefit to the neighborhood. Thats all i have to say. Thank you, next speaker. Im pamela and i think relief should be given a medical cannabis sense pens reand they were Good Neighbors to the community all around and they should be given this permit. Thank you, next. Good afternoon. My name is victor flemming. I live at veterans common here in San Francisco. Im here to support relief and i was in the military and i did the vietnam evac. I think you know what ive seen. Without relief and compassion they supply the veterans with the medicine and an awesome thing they do and we cant lose relief. We need them here in the city like randel said and with the remarkable work that people have working for hem and to lose that and please, please. Keep relief. Next speaker. Thank you. Good afternoon, im ronald jones. Im also a disabled veteran and relief has been a big factor in my life. I also live at the veterans commons and relief has been close by gotten theyve helped me in my depression and my Pain Management and theyve also been a platform for operation evac which i attend regularly and it also helps me in my addiction problems and Pain Management and relief say good place. Please, go for the relocation of relief. Thank you. Next speaker. My name is rudy. Im a native of San Francisco. A loyal and faithful 49er fan. Im born and raised not too far from here but i wanted to support relief, my brother dale, he is a filipino owner. He has 100year history of filipinos in the south of market. This is filipino heritage zone. This dude has been so instrumental in helping out a Youth Organization and i wasnt going to come up here and speak until i heard everybody else. But this dude has been so under the radar helping out the people and keep them up here. He didnt ask for nothing he just said what yall need for christmas. For the last 10 or 12 years he has been hooking up the kids in the community at the Christmas Parties with a gang of toys. I just want to come up here and represent for the brother. And they deserve what they would get. Being a native of San Francisco, lets keep this a San Francisco thing. Supervisor peskin thank you, next speaker. Good afternoon, Committee Members. My name is nina parks. Im born and raised here in occupied in San Francisco. I run into Delivery Service and i was amongst many activists that fought for the initial language of the equity program. Im here in solidarity with the continued fight to work for the implementation of a just equity landscape here in San Francisco. I have now just recently been voted into be the first chair of the cannabis oversight committee. Sf has led the compassion movement. Its value system is what has allowed us to get as far as we have in our fight for equity, diversity and inclusion and it has changed the landscape of conversation across the country. But we cant just all be talk. We need to see these policies implemented in a way that actually preserves an up lift legacy that all of these activisted in this community have fought for. I hear the Community Today and they have shown up here to tell us that they need a club that treats them like theyre human and not just a number to meet a profit quota. We have a serious publichealth issue here in San Francisco. And we need to push even though were pushing for universal health hear we need a supporting Caring Community and mitigate the compounded trauma of being inlow come in this city. Please vote yes to keep relief lit. Thank you. Supervisor peskin thank you. Next speaker. Im mark, im a Third Generation San Francisco an. I live with 108 veterans in the only neighborhood you cant grow pot. The relief and i was in the service and many friends havent made it. Through illness and through suicide, theyre not here. Programs like relief and operation evac have made a major difference and i thank the committee for its intention to forward a recommendation of approval to the board. Thank you. Good afternoon, erika major and honorable members of the board of supervisors. My name is ryan miller and i founded operation evac, an organization to prevent veteran suicide and opioid overdose with reoccurring social support groups in partnership with cannabis dense pens res. When we launched a memorial day 2016, relief herbal cooperative was our first dispensary client and its not only an honor but my morale obligation to advocate on their behalf. Our work and service to welcome home warriors is only possible with a support of our generous dispensary hosts of which relief has led the way to ensure that the San Francisco veterans wonting left behind. The veteran population that we serve is among the vulnerable and deserving portions of our population. Our members are mostly poverty class elders, and veterans of color. Many of us are formally incarcerated, have experience with housing insecurity and recovering from substance abuse. Its my privilege to report to you that were experiencing transformative results in the community. That relief is curated. Members are revealing hud is helping us get off the streets and were choicing cannabis instead of opioids and street drugs. Were abstaining from alcohol and were finding hope while sharing space in our safe container of camaraderie. Relief is not only integral to our origin story but with your vote, you can also support San Franciscos veterans in the future. Said differently, we humbly request the supervisors of San Francisco support ethical operators like relief and expedite their relocation process. Were in the veteran Suicide Prevention business and the veterans of operation evac depend on you. Thank you. Thank you, next speaker. Good afternoon. My name is don now im a disabled veteran with a Third Armour Division and i just wanted to lend my support also to the relocation of rerelief and the no johnny come lately. Theyve been in the business a long time and some of the best Compassionate Care offered in that industry is being emulated by other groups because of what they saw relief do for so long to so many. I do ask you to support the Compassionate Care and the relocation of relief. Hell oh im a member of operation evac. I have also been a member of relief since 2016. It helped me a lot with not getting in trouble in the streets and stuff like that and having a place to motorcycle cannabis and not worrying about the police breathing down my neck. Worrying about where im going to stay and chill out of the rain and stuff like that. Being able to have that place where that and they also provided operation evac with a place to provide compassion cannabis with meditation for all the veterans there and its working really good for them. Im just saying that im in support of them moving into a new place because they are amazing people and i always got smiles and they always made me feel good when i came in there. Thats all i have to say. Thank you, sir, next speaker, please. My name is julie sin claire. I work in soma close to where relief was located. Ive worked there for nearly 14 years. I wanted to speak on their behalf because theyre greatly missed in the neighborhood. They were always good for the neighborhood. I never, ever saw anyone who was involved with the business or who was a customer of the business causing any sort of problems that people often believe are associated with cannabis. I was also a customer there. My father passed away in 2018 and they were very good about giving me as much information as i required and i also had a knee surgery during than time and i was able to safely access quality information and medicine to help me and im much better now. Im a ballet dancer and im back in the studios again. So, thats all i wanted to say. Thank you. Supervisor peskin thank you. Next speaker, please. If there are any other speakers lineup to your right, my left. Otherwise this is the last speaker. Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is hiedi and im a native san franciscan, a wife, a mother of two, and one of San Franciscos two women cannabis Business Owners for 15 years servicing the south of market area. With a few more women on the horizon, which im so proud of, weve seen an explosion in the evolution of cannabis recently. However, there is one thing that re mains stagnant in this industry. Federal law. After doing so, we still find ourselves evicted and our business shut down through the federal banking laws. They would allow others to have our land lots permitted to a new location. I am equity and i please ask you to support myself and future equity applicants and all cannabis policies. I want to thank you the city for recognizing this issue and that operators in Good Standing need protections in place through no fault of their own finding thatr businesses. I appreciate your time and i respectfully ask that you vote yes on this proposed legislati legislation. Supervisor peskin thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is vaughn and i represent a small cannabis retailer, who holds a medical cannabis permit and who was wrongfully evict bid a landlord in San Francisco. With supervisor haney introduced this legislation, one the goals of the legislation was to protect Small Business who are vulnerable to eviction. Because mcd holders are tied to their location Small Businesses are good actors can lose the goal is to provide protection to Small Businesses for equity business applicants that to prevent big wellfunded cannabis groups from pushing out Small Businesses in sf. I believe this legislation in its current form does not safeguard against potential abuse by landlords at the new location. Were not opposed to the legislation in principle, equity mcd applicants who have been abused by landlords. My client say perfect example. However, the current language of the legislation fails to consider behavior of the landlord at the new location. If the goal to prevent abuse and create loopholes, we encourage them to behavior the landlord at the new potential location. To ensure that no landlord abuse actually occurs at the contemplated new location, we requested it be amended to prevent portability where theres a wrongful judgment or forceable detainer judgment against the landlord that was successfully obtained by the prior m. C. D. Holder in that location such as my client. To ensure the legislation design to benefit only equity applicants and an amendment the permitment holder who moves to that location must have at least 51 opioid of the cannabis business for five to 10 years. After moving to that new location. Were willing to meet with the committee to discuss some of these proposed changes to the current version of the legislation. Thank you. Supervisor peskin thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is i was wrongfully evicted by my landlord. I operate a Small Business and also the permit order for m. C. D. To provide the protection to Small Business and should be also considered potential built bit lender at the new location. Im not opposed to these regulations. I emphasize with applicants who have been billion dollar b buil. I would like to say how we could prevent the new land youll built otherwise it could be a danger of moving around another location and another location. Thank you. Supervisor peskin thank you. Next speaker. Hell o my nam hello. Thank you for your time and thank you for listening. Im here basically just to say please give relief what theyre asking for. Ive been a citizen here in San Francisco for 25 years now. I moved here when i was diagnosed with aids. I knew this was the place to come to live and i would survive here. 33 years later, and countless dispensaries being closed and me having to look for new places, to get affordable medication, i dont think there is anymore in the city. I keep searching online looking and price and looking for prices that i can afford and its not here. Its not here in the city anymore with the taxes. Its unaffordable. I can go to relief and buy the same product for less than half the price that other places are selling it for. It matters to me. It matters to me to stay alive and to be healthy. Im trying to get back to work. Im in school. Relief has been major in keeping me safe, keeping me alive and keeping me healthy. I just have to ask you, please, give them what theyre asking for. Thank you for your time. Supervisor peskin thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello, my name is an tan. Mtwan. Before i was in californis in arizona, where i had an extreme drug issue. I was addicted to many, i guess, problems or things that i should not have been taking. I came out here to california not in search of, i guess, a need to use but a way to get away from the things that i had done. With the medicine or the drugs from relief, i was able to ease myself back into the real world or at least a stable, i guess, mode of thinking. And with that, i was able to play football in college and win a state and National Championship with the team that i had played for. Due to the fact that i was able to come back to, i guess, a real mode of like, i guess, a real stable place to progress my supervisor peskin i think we hear you. Right. It helped me to stop what i was doing to progress back no a regular living situation. Further myself there. I also performed well in track and instead of going cold turkey and easily being drawn back into the situation, it allowed me to ease the tension into a regular living situation. Thank you. Supervisor peskin thank you for your testimony. Seeing no other members of the public on item number 1, well close Public Comment. Supervisor haney and his staff have asked for an amendment that is in the long title on page 1 and the substance is subsection c on page 3. If theres no objection colleagues, i will move that and we will take that without objection. And i have been advised by the City Attorney that because ha amendment is deemed to be substantial in nature, this will require a oneweek continuance so without objection, we will continue the item as amended one week to our meeting of the 20th of theres no meeting on the 20th. On the 27th. We will continue this to the 27th of january. Well do that without objection. Madam clerk, could you please read the next item. Clerk item number 2 is the ordinance to establish the inner balboa street neighborhood commercial district. The outer balboa, bay view, the court land avenue ncd, geery, the san bruno, the coal valley, Lakeside Village, lower haite street and the ncd amending the zoning map to include the new neighborhood commercial districts and affirming appropriate findings. Supervisor peskin thank you. Before we hear from supervisor ronens stave, i want to thank supervisor ronen and her staff and the co sponsors supervisors fewer, wall son, haney, preston, yee and i would like to add myself says a cosponsor and supervisor safai would like to be added as a cosponsor. I really want to thank Planning Department staff and the Planning Commission for hearing this in record time. Obviously this is motivated in large part by the impending vote in march on the vacancy tax measure that applies to named n. C. D. S so this would be the largest if we pass it, increase in n. C. D. S for many decades. A few have been added one by one over the years but adding 12 in six different districts is a big deal. Ultimately, as reflected in the legislative digest, well give neighbors and neighborhoods and their supervisors the ability to fine tune those n. C. D. S as is the case with the other two dozen of them that are spread throughout the city and county of San Francisco and with that, the floor is yours. Thank you, so you much, chair peskin and members of the committee. Amy bynard here to speak on the legislation before you. I was going to say almost exactly what you just said. And in the interest you said is so well. Im not sure i should go through that once more. So, i would just like to reemphasize, i guess, is part of that that what this does is adds 12 new named n. C. D. S to the existing 30 named neighborhood commercial districts and neighborhood commercial transit districts in the city each of which are very distinctive and neighborhoods in different ways and that along with the ability then to move forward and find ways to support our neighborhood commercial districts through very specific controls, none of which are changing in this legislation, just to be very clear, it does not change any of the underlying controls. We know in findings ways to encourage Property Owners to keep the storefront occupied is essential and so we wanted to make sure that in having a measure on the ballot that would allow for the city to use a tax strategy, that we knew that residents would be assuming that other neighborhood commercial districts would be included and we wanted to make sure that we were meeting the voters expectations so should they pass this measure at ballot, that these will be included and i also want to say thank you, thank you, thank you, to City Attorney staff who really, really came forward quickly to make this happen and to planning staff including audry who is here today who really stepped up and then of course to the co sponsors. And then, there are some very minor technical non substantive amendments that we wanted to introduce today. Its to call out under the use that the dwelling unit mix will refer to planning code section 207. 7 and it corrects where residential districts is described as those that full word. It changes that to our district. Its global through out the entire piece of legislation that needs to be introduced and then were hoping to hear this at the full board tomorrow. So, yes, were a Committee Report. Supervisor peskin audry. I just wanted to recite some quick statistics. Three of these, the inner and outer balboa street n. C. D. S as well as the geery boulevard would be in the First District one and the first two of them in district 5 which would be the coal valley and lower haite street n. C. D. S and one of them in district 6, the lower polk street n. C. D. Which would be just south of the existing polk street neighborhood commercial district. Two of them in district 7. The Lakeside Village neighborhood commercial district and the inner ter aville. Three of them in district nine and mission burnal, san bruno avenue and court land avenue and one in district 10 00 which would be the bay view n. C. D. So i wanted to put that on the record and i know that supervisor safai is about to ask staff why these were not n. C. D. S, they were n. C. 1, n. C. S. , n. C. 2 but not n. C. D. S. The n. C. D. Undertaking was done in the mid 1980s and why those were not individually named districts is now getting on to 30yearold history. With that, ms. Maloney. Good afternoon. The Planning Commission heard this item last thursday, januaro approve it and i am available for questions. Thank you. Supervisor peskin seeing no questions. Are there members of the public who would like to testify on item number 2 . Seeing none. Public comment is closed. And supervisor safai. Can i i was just going to wait until after Public Comment. So, i mean, supervisor peskin said it but id like to hear it directly from you. What was the genesis of this . I understand that were attempting to do this through our vacancy tax but why were these areas not and how many are there currently in n. C. D. Named . How many current named n. C. D. S are there . Thats a great question. I dont have the number off hand. I can show you a map if you would like. Superivsor safai that would be great. So all the n. C. D. S in the legislation were determined by planning to be a neighborhood that have evolved in the last, as supervisor peskin said, 30 years to start to have their own identities that would require potentially them to have their own unique zoning, different than the rest of the city that is zoned that category so as you know, with something as zoned n. C. 3, for example, any time a zoning controlled changes for the nc3 table it changes all of the nc3 districts, which we have throughout the city. Certain neighborhoods thats no longer appropriate. They need to be more tailored to the specific neighborhood. Let me pull up that map for you. Superivsor safai some of this is good to be on the record. Its not a map of the full city. This is showing what we could, without it becoming too small, so the green districts that are circled in red are those that are proposed for rezoning. The green districts that are not circled are all of our other generalized n. C. S. To n. C. 3 and i apologize that district 1 and 3 are cut off. For the rest of the city any of the colors you see there are our current individual named n. C. Districts. Superivsor safai can you slide down. Ok, there you go. Is that purple one is one that orange one is one and then what this doesnt this isnt the whole city. This is not the whole city. I apologize. We dont have a map of all the n. C. S this is so show which were being added. This is as close as a map that i have off hand to show you where the other current individual names. I think the Geneva Mission is pretty clear. Yes, correct and there is one right right here and that is these three districts right here and the ones that are proposed seven excel see year and eight japan town and nine north beach and polk street and sacramento street, union street, pacific avenue, 14 24th street. 18 irving, 19 taravel, 20 nud 2h and then we have 21 soma, 23 ocean avenue, 24 glen park, 25 folsom street, 26davis, and 28 haze goff, 30, 24th vet, 21 upper market. There you go. Thank you. So seeing no other questions and no Public Comment, i will move to accept these technical changes and we can take that without objection and then accepted the item as a Committee Report as amended to be heard tomorrow at the full board of supervisors on its First Reading in time the north of market Affordable Housing deposited in the city wide Affordable Housing zone and affirming appropriate findings. Thank you. We have been hearing this since last summer. I understand that the Mayors Office of housing has asked us to continue this to a date certain of january 27th. Is there any Public Comment on this issue . Seeing none. Public comment is closed. If theres no object sex well l continue to january 27th. Could you please read item number 4. Clerk an ordinance amending the plumbing code to delete the lola mendment to the california plumbing code to the rules and regulations. In the section of Cross Connection controls and affirming appropriate findings. Supervisor peskin this has been kicking around since late 2018 as the puc and the department of Building Inspections have been learning how to communicate better so resolve this issue and on behalf of the puc we have mr. John scarpula. The floor is yours. Department of building inspection and dr. June wine tropp and my colleague ken pain from the sfpuc Water Quality division. Thank you for hearing this and for the patients as we all worked on this. Its about time. So, really quickly, before we get into legislation, what is a Cross Connection when Drinking Water wipes you conducted to water fixtures across correction is created. If its improperly connected, contamination can result in a back blow event. A back flow event is when contaminants reverse flow from the fixture or equipment, actually into the plumbing pipes. Back loads can jeopardize the water supply of a given property such as in the photo on top where you see a containment Swimming Pool going back into the water supply of a house but lead to larger issues where the Water Quality of a city can be put into jeopardy. This can happen a lot of times in large highrises with a lot of plumbing fixtures that are fed so a hospital example is one and you have water supply feeding to xray machines or bubblers or cooling towers and you reversal of the chemicals that are used in those systems that can get into the water supply and its a real concern. So that is why we have back flow preventers such as those on the screen. So im sure you all have seen these in front of buildings or actually in the building and these are all meant to protect the buildings water supply in the citys water supply. So, with this legislation aims to do specifically with the amendment that supervisor peskin referenced, is drawn to alignment the three different areas where Cross Connections regulations occur in San Francisco. They occur in the San Francisco plumbing code, San Francisco Health Code Article 12a, and in the spuc Water Service agreement that every water receiving property must sign with the puc. And so what you have was you had these three different codes and unfortunately there were differences in these codes. What would happen is a contractor would put in their black flow prevention unit, dbi would say this is great and theyre moving along on their project and puc and dph would say actually while it may be dbi codes it doesnt meet our codes. It cost the contractor time and money and theyre frustrated. So the purpose of these amendments are that when you look at the d. B. I. Plumbing code and you look at the health code and the puc code theyre all the same. It eliminates those issues. So specifically, the four amendments i will reference that again supervisor peskin passed out, first theres a paragraph recognizing that San Francisco is at a higher risk of Cross Connection failure due to our topography and large pressure differences causing back flow to occur when a pressure shifts, water can flow backwards because the pressure changes. So we have a highrisk of that in San Francisco. Second, all backflow or devices that are testable must have passed lab and field evaluation tests performed by a recognized testing organization. That is also both on page 2 both of these amendments im referring in terms of ordinance and on page three, there are two additional amendments. Carbonated beverage dispensers with up stream copper piping pose a risk Health Hazard from the reached copper in the event of a back pressure event. With the code and any poet able to close loop Industrial Water chillers, which again used chemicals and shall be protect bid a reduced pressure principle back throw assembly which is say higher level of protection and im here with all the folks i mentioned before who you much more technical so they want to dive into what these are for each of these specific im happy to have my colleagues get up. With that, were hoping that you will adopt the amendment and it sounds like there may be substantive but i hope that we move forward. Supervisor peskin thank you for edifying this committee and for finally working it out between the various departments. Are there any questions from Committee Members . I have a general question. How often do you might not be able to answer this, john, is someone here from d. B. I. . How often do people, these back flow tests, how often do they fail . Dr. Winethorp will come up and take that one. How often are the tests being performed . Good afternoon. Im dr. June winetropp im a manager from environMental Health and the Health Department and i manage the Cross Connection program. So question, your first question how often are they tested . They are required to be tested once a year. The testable devices. Thats actually important part of what this amendment is about is that the previous devices that were allowed were for the carbonators were not testable and now were all agreed that its a good idea to have, when copper is present, for the theres a soda machine, then we need to have a device thats testable once a year. Supervisor peskin you say we all agree. What made you all agree on that . What brought that about . I mean, i know weve had carbonated systems and were mainly talking about restaurants in a lot of cases. So what made you all come to this conclusion . Well, first of all, the amazing collaboration between all the different parties that brought us together. The code, the plumbing code change in year 2000, before that, the reduced pressure principle device was required by the plumbing code and then in the year 2000, the plumbing code changed and San Francisco adopted wholesale as we do the puc and dph said we still want to keep the more conservative method of protecting and as time went by, the distance between the differences between the two codes kind of got lost and thats part of why we tried to say wait a second, now we need to all be on the same page. So the other things we all agreed to that im happy about is that we are going to approach the state Building Standards Commission and ask them to address this in their adoption of the california plumbing code so it wont be just us being different. Rather, that the whole state will be different. San francisco is the only one doing this . No, no. Not at all. I misspoke. There are a few other jurisdictions that require the reduced pressure principle testable device fo soda machine. Superivsor safai what are those . San mateo and l. A. I think. Superivsor safai let me ask this, is it normal for three separate agencies could be involved in back flow reprevention . I know we have our Water Department but its always perplexed me why d. P. H. Was involved and Water Testing oversight . I mean, i understand why p. U. C. Would be and i know i get calls from individuals account holders and they have to have their Sprinkler System and their house tested every year and its a source of frustration but im just curious why theres three different agencies involved in this. Its something that is a goal for me is to kind of figure out how we can make it more collaborative and clear to the responsible parties but it is the state code that any potential Cross Connection be protected by a testable device. The Health Department jurisdiction inside of the property so it kind of makes sense for us to be the one that is entering the property and saying we want you to protect yourselves or your apartment dwellers. We use it sort of by proxy to protect the whole water system and that is why the puc wants to be involved even if its just inside of the building. So it is confusing. Wed like to fix it. We did do a big change to the Health Code Article 12a a few years ago and i think theres some more work to be done to bring that to make that a little bit clearer and easier for all of the people who are regulated by it. Superivsor safai i didnt hear anything of why is it now youve decided that if you have copper piping, that is a problem in terms of carbonated devices. We didnt just decide it. We just had this difference for 20 years between the plumbing code and the health code and truly part of the plumbing code actually specifically says that if its a high hazard, a Health Hazard you do need to have a testable device so the plumbing code was not consistent with itself and so as we know, sometimes it takes a lot of time for us to address problems. It took us 20 years to address it here. Superivsor safai thank you. Thank you. So, i dont think we need to hear from any of the other involved departments, which would be mr. Murray from d. B. I. Are there members of the public who would like to speak on this . Seeing none. Public comment is closed. We will take the amendments described by mr. Scarpula which are substantive in nature. Well do that without objection and continue the item to januar. Which meeting is going to be a repeat of this meeting and we will do that without objection. Madam clerk, could you please call items 5 and 6 together. Clerk item number 5 is the resolution declaring the intention of the board of supervisors to order the vacation of the va laio street rightofway generally bounded by parcel block number 0138 lot number 001. Generally located between broadway street and the embarcadero as part of the improvements for the Hotel Theater and public Mark Development project on seawall lots 323 and 324 and setting the hearing date for all persons interested in the proposed vacation of said public right of away. Item number 6 is an ordinance ordering the vacation of streets on a portion of the va laio street right of away for the hotel and entertainment venue and Public Open Space project in affirming appropriate findings. As a housekeeping item, how about we insert before we even hear from staff, on the calender item number 5 number 191179 on the top of page four that the date would be february 1 south of 2020. We dont we make that amendment before i forget to do that and well do that without objection. The floor is yours. Thank you, supervisor peskin. Good afternoon members of the committee. My name is ricky and im a Development Project manager with the port. Im here to describe the proposed legislation before you. Im joined by staff from the port. The Planning Department. The department of public works and the develop team representatives. I start by providing a brief background on the development and proposed legislation that would help move the development forward. It was a tenant with the port and he was in Good Standing and it operated at the threater operation on peer 27 and 29 for 10 years until 2011. The parttime teatro lease without understanding that teatro could relocate to other port property if conditions were met. One is a acceptable development propose. In may of 2015, the board of supervisors waved the Competitive Bidding requirement for to negotiate a lease for the site. After many design interrations and intensive Community Outreach, they came out with a current proposal before you. The elements of the development is as shown on this slide here. The key components of the hotel, the dinner theater component and the public park. This proposed the approval of the lease and the street vacation to move the development forward. With the Community Outreach and vetting of the project of urban design, the developer has received the approval on this slide. The most recent is the recommendation of the budget and finance committee of the board. Listed on this slide is the benefit of the project. On this slide number five, the proposed legislation and vacation required to help moving it forward. The proposed certification will facilitate this development contemplated by the port waterfront land use plan. Why providing much needed open space within the waterfront district. The next couple of slides i will just quickly go over the site and the current site and highway currently exists and passing and and the two that need to be vacated. As you can see on this slide here, its currently being used as a packing. You could see the as well as davis street that is all currently being used for packing. This site is located at the corner of broadway and embarcadero and that is daily street on the top and va lair owe street and david street is not connected with the embarcadero. On this slide here is and you can see as indicated, a portion of davis street on va lair owe street and including the dimension of the areas to be vacated. The next slide is showing anna sem bell site and after the to provide more continuous site requirement and the next steps as we anticipate the full Board Hearing as youve indicated on january 14th and and address your comments or questions. Are there any members of the public who would like to testify on this item . Closed Public Comment. Any questions from Committee Members . Ive been advised by Council Given the impending public hearing that item must be sent without recommendation so we will send item 5 as amended to the full board with recommendations and item 6 to the full board without recommendation. That will be the order and we are adjourned. Item number 5 as a Committee Report. Im sorry. We are not adjourned. We will send item number 5 with recommendation as a Committee Report to be heard tomorrow item number 6 of course will be heard on february 11th at 3 00 p. M. That will be the order and we are now adjourned. Ever wonder about programs the city it working think to make San Francisco the best place to work and will we bring shine to the programs and the people making them happen join us inside that edition of whats next sf sprech of Market Street between 6th is having a Cinderella Movement with the office of Economic Workforce Development is its fairy godmother Telegraph Hill engaged in the program and providing the reason to pass through the corridor and better reason to stay office of Economic Workforce Development work to support the economic vital of all of San Francisco we have 3 distinctions workforce and neighborhood investment i work in the tenderloin that has been the focus resulting in tax chgsz and 9 arts group totally around 2 hundred thousand square feet of office space as fits great as its moved forward it is some of the place businesses engaged for the people that have living there for a long time and people that are coming into to work in the the item you have before you companies and the Affordable Housing in general people want a safe and Clean Community they see did changed coming is excited for every. Oewd proits provides permits progress resulting in the growth of mid businesses hocking beggar has doubled in size. When we were just Getting Started we were a new Business People never saturday a Small Business owner and been in the bike industry a long needed help in finding at space and sxug the that is a oewd and others agencies were a huge helped walked us through the process we couldnt have done it without you this is sloped to be your grand boulevard if so typically a way to get one way to the other it is supposed to be a beautiful boulevard and fellowship it is started to look like that. We have one goal that was the night to the neighborhood while the bigger project of developments as underway and also to bring bring a sense of Community Back to the neighborhood. We wanted to use the says that a a gathering space for people to have experience whether watching movies or a yoga or coming to lecture. That sb caliber shift on the street is awarding walking down the street and seeing people sitting outside address this building has been vacate and seeing this change is inspiringing. Weve created a space where people walk in and have fun and it is great that as changed the neighborhood. Oewd is oak on aortas a driver for San Francisco. Weve got to 23ri7b9 market and sun setting piano and it was on the street weve seen companies we say used to have to accompanying come out and recruit now theyre coming to us. Today, we learned about the office of Economic Workforce Development and its effort to Foster Community and make the buyer Market Street corridor something that be proud of thanks to much for watching and tune in next time for George Washington High School Marching band. [applause] please welcome kayla smith. [applause] good morning, everyone. Hows everybody doing today . Thank you. Thank you for joining us today for this historical occasion. My name is kayla smith, and i will be your mistress of ceremonies for the evening. Growing up in San Francisco d5, hayes valley, to be exact, since the age of four, i have been privileged to receive mentorship from my community. I went from running departments at project level to now earning my internship at nbc this upcoming summer. [applause] ive always been ambitious, but i was lucky to have women in my life that looked like me and achieved great things, and one of those great women that i looked up to the most, our current mayor, my godmother, london breed. She wasnt changed much, by the way. To this day, she is still the same wise, inspiring, and supportive person that she was when i was a child. I know all too well the impact that mayor breed has had on myself, and i am extremely excited to see all the wonderful things that she will do for the city, and for that, i say thank you. [applause] and now, please join me in welcoming father paul fitzgerald, president of the university of San Francisco, to deliver todays invocation. [applause] thank you, kayla, and thank you all for being here today as we honor and congratulate and thank our mayor, london breed. Mayor breed completed a masters in Public Education Public Administration at the university of San Francisco back in 2012, and i offer the following blessing on her behalf and on behalf of her fellow professors who loved her, her fellow students at San Francisco who loved her, and for all of us who love her and are praying for her continued success. But even more so, we are continuing to pray that mayor breed will continue the goals of the Degree Program that she so ably completed. In it our masters in Public Education program, we prepare our graduates, people like london breed, for public leadership by advancing a challenging curriculum while pursuing complimentary research, transforming learning into actions that serve our communities, especially the most vulnerable among us. Our diverse graduates become outstanding leaders who provide ethical, Workable Solutions, societial needs, and who advance justice. So in london, we see all of the learning outcomes of this Degree Program. Social justice for all people of the city and county of San Francisco and beyond. Diversity in all its forms. Integrity in all that we do. Accountability to all whom we serve. Excellence. Educating students like london breed to become compassionate and effective leaders who humanely manage organizations. Providing and facilitating interactions between government, forprofit and nonprofit sectors to provide ethical and Workable Solutions to societial needs. I join with her many fellow usf alumni of the city and county of San Francisco on asking blessing for mayor london breed this day and every day as she brilliantly fulfills her leadership of justice and hope into a future of inclusiveness, peace, and prosperity for all. So i ask you to join me in raising a hand of blessing. We ask god to bless london breed with the seven gifts of the holy spirit. Wisdom, understanding, council, piety, and fear of the loving god. And please bring her great satisfaction as she joins to lead all of us, and i ask all of you to join me in saying amen. [applause] thank you, father paul fitzgerald, for that beautiful invocation. And now for the posting of the colors of todays inauguration is the color guard from George Washington high, where london breed attended. Please rise and join me for the posting of the colors and singing of our national anthem. O say, can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming . Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming . And the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh, say, does that starspangled banner yet wave oer the land of the free and the home of the brave . [applause] thank you, katie. It is truly an honor to introduce our next speaker who will administer the oath of office. As our first female African American to be appointed at the San Francisco superior court, she has paved the way for women and people of color to succeed in law and has been a role model and mentor to lawyers who are people of color. Please join me in honoring judge teri l. Jackson. [applause] i have to guess dresset dre in front of you. Welcome. Just as a little aside, when i see this many people in a room, im ready to swear you in as jurors and you just report in across the street, so watch with a me. But on behalf of the superior court for the state of california, all 1600 strong trial judges throughout this state, it is such an honor and such as pleasure to be here. As my last official duty as a superior court judge, it is such an honor to be able to administer of oath of office to our mayor, london breed. [applause] ive also been told to explain why this is my last duty as a superior court judge. As of january 21, 2020, at 11 00, i will be elevated to the california supreme court, as the first African American woman. So with that being said, madam mayor, could you please come forward. [applause] are you ready . The hon. London breed yes. Okay. Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, london n. Breed, do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of california against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That i will bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of california. I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. That i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which im about to enter, and during such time as i hold the office of mayor of the city and county of San Francisco. Congratulations. [cheers and applause] the hon. London breed thank you. Thank you. Thank you all so much forum here today, and thank you to the people of San Francisco for trusting me to continue to serve as mayor of such an incredible city. As we welcome a new decade, its really worth taking a moment to reflect on how far weve come in this decade. In 2010, San Francisco was deep in the great recession, and our workforce was in trouble. Our Unemployment Rate had more quadrupled since 2000 and was at a 20year high. Ten years later, we are riding the longest period of Economic Growth in our history with one of the most the lowest Unemployment Rates in our citys history. [applause] the hon. London breed the homicide rate has dropped to its lowest in more than 55 years. [applause] the hon. London breed in the last decade, San Franciscos stance on Marriage Equality and medical cannabis became the laws of the land. We made a record investment in our parks and our libraries. We modernized our muni fleet and made it free for those in need. We launched our clean energy program, dramatically reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions. We even got our hands dirty, replacing our sewer system. We passed paid family leave, a 15 minimum wage and made city colle college free for all. We paved our streets and remodell remodelled the moscone center. We welcomed the warriors home. We watched the giants win it, and win it again, and our Congress Woman gave up the gavel and won it back. [applause] the hon. London breed and we became the capital of the resistance. [applause] the hon. London breed over the past decade, weve made great progress, but through it all, weve grappled with the twin troubles of homelessness and housing availability. I was an intern in the Mayors Office right here a quarter of a century ago. I had the privilege to walk up these stairs every day as a member of the board of supervisors. This buildings beauty is timeless, its spirit and inspiration. Earthquake and fire destroyed San Franciscos first city hall, but we built another even more magnificent than the first. Why . Why do we build these monuments . What do these marble stairs and golden dome what does it mean to us . It isnt excess or vanity, its a reminder. We swing the doors open for everyone because it reminds us that our government welcomes everyone. Our successes are shared, our potential unbound, and that none of us would be left out in the cold. I take the oath of office today remembering that not too long ago, my ancestors were in chains. Ive never found out exactly where they lived, but i know a bit about how they lived. I know their masters sat at tables eating generous meals that they didnt prepared. I know they hudled outside. They ate mush not with wooden spoons but with hands in a trough. The civil war ended the bondage, but the inequity had only begun. The slave owners kept their lands, and the former slaves kept the nothing they already had. So with that nothing, most went back to work at the farm. They rented their labor as share croppers, or if they were lucky, tenant farmers. Generations of poor African Americans scraped by, living in fear that if they protested too loudly, men in hoods would come. When the depression hit, two of those share croppers, a young couple with 11 children moved from louisiana to texas. Sometime later, their daughter, miss camellia brown came to San Francisco. She came in search of work. She came in search of something better. She came to raise her children in a place where they might be equal. My grandmother came here to believe in a city of hope, a city where a young black girl can go from Public Housing to the Mayors Office. [applause] the hon. London breed and she was right. San francisco is so much more than our home. Its a refuge for the gay, lesbian, and transgender brothers and sisters from all over the country. Its a new start for immigrants from guatemala and guangzhou and everywhere in between. It is my promise that everyone has a place in this city, that no one should be left out in the cold. So when we come to this hall or walk down Market Street and see the suffering of thousands of people outside our doors, it hurts. It hurts not because we are callous but because we care. The suffering on our streets, it offends our civic souls, and it should. But if were going to do something about the conditions on the streets, we need to level with each other. Homelessness isnt new, it isnt easy. We are not the only city struggling with it, and quite frankly, we are not going to solve it in 100 days, a year, or even entirely in this term. And im not sure solve is the right word any way. While the city has helped thousands of people out of homelessness, thousands more took their place. And sadly, sadly, there will always be people whose addiction or Mental Illness or poverty leads them down a dark path or puts them in need of help. Los angeles has more than 36,000 homeless residents and a skid row that is its own tragic city within a city. Three years ago, san diego had a hepatitis outbreak among its Homeless Population that killed 20 people. They had to spray their sidewalks with bleach to fight the infection. I point this out not to criticize those cities. I know how hard they are fighting to address these problems. Cities up and down the west coast, seattle, santa rosa, portland, los angeles, san diego are launching this fight. Too many people are grappling with drug addictions and insufficient resources and insufficient housing. [applause] the hon. London breed now we havent stopped sending our taxes to washington, d. C. , but they stopped sending back anywhere near enough for homelessness and Affordable Housing. So each year, san franciscans write bigger and bigger checks, and we ask ourselves, why doesnt it keep Getting Better . Why do we keep sending money, yet the Homeless Count keeps going up . First, lets dispel some of the inaccurate conversations that we hear. Its not because we arent funding solutions. Its not because we are indifferent. No one in my office, no one at the board of supervisors, no one in any city department, no one who works here is kicking back and throwing their hands up and pretending like weve been able to do something great. We are all working on it every day, frustrated by it every single day. Homelessness is so severe, so acute up and down the west coast for a few simple reasons. Housing is too expensive. Working class jobs are too uncertain, and their wages too outpaced by the cost of living. Drugs, opioids and meth in particular are too common. And two decades after the state closed its mental hospitals, california still hasnt come to grips for how were going to care for people who are severely mentally ill. [applause] the hon. London breed homelessness isnt just a problem, its a symptom. The symptom of unAffordable Housing, of income inequality, of institutional racism, of addiction, of untreated illnesses, of decades of disinvestment. These are the problems, and if we want to fight homelessness, weve got to fight them all. [applause] the hon. London breed and in San Francisco, we are. We will meet our goal of opening 1,000 new shelter beds by the end of this year. We just opened a new Navigation Center along the embarcadero center, and our bayview shelters break ground shortly. [applause] the hon. London breed we just opened our first state Parking Facility to help people who live in their vehicles. Were adding more than 200 new Mental Health beds, expanding outreach, and we are transforming how we deliver Mental Health and Substance Use treatment in our city. We have more permanent Supportive Housing units per ca capi capita than any major city in the country. Weve expanded rental assistance and emergency problem solving funds to help people avoid homelessness in the first place. We are expanding our conservetorship program to help people on the streets and get them the support that they need. [applause] the hon. London breed we are working to open meth sobering centers, safe injection sites, and managed alcohol facilities so we can stop walking by addictions spilling out on our streets and start treating it like the Health Care Issue that we know it is. [applause] the hon. London breed ive directed our city departments to reprioritize spending towards making our streets safer and cleaner for all of us. We are riding ballot measures to housing shortage. [applause] and if we want to relieve the pa pain on the streets and stop seeing our family members and friends moving away in moving vans, we need to build more housing, build more homes a lot more and set policies that make this possible. [applause] the hon. London breed over the next decade, in addition to our work on preserving thousands of permanently affordable homes, we need to build at least 50,000 new homes, at least 50,000 new homes. [applause] the hon. London breed and at least 17,000 need to be affordable. And to get to 50,000, we cant let disingenuous warnings of shadows and heights get in the way of badly needed housing. [applause] the hon. London breed to get to 50,000, we need to recognize that density is not a dirty word. To get to 50,000, we have to push for solutions to build homes faster and support policies like sb50 that will allow more housing all over the bay area. [applause] the hon. London breed ill be going to sacramento to fight for new housing because we need more housing for our workers, for our families, for our seniors. Because our retail shops cant afford to hire people who live here, because housing should be affordable and viable to san franciscans of all levels. The hon. London breed we cant say we need more housing and then reject the policies that actually allow us to build that housing. [applause] the hon. London breed i wasnt here decades ago when we imposed restrictive laws to prevent more housing, but i will be here when we start build housing in San Francisco and the bay area again. It is time. So heres what i want the next decade to look like. I want this to be the decade where we no longer walk by a person shooting up or a person whos shouting out of control or suffering on our streets and shrug our shoulders or turn away and wonder, what should we do . I am determined over the next four years to take in people with addiction and Mental Health problems so that when you encounter someone in need, you can make a call and know that person will get the help they need. [applause] the hon. London breed as i said before, compassion can no longer mean anything goes. I want this to be the decade when residents and visitors to our city can enjoy every neighborhood every single day without fear of crime or unacceptable behavior. We have what we know is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. This is an incredible city. I want it to be lively, i want it to be diverse, i want it to be safe, and i know you all want that, too. [applause] the hon. London breed and i want this to be the decade when san franciscans from the multigenerational native to the newly arrived immigrant that he, she, or they can arrive with their children and call this city home for generations to come. [applause] the hon. London breed we can be a vibrant and welcoming city, a city of affordable and diverse homes, a city where we come together and put aside our differences to meet the challenges that we know we all face with clarity and conviction. A city where we can care for one another, where our streets are safe, and no one is left out in the cold. San francisco can be the city that a share croppers daughter dreamed it to be. San francisco can and will be a city for all of us. Thank you. [applause] the hon. London breed ladies and gentlemen, this person said to me, it is a blessing to be a blessing. And today, the person thats providing a blessing to all of us so that we can start 2020 off right and what we need to do to move our city forward is no other than San Franciscos santana [cheers and applause] the hon. London breed and with his amazing special guest, yolanda adams. [cheers and applause] [ ] [applause] [ ] put your hands together [ ] carlos santana. [applause] sister of life yolanda. [applause] we want to say were so grateful and its such a deep honor to be here in this most memorable location because our sister of light is in charge of changing changing the narrative. Her light will efficient, sufficient to change the whole not just the bay area, this nation and the whole world because shes anointed. She is designed by grace, and we salute you and say its about time. [applause] [inaudible]