Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Land Use And Transportation Committee 20240712

Their specific comments. They reviewed the findings that we have and we had a series of conversations about the specific legislation and discussing things that could be made from zoning and land use perspectives and then some of the things that would require further investment and discussion with other city agencies. Thank you,. Sure. The specific changes are, expanding the boundary in which impacting money can be spent to provide funding for projects in the adjacent neighborhoods. Broadening the membership relative to the first, that is the existing boundary of one mile . Currently, the funds, the infrastructure funds can be spent in the planning area or within 250 feet . Ok. Broadening the membership of the market activity cac, allowing a land dedication option for Affordable Housing requirements in the adjacent neighborhoods and new requirement to support Community Serving use thats the groundfloor. Expanding the unit mixed requirement and new general plan policy to apply a racial and social lense to future land use decisions. New requirements to ensure that residential uses are the primary land use and so no stand alone hotel or office use would be permitted. And then allowing for more Affordable Housing with commission discretion and public input. This is not the end of the equity work and association with the hub. Last week we Heard Community members asking for further equity work and this work is beginning now. Todd co has hired advisers to develop guidelines for the hub area. This work will identify goals, benefits and burdens and we look forward to hearing from the community and consultants throughout this process. Id like to leave you with the knowledge that a an explicit sht towards equality. The Planning Commission adopted phase 1 of the departments actions plan and this focus on the departments internal functions such as hiring and contracting. Phase 2 and underway now and this work will focus on the departments external functions. Such as community outreach, community plan, and regulations. And as part of phase 2, the department will continue to refine and adapt the equity Assessment Tool in collaboration with our commissions, this board and the public. So that concludes my presentation. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide this overview. And look forward to answering any questions. Thank you mrs. Langois. Are you saying that you agree with the proposal thats been set fourth by the community to do additional equity work as it relates to 15 of the 18 parcels of real estate that are before us . What are you saying . Im saying the department is supportive of doing further equity work and we acknowledge that this Assessment Tool in the lens is new for us and that we can learn from consultants and from the community and having continuing that conversation is important and i think removing the 15 sites as an opportunity to have this future conversation, i think we have expressed some of the concerns and some of the things that the city loses by making that amendment and i understand the concerns that the communities had around the proposed legislation as it stands. Thank you, that was a perfect summation but i wont say i am delighted that the Planning Department appears to be turning the page your record notwithstanding. With that supervisor preston. Thank you chair peskin. I am some row mark remarks but o chair, if you or supervisor safai had questions specifically, i didnt want to jump in on one of those. I wouldnt say the presentation by planning is actually one of the best presentations i have seen. It is actually, to my mind, kind of an admission that planning has never seen urban development through an equity lense until now. Thats been pushed through politics. That has been pushed through elections and that is the first time ive heard this from planning so i cannot tell you how appreciative i am that you are finally speaking the department, the peoples language and albeit maybe theres some dis correspondence withidiscordance withinyour dep. I concur with you on that. Im going to step back and talk a little more broadly about the Hub Development and the broader breast strokes what the Community Proposal is here. In terms of moving forward. Can you hear me ok . Chair peskin, you just froze on my screen and i dont know if its on my end or yours . I can hear you fine. Great, thank you. So, first off, thank you chair peskin and supervisor safai for continuing this last week. This matter for a week and its been helpful for everybody to be able to digest all the details of the plan. The package that is before us is very broad in scope seeking to rezone 84 acres around the intersection of market known as the hub and outlined by planning last week. There are four pieces of legislation thatten pusses and hub area plan including a investmentments to the general plan business and tax code and related so i knowing maps and its a very broad and very significant proposal taken in its entirety and it will have an impact not just the neighborhood but surrounding neighborhoods that i would argue the entire city. Its been referenced, 18 total parcels at issue and they have the rules changed with regard to what can be built on these sites and how tall, sense and how much residential and how much commercial and most importantly for whom. I think the stakes here he very high. The area plan will increase height density and traffic in this part of the city. I think the area offers significant opportunities to create Affordable Housing units, invest in Public Transit and mobility more generally. I want to thank the Planning Department staff for a lot of work has gone into this and this is a comprehensive proposal for the hub and theres been enormous work that has gone into this and the proposal that im laying out today which are community and led proposals and should not necessarily, should not be read as a criticism of the Planning Departments efforts in doing the Equity Analysis thats been addressed but reflect more the importance of this area and necessity for us to do it right. If we are serious and i believe we are Racial Equity we need to look at proposal and do it through a process that is communityled. Some of this work on equity was done a year ago but unfortunately the more recent efforts by our office and the other office is impacted has been our outreach efforts that have been limited by the pandemic in recent months. Its made it much more difficult to have Meaningful Community engagement other than online forums. We have heard loud and clear from the coalition of Community Stakeholders led by communities of color they have concerns around what is proposed in the hub area plan. They reviewed the proposal and theyve come to us with a question and supervisor chair peskin, allude today it earlier we have a phased approach to allow height and zoning changes for the project that gone through a thorough Community Discussion and pausing temporarily on moving forward until we can complete the more thorough race specific witty analysis that was previously mentioned. Particularly its imperative we as elected leaders centers and elevate the concerns that we hear from low income communities and communities of color and thats the spirit of the amendments that im interesting today and at the same time i think advocates have been careful here to thread the needle by allowing certain key sites to move forward and those are the furnished along in the process and have Significant Community benefits in the form of Affordable Housing in particular. And so ive circulated amendments colleagues and doing so as a request of Community Groups in conjunction with the other supervisor offices impacted directly specifically supervisor haneys office and also indirectly vice supervisor ronens office and these amendments speak to limit the zoning changes to the three sites that have gone through a Community Process, the project site at 30 van ness and 10 south vaness and 98 franklin. The result of which is a considerable package of Public Benefits at each site. With buy in from the community we would essentially be fast tracking the necessary changes for these three sites in phase 1 and at the same time taking the time we need before moving forward with the broader rezoning. Were pausing for specific purpose as i mentioned which is to allow more thorough race specific witty analysis on what the effects will be on communities of color of the complete hub plan. The process to scope this analysis is underway and its our intention to allow no more than six months for its completion. Its important for stakeholders on all sides, to understand that nothing in this plan nothing in the four pieces of legislation before us, is being rejected today. Rather, i will be moving to duplicate relevant files and with the agreement of colleagues i hope and if i do so, well effectively be keeping the broader discussions of the other parcels and the broader rezone ago life at committee while moving forward to the full board with the projects that are in the process ofen title. And have offered the Significant Community benefits that i mentioned. I know, i want to mention the extent of the Public Benefits and these what are drives the Community Support for moving forward with these projects so at 30 van ness, 25 of the proposed 333 units will be offered at below market rate and 10 million will be allocated in Affordable Housing fees to the city, which will be directed to construct proposed Affordable Housing projects at fifth and howard or fourth and fulsome in the project area. At 98 franklin street, which south only one of the three key sites in that district and the proposals for 345 unit Residential Projects situated on top of five story podium which will serve as the new home of the French American International school as well as some 3,200 square feet of retail space on the groundfloor. Working with both the Community Groups and my Office Related properties the developer has agreed to include 25 on site affordable there and higher than the legally required amount and particularly encouraged that of the affordable units, 80 of them, thats 69 units will be earmarked for deeply affordable for households earning 50 of the area an medium income and the 17 Additional Units will be for households earning no more than 100 of the Median Income. The developer deserves credit for working closely with the community and my office in agreeing to significantly proceed the legally required number of affordable units and i want to send my gratitude to the head of school and many many families and parents at the French American High School and students and alone who contacted our office and conveyed the importance of the project for our School Community and their overcomeeling support and especially with enormous challenges for San Francisco families and uncertainties around Family Health and safe tea and when schools will open and we appreciate the families who reached out and shared their thoughts about this project. I also want to know that my office has been interested in whether some of the particular Affordable Housing fees that are required for the area and then 98 franklin developer left to pay another 5. 8 million in area specific housing fees, we have been interested in whether those could instead be satisfied by getting even more on site affordable units and at 98 franklin and more broadly in the sub and its in the future to the other 15 sites. In discussing and exploring this, its become clear that there needs to be a more refined methodology for calculating the number of units that the fees s equates to. So among the other amendments ill offer a non substantive amendment that will authorize the Planning Department and Mayors Office of housing and Community Development to clarify the methodology for how many on site units equate to these areas specific fees as an option for developer and i want to specifically recognize that the developer at 98 franklin have indicated openness to further increasing the number of on side affordable units in lieu of the 5. 8 million. When that methodology is clarified and we have a chance to see how many units that would be were not obligated to provide those units on site, they were free to pay the fee but the office looks forward to continuing discussions with possible additional on site units when we have the methodology laid out how many units that would be and the project at 10 south van ness is for a mixed use residential and Retail Project with a total of 966 units of housing and 29,000 square feet of Service Space and as part of the Community Benefits package, the developer has agreed to allocate their Affordable Housing obligations to a land dedication for creating 100 permanently Affordable Housing and while the city has not played a formal role in negotiations, my understanding is among the sites being considered for this land dedication, its 1979 Mission Street and no one as the monster in the mission. And that site, colleagues as you know, has been the subject of nearly a decade of organizing work for housing justice advocates and Mission District active in particular leaders from the latino community. And while the approvals dont require the developer to acquire and dedicate 199 Mission Property specifically we know Community Activists see todays approval as commissioner to securing a 100 affordable site and i will say this, if this were to come to fruition at 1979 mission, it would be an incredible win and a testament to the power of Community Organizing and for the miss district and the Housing Movement in at large and for a neighborhood that has suffered the displacement of more than 8,000 latinos and over the past decade to lay the groundwork for 100 and envision and articulate as the marvel in the mission would be a milestone and an incredible accomplishment in this city. Taken together these three sites have gone through a robust process involving community and various stakeholders and the results are three projects that have Community Support. And are appropriate to confer the significant benefits enclouded in the legislative package today. Namely the ability to build at much higher scales than previously allowed. These projects have been before the court for just a little bit over a month and are being fast tracked but the the remainder of the parcel to the area plan do not yet have specific vetted proposals and not gone through this process and i believe its in the best interest and city particularly given the reasonable requests for a equity study to be completed to address these other parcels in a phase two of the hub area plan. Theyre not ready to move forward. But enemy leon the sustainability district legislation its one of the items before us today. This over lay as i understand it, would allow for ministerial approvals for project that meets certain minimum thresholds. I want to be very clear for the members of the labor community, who have reached out about this, that we are not rejecting and im not proposing that we reject, any part of the proposal that is before us today. We would be pausing to further the housing sustainability legislation and if a project in this area plan moved forward in the interim, nothing would prohibit or preclude and benefits and i would hope and would work with my colleagues to ensure that any such proposal would include nothing less as is standard for projects of this scale in recent history in San Francisco. Well admit that i have some discomfort locking in longterm changes for this entire central area of the city with so much uncertainty right now. About what the future holds. We should act deliberately in planning for the next 40 years and especially when we do not know what the next 48 hours may look like. Its part of the race anden Equity Analysis and we have a meaningful opportunity to weigh in with support with opposition and proposed changes. This has been a challenge and get in the pan and i know for my office and for you colleagues that are constituents, that its been hard, as i said, to engage with our constituents. Its been extremely challenging to look at the feedback and and its been a major transportation issue that are present. The market octavia has been a congestion nightmare and the prospect of adding thousands Additional Units and with them more than 2,000 private parking spaces, it seems like a formula that could significantly exacerbate an exiting problem. Add to that and and ecommerce delivery vehicles and we could be left with a more congested city center when all is sudden and done under this plan. I think these are solvable problems. I believe that we need a clear plan on how to mitigate these issues. Even though at the top level of leadership in our transportation agencies, well admit the future of Public Transit in flux solving congestion is impossible without better understanding of the role of Public Transit will be and have in the city at large. So, you know, all that said, in conjunction with the folks transportation agencies we can figure out solutions in the coming months and to be clear, i believe were confronted with not only difficult problems arising from this proposal but also potential opportunities. One is them is an opportunity for the first time to directly center, in value, the voices of community of color in the planning process. In a way that is not Just Lip Service but respond it their demands of how this should proceed. That say and a change, in how we can develop in San Francisco. I also want to recognize its long been the desire of many residents in my district and the surrounding neighborhood and to explore the further removal of its in the amended legislation and this is before us and there may be an opportunity to accelerate that conversation. Its my strong desire, given the freeway rests on publiclyond land that we can map out a longterm strategy where the freeway removal could result in the creation of permanently Affordable Housing on those sites significantly altering for the better the racial and equity impact of this plan area. It would seem to me as we pursue zoning of the area that we also plan for how we can accomplish these important longterm goals. So, thank you for your patients and a very long presentation but as you can tell, this is one of incredible importance to my district and the city. I have amendments which i circulated to chair peskin and supervisor safai and well also be moving to duplicate some of the files and happy to go into the details of those amendments or to do so after Public Comment or comments from my colleagues. Thank you supervisor peskin. It was quite the presentation. Supervisor safai, is there anything you would like to add or subtract . Nope. Thank you. All right. Why dont we go to Public Comment. Madam clerk. Mr. Chair, operations is checking to see if there are any callers in queue. Operations, please let us know if there are any callers ready. There are 17 callers in the queue. I will queue the first caller. This is time paulson, thank you supervisors and sunshine, jussupervisor,i listened to you. I appreciate it. And 10 south van ness and we feel that everything has moved in the long direction in the right direction which you have all recognized. We appreciate that. We do have very big concerns because we did not want this to be slowed down. There was a lot of work put in prior to you being on the board of supervisors to make sure that labor standards were going to be in all of this hub legislation which if it did not move forward, it would not be part of the Way Developers would get their entitlements to move forward in other areas that are there. That could be in jeopardy and i want to be clear that that is an incredible concern to us and as with as i dont understand, i mean, i know theres a lot of work that has been done and there has been a lot of work done with the community and other labor folks and constituency groups to make sure that the fees that are done and the Affordable Housing stuff, which is so important, with so much housing being a part of this gets moving forward. We appreciate where that is in terms of what is sounds like might be a phased movement. We probably are still on record as saying we want this to move forward right now and even though we are listening. Thank you for keeping those things. Thank you mr. Paulson, next speaker, please. Hello supervisors, my name is david woo with the fill phone fo district. Were in sort of the hub plan and thank you supervisor preston and everybody who has done so much work on this. We must center the conversation of land use planning, zoning and development around racial and social equity. We condition keep going with the business as usual topdown model of planning that takes a profitdriven approach to land use in San Francisco and the era of covid19 and massive up risings against the police state, existing inequities have been exacerbated and laid bear for everyone to see. Its time that we address the again traification thagentrific. We know zoning and approves massive Market Rate Development projects inflicts violence on working class communities and communities of color. The hub presents an opportunity to incorporate a Community Led racial and social equity framework into the planning process which directly supports the resolution passed by the Planning Commission recently. We support phasing the hub plan so this process can take place. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, chair peskin and supervisors safai and preston. My name is kits and im a co director of inaudible . The mill project has been a vibrant space for communities voices on the walls of the alley. As an organizer with the Mission District, organizations social and Economic Justice im calling into support the recommendations of phasing the hub area plan except for the three proposed sites until through racial and social Equity Analysis is complete. This is an Anti Development but a Community Planning process that strengthen the equity first trademark to build housing for all. A race and social equity report done correctly can be used to access how new Development Impacts the mission. We have attributes and our eastern neighborhoods plan failed these communities which is caused negative by Marketplace Development which we are historic able income and color and diversity. This is our opportunity to hold the city of San Francisco accountable for the correct racist planning policies of the past. Having a home is more than just Affordable Housing. Its providing the most valuable populations over all benefits from the neighborhood planning and policies that they have an equitable fee at the table. Thank you. Thank you, next speaker, please. Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is ben. Im the secretary of red stone labor temple association. The Tenants Association of the historic red Stone Building in the northern mission. Were a part of the united to save the mission coalition. Tenants include artists, latino groups, which serve poor and working people in the community. Our Tenants Association supports a phased approval process of the hub plan so it will not further displace and harm low income and working class communities of color and in the mission, hey for and hub areas. We feel that too quickly moving forward with more market rate housing, even with socalled affordability components l. Have a disastrous effect on the ravaged, poor, house and working people who are the majority in the mission. We need more inclusion in this process and that must start with the serious, thorough and social equity report. Thank you. Thank you, next speaker, please. We have 37 listeners and 19 in queue. If you have not done so already, please press star 3 to be added to the queue. For those on hold, wait until you have been notified your system has been unmuted. Good afternoon, supervisors. Corey smith on behalf of San Francisco action coalition. Im not going to repeat my comments from last week but wanted to add two things as it related to the discussion here today. Number one, we share supervisor peskins concerns regarding displacement and want to be doing everything he can to put forward policies that reduce displacements and while building housing at all income levels is not a panacea for displacement, all of the research does show that building both subsidized affordable and market rate housing, across San Francisco, will have the absolute best impact reducing displacement is a goal. And secondly, in the conversation of racial and social equity, the pro housing folks have pushed for adding multi family zoning across the entire city and so in this conversation, i dont understand how we can continue to have this important discussion and trying to figure out everything we can and troy to achieve every possible solution to make sure our city is a true place for everybody while still maintaining our Single Family home zoning. I hope this conversation leads to positive changes in that light as well. Thank you. Thank you, next speaker, please. My name is kim thompson and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak before you today. The reason for my call is to express my support for the proposed pub zoning legislation and the 98 franklin street. My husband has been a resident for 30 years and ive been a resident for over 15 years. We are a inter racial couple raising two inter racial daughters. Our daughters attended Elementary School and our currently attended children faith school. Both receiving financial aid. Weve been members of the International High School Community for over a year and we couldnt ask for a Better School on a neighborhood and its the oldest and by binge wall school and they bring together people from many backgrounds and we have a shared culture with compassionate, and principled people and who love and support our school offers an Amazing School program to families of varied socioeconomic background. The hub rezoning will deliver Affordable Housing and the kind of mixed use mixed income, Transit Oriented Development plan that will serve San Francisco well into the future. The 98 franklin projected will provide affordable units. I strongly encourage your support of french america International School and the 98 franklin street development. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next speaker, please. We have 35 listeners and 25 in queue. Hi, my name is gary im the president of the red stone labor temple association. At 16 and cap. I just wanted to echo my fellow tenants comments earlier. That the tenants of the red Stone Building support more inclusion in this process and a thorough racial and social equity report. We support a phased approval process of the health plan and were one block away from 1979 mission and supervisor prestons remarks i believe in the proposal to get 100 housing sounds great. Realistically, you know, and also we need to plan for 40 years in the future. So many people are out of work and we can be entering another great depression, why dont we think about this a little bit and think about who can afford market rate housing. It makes sense to produce more affordaAffordable Housing many f thats all i have to say you will be notified you have been unmuted and you may begin to speak. Good afternoon chair. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today. My name is daniel greg. The carper tens union is in full support of the hub legislation proposed here today. We grow with the plans objectives to encourage housing, including Affordable Housing and services to meet the communitys needs. The plan addresses two major issues we are facing. The first is housing and something were very familiar with and does not seem to be going away any time soon. The hub legislation brings thousands of residents to San Francisco. Both market rate and a considerable amount of Affordable Housing as well. The proposed development as loan will bring 1600 units. Another major issue begins to address is jobs. Construction is a second largest industry in the world behind healthcare. The economy is hit hard by a combination of recession and the covid19 pandemic. All three have made commitment to labor and have an active history in San Francisco and a track record of making sure the projects get built and belt with union labor. This means jobs for hundreds of San Francisco construction workers, opportunities foray prentice shipforapprenticeship. Approval of this plan will not solve the housing crisis of fully bringing us out of the recession its a huge step in the right direction. In conclusion, i want to reiterate we support the hub plan. We ask the land use and Transportation Committee support the plan as well. Thank you. Thank you, next speaker please. You will be notified you are unmuted and you may begin. Caller good afternoon, my name is marie and im calling to support the recommendation of phasing in the area hub plan except for the three sites until a racial and social inEquity Analysis is complete. This recommendation is not Anti Development but it is Community Planning this is a moment to hold the city of San Francisco accountable for correcting the racing planning policies of the past and its important to have a home during the covid times and any other time. Thank you, very much. No planning without us. Members of the public can call other the number and i. D. Press poun pound and pound agai. Press star 3 for those who have already pressed star 3, please continue to wait. Next speaker, please. You will be notified that you have been unmuted and you may begin. Caller hi, good afternoon supervisors. My name is sam and i am a renter in the mission. And im calling to support the hub rezoning and issue concerns regarding this additional equity review. While i support in theory the equity review this project has been delayed to undergo reviews for five years now and im concerned that the equity impact of those delays is not even being considered at all because every day that this project gets delayed and more housing is not filled and these 1 billion in Community Benefits is not paid to the city, its a day that people will not live with shelter and the city will face a budget crunch. Furthermore, i want to ask the board of supervisors as we look through racist planning, why i havent seen proposal to up said the west side westportal Saint Francis wood, these are white and exclusionary neighborhoods with Single Family zoning right next to money munitations that e you in the train in 15 minutes. As we look a lot i support the removing the central free and it should be a part of this broader shift towards equity and planning and zoning. Thank you. You will be notified you have been unmuted and you may begin your comments. Caller hell oh i would like to express my support for the proposed hub rezoning for the 98 franklin street development. I have been a San Francisco resident and worker for about 21 years and i also own a Small Business in the city, a local business enterprise. Im also the children born and raised in San Francisco and all three are attending primary and middle school at French American International. I think this will provide Affordable Housing as well as more school mixed use income in a trance see enter oriented area its what the city needs. Again i give my support. Thank you. Thank you, next speaker, please. Youll have two minutes. My name is an gel i caal geld im calling in support of the amended hub area plan being proposed by supervisor preston. Our coalition is supportive of approvalling this phase 1 area plan which is a narrow area plan that moves forward three key sites van ness and 98 franklin streets. Approving these three sites does not mean the over all hub plan is go ahead to go. The hub area plan over lays communities living in d5, d9 and d6 there are still a lot of analysis that need to be done to ensure we have an equitable plan to mitigate the massive negative impact of this area plan and having the Planning Department examine the potential Socioeconomic Impact of the proposed development on our low income and working plans and particularly residents living in the central city is the right step forward to uphold the commitment to make a Commission Resolution number 20738. Its nice to hear your city staff acknowledging the equity assessment, its a step backwards to approve a whole area plan and go back later to incorporate what the consultants identified with Community Groups. This kind of backward steps is snowball effect. Negative i have total tax break all over again in eastern neighborhoods and we need to not only address the housing crisis which Market Rate Development has not helped. About what we need is a real equity plan that will ensure that all of our existing communities will continue to live, thrive and i ask you support the proposed amended area plan that our essential City Coalition worked to achieve. Thank you. Thank you, next speaker, please. You will be notified that youve been unmuted and you may begin. Good afternoon, supervisors peskin, safai and preston. This is anna tay sha district 8 member of San Francisco Tenants Union and central citys coalition. The central citys coalition advocates for adoption of a phased approach to development in the hub area plan that provides for approval of the three Key Development rights, situated in the plan, that has been submitted and are in the process of a project approval, namely 10 south van ness and 98 franklin. The three projects proposed for approval has met with the community over the last several months of Community Process was followed. Developers came to the table and agreed to confer sufficient Community Benefits to these developed in the hub area plan. These Community Benefits go above and beyond what is required and help mitigate the negative impacts posed by the developments. Other projects in the area plan could be considered in the future when the framework of a race and social equity assessment thats in the process of development by the central City Coalition is completed. The framework will be the basis for a race and social equity study that advises modifications to the hub area plan. And implemented to mitigate potential harms to tenants, businesses, at risk of displacement, harm to vulnerable low income, working class and people of color. I ask you to move the amended hub area plan that our central City Coalition has worked to achieve forward as Committee Report to the full board. Thank you. Thank you, next speaker, please. Caller good afternoon, supervisors. My name is Jason Henderson. I am a cochair of the market in Octavia Community Advisory Committee and chair of Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association transportation and planning committee. Speaking for myself i support the phased approach and its creative and its needed. Dont forget that much of the eastern side of of district five is rentcontrolled tenants who are baring the burden of regional traffic, incredible amounts of traffic. So, with this post pandemic environment that the urban realm plan is not sufficient. We need to have wider sidewalks and bike lanes that provide northsouth access between the mission and the civic center and western edition. We cant just let this become privatized mobility with ubers and lyft and ecommerce saturating this area. We can reduce the parking and i would urge an interim parking control while the planning process racial Equity Analysis is underway and keep it as it is. 25. Go to the interim control we did in 2017. Extend car free market to goff because you will be seeing a lot of vehicles converging on 12th street and thats not good. And lastly, i think accelerating freeway removal is critical because we need housing and that is suitable land for plentiful housing and open space. So, im pleased to see that that is thank you for your comments. You have two minutes to speak. You will be notified you have been unmuted and you may begin. Caller hello. Hi, thank you. Good afternoon, board of supervisors. My name is claire and i am a member of so many cam and i am here today as a long time district 6 resident. I was born and raised in the tenderloin and my family moved here from the philippines after world war ii and they live in the neighborhood today and weve been struggle to go stay since. Im calling in for representation of phasing in the hub area plan except for the inaudible site. Until a thorough racial analysis is complete and i want to let it be known this is not Anti Development but creating a Community Process. A Community Planning process. That puts equity in the forefront of land use making decisions because we have seen how past plans like the twitter tax breaks and eastern neighborhoods plan have failed black and brown workingclass communities. If we do it correctly a racial and social Equity Analysis can be an effective tool how assess the development will impact the tenderloin. Planning is subject to the inaudible and currently and in this process and when we talk about inaudible neighborhoods, we need to address up zoning for violent and harmful acts and it should be a requirement to conduct a Racial Equity study to see how it will impact brack black and brown communities and the same way that Environmental Impact reports are required for any projects. This moment is our opportunity to hold this city accountable for correcting racist planning policies of the past and this is more than just housing its about equity and having a feet at the table and our folks staying and see a future here. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. You have two minutes and you will be notified youve been unmuted. Caller hello, inaudible . Can you hear me . Yes, go ahead. Caller hi name is martin and im calling from you district 5. So, i want to center the discussion here on the delay and all the Infrastructure Improvements that are part of the hub package. Were talking about a billion dollars of street and infrastructure safety improvements. I do support a Racial Equity study as a ex immigrant member of this community and a tenant myself i understood the need for that, however, i believe that Racial Equity has to be centered on street improvements and because street violence including car crashes, and other collisions that occur on our streets, especially in the hub area, do impact people of color more than any other groups. So, i do support, for example, tearing down the freeway and building Affordable Housing there however i think if this plan is being delayed in order to stop the growth in this area, i want to remind folks na the area already is accepted for high density and highrise development and stopping this plan would stop the street improvements and the transit improvements and stop the street scape improvements so ultimately the decision has to be how do we exceed the project goals and not how do we stop this up zoning because the up zoning will improve the lives of everything in this city if we do invest the Community Benefits into the street improvements that are part of the plan currently. Im ok as long as it is not a delay indefinitely. The central freeway being removed should be part of this plan, thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. You will have two minutes to speak. Good afternoon, supervisors, my name is theo and im a renter in San Francisco and i share of San Francisco and i want to call in on behalf to support these three planned projects in the hub and looking forward to moving quickly forward with the wrest. After the equity study. We absolutely need more housing and we node more housing of every income level. Its easy to say lets not move during covid, lets pump the breaks or slow down, but who needs places to raise our families, we need this housing now. On the equity side, i want to ask why are we only talking about projects in large being built in soma and the mission. Supervisor preston, we live a couple blocks from each other and i want to know the wealthy part of district 5 places like alamo square, i live in an Apartment Building in this area built in the 1920s but we dont build those and why not . Isnt that the equity view is that we should be building more housing on the western parts of the city and central parts of the city not just move all that development into soma and the mission. Lets get more housing built. Lets do it in our neighborhoods. And i ask supervisor preston to show us you can say yes to housing and demolish the ways to zoning we only allow Apartment Buildings in soma and the mission. District five say great neighborhood to live in and we can have a lot more neighbors living here. So, please, you know, show this and take leadership and up zone the west side of the city. Theres no reason why our zoning maps should map our old red lining maps. Its a clear racist legacy and we should undue that. Thank you and please move forward with these three projects. Thank you for your comments. Again, members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment can call into 451 6550001. The meeting i. D. Is 1469224815. Press pound and pound again. If you have not done so, please press star 3 to lineup to speak. You have raised your hand. Just wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted and you may begin your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller good afternoon, supervisor. I am with some can. Its a member of the central City Coalition is ensuring we have more equitable San Francisco that will project and enhance the ability for our working class communities of colors to continue to exist, live and work within the spaces that our greatest and maintain this this city and im calling in for the proposed by supervisor preston and our coalition is supportive of approving this phase 1 hub and area planning which is now a narrow area one that moves forward and inaudible . We dont agree the city approving the whole entire hub plan without first looking at race and equity impacts. Its crucial that the rate and equity assessment is done before we pine for phase 2 of the hub area. And we are passing that will help sent prevent the harm to working class communities. Again, i ask that we support proposed the amended area that our central City Coalition has worked to achieve. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. You may begin your communities. Caller hello. May i proceed. Yes, maam. Caller thank you, maam. I want to provide i am inaudible . I am a member of the filipino community. Operations. And calling in the support of inaudible for the phasing in the hub area plans except for the three inaudible until the analysis is complete. This recommendation is not untied development. Rather, it is the Community Planning process needed to strengthen the equity first framework to be housing for all. Its social equity report. Some can debate use as an effective tool and assess how new development this is the hub plan area impacts the stock market and tenderloin. We have given inequity and seen how they turn neighborhood plans away from the communities. Which post negative made by market rates development and to low income and working class and color and diversity. It is our opportunity to hall the ct and some for accountable for connecting racist running policies. Having homes is more than just Affordable Housing. Having a home is providing the most population and over all benefits from neighborhoods planning policies and that they have an agreed able seat at the table. I strongly took fourth your time has expired. Thank you, maam. Good afternoon, supervisor, my name is lorenzo with the tenderloin congress a member of the central civic coalition. The reason i called is to express our support for the amended market and octavia area map. Being proposed by supervisor preston. Its kong convinced its important to look at equity to ensure the question of equity is suck stan shalsubstantially add. It also includes the approval of the three Key Development sites at 10 south van ness. The developer of this street projects have worked with the communities to provide substantial Community Benefits that will have mitigate their negative impact. The tenderloin people believe in the importance of Community Planning process to strengthen and the equity first framework to build housing for all san franciscans. We believe theres no way to be con student so we strongly support the proposed amended area plans. We believe this is the right thing to do and under the principles of inclusion, equity and democracy. Thank you so much. Thank you, next speaker, please. You have two minutes. Yes, hi. Good afternoon. This is Tracy Rosenberg and im from Media Alliance and were a constituent group with united to save the miss. Im calling in in support of the phased in hub plan and requesting a comprehensive race and social equity assessment before the entire hub plan is adopted. The eastern neighborhoods plan has been deeply problematic as we all know. Weve been seeing the bad effects for years and its important that we go forward in a different and better fashion. We need an inclusion i have planning process with equity at the forefront and impacted community have to be at the table. We cant keep repeating mistakes that have gotten us to our current place with massive displacement and probably, i believe, we in an article as the most general fied city in the country. As a legacy nonprofit organizations, we were founded here in san in 1976 and we never intended to be anywhere else but in 2005, we had to leave this city because we couldnt pay the rent. And i was only lucky and happy that we were able to come back in 2015 and nothing to the nonprofit. Development. But we were lucky and most of Community Groups and members of the and the San Francisco we came back to is not the San Francisco that we left. So, lets stop here is look at doing things in a different and report and analysis. Thank you for your comments. We have 24 listeners and 12 in cue. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon supervisors. Kelly hill with united to save the mission and part of the central citys coalition. Im calling in hub plan being proposed by supervisor preston. We support passing a plan that moves forward the sites as those are the only three proposed development this is the that will help the warm of working class communities. For me when i lock at the massing 3d diagram and the eir you can see the level of scope and the potential impact that that plan is going to have on the built environment. And the north side its vulnerable residential spaces and dangers of indirect displacement as the plan goes into effect. We must effect that existing Vulnerable Housing within anna jays enter to the hub and the in Center Section of the hub, along market, i see large projects already under construction and we see at least nine long time Community Serving businesses already displaced due to the new construction. 1554 market and 1629 market and 30odes we see 1,000 under construction. We support the labor and union folks on the job. Im concerned that weve already lost at least nine working class businesses along otus street that were open for business in the low and moderate income communities of color. We dont know the full impact of this yet. On the same side of the plan, this is where i feel we need to row visit the hsd and Work Together for stronger protection and modify the process that could lockout Community Participation and planning. I wont go parcel by parcel but several up zone sites include the largest Hardware Store in the city and a large Restaurant Supply as well as numerous other businesses crucial to racial diversity in this community. Its important to be able to edge gain in the Community Planning process when large projects are slated thank you so much for yu your comments. Next speaker please. Youll have two minutes and you will be notified your line is unmuted and you may begin. Hell hoe, hi. Hello supervisors. My name is inaudible . And were calling in support of the recommendation of phasing the ehub area plan except for the three sites we havent discussed. Until we do a thorough racial and social Equity Analysis, we dont have to look too far back to see the equity eastern neighborhood plan that has destroyed our community. Theres 8,000 latin residents with the mission and hundreds of small nonprofit businesses artists and working class manufacturing. We are in a historic walk shed movement with white blacks matter intended or non intended. This moment is our opportunity for the city of San Francisco to be accountable for correcting racist planning policies. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller supervisors, this is jim and im on the board of the civic Center Benefit district which is one of the on site Community Groups that you havent mentioned. We have worked closely with the three developers, a couple of them are on our board. On related to the pedestrian aspect and the facility of the groundfloor of the building and theyre happy with them. We did that many months before you got involved. I want to point out that in the past five years, nine developments have been progress 2700 units of housing. With affordable units. These units are already there and taking up a lot of the parcels that are already there. Of the list of 18 that you are dealing with, if you eliminate the three that under construction and the three we talked about thats 12. Three are owned by the city and one of them is owned by the Community College district, and two of them are very viable businesses so leaves you with eight small warehouses that are either under utilized or empty. This whole to do is the over blown as to what you are talking about. The important thing is to move this thing forward, particularly the parts of the plan that deal with the pedestrian environment and you dont need to hold that up because its been worked out really well. So, do whatever you are going to do but lets think about getting this together and when you do your studies, you are going to find theres not that many pieces of property to worry about. Thank you. Thank you, next speaker, please. We have 21 listeners and eight in queue. Hi, there. My name is samantha and im a resident of the district 5. And im calling to speak in favor of the hub projects and the 98 franklin project. I was in district five for the better part of a decade now and ive been a neighbor of the french american schools for about a year and a half now and theres no other organization is would trust with a project like this as much as i trust them. Theyve been fantastic neighbors and they engage the communities in ways didnt expect when i moved here. This is exactly the sort of mixed use mixed income kind of Transit Oriented Development plan that i was hoping for when i voted for denser housing in all of the ballot initiatives. So, im excited to support it and i am glad this is moving forward. Thank you so much. Thank you, next speaker, please. Caller hello. This is pat. I am a d5 resident and member of the inaudible coalition. This hub project overlaps three different inaudible . Raising social equity is an important thing that should happen before more of the hub area is up zoned and benefits given to developers. Ask that those should only follow after the community that shows what benefits it wants. Planning has been very good at building buildings but how much are occupied . We got people who we walk home with its true and we got building thats have been built. So which need to do a little more thoughtful planning that clearly the value of neighborhoods and neighborhoods, people who have businesses they can go to, services that they can go to and non profits and events, and people where they can feel at home and will not have people calling them out for being black in a white area. You need to be better. Support san franciscans and keeping our san franciscans here. I supports comments by supervisor preston and other city comments. Phased approach, please. Thank you. Thank you, members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment should call 415 6550001 and the meeting i. D. Is 1469224815. Press pound and pound again. If you have not done so already, please press star 3 to lineup to speak. A system prompt will indicate that you have raised your hand, please wait for to indicate you have been unmuted and you may begin your comments. For those already in line, thank you for waiting, next speaker, please. Caller hello, supervisors. John from the San Francisco Mission District. And a member of the central City Coalition. Our Coalition Led primarily by working class communities of color has been working on this plan for well over a year and a half. We have spent that time attending community meetings, combing through documents, and assessing what the path forward could be. Its why were calling in informed to voice our support for the amended area plan that is being proposed to you by supervisor preston. This allows us to phase in an area plan that is being passed at one of the most Uncertain Times in american history. It is also a time where our country is reckoning with the Structural Racism that is pervasive in every facet of society, especially in land use and planning. The phase plan before you brings with it three key sites that have all met with our community stakeel horse over several months and ensure we produce the needed benefits and the mitigate the negative impacts that developments can have on working class communities. We have won working on a social equity ceasement being led and we want to ensure were looking at future developments and area plans through a true lens of racial and social equity. This assessment will allow us to look at a future phase 2 of the hub area plan and ensure we were building an area that is truly help encompass a plan for us. Supervisor preston, i would like to thank you, your office, in particular, kyle sil smiley as e look forward to the work ahead. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Your long time resident and member of the senior disability action. I approve the efforts to allow the first street projects to go ahead will not slow down the hub. If the supervisors today and tomorrow support supervisor prestons amendments and essential citys coalition plans, for a racial and social justice setting, this could be the first day of a new and equitable future for San Francisco planning. That would be a future in which the people effected by the construction there have a choice in its creation. Thank you. Thank you next speaker, please. Caller good afternoon. I live in d9. And i have been looking at this hub plan carefully and i was reading defunding strategies and it was previously proposed and it showed the hub area could have 2200 affordable units. I thought it was exciting and we definitely dont want to loose that and i was looking at Affordable Housing, 682 million worth of transit and 116 million worth and parks and recreations are 32 million and complete streets 71 million and school and childcare 75 mends. Its a billion dollars in benefits we dont want to loose and its the reason that sensitive communities like mine and others are concerned here is because were really needing to start looking as as the Planning Commission is a ban on Zoning Ordinance thats c co hab tate multi Family Housing on large lots. These rules prevent both lower income and middleclass families from settling in affluent neighborhoods, exclusionary Zoning Ordinances were partly motivated by institution tonal and banning those, its not only good policy but constitutionally permissable if not at the something that goal governments can do if theres a political will to do so. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. We have 21 listeners with four in queue. We are living in different times. Covid has effected business whos live in these districts that overlap the neighborhood. I know a lot of people are advocating for Affordable Housing but what is the use of Affordable Housing when the neighborhood will feel like a portrait to residents and communities of color. Where a Community Retail and business floor space makes us feel unsafe. Where people who just moved into the bay area are calling cops on unhoused populations and people of color many of this is a part of our Environmental Impact report and and its important to pause or phase in. Caller i live in district 5. The fear the plan study will be limited in its scope. The most equitable results of an equity study would be a position to up zone the west side instead of the hub and we should examine not just where wore changing zoning but wore where were not changing the zoning. There were two homes valued at 2. 5 million that have been sold in the district and the Median Income is over 100,000. We should make changes there. In january, i attended a meeting of the west of between Peaks Central Council where leaders of the Neighborhood Association expressed shock and state legislation and it could tall and lower income residents and black indigenous and people of color. It didnt cause direct displacement but it has sim here to ask you to support the amended hub area plan as proposed by supervisor preston. Early earlier we heard an ordinance from supervisor ronen to fix issues in the planning code and address indirect arms that were not mitigate in the eastern neighborhoods plan. You have all witnessed the devastation of the mission [ lost audio ] that completes the queue. Can you. Mr. Chair. I believe there may be one more caller on the line. Thank you. Hello, caller, you have two minutes. Good afternoon chair peskin and members of the Land Use Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is casandra and they bring together people from many cultures and backgrounds just like the make up of San Francisco. And we have been part of this School Community for the past seven years and and 98 franklin mixeduse development and i want to take the opportunity to commend the city and the community and planning staff for all their hard work on this important project. It takes a long time to get to the point of project were at today. This project provides a uniqu unique thats really been a staple in San Francisco for families for decades. This project has gone through a long approval process and the International Community of french american has worked with the city and the community for the past five years to make 98 franklin and the hub a reality. So i strongly encourage you to support the project today. So that we can move forward and deliver the various improvements it promises to the community and the city as a whole. Thank you so much. Thank you, next speaker, please. This is the fourth time ive been kicked off this call. When Mission Residents raise the issues before the eastern neighborhoods plan was adopted, we were told that it would be adequately addressed later. It never was and were still fighting for equity while displacement and trauma increases expo te exponentially. The Planning Department has not performed racial ini can equity study. The fact we stand before you and state theres no directive placement from this plan demonstrates the inadequacy of their understanding of impacts on communities of color and our need for this study first before moving towards final adoption. Let today be the day that his to be yans referred to as the moment in time when this Land Use Committee ushered in a new era for San Francisco. That from this day forward, all major planning hood changes will require rates and equity study and assessment of the impacts that are revealed and they will be central to proposing mitigations for direct and indirect harms. And then no area plan will ever move forward to final adoption without that lense. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Caller were debating displacement and gentrification. Im concerned with racial and culture equity in those communities that have seen dramatic changes. Theres a way to get us on the same page. Look at where we built housing in the city. Its overwhelmingly focused in the same Community Concern it has been for decades. That map say perfect modern reflection of the racist red lining formally outlawed in 1968 and still very much alive. In 2019, 317 units were built in the mission and over 2800 units were built in soma but just four were built in the sunset. Four. If you are so concerned about the inequitable impacts on the hub you must know how unfairly housing is disability tries uted across the city but on this subject, you are silent and we can build thousand of new homes in the city while elevateing and protecting these communities that are expendable. If you are serious about housing equity, fight to up zone the rest of the city as hard as you fought to slow down the hub and i will be thrilled to join you. That completes the queue. Thank you. Colleagues, are there anymore questions or comments on items 58 . Chair peskin yeah, id like to run through if supervisor safai or any other questions before we do that and im happy to do that i believe supervisor safai had to leave so i would like to make a motion to excuse supervisor safai. On the motion to excuse supervisor safai, supervisor preston. Aye. Supervisor peskin. Aye. You have two ayes. Great, that motion passes. Supervisor preston. Thank you. And i want to thank everyone who called in and interests been a lot of moving parts and i want to give particular thanks to john jacobo, carlos, tess, david woo, Jason Henderson among many others who have helped our office to understand the concerns and the implications of the various pieces of the legislation here. Also, the folks with United States mission and central city and coalition and also our offices a he i mentioned before worked collaboratively my legislative i dont know if you have an order in which we take these in terms of voting and are tick latin articulating. So, please, dean, go ahead. I think the amendments are solid. So, go ahead. Right. Great. And ill keep the summary brief. So im going to start with item number 6 on the agenda. File number 200556 and would like to coupe date the file and continue the original file to the call of the chair and make several amendments. Do i need a motion chair peskin to continue the item to the call of the chair . Before making . You can dislocate the file and you can coupe la indicate the file and we can vote on any amendments there too. So, for the amendments to the file on that and section 2a pages 49 removing rezoning of parcels from nct3 and removing height increases for all parcels and and last section 2c pages 12 through 16 removing the expansion of the rusd except for a small portion of 10 south ns project site that is outside the sud, a move to amend that item. Hold on a second. The file has been duplicated, correct . Correct. Before amendment. And then the second file has been amended, correct . And were voting that has been amended, is that correct . We can take that vote first, yes. Ok. As amended. We will also need a motion on the original pre amendment version to continue to call the chair. Right now were doing the duplicated file as amended and is that the vote im about to vote on . Yes. All right. Clerk on the duplicate file has amended, supervisor preston. Aye. Preston aye. Supervisor peskin. Aye. Clerk you have two ayes. And clerk would you like to vote on the remaining balance of the duplicate. The duplicate legislation to recommend as amended. Supervisor preston . To be continued to the cause of the chair . Let me clarify to make sure im getting this right. We duplicated the file. We amended the duplicate and theyve been taken and we are moving the amended file with recommendation as Committee Report . Clerk yes. You are totally inaudible . Madam clerk, may i intervene. The duplicate file is since you are sending it out as a Committee Report, it should be the original file that gets amended because its the file on the board agenda. The duplicate you should continue to the call of the chair. Thank you. In that event, do we need to undo we need to rescind the previous vote to amend the duplicate. Ill make a motion to rescind the previous vote. Can we do that without objection . Yes. So moved. We duplicate the file and now we need to amend the original as previously stated. On the motion to on the motion to amend on the motion to amend the original legislation, as stated by supervisor preston, supervisor peskin. Aye. Supervisor preston. Aye. You have two ayes. You want to send it to the board with recommendations. Yes. As a Committee Report. On the motion as stated by supervisor preston, supervisor preston. Aye. Supervisor peskin. Aye. Peskin aye. You have two ayes. And then the last step to move to continue the duplicated file here. On the motion as stated, supervisor preston. Aye. Supervisor peskin. Aye. You have two ayes. Thank you. Madam clerk, is there anymore business we have one more item that will require amendment and two more that we need to move. So turning to agenda item number 8, file number 200559. Again, to duplicate the file and the following amendments for the original. Amend the option for provision of Affordable Housing fees to clarify methodology and align with other provisions the ordinance for calculating fee equivalency that is as previous distributed on page 16 line 811 and page 16 lines 1217. Also, amend Planning Department reporting requirements from annually to quarterly for the van ness and Market Community Facilities Fund that is on page 38 line 35. To strike quote to the Planning Commission on the current status of the funds and add quote quarterly to the Planning Commission on the current status of the fund as well as closed quotes. And that is is so moved to make those amendments. Thank you, supervisor. In receipt of those amendments, madam clerk, roll call, please. Clerk on the motion to amend the original legislation as stated by supervisor preston, supervisor preston. Aye. Preston aye. Supervisor peskin. Aye. Peskin aye. You have two acetaminophen. And then chair peskin i move to forward the item as amended. With recommendations of Committee Report to the full board. Madam clerk. Roll call, please. On the motion as stated supervisor preston. Aye. Supervisor peskin. Aye. You have two ayes. And finally for that item, motion to continue the duplicate file for the call of the chair. Madam clear madam clerk wo deal with this in the next six months, roll call, please. Clerk on the motion for the duplicate to continue to the call of the chair, supervisor preston. Aye. Supervisor peskin. Aye. You have two ayes. Supervisor peskin for the third item number 5 on the agenda file 200557 the general plan amendment for this item no amendments or duplication necessary and move to forward that item as to the report with recommendations. Dean, i think we already did that. Madam clerk, did we not do that . We have that left as well as item number 7. Got it. Ok. Roll call, please. On the motion to recommend item number 5 supervisor preston . Aye. Supervisor peskin. Aye. You have two ayes. And then the 200558. Thank you. For that item, which is the housing sustainability district that item moved to continue that item to the call of chair. Roll call, place. On the motion as stated by supervisor preston, supervisor preston. Aye. Preston aye. Supervisor peskin. Aye. Peskin aye, you have two ayes. Are there anymore matters before this body . That completes the agenda. We are adjourned. My name is alan schumer. I am a fourth generation san franciscan. In december, this building will be 103 years of age. It is an incredibly rich, rich history. [ ] my core responsibility as city hall historian is to keep the history of this building alive. I am also the tour program manager, and i chair the city advisory commission. I have two ways of looking at my life. I want it to be i wanted to be a Fashion Designer for the movies, and the other one, a political figure because i had some force from family members, so it was a constant battle between both. I ended up, for many years, doing the fashion, not for the movies, but for for san franciscan his and then in turn, big changes, and now i am here. The work that i do at city hall makes my life a broader, a richer, more fulfilling than if i was doing something in the Garment Industry. I had the opportunity to develop relationships with my docents. It is almost like an extended family. I have formed incredible relationships with them, and also some of the people that come to take a tour. She was a dressmaker of the first order. I would go visit her, and it was a special treat. I was a tiny little girl. I would go with my wool coat on and my special little dress because at that period in time, girls did not wear pants. The Garment Industry had the at the time that i was in it and i was a retailer, as well as the designer, was not particularly favourable to women. You will see the predominant designers, owners of huge complexes are huge stores were all male. Women were sort of relegated to a lesser position, so that, you reached a point where it was a difficult to survive and survive financially. There was a woman by the name of diana. She was editor of the bazaar, and evoke, and went on and she was a miraculous individual, but she had something that was a very unique. She classified it as a third i. Will lewis brown junior, who was mayor of San Francisco, and was the champion of reopening this building on january 5th of 1999. I believe he has not a third eye , but some kind of antenna attached to his head because he had the ability to go through this building almost on a daily basis during the restoration and corrects everything so that it would appear as it was when it opened in december of 1915. The board of supervisors approved that, i signed it into law. Jeffrey heller, the city and county of San Francisco oh, and and your band of architects a great thing, just a great thing. To impart to the history of this building is remarkable. To see a person who comes in with a gloomy look on their face , and all of a sudden you Start Talking about this building, the gloomy look disappears and a smile registers across their face. With children, and i do mainly all of the childrens tours, that is a totally different feeling because you are imparting knowledge that they have no idea where it came from, how it was developed, and you can Start Talking about how things were before we had computer screens, cell phones, lake in 1915, the mayor of San Francisco used to answer the telephone and he would say, good morning, this is the mayor. At times, my clothes make me feel powerful. Powerful in a different sense. I am not the biggest person in the world, so therefore, i have to have something that would draw your eye to me. Usually i do that through color, or just the simplicity of the look, or sometimes the complication of the look. I have had people say, do those shoes really match that outfit . Retirement to me is a very strange words. I dont really ever want to retire because i would like to be able to impart the knowledge that i have, the knowledge that i have learned and the ongoing honor of working in the peoples palace. You want a longterm career, and you truly want to give something to do whatever you do, so long as you know that you are giving to someone or something youre then yourself. Follow your passion and learn how to enrich the feelings along the way. Announcer youre watching coping with covid19. Todays special guest is dr. Steven getnick. Hi, im chris man us and youre watching coping with covid19. Today my guest is the director of the Behavior Therapy Center of San Francisco and Professor Emeritus in counseling psychology at the university of San Francisco. Doctor, welcome to the show. Thank you. Lets talk about managing anxieties during this pandemic. What types of issues are people facing at the moment . There are a number of issues and i really want to point out that this is affecting everyone and has come on very quickly. So it is normal. If you are not experiencing some anxiety, something is a touch off because this affects us all. I think some of the main ones are our health and worried about getting the virus and our developing serious complications. I think for a lot of people who are single, living alone, in isolation, has been very difficult. I think being in close quarters with people who we normally have some space from now are together 24 7. Thats produced a lot of stress and anxiety. That loss of connection with others. We already addressed. And having kids home. For a lot of people. Yes, absolutely. What are the other problems that they might have . I think without that dynamic, the good things are not a problem. It is the difficulties we have. And when were together 24 7, again its like hooking everything up to an amplifier. So, what kind of problems could be created from working home from home, perhaps for the first time in your career . A lot of people are not used to working at home and a working at home just isnt the same. For one thing, there is a lack of social interaction. Some people find that that affects them greatly. Some people are actually finding theyre getting more work done at home without distractions from work. The lack of structure is probably the most common. We see it here with work at the office. People are kind of watching. We know that our schedule is, suddenly youre at home and you are on your own. Absolutely. If those are some of the issues people are facing, what are some of the techniques people can use to overcome their anxiety . Caller i think there are many. One of the first is how managing and keeping track of your thinking, we think and talk to ourselves a lot. Thats normal. We have a dialogue with ourselves often and we need to monitor that a bit. People tend to ruminate versus problemsolve. That is they tend to worry about all the things that might go wrong. And what i suggest is, look, there are things that can go wrong, but ruminating about the worstcase scenario is not going to be very productive. Sit down, figure out what the things are that you have to deal with and try to problemsolve. I think any of the selfcontrol techniques for anxiety can be helpful. And there are dozens of them. The common ones are meditation, relaxation techniques, yoga, for example and another is diaphragmattic breathing. If you google that, you can learn diaphragmattic breathing in about 10 minutes online. Its incredibly simple and it is a really nice way to reduce anxiety in the moment. Selfcontrol procedures, exercise. Whether if youre fortunate enough to have equipment at home, thats great. If youre not, get outside and go for a walk, keep your safe distance, of course. But you need to be active. Thats helpful. I think people marry be dealing with information overload at the moment. How do you suggest people manage that . I was just going to say that. I think it is really important to kind of limit the information you get. Not in terms of accuracy. I think in terms of accuracy, you want to identify a few sites where people are coming with evidencebased information and scientific information so you can form yourself well. Once youve informed yourself, you need to not be watching all day long. Ive talked to people who are mesmerized from the tv and a it keeps that anxiety going so you need to limit your viewing for sure. This can be stress for people who have economic concerns and worried about their family and friends and loved ones who are essential workers. What would you suggest they do to help manage anxiety and stress . There is a number of things. One of major ones for depression is behavioral activation. Simply, it really means that people will tend to not be depressed as a number of reinforcing activities to engage in. Whether it is hobbies, you read, you listen to music, you crochet, you whatever. These kinds of things are very important so you want to make sure that youre engaging in activities that literally make you feel better as opposed to sitting around ruminating, worrying about the worstcase scenarios that might happen. What about trying to do some selfdevelopment . Yeah. Its a very interesting time. Ive talked to a couple of my own clients who are finding, in a very positive way, that this isolation, while at first can generate a lot of anxiety, particularly if youre just not good at living alone. For a number of people, its giving them a chance to sit back and really think about what is important in their lives, what are the priorities. I think that maybe if there is any Silver Lining in this epidemic, its really forcing all of us to kind of rethink whats really important. Indeed. You know, though, at the same time, there are people who are feeling very lonely at home. How would you encourage them to overcome that . You get online. Facetime, skype, zoom, like what were doing right now. You can stay connected. Its very possible. Most connections are important. We are social critters and we need that connection. I think for people who dont have those options, pull up photos, take a look at pictures of family. You need to stay connected. And its very important. And finally, do you have any suggestions that are specifically for families . Yeah. Well, again, i think one of the interesting things thats come about from all of this, is i talked to families on video is theyre obviously spending more time together. While its a bit awkward, particularly for parents who are in the house working a lot. Its a chance to really deepen relationships and spend more good, quality time together. I think parents really need to step back and kind of plan their day a little bit. Not micro manage it, but have some ideas. Can the family play games together . A lot of people i talked to, theyre even together as a family for the first time. So i think there are a number of things that people can do. I think it is qulaouzful for the families to take five, 10 minutes and say how did the day go . I talked to someone in the phone book before we started who said they noticed what time of day all their anxiety kind of comes together and they start sniping at each other. Now theyre taking a few minutes at tend of the day to say, ok, how are we doing . I think they need modeling good behavior, something you can do within the family, too, to try to thats right. I think thats relevant. Very relevant to how children are going to do. Most of the research from crises, particularly things we cant control showed that children do as well as their parents do. So i think it is important for parents to think about how theyre react aing and they stay calm because whatever they do is modeling, coping for their children. So, that can be very useful. It can also be problematic. When we talked earlier, you mentioned that acknowledging that your kids are afraid is important. Yes. I think that ties to your last question. I think modeling you know, its not incompatible with saying, yeah, you know, mom or dad is a little nervous, too. It means a lot of stuff is going on, but were going to be ok. Were going to stay together. We have our time together. Were going to be safe. Well fill in the blank. So you can do both. You can reassure but in a realistic way that once the kids know its normal to be anxious in these times. Thank you for coming ton show, doctor. I really appreciate the time youve given us. Youre welcome. Thank you for having me. And that is it for this episode. Well be back with more covid19 related information shortly. You have been coping with covid19. Thank you for watching