Transcripts For SFGTV Mayors Webinar On Racial Justice Police Reform 20240712

Law enforcement. These protests come at a time when our communities have been struggling even more because of the coronavirus. For too long, black people have been subjected to abuse at the hands of those in power. Now is the time that we can make sure that the demonstrations that we see are translated into real action. As has sadly been demonstrated by the death of george floyd, black communities are also disproportionately represented in our criminal justice system, so reforms go hand and hand both around Police Reforms and criminal justice reforms, as well. Weve seen in San Francisco a lot of real change but also knowing that we have a lot more to do. So we are really excited with this panel here today to talk about the work that San Francisco has already done but also our commitment to doing even more, including using the police in response to noncriminal activities, addressing police biases and strengthening our ability, and promoting economic justice. If were going to make real change, we need to fundamentally change the nature of policing itself. Here is an incredible opportunity, and so todays conversation will discuss other paths, criminal justice reforms that have been made in San Francisco, and joining us today, i am so excited to have van jones here. Now people know about his work around criminal justice reform, environment justice, and other things, but i remember when i was living in public housing, that was a time when African Americans would not always standup to the police. You would see this black man, van jones, on the news whenever there was an injustice, calling it out and pushing for a change. Hes been doing this work for over 25 years, and just imagine, at a time when it was not popular, that he especially as an African American man was a target, he had the courage to step up to fight, and hes still fighting. Thank you so much to van jones for joining us today. We also have board of equalization chair malia cohen, who when she and i were on the board of supervisors, we led so many Police Reforms. She was instrumental in banning the chokehold and other policies that we are now implementing in San Francisco even when others attacked her, when they came after her, she stood strong, she stood tall, and now, as a result of her work, we have a separate office of Police Accountability that she brought to the ballot, and we worked together to do some Amazing Things in our Police Department. Welcome, malia cohen, and finally, we have police chief bill scott. Chief scott has also been a partner for pushing for these Police Reforms here in San Francisco, and we all know that change is not easy, but hes been committed to working with our communities and working for change because we want better not only for our Police Department, we want better for our community. So thank you all so much for joining us here today. Im really excited to get us started on this panel, and i want to really start with you, van. The fact is i mean, the fact is youre still here, doing this work, and now, you have more people who are doing this work. And when you were doing this work, you were criticized, you were discriminated, you were threatened. At that time, there were a lot of beatings because i remember seeing them my he have personally. There was no Police Accountability then. Tell me, what does it mean to see it right now . First of all, its a crazy experience. To see you the mayor, its just that, its a whole word. To be looking at you, malia, and to be looking at chief scott, i dont think people understand what it was like just in the 90s in San Francisco. I mean, we literally had a shoot first ask first, ask questions later policy. I look back to when i was a kid, and i thought, what was i doing . In San Francisco, we had a policy of shooting, pepper spraying, and beating African Americans to death. Sean williams beaten and pepper sprayed to death by a Police Officer named mark andaya. We finally rose up and said we had enough. I remember that. We would go to 850 bryant, and we would use that, we would use that Public Comment to turn the Police Commission meetings into public rallies, and we finally got rid of that Police Officer. That finally put me on the National Stage because no one had gotten a Police Officer fired in 30 years. I cannot tell you how important it is, what youre doing. It is very hard. People need Law Enforcement. We just want Law Enforcement. We want the police to obey the law, and we want them to play their lane and let the counselors play their lane, let the yoga instructors play their lane, let everybody play their lane. But when the Police Officers are given too many jobs to do, and too little oversight, thats what were going to have, were going to have homelessness is a police issue, drug addicts are a police issue. When kid throws an eraser, its a police issue. Everything is a police issue. I just want to say that i cannot tell you how important it is for you to create a model, a reinvented Police Presence in San Francisco, that that can license people across the country to do the same thing. I dont want to go down memory lane. Weve got too many problems right now, but at this time a trip, 25 years later, to see people like you and the chief talking about things we were talking about 25 years ago. The hon. London breed yeah, it is amazing. And when you think about it, 25 years, and sadly, we still see African American men, for the most part, losing their lives at the hands of Law Enforcement. The hon. London breed and the question i ask myself is, why is it always African American men . We have a lot of wonderful officers out there developing relationships, trying to work with the community. I grew up not trusting Police Officers, and to bridge that gap was important, but we also know that there are racist cops, there are cops that dont see African Americans as human beings, and thats at the core of what we need to dismantle. So its not just the policies, its how do we completely rid our departments of people who have a problem with black people, with lgbtq people, with chinese people, with folks who are different than they are . Im trying to figure out what to call you, chair cohen, because im used to calling you supervisor, but im so glad that you could join this conversation because you were so heroic. I was focused on police reform, but you took it to a whole nother level, and you just ran with it. As a member of the board of supervisors, you didnt have to attend Police Commission meetings, but you sat there for hours. And the time you invested in getting rid of the chokehold and the attacks on the Police Officers association, and all the stuff that you pushed for, you see what were implementing. As you support policies, we used to have seven officer involved shootings, and then, over the past two years, we have seen three officer involved shootings, which none have resulted in death. What do you think about the work youve done, and what do you think we have to do . Because we definitely have more to do. Good morning, chief and van and mayor. Its good to be with you on this panel and be part of this incredible moment in time. You know, mayor breed, i really its a mixed emotion, right . So in many ways, im proud that we have the foresight to start these processes. We used the board of supervisors, and we also used the Police Commission, two very, very important systems that are complementary to each other. But also, i feel like we still have a lot of work to do. I feel like we need to continue to roll up our sleeves and to better our best to continue to have thoughtful conversations on police matters. When we are talking about Law Enforcement, i want to focus on at least in our city, we focus on San Francisco Police Department, but we also need to focus on those in custody and the San Francisco sheriffs department. I think one of the entities that deserves the highest credit to our citys success really has to do with civilian oversight. Weve got a great Police Commission, and we need to continue to strengthen that commission. I am proud of the department of Police Accountability that we that got passed in 2016 that voters approved with over 70 . So there is a lot of things to be proud of. But looking forward, and looking into the future, theres still much work that needs to be done. So im delighted to be on this today with you and chief and van so that we can continue to talk about and make these changes. Im an instigator. You are, van. You are. And i appreciate these conversations. Theyre uncomfortable, and its time to be uncomfortable because now, were having an honest conversation about the changes that we need to make for black people in this country. I talk about this as mayor and when i was supervisor, and its not just because im black. African americans are less than 6 of the population in San Francisco, but almost 40 are homeless. And almost 50 are involved in the criminal justice system. The kids are dropping out of high school. Everything you talk about, were disproportionately represented, and everything that we talked about, we cant congratulate ourselves until theyre a part of the success, and that success means a reform of policing. Chief scott, youve been a member of the department for a few years now. Youve been criticized about the implementation of the reform. The obama administration, in 2015, issued recommendations around 21 century policing, and we committed, in San Francisco back then, that we are going to implement those recommendations. There have been a lot of criticism because out of the 273 recommendations, San Francisco has only been able to implement 61. Now its not about checking a box. We want to make sure people understand when theyre doing antibias training, when theyre doing deescalation training, that they get it. So tell us why things are moving so slowly, and what can we expect moving forward, and how are we going to get to a better place around policing in our city . Yeah, thank you, mayor breed. Let me start off by answering your question about reform. 272 recommendations, that process was a longtime process in terms of what got us there. And really, what got us there are the officerinvolved shootings that san franciscans were outraged about. So of those 272 recommendations, 58 of them specifically deal with use of force, and i am happy to report to you all that we were in compliance with according to the department of justice on over half of our use of force revisions. Ill back up a step further in terms of the time that it takes. Reform is not like you just said in there, a checked box process, it is not that. Even with the 61 recommendations that we have completed, one of the things that we had to work on was whats the Continuous Improvement loop . So weve completed the recommendation, but what we had to put in place were systems of accountability so we dont rest on our successes and say were done. And when the california d. O. J. Looked at our work, you know, a lot of our work got kicked back for just that reason. We had cannot the work that we needed to do, but its whats next on the forefront. We had to go back like our officer involved shootings, we had town hauls. Its good for the communities to be transparent, to get the community have a say in letting us know what theyre thinking, feeling, but that recommendation, even though we were doing town hauls before i got here. What they found was we didnt have a feedback loop to converse with the community and each other after the town haul to say what can we do better . So we had to go back and institute a feedback loop to make sure that every time we have an incident, that we continue to look at it critically, and we continue to get better. Let me say this, and not to be too long winded, for all of you on the call, i and many of you applaud your leadership, because somebody had to step out and be the first one. Often times im not a biker, but i know a lot of bikers. They always talk about the first one in line, everybody goes behind them because its easier to follow. You were the first one in line, and strathat was instrumental get us to successes. Mayor breed, you had the same experiences in terms of being a leader. What youre trying to do in terms of redirecting our resources, thats leadership. Other people jumped behind you and said were going to do this, too. But what mr. Jones did back 25 years ago, thats not easy, but it makes it easier for people to stand behind you and push, so i just want to say, its a challenge, but were making progress, and we will continue to go. The hon. London breed chief, i just want to say that San Francisco is one thing, and we still have our problems, but when you look at whats still happening and i try not to get emotional, but what i saw in the video with george floyd, and even mario woods here in San Francisco. And when i see these things happen, im thinking about my brother, im thinking about my cousin and others and even those that i helped raise in this community and the fillmore, all black men, right . And then, i feel like why . Why is it always us, and how this conversation now, what people saw, weve been forced to live with it. Weve had no choice. But now, others are starting to emerge and look at this incredible opportunity. So i wanted to hear from you, you know, what do you think is going on nationally as to why were here, and do you think its going to lead to national change with Law Enforcement in our country . I think it is, we have the opportunity here. Listen, in the past two weeks, youve seen the emergence of a conversation on race. Most of the time, were getting gaslit; people saying oh, well, he was running, the police had to make a quick decision, and so people were getting desensitized to what we are seeing. But this was a lynching, a lynching. A white man strangling a black man to death, and his face looking peaceful the whole time. The only threat was the cops. You have to watch it one minute, two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, hes calling for his mother. His mothers been dead. Five minutes, urinating on himself. People screaming, youre killing him. Five times, he said he cant breathe. Weve been lynched for 400 years, but youve never seen it on a billion cell phones at the same time. Youve never seen it on 1 billion cell phones at the same time. In the 50s, a generation of black people, when they got to campus, campuses in the 50s, they took off. The picture, the Television Pictures of those dogs being sicced on children in birmingham in 63, the whole world moved. That young child who held that video camera put a shard of glass into every video camera in the planet, and so now, they are a part of that, they dont know what to do, and that creates an opportunity for people to say hey, we have ideas. Weve been trying to tell you, and we have a perfect video of a perfect murder in daylight with cell phone cameras and body cameras on. I know you get it now. What do we do . Im part of a National Movement matt haney your good friend matt haney and i created something called cut 50 several years to try to get some bipartisan support on that movement. We now have republicans and democrats trying to Work Together in congress right now to try to do something right now, to try to get a bill passed. All of these steps that weve been taking along the way have brought us to this point. I believe that you have 30 to 40 million white people in america right now who maybe believe three things. Number one, racism is real or more real than we thought, somethings wrong with the system when it comes to police and criminal justice, and what can i do . Im going to tell you, as an old guy, thats a miracle. Ive never seen that, and so i do think more is possible. We have to be very, very clear that at the end of the day, we have to reimagine and reinvent policing itself. The kids are saying defund the police, defund the police. Everybody is mad at the kids for saying that. But if you double click on that defund the Police Slogan i understand that people dont like that the ideas are about reinventing and reforming the police and giving them the right resources to social services and everything so the police dont have to do everything. So theres something now out there that can do that. But what i say to you is this no longer being gaslit every time we Say Something is happening thats racial, and having to climb a 1,000mile mountain of proof when we know what the hell is going on and everybody else. When nascar says you cant bring confederate flags anymore, when the nfl supports people kneeling, theres something happening. Y the hon. London breed you have people stepping down from boards, saying put a black person in my place. You have juneteenth celebrations, and a lot of folks dont even know what juneteenth is. Ive got to say, part of it is i pray that this is not a fad for people, you know . I want this to be real, and i also dont want people to keep treating this, you know, in some ways, like a joke. Theres a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that have gotten us to this moment, and so i want us to be active in this energy for getting change. Eric garcetti in los angeles was one of the first to say im going to redirect funding for the Police Department to programs in the African American community, im like, how did you do that . He said hed already been working on it. He already had an amount, hed already been working on it. Im, like, not trying to jump on the band wagon, but at the same time, when i look at the police budgets, and i look at the African American community, and weve been talking about reparations and the need to invest in the African American community in this city, this is a need. This is not about a fad, this is about we have to be deliberate. And were not saying the Police Department were not saying we dont need Police Officers. Thats exactly what youre talking about, reenvision, reenvision. So when barbecue becky is saying, im in the park, and youre not supposed to barbecue in the park, and theres some black people barbecuing in the park. Is it a dangerous situation . Are people getting hurt . Why should police have to go out there in the first place because that could escalate things. Because being theres a tension and a lack of understanding and a breakdown, and that could escalate to somebody black getting killed. It could. So we have to be mindful of these things and, you know, i want to go back to chair cohen because, you know, like i said, the policies some of the policies that weve been pushing for are now being implemented along with more that needs to be done. So, for example, one of the things that you pushed for was around, you know, antibias training and the goal of trying to make sure that people who have, you know, some sort of disciplinary issues around biases on their record and those who have certain complaints and other things, that were able to basically hold them accountable and we make sure that we hold people accountable in their department. Tell us about what you have worked on and also more that you want to see here in San Francisco which hopefully could translate to other departments in the country. Chair cohen so one of the things that i think San Francisco has done well has to do with crisis intervention training. I think c. I. T. Training is important for every single officer that is on the street, and i would even take it a step further, and in addition to kri s crisis intervention training, deescalation techniques to try to calm the situation down before tasers are drawn. Just knowing that the San Francisco Police Department does not have tasers, but thats always in the backdrop and always a discussion, whereas our sheriffs are armed with them. But when i think about bias training, bias training is really interesting, and i remember prior to chief scott serving, when the previous chief was serving, we had many conversations, and quite frankly, mayor lee would go round and round, there was an attitude that not everyone needed biasunbias training. The truth is we all have biases that shape every day how we all interact. And as government officials, i think its important for us to look at these biases and deconstruct them, not only from a Law Enforcement perspective but also you think about your department heads, how they allocate their budget. Which departments are receiving money and which are not . These are all critical pieces to the puzzle because the responsibility does not solely rest on Law Enforcement. What did you say, van . Im just over here having church because thats the basis for peaceful streets. Thats what we want, peaceful streets. Thats the ecosystem, peaceful streets. Go to the suburbs. You have a whole system that makes it happen, not just the cops, peaceful streets. Go ahead. Chair cohen thank you, van. Its a universal attitudinal change, and i applaud you for trying to make a policy change to pull out Law Enforcement officers in an educational setting. I also want to recognize that we talk about neighborhood response and neighborhood watch, being critical and mindful that weve got next door, and often times on next door weve got these successful neighborhood vigilante putting up racist profiles that cause problems. You talked about barbecue becky. We think of the bird watcher in central park about how police have been weaponized and called onto punish, quite honestly, when the person is African American and male. So we need to envision, maybe we dont need Police Response for every single problem. Perhaps we need to have a Crisis Intervention Team that is trained to respond to issues that take place at lake mary or issues that take place in places such az centrs central. These changes are not new, but theres a real commitment, and weve got fresh leadership think about it. These are changes that were discussing that you and i havent been able to discuss since weve been serving in office, and weve been serving for at least ten years. There was an issue in the legislature yesterday that got out of assembly for, and that was bill 209. It was around 25 years. It was the First Campaign that i worked on, works agained aga legislation to repeal. Now here we are, working to get it on the ballot. Now what does prop 209 have to do with police . Oh, it has to do with it. When youve got womenowned businesses, minorityowned businesses, theyre vested. Theyre making an investment in their families, making an investment in their communities, and have the ability to stand with an incredible sense of pride. Overall, how that relates to organizations, how that relates to businesses, were all interconnected. And i think the moment we stop realizing oh, this is a police issue, oh, this is a Mental Health issue, oh, this is a womens issue, thats the moment that we begin to move forward in a very thoughtful way. But i think about other reforms. If you want me to go on, i can. I mentioned Community Policing being incredibly important. We talk about foot patrols, what that looks like. We talk about increasing Mental Health organizations, funding for service providers. We think about luis gongora, unfortunate situation where he was a homeless man, shot and killed in the streets of San Francisco. Now another issue that may be controversial but i want to mention it, we are transparent about officers records, having transparency in two areas the collection of data and the analysis of data. So we understand that chief, i believe this is a is this in the administrative code, was it 90a . 96a. Chair cohen thank you, 96a, which we both fought for when i was on the board of supervisors that would change the way that data is collected. One thing that i believe in, and it comes from my days at carnegiemellon, until we review the data, we really dont know what the hell is going on. We rely on somebody else to interpret the data for us, but we need to start collecting data nationally. How many black men are killed at the hands of police. We need data on who is stopped and how frequently, what is the badge number and stars of the officer. We are looking for patterns of misconduct, and we can glean that out when looking at the data. So pivoting back to president obamas 21st century policy on policing, we can do that. We had 272 recommendations made to us, and that takes time. Were talking about changing not only peoples hearts and minds, band believes, but their hearts and minds. I believe that people that serve in the Police Department, Law Enforcement, the fire department, we have a calling to do good in every day peoples lives, to protect their rights. So there are good people among them and their very bad people. You know, the code of silence, of protecting those that are bad, weve got to change that also because its making all of us in Public Service look poor and unresponsive, and i think that the protesters have really nailed it. I think new york just recently passed just yesterday some legislation to increase transparency on Law Enforcement officers on their background. If youre fired from the San Francisco Police Department, why the hell should you be hired in antioch, in the Police Department . Theres always loopholes, and theres gray areas. The hon. London breed and hell say, chair cohen, a lot of the things that you were talking about, the issues around, for example, their records and other things, those are things that were implementing, those are the next steps, along with the responsibility for an officer to intervene when they see Excessive Force being used. So when you think about it, the fact that those officers in George Floyds case, hey, man, get off his neck, and the fact that they were so cavalier and passive, i just it just baffles me. Theyre hopefully going to be prosecuted, theyre hopefully going to be held accountable because theyre just as much guilty for the death of george floyd. Heres my issue the fact that any Police Officer would think what they saw is okay because its a procedure, its all in their procedures is a problem, and so i think what we are getting people to understand is you can no longer hide behind procedure. Were changing procedure, we want to see change of hearts and minds, and so this is difficult. Chair cohen in addition to changing procedure, we need to change policy, because i think policy and procedure go hand and hand. If you remember, lawyers that are defending officers that are going through the the the process of their cases being heard hide behind laws, so we as policy makers need to be cognizant and aware of that and change that. Something that shirley webbers law was predicated on what we did in San Francisco, in that when you actually pull your weapon and actually fire. Were running out of time, and i dont know if the chief wants to Say Something before i do. Ive got a fourminute hard stop. Chief . Yeah, i was just going to talk about what chair cohen was saying about the reform. The part of our reform was to work with academic researchers and partners to take that data and run with it. You know, for a lot of people, who do we associate with crime and why . As a black man, i cant tell you how many times ive walked by a car and heard the door lock. And this is im not alone. I know many people but the point is rethinking policy and what the things that we are doing to add to that association of whos a criminal, whos not, whos dangerous, we need to rethink that, too. Ill tell you, with our Police Department, were doing just that. We heard a lot of people talk about our policy on releasing looking photos, and were looking at the policy probably in the next couple of weeks, well be changing our policy on releasing booking photos. This is the benefit of working with actual scientists who know what bias is and what feeds into stereotyping and all that. How do we perpetuate that, you know, when people are asking for booking photos of certain individuals, people start associating those individuals with being dangerous which changes the whole idea of Police Officers and society in general. We need to reel that back. Thats something in the next few weeks that well be doing. Ive got to tell you, my thinking has evolved based on the data involved and some of the scientists that were working with at ucsf and cal berkeley who are all telling us the same thing. Dont perpetuate the problem with your policies, so weve got to pull some of this stuff back. Its really basic to me. Im sure all of you have experienced those types of things, as well. But we associate certain people with certain stress. The hon. London breed yeah, and chief, we have to wrap it up, so i want to give van the last word. This has been a very insightful conversation. I appreciate all that youre bringing to the table, so i want to bring it over to van for the final word. I just want to say how important this conversation is. There might be people who might be watching this who feel that hey, San Francisco might be better than it was, they might be on the right path, but theyre not where they need to be. I have homeless issues, i have Mental Health issues, i have needs that arent being met. Be encouraged. Be encouraged because i think what youre seeing is a process by which were reimagining policing and maybe reinventing policing in San Francisco, and if we can continue to expand the circle, expand the listening, listen to everybody, theres going to what we want is peaceful streets. We dont want law and order. You think of law and order, wheres the disorder . I hope youre safe. Dude, wheres the threat . We just want peaceful streets, peaceful streets, and it takes a lot to get this. Were going to have to learn some things, unlearn some things, start doing some things, stop doing some things. But if you feel this conversation hasnt come to you yet, stay on the train. Its going to get this. All these different groups that are saying hey, we want reform, it is possible if we stick together. San francisco can lead the way, like we always have done. We got some little reforms, too, but more reforms are coming. Any way i can be helpful, let me know. Thank you. The hon. London breed thank you, chair cohen, van, and chief scott. Im mayor london breed. Lets take this opportunity at this moment to push for real change. I want to thank all of you who have been out there on the frontlines, doing everything you can to make sure that there is justice for all of us, that we are all seen, that we are all heard, and now is the time, more than ever, to make real change. We appreciate all of you for joining us again. More to come in some of our future conversations, and please stick with us on pushing for these reforms. It wont be easy, but its necessary, and it will change and save lives for the better. Thank you all so much. Thank you. Shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses, and challenges residents to do their shopping within the 49 square miles of San Francisco. By supporting local services in our neighborhood, we help San Francisco remain unique, successful, and vibrant. So where will you shop and dine in the 49 . I am the owner of this restaurant. We have been here in north beach over 100 years. [speaking foreign language] [ ] [speaking foreign language] [ ] [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] [ ] for the first time in nearly two decades fishers have been granted the legal right to sell fish directly to the package right off their boat to the public right off their boats in San Francisco. Its not only helping local fishers to stay afloat but its evoking the spirit of the wharf by resurfacing the traditional methods of selling fish. But how is it regulated . And what does it take for a boat to be transported into a Floating Fish market . Find out as we hop on board on this episode of whats next sf. Were here with the owner and the captain of the vessel pioneer. Its no coincidence that your boat is called the pioneer because its doing just that. Its the first boat in San Francisco to sell fish directly from the boat. How did you establish your boat into such a Floating Fish market . Well, you know, i always thought that it would be nice to be able to provide fresh fish to the locals because most of the fish markets, you would have to do a large amount of volume in order to bring in enough fish to cover the overhead. When you start selling to the public that volume is much less so it makes it hard to make enough money. So being able to do this is really its a big positive thing i think for the entire community. A very positive thing. As a thirdgeneration fisherman joe as his friends call him has been trawling the california waters for sustainably caught seafood since an early age. Since obtaining a permit to sell fish directly to the public he is able to serve fish at an affordable price. Right now were just selling what a lot of the markets like, flat fish and rock fish and what the public likes. So we have been working for many, many years and putting cameras in them. Theres the ability to short fish and we have panels that we open and close so we target the different species of fish by adjusting the net. And then not only that but then the net sort out the sizes which is really important. Joe brings in a lot of fish, around 20,000 pounds per fishing trip to be exact. We had one day one time that we sold almost 18,000 pounds. Its incredible. I know, its hard to imagine. But this wasnt always the case for joe. The markets that we have left in california, theyre few and far between, and they really are restrictive. Theyll let you fish for a couple months and shut you down. A lot of times its rough weather and if you cant make your delivery you will lose your rotation. Thats why theres hardly any boats left in california because of the market challenges. My boat was often sitting over here at the dock for years and i couldnt do anything with it because we had no market. The ability to go catch fish is fine, i had the permits, but you couldnt take them off your boat. That was until the Port Commission of San Francisco rallied behind them and voted unanimously to approve a Pilot Program to allow the fish to be sold directly to consumers right off their boats. The purpose of the program is to allow commercial fishers to sell their fish directly from their boats to the end consumer in a safe and orderly manner for the benefit of the overall Fishing Community at the port of San Francisco. We have limited the program to certain types of fish such as salmon, halibut, tuna and rock fish. Crab is restricted from this program because we did not want to interfere with the existing crab sales on Taylor Street and jefferson street. So this is not meant to favor one aspect of the fishing industry more than another. Its to basically to lift up the whole industry together. And if joe the program has been doing just that. It was almost breathtaking whenever i woke up one morning and i got my federal receiver, my first receivers license in the mail. And that gave me permission to actually take fish off my boat. Once we started to be able to sell, it opened things up a bit. Because now that we have that federal permit and i was able to ppetition the city council and getting permission from San Francisco to actually use the dock and to sell fish here, it was a big turning point. Because we really didnt think or know that wed get such a positive response from the public. And so were getting thousands of people coming down here buying fish every week and so thats pretty cool. They like the fish so much that they take pictures of it when they cook it and they send us all of these pictures and then they ask us, you know, constantly for certain types of fish now. And when they come down here the one thing that they say is that theyre so amazed that the fish is so fresh they could eat a little bit during the week and its still fresh all week in the refrigerator. So thats really cool. The fish is very fresh and the price is super. I dont think that you can get it anywhere in the bay area. I can see it, and i can stir fry it, wow, you can do anything you want. I just can say this is a good place to shop and you have a good experience. This Program Supports the Strategic Plan in terms of engagement, people being connected to the waterfront, and also economic vitality. Because its helping the fishermen to make ends meet. They have no guarantees in their businesses, not like some people, and we want to do everything that we can to help them to have a good and thriving business. How does it feel to be able to sell your fish locally kind of in the traditional way, like your grandfather probably did . When i was a kid and i used to work in my dads fish market, a lot of the markets that we sell to now are second and third and fourth generation markets. So i remember as a kid putting their tags on the boxes of fish that we shipped out of monterey and ship down to l. A. So its kind of cool that were still dealing with the same families. And this is probably about the only way that anyone can really survive in california is to sell your own fish. One of the advantages of this program is the Department People that pull in the fish, they can find out where they caught it and find out more about the fisherman and that adds to their experience. The feedback from the fishers has been very good and the feedback from the customers have very good. And theres a lot of people coming to the wharf now that might not have done so. In fact, theres people that go through the neighboring restaurants that are going to eat fish inside but before they go in they see the action on the dock and they want to kind of look at whats happening on the boat before they go in and they have a meal. So its generated some conversation down at the wharf and thats a good thing. As you can see by the line forming behind me getting ready to buy fish, the Pilot Program has been a huge success. For more information visit sfsport. Com