Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Budget And Appropriations 20240712

Good afternoon, everybody. Im cherie miller. Im located in district 5, and also, i am an originating member of the African American art and cultural district in district 10. The San Francisco board of supervisors historic use of laws and policies have targeted and harmed the African American community intentionally and the eventually, and its the cause of Police Brutality and the loss of black lives, and our health and wellness in our community. Defund sfpd. The Police Department has not used the public funding for all of the public good. Greater funding should be directed more intentionally to Community Programs and spaces to strengthen us. No more intentional racist laws and policies . Find subprime loan lenders. I want to thank all of the supervisors for their work. I look forward to meeting dean preston. I have not met him yet. Shamann supervisor shamann walton, thank you for your work and your excellence. We want to continue fighting for our health and wellness and our prosperity. Thank you for your time. I yield my time. Have a nice day. Clerk thank you. May we have the next caller, please. Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is yolanda [inaudible] and im a case manager for the [inaudible] empowerment program, which is part of the San Francisco Sheriffs Department, and i am calling to support the San Francisco Sheriffs Department programs. The department Empowerment Department is a collaboration between the department and nonprofit agencies. The program was started in 2002, and the purpose of the program is to assist victims of Domestic Violence and to help them in their human practice. We have establishing healthy relationship social security, parenting, knowing your rights, and other topics. In my 17 years working with the San Francisco Sheriffs Department, Health Supervisor for Domestic Violence, we have witnessed many stories of survival of Domestic Violence. Many of them got their immigration visa working permits, temporary residency, and have become u. S. Citizens. Including, some became financially independent. Some went back to school, etc. Our survivors have some very diverse ethnicity from all over the world as well as the united states. As you probably know, our current Political Climate clerk thank you. The speakers time has elapsed. Thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Hi, good afternoon. My name is carla lorell, and im the director of west bay Filipino Service center. Im also a member of a. P. I. Council and soma youth collaborative . I im asking you to support the only learning hub in soma . Today, we started to support 100 young people because our kids cannot virtually learn from home . We are excited and ready to support through Community Hubs while all students are asked to do virtual learning, but it is unequitable and unjust to ask c. B. O. S to do that without additional funding. Currently, we cannot do that. Our program is currently with after school programming, and asking us to expand to before School Without funding is impossible . Now that kids are asked to learn from home, its hard for them to do. Soma youth need to be prioritized. We are not teachers, but we are willing to provide as much inperson support to make sure our kids have a chance to be successful . Please support our youth people and the soma youth collaboratives request for 400,000 to support our Community Learning hub . I have one other speaker . Hi, my name is Heather Phillips and im the director of programming for united players and the soma youth collaborative. I just want to add my voice that these Community Hubs are vitally important, especially for highrisk youth that are dealing with so much in their young lives, and the inperson support that were able to provide is going to ensure violence prevention, less earning loss, and though we arent educators, we can be supportive adults who help take care of young people, help get them into the virtual classroom and make sure that they feel connected. We appreciate all of the work that dcyf is doing, and we would just ask that you continue to add the resources necessary to make this happen as we have the people on the ground willing to do the work. We just need the money to allow them to do it. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Thats all our callers. Thank you. Clerk to the public, if you have not already done so, please press star, three to speak. If you have already done so, please wait in the queue until you are unmuted. At this time, we have 93 people in the queue waiting to speak. Can we have the next caller, please. Hello. Clerk hello. Please proceed. Hello. Can you hear me . Clerk yes, we can. Hi. My name is shonnie jones, and i am with the San Francisco black Led Initiative organization. I am here because its time for the black San Francisco to have a black budget and that means that basically black lives matter and, and we need to be paid in investments and by our governments. Were not being represented by groups that the city needs to hear and feels safe in engaging. We want land and meaningful opportunities and equity for blacks in San Francisco, and that means that the board of supervisors have to get in gear and on board for separation in the city of San Francisco. I yield my time. Clerk thank you. May we have the next caller, please. Hello. Good afternoon, board of supervisors. My name is alison lin, and im with [inaudible] member of local 21. [inaudible] increasingly, your workforce cannot afford to live in the city, and the situation gets worse with every contract negotiation. I was born in San Francisco and have lived here all my life. Growing up in districts 2 and 3 and now living in district 7. I know i want to live in San Francisco, just as i have for 34 years. We bought a house in San Francisco because we plan on working for the city and living in the city until we grow old. [inaudible] i urge you to support a fair budget that supports the workers of San Francisco. Thank you. Clerk thank you. May we have the next caller, please. Hi. My name is shirley, and we have three members of speakers. Hello . Clerk yes, please proceed. Hi. So my name is shirley sang, and i am [inaudible] Chinatown Community Development Center for over five years. [inaudible] that allows youth to gain more experience by leaning towards and giving back to their community. Due to the pandemic, we have [inaudible] and thank you so much for your time and consideration. And next, ill pass onto my next speaker. Clerk is your next speaker ready . Hi. Im calling in support to the points of megablack s. F. , in terms of reallocated funds from the Police Department into the black community. In particular economic justice. San francisco board of supervisors, since the 1950s to today has systematically destroyed the black Community Like freeway projects, allowing for the war on drugs, and other government policies. And so i believe, and im asking the board that it is time now to invest in the black community, and this would be a black budget. I want to thank you for your time and consideration, and in closing around economic justice, i ask that the board of supervisors ensure that theres funding for the Fillmore Heritage Center and other land obtained through urban renewal in historically black communities like bayviewhunters point, lakeview, sunnydale, and make sure that any black land intended to be for private use is allowed to be owned by members of the black community. Thank you very much. Clerk thank you, mr. Crawford. Next speaker, please. I believe he has one more speaker on the line. Clerk yes. Oh, theres no one else on this line. Clerk okay. Thank you, mr. Crawford. Okay. Operations, next speaker, please. [providing comments in spanish] interpreter muchas gracias. I will now convey the message in english. My name is annette. I am a mother of four children, and i am very interested in the wellbeing of my community. My children need to grow up in a safe manner, and they will be safer in my community is doing better. We need subsidies for to be able to afford rent, and we need these subsidies to be easy for us to access so that we can have a dignified place to live, especially for our immigrant families. There are children and young people who are living, sharing their space with a lot of other people, and there are no low cost or affordable houses that we can have so we can have a better life, and the children need them so we can have better conditions. This pandemic has affected our community and has impacted it in a very harsh manner, and we are sharing bathrooms, we are sharing kitchens. So i am pleading with you, supervisors, to please help us out with this situation. Thank you very much. Clerk thank you to the speaker. Next caller, please. Hi, board of supervisors. This is emily lee with San Francisco rising, and we actually have a video Public Comment video that can be queued up now. Its called s. F. Rising combined comments. Are you all able to find that file . [video] [providing comments in spanish] interpreter okay. I will proceed to interpret this portion. Actually, we already have interpretation for the video. Its already interpreted. Clerk okay. You can just let it keep playing. Hello, supervisors. My name is andrea paz. Im a mother, a leader, a primatora, and i live in San Francisco. I would like to talk to you today about stopping the budget cuts to families and communities of colors. Im here to talk to you today on behalf of immigrant families in San Francisco. I hope im able to touch your heart when i ask you to approve a budget that is fair, a budget that will help families like mine to obtain resources either low cost or free. As you know, during these difficult times, many of us, especially immigrant families, have been impacted by the coronavirus. We have lost our jobs our got reduced working hours in our jobs. It has been very difficult for us to pay rent and cover other expenses. It is imperative that we need all supervisors to stand firm and approve a budget that includes full funding for all Community Based organizations that serve the needs of families like mine. Especially i would like to ask you for the restoration of funding for the San Francisco Rapid Response hotline. The hotline provides valuable resources to immigrant families, especially for during the time for crisis like now. Especially for families like mine, the Rapid Response has been like a lifeline during a time of crisis when i. C. E. Has conducted raids in my community. We know you must find the money in the budget to support other programs, so i ask you that you make reductions to the Police Department or other Law Enforcement agencies. Please support the Rapid Response hotline and the families of San Francisco. Thank you. Hello, supervisors. Im joyce lam, political director at the Chinese Association center. We have been supporting chinese families in San Francisco and Building Communities of color for almost 50 years. Im here to ask you to stop the cuts to communities of color. Community serving organizations are facing funding cuts of over 350 million over the next two years, including Rapid Response network, to protect immigrants from i. C. E. Any cuts of services to our communities right now is even more detrimental than it normally would be because people are holding onto a threat to survive right now. We know you must balance the budget and find additional money and we ask you to do that by cutting money from places like the Police Department. Thank you for your time, and please vote for families like ours as you vote for your city budget. Hello, supervisors. Im kevin, and i work for department of children and youth, and im asking you to pass a budget that stops the cuts to communities and children of color. We need all the supervisors to stand strong and vote for a budget that prioritizes the community. We know you must balance the budget and find additional money to do so, and we ask that you do that by looking at Law Enforcement spending which has not served our communities well. We do not believe that we need more police academies, and cutting that program would save 24 million each year that could Fund Important social programs. Thank you for your time, and please stand with families as you vote on our city budget. Thank you. Hello, supervisors. My name is mario. Im with soma filipina and filipina Cultural Heritage districts. Many of our filipino working families are struggling with unemployment and being able to pay their rent which leads to housing insecurity. We need the supervisors to stand strong and vote for a budget that includes programs to protect tenants and provides essential services because these programs are the safety net for the communities that have been hit the hardest by the coronavirus. We know you must balance the budget and find additional money, and we ask you to do that by looking at departments like the Police Department and other Law Enforcement which dont serve our communities. We do not believe that we need more police academies, and cutting the program could save 24 million each year, which could Fund Important social Service Programs like the ones i mentioned. Thank you for your time, and please stand with working families as you float the city budget. Thank you. Hello, supervisors. My name is becky hong. Im urging you to pass a budget that helps s. F. Families and communities of color. During a time of pandemic, mass unemployment, and more, we need to support communities because the decisions that you make will profoundly affect working class people of color for years to come. We also support immigrants through our work with s. F. Island to make sure that families are able to stay together. We know you must balance the budget, and find additional money, and we ask that you do that by looking at departments like the Police Department or other Law Enforcement which has not served our communities. We do not believe that we need more police academies, and putting that program cutting that program will save 24 million each year that could Fund Important social programs like the ones i mentioned. Thank you for your time and fund our services now. Hello, supervisors. My name is david, and today, im joining the call that urges you to fund the programs that support s. F. Families and communities of color. We remain deeply concerned kb t abo [inaudible] last year, the hotline received almost 3,000 calls, and theres no reason for us to believe that next year will be any different. Currently, i. C. E. Activity in the bay area is on the rise. Community members are being hit hard by the covid19 pandemic, and theyre relying on the hotline to get connected to life saving services. So right now, we need all supervisors to stand strong and unite behind a budget that includes programs like these. We need a just economic recovery in this city, and that requires real cuts to programs like police, that do not serve our communities and really investments in the safety nets that already exist and can be built upon to create a Recovery Plan that includes all san franciscans, including those who are most marginalized. Thank you. Clerk thank you for your comments. Before we bring up the next speaker, there is currently 120 people lined up to speak, and with that, operations, next speaker, please. Good afternoon, supervisors, office of the clerk, and everyone present. Thank you for having us with you today. Im doug, cochair of the support Housing Provider network. Our network is part of the Budget Justice Coalition, and we urge you to fund the b. J. C. In this challenging moment in our city, we must also have laser sharp focus on Racial Equity and economic equity. Our citys current Supportive Housing is underfunded to achieve any of those reasons. The support Providers Network urges the following three priorities. At the core of our ask which aligns with the larger Budget Coalition ask is to provide competitive wages for our hospitality and frontline workers. Lots of those workers are black and brown people in the city currently undervalue their contribution and undercuts our ability to sustain and expand Supportive Housing, so we urge you to fully fund the 5 million covid safe housing fund, to restore the 3 cost of doing business for nonprofit contracts, and to correct the inequities that exist in current Supportive Housing contracts and equitable funding across neighborhoods. Please fund these critical services. Our tenants and our neighborhoods deserve fairness and equity. Thank you so much for your mindfulness and your work. Clerk thank you, mr. Geary. Next speaker, please. Hi. My name is alison. I live in district 6, and i urge you to defund, disarm, and disband the sfpd and Sheriffs Department. Black population represents only 6 of the citys population yet account for 40 of the citys arrests or interaction. We also need you to allocate even more funds to the Public Defenders Office to makeup for the damage thats already been done. Recently, new orleans unanimously voted to fund their Public Defenders Office the same way they fund their district attorneys office. Why arent we at least funding them equally . Even after decades of socalled reform, 76 of uses of force in quarter four last year were at people of color. Officers still pointed their weapons at people of color 2. 4 times a day. Reduce Community Interactions with the police this year, fire is sfpd officers, fire sheriffs deputies, and invest in things that keep us safe like housing, health care, and reparations. This is San Francisco, and we need to do better. Thank you very much. Clerk thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Hello. My name is christine wardell, and im a 31year resident of district 8, and a parishioner at st. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church and part of the safe in section program. Im speaking today about continuing to support and in fact increasing the budget for direct subsidies to senior housing. As you have heard before, over 5,000 people, seniors, are in their houses but paying more than 70 of their rent or their income in housing, and i think there are two important points to be made about this. The first is, as was mentioned earlier this morning, its a hell of a lot easier to keep people in housing and pay their rent than it is to find housing for them once theyre homeless. So i think increasing the amount for subsidies makes a great deal of sense. Secondly, while im sure this doesnt apply to all of the seniors, many of them will have families in this area who are also struggling financially. The fact that you have a housed grandparent or great aunt or uncle is very important for maintaining the stability of those families as they struggle to maintain their housing. So in sum, i think a number of benefits, including the moral benefit, but also the financial benefit of keeping people in their housing and supporting the connective tissue of the city is very important. Clerk thank you, miss wardell. Next speaker, please. Hi. I have five more speakers on the line with a. S. F. And 2121. I will start with my comments. My name is marcos cruz. Im a student at State College of San Francisco. Im calling today to urge the supervisors to allocate funding to city college, specifically the workforce, education, and Recovery Fund for postal that has already been supported by some of the supervisors. I think its really important for San Francisco to fund city college. We provide training, classes, education for many, many of the populations that we want to protect in San Francisco. When we think about Public Safety, like many of the callers have been, and defunding sfpd, we have to think about, as well, funding our Community Colleges or the Community Education in the city that everyone relies on. Our immigrant parents rely on, our seniors rely on, our artists and creative people rely on. City college is a lifeline for this city and it has been for many, many years. I am tired of speaking in support of city college and hearing every supervisor saying they love city college while seeing 0 going to city college every year. We love city college and would like it to be open to everyone, but it seems that the city is not willing to provide support to the workforce development, the social justice and ethics studies classes and social services that we are trying to have policy funds. We are not asking for much. [please stand by] im with a Neighborhood Branch of San Francisco rising. So first of all i want to strongly support these concerns that San Francisco rising has brought forward because San Francisco rising and we care about and seek to empower the most vulnerable and yet the most resilient communities in our city. And while covid and the fires have rapidly changed our lives, theres a long history of changing lives for the better. And the faculty members, i can tell that you we want to continue to do so. But our mission to serve and empower the people of our city who need our services the most is in serious jeopardy without Adequate Funding. State college with help to address so many of the concerns voiced today and to play a vital part a vital role in the economic recovery of so many of our residents and the city as a whole. Every bit of funding raised increases access and opportunity for education. It supports our efforts to increase equity and maintain vital programs. A friend of mine says that city college is the most vital workingclass institution in the city. And i tend to agree, but we need your support. Please include the workforce education for the city budget so we can continue to serve our residents who want access and need access to a better life through education. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Do you have another speaker on the line . Yes, sir, three more speakers. Caller i am james tracy, and im with the City Department of city college, San Francisco. One of the things they appreciate about this board of supervisors is the ability to stay safe while having solutions. If you support the policies [no audio] clerk hello, speaker, you are still on the line . I think that he got accidentally cut off. Caller this is a teacher from city college of San Francisco. And im urging you to support and to create the workforce education Recovery Fund with 5 million for this year. You know, a good education impacts all of the social issues that people have been talking about here today. People can get higher wages. They can increase their mobility and have a better life. They can get hope and reduce their stress and their Mental Health issues are addressed in those ways. So its so important to come out of the Covid Recovery that we really support how people are going to make the changes necessary in their own lives to make this city a better city. So i really urge you and i want to say that im a resident of district 10. I live in petrera hill, and i want to thank you very much. Clerk thank you so much for your comments. If you have another speaker on that line. Caller hello . Go ahead. Caller hi, my name is mary braceorthom and im a mathematic instructor and Vice President of the teachers union. And im here to ask and to implore the board of supervisors to support work the workforce education and Recovery Plan so that we can fund so that we can continue to provide the Vital Services that our citizens need in San Francisco right now, especially during the recession and the pandemic. City college is San Francisco. And with the pandemic and the continued systematic cuts to public education, our school continues to suffer, but it means that our citizens of San Francisco continue to suffer. As kathy spoke earlier, this is this is a Vital Institution and really is the best place to get trained and make job transitions and to get ourselves to get ourselves back on our feet. We provide Vital Services. Our frontline workers, most of them come through city college and get their education here. Please consider adding back we have a very modest ask in comparison to the larger landscape of what is available in the budget for this year. We need it in order to survive. Please give to city college, with the support that it deserves. Thank you. Clerk thank you miss allman. If you could queue your next speaker on the line. Go ahead. Caller im teaching the Labor Department of the city college of San Francisco. One of the things they appreciate about the board of supervisors is the ability to think big about big life improving policy goals. I remind you that city college of San Franciscos programs will make these goals real and without city college you cannot make these goals real. For example, if you support justice for families, our Early Childhood Education Program is Award Winning and trains many dozens of Early Childhood education workers every year. If you wish do see increased Mental Health and Substance Abuse centers in San Francisco, remember that our drug and alcohol programs and our Community Health outreach worker programs train the workers that will do this work. Similarly, if you say that this is a sanctuary city and ignore the fact that we have laid off 63 d. S. L. Teachers a semester, you have another thing coming. Similarly for our peer programs in our parks and, of course, our most essential Nursing Program that has supplied workers throughout this covid crisis. And, finally, [broken audio] underneath the banner of this, and our African American cities department, is struggling to continue its excellent groundbreaking work. So, please, fund the work program. Clerk thank you so much for your comments. Do you have anymore speakers . One more speaker on the line. Clerk thank you. Go ahead. Caller hi. My name is timina hahn and i teach at the English Department at city college and i have also taken classes at city college. Im also a resident of district 9 since 1995. And im really proud to be living in San Francisco for these many years. And im proud of the vibrant and the diversity that our city has. I want to say that, like, when im out in the world, i meet former students from city college all over the city from multiple generations, with various career paths. And i just want to say that, you know, city college is the heartbeat of our city. It brings us education and vibrance and diversity and dialogue. And we need it. And we need increased funding so that we can keep it going. In the aftermath of covid19, we need more education, not less. And we need and we need to build back our city. So we need our Nursing Program and we need a robust social justice program. We need a robust horticultural program, aircraft maintenance. And we need also our Academic Program so that our students can transfer to the u. C. System and go on and get masters degrees and ph. Ds. We need all of it. And it builds our city, it makes our city stronger. And currently we our social Justice Programs are really suffering and our africanamerican programs are really suffering, and in a time of, you know, of increased awareness, increased awareness of racism, we need we need city college. And so im urging you to support the workforce education Recovery Fund. Thank you so much. Clerk thank you miss hobb. Does that conclude the speakers . Yes, sorry, i think that there was one more but i think that they dropped the call. Clerk okay. Well, thank you so much for your participation. Operations, next speaker, plea please. Caller good afternoon, my name is Michael Stafford and im a teacher in San Francisco and i have lived in district 8 for 5 5 years. My wife is a physician at San Francisco General Hospital and im calling on behalf of my wife and daughters and many of my neighbors in the community. We urge this committee to divest from the San Francisco sheriff departments presence in the department of Public Health, and in that, in the wellbeing of san franciscans by funding nurses, Behavioral Health programs and Community Safety initiatives. My family has witnessed far too many times the Sheriffs Department being inappropriately physical, harassing or intimidating to their patients and the community at San Francisco General Hospital, especially the black and brown members of the community. As well as unresponsive to calls for reform and change. You have a great responsibility. But also an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen the community by defunding the Sheriffs Department and investing in different measures that will improve the security, health and the safety of our community. Thank you. Clerk thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller hi, thats me. Good afternoon, supervisors. I am with the San Francisco Domestic Violence consortium. Im here today to stand with those working to end genderbased violence. They are an interdependent network of 30 nonprofits working 24 7 to shelter, counsel, offer Legal Services, protect and help survivors of Domestic Violence, sexual assault, and trafficking, along with their children. If you had seen in numerous articles, so many survivors are locked down with their abusers during covid19. At the beginning of the pandemic we saw a large increase of calls for support and food to field fd their children. Though survivors are quieter now, theyre still qualit calli. And all agencies are working around the clock. We need these services now more than ever. And the community is on the frontline. We are meeting the needs of nearly 20,000 survivor survivors annually. Survivors want to talk with knowledgeable advocates and attorneys that speak their languages, understand their cultural issues, and will protect their immigration status. They just want the violence to stop. Most survivors do not turn to Law Enforcement, they turn to the community. Help us to be there for them. San francisco is a model of a communitybased response. We depend on the department on the status of women issues to support our work. Please reinstate all of the proposed cuts to the department on the status of women, the dosw. To continue and to consider additional funding. We are really counting on you. Help to protect San Franciscos most vulnerable residents and black residents and indigenous residents and transgender residents and the entire Lgbtq Community and residents of color and their children. Help us to end genderbased violence now. We also support the civilianled Domestic Violence program that are currently held at the Sheriffs Department. Thank you for your support and hard work on this budget. This is an incredible year. Thank you. Clerk thank you miss upton. Next speaker, please. Hello, if we could have our next speaker. Caller hello . Clerk hi, welcome. Caller hi. My name is maria and im the Business Owner of Mission Wellness, an independent pharmacy in the mission. I am also a first in my family to go to college. Im here because San Francisco does not appear to be expanding the contract pharmacy for the 20202021 fiscal year. Over six years ago i proposed to expand the contract arrangement which continues to be with just one large multiinternational corporation. By expanding the contract, Mission Wellness would bring several millions annually to the health care budget. I have heard a lot today about poverty, racism and homelessness. San francisco must work to fix the social, economic, educational and Health Inequities that affect our black and brown communities. That means support local, minority and womenowned businesses. The current arrangement not only excludes the additional revenue that Mission Wellness could bring to the Public Health department, but excludes a Small Business that provides culturally Competent Services to vulnerable citizens. This is an issue of inequity to reach justice, systemic racism has to stop and the city should look at its internal processes that continue to shut out black and brown communities and businesses. Finally, the federal Government Supports expanding local contract pharmacies under covid19. But San Francisco has not taken advantage of that with the local Business Networks for the 20202021 year. It appears to be delaying this an additional year, whereby passing up millions of dollars of revenue for the city. San francisco should not delay service. Thank you supervisors for your work and time today. Clerk thank you for your comments. For the listeners currently on currentlyonline, theres currently 122 people in the calls with 98 lined up to speak, so if you havent done so already, please press star, 3, or if you have not called in, the information should be crawling across your screen now and please join us. Operations, next speaker, plea please. Caller good afternoon, supervisors. Im rachel ostamosa, an artist in district 4 and im calling in support of the Budget Justice Coalition list, prioritizing the essential needs of marginalized residents of San Francisco. Im also calling in support of Human Rights Commission Racial Equity and the groups ask to support black, indigenous, people of color and queer communitybased artists and programs. In San Franciscos philippineo heritage district, the arts and cultural work has been at the forefront of ourac activism in e bay area. And for our arts organizations, many of the artists in our ecosystem, this work is our livelihood. Prior to covid, our community was already experiencing budget cuts. And Filipino Youth experience the highest rate of suicide ideation. With the current Public Health crisis, our communities are being impacted even more so. Lets not underestimate what the arts have to offer, whether its the documentation of our experiences, connecting one another for the health and wellness of our communities, or to provide solace in a time that requires it most. The arts and culture sector has been the first to shut down and the last to reopen. So the arts are essential in our communities. In a recent art project that i presented to mostly filipino and p. O. C. Participants, 91 of them agreed that arts plays a role in the health and wellness of our communities. Sustainability of our artists and anchor arts and cultural organizations requires transparency and racially equitable support. And we need immediate and unrestricted stipends to artists to support new works. General operating support and our unrestricted funding for nonprofit arts organizations that support historically marginalized communities. Supporting artists of color through this recession and throughout the recovery ensures that our artists will continue to have a place in San Francisco but also allow our community the pathways to process, recover, heal, and to be seen as we navigate through the building of a new era. The speakers time is over. Clerk thank you for your community arcomments. Next speaker, please. Hello, do we have a speaker . Caller hello. I just got my line unmuted. I am a community member, born and raised in San Francisco and a current resident of district the. I implore the city of supervisors to allocate divested funds towards social programs led by and serving the black, transgender and the homeless populations of our city. In a time of pandemic and protests theres the overarching question of the value of human lives. In particular black lives, black transetrans lives and immigrantd many more of the vulnerable. As well as the lives of essential workers and their families and the unemployed and in this city the homeless, that have 6 63 citing the inabilityo afford rent as one of the greatest obstacles to have housing. Law enforcement represents a real source of threats to their lives, through acts of racist violence, violence against those in crisis and by seizure and destruction of property and the removal of people from their homes and the suppression of voices. I grew up with hope in the ethos of our city and i urge the board of supervisors to take the opportunity to be a vanguard now, to be resittive to calls to defund at this time and to disband and to recognize an opportunity to fund more of the vital programs that people call to speak to today. As a city college alumna i feel moved to voice my support for the earlier calls by the faculty. Please move to affirm the values of the lives of the vulnerable and our city at a level that only you can. Thank you very much. Clerk thank you so much for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller hi, this is ilsa alunn and ill start with a video recording from one of the young people in our services and i want to make sure that the technology works. I have been in Market Street Program Since i was 20 years old. I came into Market Street a broken young adult, experiencing homelessness and they were always there for me. And having a safe place to go and food to eat really made a difference, in not only my survival, but my Mental Health. From there, i slowly learned skills on how to work, hold a job, how to go to school, how to create a resume and my quality of life increased as i worked on myself and the relationships that i had. Market street was there throughout the whole process. When i came into the pathways program, i was scared, i didnt know how to be an adult in society that paid bills, paid rent and saved money with income. I practiced those things with my case manager and worked closely to try to find housing, to be a positive roommate, and to be a successful person in my dwelling and in my community. I serve on various jobs helping the community all while inside of the Market Street programs and i urge you to give support. At this point in my life i live with my girlfriend. We have a beautiful apartment in oakland, california. I have an Associates Degree due to the ability of me to go to school and to be supported. Im working on a bachelor degree at s. F. State, and not only do i have money saved, but i also have learned from my past and been able to use it as an asset. If Market Street was not there and the programs that i utilized were not there, i dont think that i would make it. I would still be in and out of jail on the streets and actively using drugs. Thank you. Caller good afternoon, board of supervisors, i am drew laroe and a social worker and i support our over three dozen case managers that help hundreds of youth every week. As you may know Market Street services serves one of the most vulnerable populations and when they First Experience homelessness before the age of 25, they need bold and direct access. I will make three points. One, we need to uplift people. And they need care every day. And its so important to have dreams and hopes and needs in these process. And second, we have seen a spike in overdoses, and we need more resources and access to therapy and lifesaving Harm Reduction approaches. The case managers that i work with share that there arent enough resources. Third and lastly, i want to address the cost of doing business for nonprofit contractors. This expenditure is so important in ensuring that we can provide the needs of staff so that we can pay closer to a living wage who do the hard work every day. And we should not expect the staff to give their best when theyre not able to meet their own needs due to burnout. Thank you for your time. Caller hello, board of supervisors, i am kathleen. And im thankful for this opportunity today to speak to you all and to remind you about how incredibly important it is for this budget to support the needs of San Franciscos vulnerable youth. This has been a challenging year for all of us but its critical that we look forward. In order to mitigate the impacts of this pandemic and to ensure progress towards the goal of homelessness being a brief onetime experience for any young person, we must deepen our investment in our homelessness system and in San Franciscos youth. Almost 50 of people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco had a first unhoused experience before the age of 25. That means that supporting the need of the vulnerable youth is not just morally responsible but also smart, strategic and economically sound. More specifically, it is imperative that the city expand the emergency Housing Options to get youth off the streets quickly. Theres not enough space for young people to be inside right now. San franciscos only transitional shelter has been closed to new intakes since march. And young people are largely ineligible for other help. For many young people this means that vouchers have been the only way to ensure they have a safe play to stay inside. We need funding for housing vouchers to fill a critical gap in the homelessness response system, especially while we wait for the new Navigation Center to open. One of my favorite things about San Francisco is that San Francisco is a community that values equity and inclusion and this budget is a reflection of these values. But it is of the highest importance that we exemplify the values by supporting the needs of vulnerable youth. Thank you very much. Caller good afternoon members of the board. Clerk miss lund, are you still there . Caller imagine tomorrow that you wake up and you are tossed a plastic garbage bag and are asked to pack all of your belongings in it. This is a reality for foster youth who are at risk of homelessness. Im Danielle Martinez and i work for the Housing Program for former foster youth. San franciscos Homeless Youth need to be prioritized in the citys budget, especially those in foster care. And foster care youth are behind aacademically and they tend to have poor outcomes. According to a study, those who exit care without permanency have risk of homelessness, incarceration and Substance Used. Former foster youth often lack Family Support that many young adults have and rely on as they develop independence. Safe and stable housing is the most critical need for former foster youth and other Homeless Youth, without which its impossible to achieve success in other arenas such as education and employment. The budget also needs to include support for nonprofit agencies. I urge you to add the cost of doing business to the budget. Nonprofit workers need support to close the wage gap. Additionally the risk of frontline workers contracting covid19 is much higher than those who work from home. Frontline workers are your grocery clerks, delivery drivers, janitors and social workers. Not Just Health Care workers. Often frontline workers are black, brown, Indigenous People of color, particularly those who work in low to low, moderate wage positions. San francisco cant wait for the federal government to act. And hazard pay needs to be added to the budget now. I urge you to support all frontline workers with hazard pay so we can continue to support the community. Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you tod today. Caller good afternoon, board of supervisors. First, thank you for your time and all of the work that you do and are doing. My name is krista, with Market Street Youth Services and we see the repercussions every day of systemic inequities on our young people. Of course i believe that our young people are worth investing in as the future of our nation. But not only are they worth it, this is our responsibility as adults and elders to them. During covid we have all experienced extreme challenges and now with the fires, california is in serious crisis. So imagine being a young person formerly experiencing homelessness and trapped mostly in a small room and unable to get out and socialize much and feeling depressed, and having lost their job with not many prospects in sight. And imagine the young person on our streets who cant get a housing voucher and can no longer go to our shelters that are closed due to covid and didnt qualify for a shelter in place hotel. Please invest money in our young people for emergency services, employment, prevention, Behavioral Health and housing subsidies. They rely on us. We have to do the right thing. And, finally, in order to keep doing our work to serve these young folks, our nonprofit and all nonprofits in San Francisco must receive an annual cost of doing business increase in order to just sustain and maintain our current and basic staffing. That is just common sense and basic math. Please dont cripple nonprofits doing essential service work at this time. This is not the place in budgets to cut spending. Thank you very much. Caller my name is may thorhor and im with Market Street ak5 academy and overseeig all programs at Market Street serveses. But most importantly im an educator. For youth and potential students its important to eliminate all barriers that could come their way to disrupt the pipeline, especially in todays racial climate. Some barriers include not having emergency housing, not getting jobs while in college and after graduating from college, providing a sense of community for all youth of color, and lgbtiq selfidentified youth. Making sure they have access to Behavioral Health services, housing subsidies and Prevention Services related to drug use. It is imperative that the city and the county of San Francisco continues to Fund Programs transitional age youth can benefit from. I work with many who are bright and have seen how wrap around services can contribute to the wellbeing of any youth going to college. My hope is that you allocate funds to support College Students who are struggling with finding a foundational plan that will work for them to graduate. Unfortunately, studies show that generational and educational trauma stems from structural barriers use to keep communities from receiving an education. I am asking you to make education a vehicle for change that will disrupt the generational continuation of youth not receiving any form of education. I ask that you make my students and the future students a priority by giving them the wrap around services to enter school and to thrive while in school. If you like to disrupt the school to prison pipeline and the educational trauma, please continue allocating funds to see the potential students. Thank you for your time and giving me the space to communicate this. Have a wonderful day. Caller hi, my name is patrick burlase and i work at Market Street with youth experiencing homelessness and other issues. I want to encourage the board to please fund fully all of the Housing Needs of youth in San Francisco. Were definitely looking at an issue of parity, because recent plans have been disclosed to provide up to 10,000 for Supportive Housing for adults. None of that funding has included any for youth. And if you count all of the beds that we have right now that include youth, we come up at about 200. If you do the math, 200 or 2,000, its nowhere near the 11 or so that we estimate that represents the Homeless Youth in the city. So, again, i strongly encourage you to support the homeless and the youth who are in a housing crisis here in our city. I know that we can do better and i know that you want to. Thank you so much for listening. Caller good afternoon, board of supervisors. Thank you for your time. My name is shimona eftridge and im with client and Clinical Services at larkin street Youth Services. I ask that you make youth experiencing homelessness a priority in the budget decisions. Three areas they would like you to prioritize. One is emergency services. Our transitionalaged youth shelters have been closed since march and many young people do not qualify for the shelterinplace hotels. Since covid, so many young people have been left with no other option but the streets. We need funding for emergency housing vouchers to fill a critical gap in the homeless response system while we wait for the Navigation Center to open. Second, is Behavioral Health services. Theres been an increase in Behavioral Health symptoms and an increase in overdoses amongst young people since the start of this pandemic. It is likely that well continue to see young people impacted. And those experiencing homelessness need supports at youth active points and services focused on intervention and Substance Use and Harm Reduction, and referrals and access to Additional Services such as substance and misuse treatment and psychotherapy. Last but not least, the Nonprofit Workforce is essential and needs to be prioritized. The annual cost of doing business increase is critical to making sure that we can deliver services and sustain our staff. Thank you. Caller hi, my name is marty wiegen and im talking with Market Street Youth Services. Thank you for taking my Public Comment. I am calling to strongly encourage the board of supervisors to set aside funding specifically for youth experiencing homelessness. 45 of the youth that we serve have lost their jobs and significant wages this year. In addition, the only transitionalaged youth shelter in San Francisco is closed to new intakes since march and for young people experiencing homelessness are ineligible for the shelterinplace hotel. For many youth the housing vouchers are the only way to ensure they have a safe place to stay inside. We absolutely need funding for emergency housing vouchers to fill a gap in the homelessness response system while we wait for the new taz Navigation Center to open. In addition to this critical funding for emergency housing, im strongly encouraging the board of supervisors to invest in individual training accounts to remove barriers for youth as they are in training programs. This is really only way a lot of these youth can sustain their most basic needs, including food, shelter, clothing, Digital Access while they build skills for sustainable wages in a new emerging fields. Traditional sectors are not hiring as you all know. Were asking that the board of supervisors set aside specific funding for very vulnerable youth experiencing homelessness so they do not fall further into homhomelessness or deeper into homelessness, but, rather, to help the city itself to recover and help us to all recover as our economy tries to rebound. Thank you. Caller hi, this is ilsa ganon. Before i wrap up for the Market Street, theres not much more that i can say that my colleagues and the young person who started this session havent already said. But i will close by saying that investment works. The city has increased and we are grateful for the increase in investment in the past four years and during that same time we have seen a decrease in the number of youth on the streets through the annual point in time count. More resources help more people and those who are unhoused during a Global Pandemic simply have to be a priority. I stand here as a representative of Market Street and also with my colleagues from the Provider Network and the justice coalition, urging the board of supervisors to make the hard decisions that will put our unhoused neighbors, including youth and families, and particularly communities of college and lgbtq communities at the center of this years budget. Thank you. Clerk thank you miss lund and your group for participating. If we could queue up the next speaker, please. Caller hello, my name is amanda and im for justice for louis and we provided indiscernible on behalf of indiscernible and myself. The first two are Spanish Speaking videos and they are supported but im prepared to read the interpretation of those videos at the end of each. [speaking spanish] so the interpretation of what mr. Luis pat said, good afternoon to all. Im here to request, to demand of all supervisors. My name is louis pat, and the murder by San Francisco police, april 7, 2016. Since the day of that incident we have demanded justice, changes. Unfortunately, four years have gone by and to date there has been no change. I demand that all San Francisco authorities, especially the supervisors, to take the responsibilities seriously. For the lives of citizens, especially like those who in our case have been the cause of trauma in the whole of our family and every aspect of everyday life for each one of us. My children, my work, the school of my children. I demand that you seriously consider the trauma caused by the police. I demand that the supervisors that you take the opportunity today to be advise body your budget and that you Defund Police who are destroying our lives and our families. Please, stop playing around with citizens. Do your job. You have an opportunity today to fulfill your responsibility. Defund. Use those funds for health, wellness, education. Clerk thank you for reading the interruption. We will queue up the next video. [speaking spanish] i will read the interpretation for jose gongora pat, im the brother of Luis Gongora Pat. We are here where he was brutally killed by the police. They need to invest in people without homes. We insist day after day so that Police Take Notice since the day they murdered luis gongor that we are asking for change. The supervisors up until today have done nothing. So we consider that we ourselves need to support the other familys who have been victims at the hands of police. So i remind the supervisors again that you must defund the police. Against the police, we are involved in struggles, marches, so we stay daybyday in their faces until the time comes when change is justly and necessarily made. We are going to be united with all of the other families to make continuous demands of the police and we have to continue to try to find a way and a solution to keep cutting them back. Finally, i repeat once again to the supervisors, make this one count for real. Because otherwise the police wont change at all the way they mistreat people. Thank you. Clerk thank you again for the interpretation. I understand that we have one more video from this set and well queue it up. Thank you. Im a Founding Member of justice and honor for Luis Gongora Pat. I have been accompanying the family since 2016 when luis was killed here on this street in the mission district. I have been following the budget proceedings very carefully around the public call to defund the police. And i am addressing the supervisors and the Budget Committee today to just express my deep disappointment for the negotiations around the budget. Because i believe that you can do better. You can lay off police. Because what youre saying by saying that you cant affect their profession is that its okay to maintain legacy policing where families are impacted, traumatized, where people are murdered and theres absolutely no consequence, no accountability. As you know in this case, like so many others, theres never any justice for these families. So the time has come to rally. As the only supervisor on the Budget Committee said, supervisor ronen, to rise up to the challenge. To reimagine this institution and dismantle a system that has a system of oppression, that impacts black, indigenous, people of color the most. And on how citizens of this city alsand always our transgender communities. So i need you to take this seriously. You have one more opportunity to go back and to look at that budget and to do better. Just simply cut the Police Budget. indiscernible and the services that are most impacted in the communities and that they need. Clerk thank you once again. Could we be connected to the next caller, please. Thank you. We are queuing up the next caller please. Thank you. Caller hi, my name is hello . Can you hear me . Clerk yes, we can hear you. Caller okay. Hi, my name is mandy clausner and i have been on hold for seven minutes shy of six hours. I am a white woman and i have lived in district 9 for more than 35 years. But ive never really understood the impact of policing on my neighbors. Many of whom are latinos, until about six years ago when alex nieto was murdered up the hill from my house. A year later cops murdered mr. Lopez about eight blocks from my house. And the year after, they killed Luis Gongora Pat about 15 blocks from my house. I have gotten to know jose pat and louise who you just saw so eloquently speak with you for defunding the police. I have seen a bit of how the loss of their son, brother and cousin has affected them. As a white woman i will never be able to deeply and fully know their grief because policing is structured to maintain white supremacy. And neither of my sons are likely to be killed by cops. I have learned to never call police because of my relationship with these families. I know that the risk of harm to my neighbors is far too great. I hear you saying that firing police will reduce the response times and that that is problematic. Frankly, i dont care about response times because i dont see anything that the cops do that keeps me and my community safe. We need relevant education and jobs for people who snatch purses and cellphones. We need anger management classes and peerled support groups for people who battere batter theird ones and we need housing for People Living in the streets. Safety in the community is not police. It will be Adequate Funding for food, housing and Mental Health and education. I dont understand what it is going to take for you to see this. It doesnt seem all that complicated to me. I urge you to defund sfpd now. Thank you. Clerk thank you for your comments. Could we get to the next caller, please. Caller my apologies. Hello, board members. My name is louise pinona and a Housing Inspector and a local 21 member. Since the pandemic first started our team and i have been performing inspections and s. R. O. S across San Francisco. For months we have been risking our lives to make sure that inspections and permits arent delayed. We have done the work despite the p. P. E. Shortages and positive covid cases and to Public Health guidelines. We cant continue to provide this high level of Service Without a budget that invests in us and the work we do. The mayors Budget Proposal demands that we give up our hardearned salary and do more with less. But the city has over one billion dollars in reserve funds and 887 million in savings, and theres more federal aid on the way. We need the board to stand up for the Vital Public Services and to support the workers like me who provide them. Thank you. Clerk thank you very much for your comments. Could we be connected to the next speaker, please. Caller hello, my name is sarah and i live and work in district one and i urge you to disband the sfpd and the Sheriffs Department. And you have money to pay reparations to black san franciscans and support people of color and the homeless and the Transgender Community by providing housing and education. The sfpd continues to harm communities of color. Police target brake and brown students and Research Proves that it does not make students safer. Since they already voted to end their contract with the police, and the School Resource officers should be eliminated from this years budget and have their positions cut. When we gave the sfpd body cameras they exploited it by allowing the officers to view the videos before writing their reports and excusing Police Officers violence despite evidence. And we asked for transparency about police violence, Police Departments moved to drag their feet in releasing reports. Reform doesnt work. So i rpblg you to fire sfpd officers and fire Sheriff Deputies and invest in sources to keep people safe, like housing and health care and reparations and also fund the budget and justice coalition. Thank you. Clerk thank you for your comments. Just an update for members of the committee and members of the public listening to the call, we are looking at 76 members in the public still waiting in line to provide comments on the budget. Could we get the next caller, please. Caller hello . Good afternoon. My name is mary doran. Im calling from the bay action area. As a senior and a person with a disability, i urge you to commit to investing at least an additional 5 million in individual direct rent subsidies for lowincome seniors. A crucial priority for at least 5,000 seniors who have worked hard and contributed to San Francisco for many years. And now pay 70 of their income in rent. It was gutwrenching to learn of an elder who must work, that can only work one day a week, because theyre so tired that they have to rest up the rest of the week. This is a critical, moral priority as well as a critical pragmatic fiscal priority. Please keep the most vulnerable seniors in their homes and at the same time save monby keeping them from possible homelessness. Thank you for your time. Clerk thank you for your comments. Could we be connected to the next speaker, please. Caller hello, supervisors. My name is kim cheryldiamond and im a 61yearold disabled tenant in the tenderloin. I am also working one day a week for the public authority. And i am an activist. I work with of the tenderloin peoples congress, and i will forever be faithful. And through that fact i want to be faithful to this fact i have lived in the district for eight years now. I demand that money for senior operating fundsand even those of color into truly Affordable Housing. Its not the phantom departments of tomorrow. All departments of disabilities in state housing. Thank you for your comments. Could we be connected to the next speaker, please. Well have Seven Members speaking today. Were a group of transgender people inside and out side of prisons for the survivor and freedom. The communities we serve have suffered severe harm from the current legal system. Tgip recognizes policing is just one part that has harmed the black and brown communities. We recognize the system must be transformed in its entirety. In addition to abolishing police we must defund the prisons and invest in models that keep people safe. Our requests are as follows. Fully defund and disband the Police Department, jails, this includes funding the diversion for trans community. Reentry programs and supportwe ask the board of supervisors to fully fund the koa h coalition [indiscernible]. Clothes on our back, food, we want a descent place to stay stay[indiscernible]. Im an lgbt individual[indiscernible]. Along with the general public rely on this program hello. I am a new resident of San Francisco. I have gotten involved in this organization. They are really out there organizinga couple of officers of San Francisco. As everything wound up, all my properties are gone. This is just a way i have had incident after incident with any kind of Law Enforcement of San Francisco. I do believe in their cause and what they are fighting for. We need this. Theres no if, ands, or butts about it. Please listen. Im a resident of San Francisco and im a member. I got of prison[indiscernible]. Ive been on the streets, homeless, with no food. I dont understand how people are in that prison when the people of San Francisco need help[indiscernible]. I think its wrong. Im lucky to have them. What im asking for is the Budget Approved for 500,000. Hi. Im speaking today because ive dealt with the police at least a dozen times since 2010. Every time establishment, first of all would get me angry and i stand up for myself. They make me look like a trouble maker. Each time this happen happens[indiscernible]. The same thing happensthe last time i had trouble was when i was trying to vote. They changed the hours of the voting making it early. I want to voice my concerns about it. Nobody listened to me. I wrote a complaint and they didnt take the complaint. I threw the paper at him. Thats when the sheriff broke my hand and sent me to jail for three days. [indiscernible]. Its been 23 years in the business. Im calling to defund the San Francisco Police Department. The San Francisco Police Department has not done anything or any type of out reach to us. They do not need to be there. Those ar are all the members that wanted to speak today. Thank you for your comments. Can we be connected to the next caller please. Hello. Good afternoon board of supervisors. Are you listening . I live in district eight and am a project supervisor for Child Support services. Im currently represented ten to one. We are a federally owned program administered to the state of california providing much needed local Public Service to twenty thousand parents on pa paternity establishment and orders. The San Francisco department of Child Support services is a non general fund agency. The budget is nearly 13 million and is funded entirely at 66 percent and 34 percent respectively. Child support services should not be burdened by the 10 cut of other services. Information in the Budget Hearing process. More accuracy needs to bethe financial reconciliation at the end of each year has resulted in a growing gap between the overly inflated projection and unspent actual dollarsthe department uses its own discretion with little to no oversight. Threatening employees with making hard decisions. These purchases include inflated amounts to other thank you. Your comments have been concluded. Before were connected to the next speaker i should mentionhang on just a moment please. Please begin. Couple of issues. Weve been asking for so long for a neighborhood planner to be assigned. We need money from the budget to support that. It would really help us a lot. We have a major food deficit. We dont have a food pantry. Because of the food insecurities, they are asking for 150,000, that would really help us a lot. Finally as a board member and former residentthis organization has been putting out a lot during covid and havent been paying their employees. The city hasnt reimbursed the total cost for permanent support of Housing Providers. Its costing these organizations a lot. These are all nonprofits. Is there anything you can do to help the permanent support of housing for their employees who are at great risk doing facetoface work with the public. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much. Thank you for your comments. Before we take the next caller. Just a small bit of house keeping. Just to thank our interpreters who have been on the call. They will have to, however, leave the meeting at 5 00 oclock. Can we take the next caller, please. Is there a caller on the line . Moderator can you please connect us to the next caller. Hi. Good afternoon. Im calling to advocate for funding of housing subsidies and resources for homeless families. If these services are cut they will disproportionately effect families of color. I work these families. They are struggling to afford their rent and feed their children. This has only become harder with covid. They end up on the street or being pushed out of the city. Its unacceptable that any San Francisco resident be put in these conditions during covid and the fire situation. I urge you to make deep investments in housing subsidy programs. Thank you for your comments. Could you connect us to the next call irer, please. Caller, youre live for the budget appropriations committee. Could we come around to this caller after weve taken the next one. Is there a caller on the line . Im from district nine. Im calling due to the cutsive been volunteering at the philippino Community Center for the last four months helping to deliver meals. Being able to eat for the week and having access to services and a 24 seven hot line isnt something that people should be fighting tooth and nail for. These are essential services. Many are elderly folks who dont know who they can turn to and cant use a computer. They are scared and confused. This cut limits the reach of Education Research to our immigrant communities p communi. I would like to demand reinvestmentthe people arent backing down. Our budget should reflect the needs of our immigrant and black communities. Take a look at the budgets laid out and what we need. Can we take the next caller, please. Caller are you on the line . Moderator, perhaps you can connect us to the next caller and we can come back to this one. Is there a caller on the line . Hello . Hello. Welcome. Please begin. Hello . Hello. Please begin your comments. I just spoke. Okay. Thank you very much. Hello . Yes, please begin. Hi. Im standing here with a couple of coworkers. So there will be two following me. Im a clinical case manager at San Francisco Community Case manager. Im calling to urge to maintain funding for transgender led services as well as the hiv services. I was homeless for many years. I was a sex worker and suffered from discrimination and inequality. I too also have been an addict who has been an addict and turned li their live around. Living in such a great and diverse city such as San Francisco is unacceptable. Any cuts to Trans Services would be devastating as we need housing, food, and services especially during these times. It i come to you in hopes oy community. My experience of na navigating e systemi moved to th from the philippines knowing i could finally be myself. I left home seeking refugeim still unlearning the trauma under the covid 19 pandemic. I am thankful for Community Based organizations which prove to be a greater blessing. These organizations have ultimately become a source of inspiration and healing. To those who rely heavily on programming, the funs could play a big stake on how society treats our people. I would like to see more accessibility and sustainabili y keeping us protected in these trying times. We appreciate your work and all you do for our community. Thank you. Moderator, can we be connected to the next call please. Hello. I called to say chaim o sayism u for[indiscernible]. Fire all officers and sheriffs deputies. Were funding a Police Department im a resident and voter of district 11. I urge you to defund, disarm, and dismantle the sfpd department in this historic moment. I know charge is hard and scary but the time for change has come. We cant shove it off to next years Budget Hearing. We need to be brave. Caller, have we lost you . Are you still there . Thank you for your comments. Could we get to the next caller, please. Many many Vital Services. In addition, i make a request on the out reach. Were seeking restoration of cuts advocacy for public benefits, prevention of evictions, housing loss and services to survivors of Domestic Violence. We offer services in several languages. We focus on housing issues. Our clients are low income. Thank you for your comments. Moderator, could you connect us to the next caller, please. Ive received collectively support for families each year. Expand the capacity to address the increase and needs of vulnerable families. Ensure long term sustainability. We can meet the score the needse most vulnerable. I urge you to defund, disarm, and defund the sfpd. They have not been shown to have any correlation or impact on crime. Communities harmed by policing. Police dont keep us safe. Housing, education and reparations keep us safe. Thank you for your comments. Could we be connected to the next caller, please. Is there a caller on the line . Hello . Hello. Please begin. Thank you. Im a resident of district seven for five years. [indiscernible]. Ive been on the line for over six hours. Black people are a foundational group. We are the most displace logose. It is not acceptable that the same department that murdered countlessthere are three Cultural Centers in the city of San Francisco. [indiscernible]. Black people are taking the hardest hit from this pandemic. We ask you to r reallocate fundg for a black centered. Thank you for your comments. Moderator, could you please connect us to the next call. Good afternoon, supervisors. We ask that you continue to empower with the resources to maintain these and other Community Partnerships including those put forward by the justice coalition. We ask that you restore the fund thats were cut by the respons responsewe must continue to protect San Francisco immigrants from threats with the hot line. This unique resource prevents families from being torn apart by ice. Rather than cutting resources from marginalized communities. These funds should be invested in organizations that support black and brown communities and other groups who need support recovering from the pandemic and decades and centuries of marginalization. Thank you for your comments. Could we be connected to the next speaker, please. Is there a caller on the line. I believe this caller is multi tasking, we should move on it to another. Hello. Yes, youve connected to our live meeting. Please begin. Im a nurse at San Francisco General Hospital. I work in the icu. Working at the Trauma Center is both rewarding and challenging. I chose to work here because it serves the under served population. Its challenging because were in the grip of this dreadful pandemic. We do demanding work with limited resources. Were truly essential workers. We find that the mayor has preferred a budget that eliminateeliminates our hard ead resources. Were chronically under staffed. Nurses and board staff are burned out beyond belief. The mayor has access in over a billion dollars in reserves. Im a volunteer Child Care Provider for a front line worker. Im also advocating for defunding police. I think early care and education is important. Our youth needs protection not to be incarcerated. Our teenagers are very vulnerable to get in trouble these days. Please use the funding from the police to fund other educational and organizational programs for protecting families in San Francisco. Thank you for your attention. Thank you for your comments. Moderator could you connect us to the next speaker, please. Hello, im in district eight. Im calling to request this board divest from sfpd and reinvest in programs. Do not cut fundingsfpd is responsible for harassment of ourpolice do not get anyone off drugs or off the street. Especially during a health and housing crisis, they do not deserve such an embarrassing portion of our fund. I urge you to really listen to what were asking of you. I remind you that you work for us. The people calling in. Not for police unions, the mayors office, or your future political aspirations. Thank you very much. Thank you for quu your comme. Can we be connected to the next caller, please. Im speaking on baf o behalfe justice and diversity center. We have the act to connect into a wide array of services in house. Our ability to offer this approach for free legal and social services is support from city and county of San Francisco. Im calling to support the mayors budget to the extent it extends to social services in our city. I encourage increases in Nonprofit Services and funding. Thank you very much. Thank you. Could we get the next caller, please. Hi. Can you hear me . Yes, we can hear you. Please begin. Hi. Im the cofounder and executive director of open door legal. We opened our first office in bay view. In the last few years weve represented about five people on almost every block in district ten. Of our clients over 50 were black. We believe communities of colorwe are asking for one point five million in funding forthank you. Thank you for your comments. Could we be connected to the next caller, please. Hi. I live and work in district five. Im joining the countless others to disfund, disarm, and disband the sfpd. Instead support services that will best serve our community. My mom try today explain the violence to the Police Officers. Every time the police would ask, what would you like us to do. The police never connected my mother to Domestic Violence serve services. Instead they left us behind. Ththe police suck up valuable dollarsbe bold. Take a stand against the madam, chair, i should share that we still have 54 voices. They would ask that we take a break. Lets take a 20 minute break . I think 20 minutes is more than generous. After a short recess, well hello, everyone. Were coming back into session now. Recess is over. Well begin again taking Public Comment. Currently there are fifty eight callers in the queue. Hello . Hello. Please begin. Hi. I am callingim a forty two year San Francisco native. I live and work in districtwe definitely need our wages that have been bargained. Thank you for your comments sm nexcomments. Next speaker, pl. Hello . Hello. Please begin. Im a resident of bay view. Im the fourth generation of my family to live in San Francisco. Like many other African Americans my family moved here from the southern states. My grandmother needed a caregiver. The caregiver started stealing and threatened to kill me and her. She threatened to leave her home. For two months i was hitting the pavement looking for help. I made many phone calls. I sought help and a door was shut in my face. I saw open door legal. I got an appointment quickly and was treated with respect. The attorneys listened to me. When they said they would help me, i sat down and cried. The caregiver tried to accuse my cousin also. Im so thankful for open door legal. Im so happy and thankful that my family has gotten their house back. Restore funding for open door legal. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. It is wrong for any department to submit a budget to the board of supervisors without the agreed upon wages. It must not be approved. Management budget submission fail to address the seriousness of this unprecedented moment in history and does not promotewe are the front line workers who are essential to providing the dire services the community needs. We are not expendable. Every worker deserves a budget that works for all and the assurance of safety for workers and the public. I urge you not to approve the departments budget in its current state as presented. It is a if as ai facade with smd mirrors. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Im a resident at San Francisco General Hospital. I urge the department to inves invest[indiscernible]. I know this could have been completely avoided if appropriate staff had handled the situation instead. We know the institutions have replaced slavery. We want to reimagine what safety looks like. Together we can develop new programs including Emergency Response teams, increase nurse staffing, investing in Patient Advocates and support for services for patients. We need to invest in the 21 milliondollar budget. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Hi. District five. For years weve been paying over time for cops who are wasting time driving around. I deeffec deeffect deescalated n between two homeless men. Police officers arrived asking where a knife was. There was never a knife involved. I was not believed over the white male who abused me. I have an investigation open over the sergeant who made that call. Police are racist in text messages. Most of the officers dont even work in our city. I heard there was a Blue Lives Matter rally. They dont understand what our community have been dealing with. We can do this. Has hard. But we have to. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. This has been a disastrous year and we need you on the board of supervisors to take descraftiaction. S. We will restore the 23expirt safety net for most vulnerable api communities in San Francisco. They are Food Security, workforce development, Behavioral Health, dough miss tick violence and youth and services so we have the board of supervisors to restore all this expiring programs and and various departments for a total of 2 million. On behalf of cyc we have two expiring programs under mohcd including our asian and Pacific Islander Youth Leadership program which provides Youth Development for age 16 to 25 and reach out to 200 about the importance of city engagement that they promote young people to register to vote, participate in census and take part in vote 16 campaign. The other program is the bayview Services Connection program. With a reduction of funding of 50,000 which will harm and reduce our Cross Cultural community and this program serves over 5,000 vulnerable and low income residents who face language, culture barriers with oneonone Case Management and cultural events in bayview. Our program in chinatown district is being cut by end of november. This willing affect the health and sanitation conditions of the most densely populated area in San Francisco during this pandemic. And last but not least, the restoration of the cuts to the program that our young asian women against violence and promote Health Seeking Behavior to reach out 600 young people so i really appreciate all your time and considerations and thank you for your leadership. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller hello. Thank you. I am a resident of district 1 and i am calling to ask that the support of supervisors and reevaluate and respect and for funding for Housing Services and other services that will support our community and to defund s sfpd and the Sheriffs Office because the sfpd exacerbates housing and Health Vulnerability and it does not support our community and were all experiencing vulnerability right now. This is a moment for an opportunity for San Francisco and the country to reimagine how we support this advantage and disenfranchised people and our systems have never been just but slowly, activism and speaking out like these Public Comments have shifted towards justice but we have a lot more to do and a lot more to do. This moment can be a historic moment if we fund housing, if we opportunity supporting the disenfranchised and disadvantaged people, the black people, the Indigenous People and the people of color in San Francisco and this could be historic moment if we were reduce and eliminate the power of the racist sfpd and the Sheriffs Office. Im asking for the supervisors to defund, disarm and disband sfpd and the Sheriffs Office in order to support people in San Francisco and actually support and reduce vulnerabilities rather than causing more harm and damage thank you, very much. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. I worked for 15 years as a bio medical technician at San Francisco General Hospital. In the neonatal icu, labor and delivery, pediatrics and the emergency room where i saw interactions between providers, patients and law enforce. We need sheriffs out hospitals and clinics. As an 80yearold with recent hospital visits myself, im acutely aware of this stress, fear and uncertainty that patients feel and the Law Enforcement is the last thing needed in these situations and this is true because these tense situations are often the result of d. P. H. Underfunding leading to long wait times and short times for dr. Visits and discharge instructions. I have also heard doctors and nurses talk about Law Enforcement and their settings beingen truce i have anbeing inr gender non bine an rewho see themselves targets of hostile attention from Law Enforcement. Cut the Police Budget and Fund Communities services especially health, Mental Health, housing and Food Security as outlined by the Budget Justice Coalition. Law enforcement does not exist and capitalism and use terror, racist terror, to stop people from fighting back. I believe theres a second video. Please clear the next video. Caller good afternoon. Im teresa from senior and disability action. Im calling in today because this is so important in defunding the police, the sheriff, the harm that has already been done, when we can take that money and use it to benefit the people in having the greatest needs, which is much of San Francisco today. So, im asking that funding be there for senior operating subsidiaries which would then go towards permanently Affordable Housing for seniors being created as well as expanding those operating subsidies to include those with extremely low income. In addition to that, i would also like to ask that you increase funding for tenant counseling. The most important thing is for people to know they have routes and trightsand they can stay ins and they do not have to suffer harassment, et cetera, and especially right now with the inability to pay rent. A lot of seniors and people with disabilities have parttime jobs that have enabled them to continue paying their rents and they are so burdened to begin with in paying 70 of their total income for rent alone. Having counseling funded, fully funded, as that first line of defense against evictions, people can remain in their homes and remain in a healthy place for their own healthcare as well as food. So many people just do not have enough food right now and are having to chose between paying rent or buying food or their families, for themselves and so please, please, lets fund, put the funds where it is most needed, which are our residents. And not the police and sheriff. Thank you. Hi, thank you for not laying off Police Officers. However, the reality is we will not have Adequate Police staffing due to the Record Number of officers retiring and leaving for other Police Departments. We thought there will be more officers retiring at the end of the year. There needs to be more than one Academy Class to insure adequate staffing. Crime is against seniors are not reported because of the victims ina ability to communicate with the police, diversity within the Police Department helps to build trust which aids our police and performing the Public Safety duties. Escalating crime has been trending throughout the city and thats a reality. Our city leaders must address crime and first and foremost, you will protect our seniors from crime and address it proactively. I am also asking that the Sheriffs Department programs or inmates be funded and these programs are vital to the successful reentry of inmates post incarceration and have become a model for other cities. Why would you deny inmates the opportunity to improve their lives and reduce their chances and thank you, very much. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Hi, ill be reading comments on behalf of open door legal client in district 10. Im here to we almost lost our home to the banks but my either and they saved it so when i had a legal issue at six legal offices turned me away, my mop walked me over to their office and said these people will help you and they did. There was only one dental office felt. After goinoffice. They admitted pulling the wrong tooth. When i went back to get my file they treated me like a criminal. This place has a history of malpractice, they also broke my aunts tooth and never compensated. People from all over contacted me with Horror Stories and prescribed the medication i was allergic too and yelled when i tried to correct them. Their clients are poor and dont speak english and arent able to hold them accountable for their malpractice. After working with open door legal we successfully sued them and i got the money i needed to reverse the damage that was done. Our family will be complete. In this community, for a long time, it felt like we couldnt get help even when we asked. Now, we have open door legal. Who does not turn us away. I love open door legal. They have given me the hope we didnt have. Im here to support them today and ask you increase their funding and to continue supporting our communities. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller hello . This is dayja, can you hear me . Well, good afternoon supervisors, its been a long day and im calling to ask about your allocation for money for the department of public works and specifically the bureau of urban forestry and i want to ask more funding be allocated specifically for the bureau of urban forestry for planting trees rather than for removing them. Its my understanding that funding for planting or replacing removed trees was not provide specifically in the past budget. Perhaps the excessive removal of trees over the recent years is do you to the lack of funding for planting trees. Thousands of trees have been removed but not recorded many or streets. Therefore im asking the funds be specifically allocated for planning and caring for trees to replace all those thousands that have been removed. We need to replace the trees that have been removed from our urban canopy, we also greatly increase the number of trees on our streets to improve our quality of air and to combat climate change. So, im requesting that you allocate more funding in your budget for the department of public works for the bureau of urban forestry under the department of public works. For planning trees and more money for funds for planting trees. Thank you for your considerati consideration . Next speaker, please. What was that . My name is johnny win and i live in district 5 and im calling for the supervisors to defund, disarm and disband the sfpd and and even after a decade of reform, 76 uses of force were against people of color. Sfpd offices pointed their guns at people 2. 4 times a day and other use of force decrease less than approximate the facts d. The scaled policing has not shown have an impact to crime. A study found that lis than 5 of the rest were related to violence, whats been proven effective in reducing violence and arms within communities is having access to basic needs, resources and Community Programs. We hear from other folks but theres a Public Services, social services, better and more Affordable Housing and people arent saying defund the libraries or teachers, ma mariod woods, its row form and reform does not work. Fire sfpd officers and Sheriff Deputies and invest in resources that keep us safe. I have three other callers on the line so i yield my time and pass it on to the next person to comment. Caller my name is yes i can a and im also a resident of district 5. I drew up in los angeles after my parents emigrated there in the 90s and im from subsidized after school and summer programs, free lunch and from Food Service Program and food stamps, language transition and Public Libraries. Im so grateful today on the line and doing the ones doing the vital work of providing Life Sustaining affirming anand it rs us of those that supported me as im growing up. I feel lucky to have stable and secure shelter and support myself from home and we recognize there are neighbors unable to do the same. The living situations are further exacerbated by harassment from Police Officers. They will spend 760,000. San franciscos Public Libraries are a place of sanctuary for many unhoused residents. Libraries and public spaces should be places of refuge and ease, not policing, harassment and criminalization. One of the main cities is to put people in cages and perpetuate the criminalizations of poverty and race. We can never provide treatment. Any money found would be better spent Funding Communitybased programs or available to the general public. We must also cut overtime and all counting classes which cost upwards of 50 million every year. There are more deputies and people in jail. Last year average total con pennization for a sheriff was 210,000. We must remove the sheriffs presence from San Francisco hospitals which cost 20 million a year and we invest that money into safety for care, deescalation and row store to yus is. We must invest inhousing and Mental Health that will prevent crisis and conflicts. Black communities make up only 6 of the population, while representing half of the black community. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller hi, this is go stephanie phrasen from General Hospital and im calling on nurses, doctors, social workers and midwives called dph must divest and im calling to urge that you consider only defunding sfpd and the Sheriffs Department at the General Hospital and dph clinics, our hospital should not be a place where only some people feel safe. Everyone should feel safe and that cannot happen with the sheriffs presence in our hospital. It should not be reviewed as something thats just reduck tive. We have to talk about how to reinvest that 21 million that is currently funding them and funds need to be invested into alternative behavioral Response Teams and security and adequate staffing in our Emergency Department as well as investing into our community to Fund Community base Mental Health peer support and Patient Advocates. So, please, please, i urge you to make a Statement Like black lives matter we cannot just have safety for some people, we must have safety for everyone, especially our most vulnerable patients. Thank you so much. I yield my time. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Aim hearing a lot of people saying the same stuff to you. Im a student at sf and it makes me wonder, which side are you on . They say there are no neutrals and which side are you on which side are you on which side are you on which side are you on workers can you stand it tell me how you can will you be a lousy scab or will you be a man which side are you on which side are you on which side are you on . Which side are you on. Dan scab fo they havent i yield the rest of my time. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller hi, i live here in San Francisco and i am here again to ask you for your support to defund and dismantle the sfpd and the Sheriffs Department. We should take police chief scott at had is word when he says the calls are private property issues. Its not all ambiguous what he said. He claims that property is more important than lives. Cutting the budget to serre will not be easy but its morally, logically and physical miss cal tee the right thing to do and and it will be on your conscience. I implore you to allocate the budgets for the things that will protect and serve our community and that means housing is more important than enforcement and food is more meaningful than virtue signally and healthcare heals vastly more and criminalization. Hello. Hi, my name is nathan and im a medical interpreter who has worked for San Francisco general. I have lived in the city for 37 years. There are Many Services that are badly needed in sf and ive heard we will continue funding them. I sympathize with those with negative experiences of the police and to Police Service and i urge you to not have further cuts to the sfpd Police Department. You have funds from them. They were not perfectly trained but the hospital would be much scarier without them. Its not a safe place for the vulnerable such as immigrants. Further cuts to the police force will endangerer San Francisco residents and especially vulnerable populations, crime is not going away. Theres been problems with the hospitals including inequitable treatment of minorities but we want to reform them and does not abolish the medical system. Is there a problem with the police . The criminals justice system. More researches are key to reform. Sfpd is stretched then. City hall commissioned a study on Police Staffing this year. It said they should have 200 more Police Officers than we have. Many Police Officers are leaving the city. Burglary and homicides are up and private property is also someones property and its always vulnerable property that cannot recover life without it. Some crime categories have rise when things are supposed to be quiet while sheltering at home and we need to protect the public and cant forget about victims of crime. Fewer Police Officers will impact neighborhoods that have been long ignored, especially where immigrant communities are vulnerable to crime. Residents are asking for more Police Officers who are bilingual and culturally sensitive which requires investments not to defund. Measures to dismantle the Police Department will not only lead to a more milltarized society not less. By further arming of citizens whose insecure tease are being exploited by gun dealers. Police departments and organizations of Civil Society and to right wing militia. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is abdu and im the director of the inaudible and organization that providing social ask Legal Services to african immigrants. And i would just like to mention from immigration from every sing many measure taken by the administration impacted in our community and so, im speaking here not only to show how diverse our community is but also to ignore the work that has been done over the time and i would like to thank the mayor, thank the members of the board of supervisors, and also all the continuous support. And im speaking to them about Rapid Response. In addition to being the press inaudible for Community Members who are exposed to actions to keep the mayor office informed and what is happening in the city and thats why we would like to call out to all of you so that the dough funding and the mah and support in the cuts so work and be done and i would like to finish again and supervisor and also and communities of clear and and a lot has been done and we believe that we can do it together and the immigrant community is working alongside and members of the community and to get the. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, plea. Im with Compass Family Service and we run a family shelter here. Im a native to San Francisco and im asking you guys to not defund but increase possible funding for our more vulnerable population of families impact bid homelessness, weve been facing barriers for many decades especially people of color in the city of San Francisco. Since color has hit the barriers have mounted and im really i ask you to consider this Mental Health and you support and wrap around Services Family needs to sustain even the and for this board of supervisors to please consider those children that have been effected by generational poverty and hopes of having outlets and possibility for hopes for the future. Were not believing were hopelessly in a situation were really hopeful that we can make a change by sustaining continual resources for these families that are vulnerable. Thank you. Thank you for your comments, next speaker, please. Hello, can i talk . Clerk please begin. Caller is it ok to talk now . Clerk yes. Caller hello . Thank you. My name is baird and im a San Francisco native and actually my great grandpa came in 1905 and our family has been here all these years. I retired from the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and Contract Compliance Division three years ago after 34 years of service to the contract compliance officers. And thank you board of supervisors for attending to these important issues about budget. I want to bring your attention to the fact that i believe we will need your help to set aside at least 500,000 for disparity study that you are aware of proposition 16 on the ballot will repeal prop 209 and if so the city will need to stand up to reimplement its minority and womens business programs ordinance as well as the employment minority and womens local San Francisco ordinance as well. Please, make sure that if this disparity study is put aside we have the chance to reimplement the minority women and business programs and affirm different action for minorities and women in employment. Thank you so much. Thank you for your comments, next speaker, please. Caller hello, commissioners, thank you for your service on the budget appropriations committee. This is anna stairia a district 67 and san franciscan tie Displacement Coalition member. If you would really like to keep people houses so they dont wind up displaced from the city or without homes, please keep tenants counseling agencies fully funded. Tenants are reliant on the Counseling Services they provide and especially now with looming evictions, they need the assurance that Vital Services, the councillors provide, will still be there the time of need. Also, im asking for rental assistance subsidiaries to continue to be funded and even increased to 5 million as youve heard from action. Supervisor ronen and yee have already given assurance their commitment to keep rental assistance sub degrees in this years budget add backs. And bes investing in the citys limited resource and ten apartment Counseling Service and rental services subsidiaries are worthy of your serious consideration, thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Hello, my name is Lauren Church and i live and work in San Francisco in district 3. Im calling to echo the calls of so many before me today and over the last month. The time is now to defund, disarm and disband sfpd. All of the city people have spoken. Weve been on these allnighter calls on this budget journey with you and share values and i reported my case and they said you learned your listen and it was only through connecting with Community Organizations in San Francisco over the course of several years and i was able to get my life back. And as a white we need the people to represent us and the courage and the imagination to do what is right and to create a safer future for all. An incarceration to youre citys problems and want and see our cities spend on the sfpd. And guess fewers it small tokens and we demand you eliminate this threat and Public Safety and fire the police and the sheriff and reinvest in our communities. There are 90 callers listening and 52 callers in the queue. Next speaker, please. Caller good afternoon, supervisors. My name is jay and i live in district 1 and i am a medical student at ucsf speaking on 182 students. Maintain fund to go protect trans programs and to save lion martin and it gives more test kids and i have struggled to Access Healthcare in the city and i turned to lion martin. I am white, wealthy and have had access to private insurance. This inaccessibility is so much worse with others for marginalized identity such as black and brown. They filet gap. Especially for trans People Living in poverty and if they do not receive funding, especially during this pandemic which is caused thousands to lose access to food and housing. I exo support for you to diverse from the sfpd presence and the department of publichealth and for you to redistrict funding from Law Enforcement to black led and. Hello. Caller hi, exercises. Msupervisors. Im a trainer now f district 11. I was raised by filipino immigrant communities. Particularly from the Rapid Response hotline. Im agitated at the 136,005,000 cut to Rapid Response and urge those funds be restored. Thousands of immigrant workers and families in sf many who are undocument and have vulnerable immigrant status find comfort knowing they have a 24 7 number to call with Peoples Organization whose care about their rights and lives and do not collaborate with ice and they act with urgency against race and deportation. In San Francisco they have less resources for Affordable Housing, medical care, language access, Food Security, employment and education. These should be human rights. Why are these budget items for discussion in the middle of the Global Pandemic and increase milltarized police violence. These cuts are attacks on all of our communities. Our struggles are tied and this historic time needs major changes by defunding sfpd and the Sheriffs Office. Its essential that Community Members understand their rights and how to assert them and we need Strong Community Defense Systems to hold ice accountable and protect the human rights of our immigrant Community Members. Listen to the black members and support all funding asks forwarded by the Budget Justice Coalition. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller my name is peter and i live in district 5. Weve heard from folks i asking for funding. Weve heard from trans asking for funding for life saving medical care and folks who worked with battered persons asking for funding, weve heard from working immigrants asking for continued funding for the Rapid Response hotline. Weve heard from countless people about cops who commit acts of violence or cops who shrugged their shoulders and we heard about the chief from the bottom less money pit for reform. We are entering times of scarcity. There are propositions on the upcoming ballots to raise tax to make up the shortfall but their fate is not certain. Federal aid, similarly is a big question mark. San franciscans safe and will actually help san franceance survive this pandemic. This is your opportunity to lead the city and vest in long lasting, dividendpaying Public Safety. Thank you. My name is natasha and im a 23 year receipt didnt of the miss where i work. I have heard what you need to consider in this budget. I appreciate your work on this. One time to make it possible to fund these programs ex expenditures is doug defund and disarm the police and the Sheriffs Department. The choices we make now will tip us toward health and healing or quicken our fall. The crisis and poverty, systemic racism has brought everything into focus, its up to each of those, those of you intrusted to protect those of you with power. The power to make or break policies, the power to vocally support the status quo or to take a stand and begin changing the on going path we are on. The violence in our society is not root inside who we think of as criminals and. Or put a stop to this lineage of violence or whether you think certain people deserve a life of violence and poverty. Thank you for your time. Clerk thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller hello board of supervisors, my name is ar sell lopez and i live in district 7. And the proposed cuts ur are not snuff. The board must defund by sfpd by 50 and row district it to support the black community, black organizations and leaderships and also you should definitely redistrict funds to the lion Martin Center. Theyre very important to the Transgender Community. Remain attentive and everyone in the queue, hang in we need to make our voices heard, thank you. Clerk thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. My name is sam and i am a district 1 resident and registered voter. So many people have said this so much more eloquently than i have. Please, defund, disarm, disband sfpd. You have heard so many callers call in advocating for so many different organizations that it does such good work that helps the community. I urge you to fund those organizations, fund organizations and departments that really help the people of San Francisco. I took the time to go and read one of your backgrounds. Everyone here on this committee. And you all either advocate to end homelessness or improve education within San Francisco. Both incredibly noble goals. Theres so much money sitting in the sfpd budget you could use to divert to both of those goals and help fix so many issues here in the city. I know you are tired of hearing us calling into say defund the police. I can see it in your faces and i know you are tired of hearing it and the meetings go really long. Were not going anywhere. Well call back next cycle. This movement is growing. I know you may not like it. I know you have issues with how its run but this issues isnt going anywhere. I may be extremely naive in this and i am a little knew to being involved in government, it feels like so many people are calling to ask for something to be done it would be nice to be heard and for action to be taken upon it. Thank you for your time and defund sfpd. Clerk thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller while were waiting i wanted to note there are 91 callers listening and 59 callers in the queue. Caller hello. I live in district 11 and im calling you to urge to you project this budget and defund the police. Approving a budget that dunce Prioritize Essential Services and the needs of the most vulnerable in our community is negligent. Police inflect trauma and violence on the poor. People are dying. An only as a district result of abuse of power but as a result of an over inflated Police Budget that funds oppression and rather than resources. You cut funding for certainly services most needed by working class people and people of color. You fund Police Terror but not healthcare. You fund Police Terror but not our Community Many of police dont keep us safe. I am invest in people and communities not cops and cages and help build blasting Public Safety for all of us. They put people in cages in the sheriff and perpetuate the criminal sales ocriminalization. Having a diverse police force isnt going to stop them from willing us. Having diversity trainings wont stop them from killing us. Any money spent on jailing would be better spent Funding Community based programs available to the general public. 1234506 i was handcuffed and arrested it was for popping fireworks in my own backyard. I witnessed kids get arrested for just the lack of resources in these communities that have caused them to struggle. When i moved to San Francisco 10 years i imagined a Progressive Community that was striving for equity and shape a better country but i found communities are complacent and they were afraid to leave. This movement might seem controversial to a lot of people its not the case and i believe that what we will see in the future is is anna bolishment of the police and its our choice to lead our country towards that or to be dragged along with everyone else. I really believe in San Francisco. I want to continue to live here and i will help shape the future. Im asking every board of supervisor members help. Thank you. Clerk thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller my name is sylvia and im a california residents and i am a member of San Francisco. First of all, i want to thank the San Francisco mayor, board of supervisors and to the office of housing and communities development. For the commitment of the Indian Justice and not to make cuts and education and its work and San Francisco immigrant Legal Defense and the Rapid Response network. Its very important for me and for my son and the Immigrants Community to keep counting on the Rapid Response network. We all need to be protected and informed in order to keep ability to this country and supporting the children who will be the future of this country. We need to be safe and to be able to be physical and psychological support to the people that need us. The people we work for. We work hard to put forward our families and even during this pandemic when it is time to have access to any kind of doubt. During this pandemic time, and the fires among other seniority communities have been the most impacted thats why its urging you o put more money to programs that really show how our Community Like the Rapid Response network and schools and housing thats done to the programs that effect us instead of helping us. Thank you for your time and good work. Clerk thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller good evening, members of the board of supervisors, im the executive director for American Resource Center in San Francisco. We want to express our solidarity with black San Francisco as a migrant community. Secondly, we want to echo i have a dog jumping here. Secondly, i want to echo everything thats been said. The chance right now for San Francisco once again, to make history. We may be a very progressive city but were not an equitable city. Today you have the opportunity to show our leadership and listening to the nations outcry for justice and find on end to police immunity. My son, during this hearing, showed me a video of another young black man shot in the back seven times by police. Enough is enough. If you have a chance to make history, our voices have been spoken very loudly and we know you are with us and please, lets make San Francisco make history and be the first city to truly defund the police and move towards equity for our city and everyone. Thank you. Clerk thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller hello. My game is Jeremy Miller im a black Program Director for the eager stele organization which served families terrorized for Law Enforcement for 15 years. The current proposed budget is a human rights crime and proposed 2. 6 cut to the Police Budget is laughable and offensive. We echo the call for a full defunding, disarming and disbanding of both sfpd and the Sheriffs Department and immediate removal of Sheriff Deputies from you will and they have Community Programs is be con schenn able when over 41 million can be saved just by eliminating Law Enforcement targeting of our homeless brothers and sisters. Its ridiculous the department of public works spends its time stealing our most vulnerable and embroiled and its slated for a three Million Dollar salary augmentation and lets not forget, the board of supervisors near quarter of a Million Dollar race while the rest of us suffer financial crisis or the one billion in reserves and 600 million in expected aid. I demand you expect the role of people today and if i can call on people to remove you. You will work for us or you dont work. Clerk thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller hi, my name is audry. Im a client of open door legal and im here to ask for increasing funding for the free Legal Services they offer to communities that truly need it. My husband and i live near sunny dale. Our children eight, six and two and my others attend good loop a. We had issues paying our rent. I took out a loan to help make rent which i was in default. Then the landlord posted an eviction notice on our door. We were terrified. I knew that if we were evicted we would have to leave this city. Housing is so expensive. Theres no way we could have afforded and new place. We couldnt afford legal fees and a legal jargon was so overwhelm being but i didnt want to leave the place we call home. We all love San Francisco and are proud to call the bayview home. Thankfully, we were referred to open door legal. We felt respected from the time we walked into the door. There was no wait time for the appointment that we felt a sense of family, connection and belonging with the people working there. They worked hard on my eviction and it turned out great. Were still in the home today and we call it our christmas miracle of 2019. They opened the case for unpaid loans we had taken out. Im so thankful for the hope and we hope to finish negotiatations soon. A weight has been taken off. We can call our attorney when needed and we feel supported no one will have to go through a conviction on their own but this is a story of many san franciscans and it would have been our story if it werent for open door legal. The node for Legal Services increase this is a downturn and covid19, increases the need for the help they offer to us. Im asking for the sake of my community to fully fund open door legal and help ensure everyone can access legal help. Thank you. Clerk thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller yes, hello. Hi. My name is darlene. I am a low income Family Living in San Francisco. I am please asking for you to keep funding programs like compass family because theyre the only ones that can help families like mine find housing and other support. Support means that families like me. If you please keep funding and can i ask if you can please fix the San Francisco Housing Authority system or is there system sometimes unfair because when like, when families like me need Emergency Needs, they look at me like im sorry. When families like me need emergency have urgent needs, they tend to not really help people and sometimes because im latina or a different race and they dont take our Emergency Needs as important and i please asking if someone can go to the San Francisco Housing Authority and supervisor the workers there because they dont take peoples problems as an emergency need and they just give people attitudes when they constantly or they call back and ask for help. That is the answer. Your time has elapsed. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Before we lineup the next caller, i just wanted to note its after 7 00 and we no longer have Interpretive Services in chinese or spanish. Next speaker, please. Hi, im a public librarian here in San Francisco. Im calling to add my voice to the course of people demanding that the city defund the police and sheriff and invest that money inhousing and education and healthcare and they have sheriff officers at the main library is to pro invit provided safety and support is not what i feel and not what Law Enforcement was created to provide for queer and trans people of color. People that the lgbtq Affinity Center that i manage is supposed to serve, reflect and welcome. Law enforcement is racist and it does not give people a place to live, a decent paying job, crisis intervention, medical care or human recognition and respect. Many other City Services and Community Based organization dozen help with these, however and with this budget, theyre getting cut far more than police and sheriffs. I wonder how much the nonprofit staffers contracted by department of children youth and families are going to get paid to serve San Francisco children in the Community Learning hub during the covid19 pandemic this fall. I have a feeling its nowhere proportionately near what sfpd receives for its riot gear and street patrol. Board of supervisors, please represent your people and redistribute the money away from the cops. Thank you. Thank you, ms. Kramer for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller my name is cath lynn and im im beyond angry. This is not the first time ive called into demand budget cuts to sfpd. I am stayed up into the night and lost sleep waiting for my one comment. On august 14th when so many called in repeated we must defund sfpd, i walked to see supervisors texted and giggled and sent emailed and i looked into chief scott claiming were calling to defund sfpd just because or as quote punishment. Its not more opposite. Its a good thing we keep repeating ourselves on this calls. Its shameful and embarrassing and now today i listen to people about their violent experiences with sfpd. The organizations in San Francisco that actually need the resources. We have have been clear, we have been consistent and we have been re lent less. We demand you drastically cut funding to sfpd and if you dont we are coming for your jobs. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller hello, my name is alice and i live in district fourth and im a fourth generation San Francisco. I want to thank supervisor fewer. And supervisor walton calling for a 75 reduction in overtime and i know you didnt get anything you asked for as far as negotiation and i hope you continue to demand even more. We must continue to remove more and more in the Police Budget so we can fund other programs that truly keep our communities safe and healthy many of the mayors budget, which makes nominal cutbacks is unsell able and we need to do more. The facts dont lie. The scales of policing has not been shown to have any correlation or impact of crime. Has been proven to be effective in reducing violence and harms within our communities having access to basic needs, resources and Community Programs. We dont need more Police Officers, or nearly as many Police Officers as we have already. We do need is funding for our schools, our libraries, housing, the Publichealth Department and so much more. Teachers and Public Service and who threaten our nothing further vulnerable communities and housing, healthcare, education and reparations keeps us safe and invest and help them with lasting Public Safety for all of us. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Hello, my name is dr. Annie lay and im a resident physician at sf General Hospital and i live in district 9. I urge this committee to divest from the sfpd presence in the dph and invest in Behavioral Health programs and safety and hospital snow squallhospitals sf healing and it perpetuates trauma and toxic stress. It escalates situation and stories of their overreaching violence in our hospitals have spread through the community causing patients to decide not to come here for terror and our patients and communities deserve alternatives now, further we need radical riel occasions of Police Funding and decrease numbers of sfpd officers and sheriff in this sickel and a elimination of Academy Classes and i stand with all calling for divestment with police and the many health and Community Service thats promote safety while being and flourishing for all including the Budget Coalition and the Rapid Response hotline, open door legal and hivpositive housing and Trans Service and lion Martin Center and city college. Funding should come from cuts from the police, thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Good evening, board of supervisors. My name is erika dixon and im an investigative assistant with the San Francisco d. A. He is office as well as a member of local 21. Being an essential worker im grateful that layoffs have been averted for now and through the efforts. However, i am concerned about the looming layoffs in the not too district ant future with the strains brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. This is an event that is beyond what anyone expect and devastating lives and livelihood is in its wake. Consider using or citys rainy day funds to support City Services by city workers. City workers are also San Francisco area residents who support their local economies and shopping on a local grocery store, patronizing our eatery that serves take out. We support oer local economies which keeps people employed and then allows those people to also patronize their local businesses to keep the economy going. Invest north our city plow eyes to do the work to provide services to our residents and not for the pandemic we would not make this request. Think of this as a return on investments. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Hello, my name is tilda and i live in San Francisco for 10 years and im currently in district 6. I urge you, to disarm, did he fund and dismantled the sfpd and the ser i have sheriffs depar. I needed help but i knew i couldnt call on the police the police have ineffective of dehe is ka rate ising and also, studies show that costs are two to four times more upon and the purpose perpetrators and we have a hammer everything looks like a nail. But costs arent the solution for the problems our city is facing. And its black and brown in our correctional system and its clear that police causing harm for their most vulnerable. We tried reform and it hasnt worked. Weve heard from so many providers of a critical and the pandemic has the pressure on all of our systems exacerbating racism and social inequality and why are we funding the police instead of so many other programs that pro voids safety and community for all and can you hang black lives matter all over the city but the empty statement unless we put our money where our mouth is and Fund Programs with socially quality tee. Food, housing, reparations, healthcare and Mental Health services. We have to organize and we will vote out out. Were not going away and were not giving up. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Caller supervisors, first i want to thank you for two minutes for everybody. Its a lg