Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Land Use Committee 20240712

We said that from beginning and i stand behind that and people ultimately have to understand the risk that what is implied in asking them to come back and right now we need emphasis. And families that have the privilege to safely work from home. I understand all the guides, but this is definitely safety first, safety number one. And the School District has gone above and beyond in enhancing our crisis learning plan during this time. We are working on making it better and hearing families and including them that is to empower families and reach out to them and make the learning at home as seamless as possible given the fact that we are in a pandemic. There is no way around that and no way even know and for me to trust the dfl department of Public Health during the time that we have been tegs communities and seeing the results and seeing the lack of support once they are tested positive. All those things are realities and i also have a really big problem with putting our students who are high need out first on the ground. This is also very risky for the communities who are most affected which is the latino and black communities in San Francisco. So i really just want us to understand the factors and to really consider that. I know this is a hard time. I think, again, we all just need to emphasize fwher a pandemic and to do as much as we can. And opening up school sites and opening up the risk of enhancing covid in sfraefrn though we are doing well is not something i condone. So i will leave my comments that the. Any other commissioners . First, again, just to recognize all the Public Comment thats come in tonight. Thank you for,000 comments. To state the obvious obvious and the fact that our district has really embraced insuring the and to ensure our students and families and educators and all the work that has gone into what we know and had to improve from the spring into Distance Learning. To try to acknowledge and that we heard from the superintendent and heard from susan solomon. We heard from commissioners and educators that we want our students back inperson in the classroom. But we cant be there right now all at the same time. So eappreciate the thoughtfulness of a measured approach and what that faszlooks like and the planning that is simultaneously of implementing Distance Learning and how we get better because we know there are major gap there is, too, and report back and the continuous feedback and learning while lan planning for a gradual return and hybrid inperson. And that is a large list. I want toing a knowledge the superintendent, the staff, our educators, and everyone that is doing this work day in and day out. This is the heart and soul. And just want to take a moment there to also recognize what families are undergoing every day, right . With the stretches and so much that is being lifted up. And with that, there is actually a lot of planning that the staff is doing that we may not have articulated, and that is something that i would like to raise with dr. Matthews and to the board is how can we show progression on meeting all the thresholds, right . So it is not about a time of tomorrow, but that we are getting ready. When it is when we check off the yess and we can demonstrate this progress and with the assessment of understanding the Elementary Schools and thank you to families that have raised it and that is part of the consideration. So that is where i want to name around how are we progressing on those part. For me one of the biggest components right now that is beyond us is we dont operate in a vacuum and one, there are things we cant control which is the Community Spread and the other pieces around testing and tracing is a really big spees that we cant do this on our own. We need federal investment. Without federal investment, our department of Public Health locally and the state is so right now compounded to being left to hold it. I want to understand a little bit more and tonight if we have details that are around discussions where the u. S. Testing and tracing is at because that is a large component, but this is a theme from over all to see the tracking progress over time. I will pause there. Do you have a specific question that you want answered . The specific question is around, one, is how do we want to engage or report to the public our constituents and stakeholders . Will that be done through i know we have a lot of committees that meet already. Are we going to be reactivating dr. Matthews working groups or do we feel like we have some infrastructure already in place to leverage that have all of our various stakeholders so that we can provide that transparency of progress, of all the different different progression points that was presented this evening and that we do this in partnership with our labor partners and want to recognize all of our educators and staff that are doing this work. I would say twofold. One on the question of the work groups and reactivating, we are in some way, shape, or form is the work groups. If it is not the work group, a Community Reaction and reactivating of some type of Community Input and so this might be the three word groups or combination of all three. Those work groups consist of community, teacher, straittors, and all the labor partners. That would be one and reactivating in some way, shape, or form. And its reactivating the groups and the second part of your question was around, oh, the updating of the community. So we have as you know the covid policy team with a big part of tonight taking feedback from the board and the community. What we heard loud and clear is sound like in some way, shape, or form and the more Transparent Communication back to the progress being made around the boxes or around the decision tree so i will be taking this back to the policy team tomorrow morning to term what that should be look like and sounds like needs more than afternoon july 28 and this is lull september 28. So to be more frequent. I am concerned about the young learners and literacy and reading and overall the social and emotional supports for the younger learners and with the gradual return is ultimately a family will be what they feel is best for their child and that is part of the consideration of the hybrid model. And commissioner collins and commissioner cook. Thanks. I do want to say that i appreciate the work thats gone into this and i also want to say that i appreciate parent leaders, labor leader, educators and also staff. This is one area where we dont always agree but in this area i think there has been a consistent agreement that safety needs to come first and that safety for staff as well as students and families and i am a person that is high risk. And there are many families in our district that have family members that are high risk and the reality is that you look at canada, and theyre saying they dont have as many cases and that allows them to do things we cant do in our country which is unfortunate. So i understand there is frustration and a lot of its very difficult and to serve families especially with Young Children and at the same time i am grateful for our district. We were one of the first to close and there is a lack of leadership at the national and state level and they are following our lead. So i think we are very clear about being cautious and i really appreciate staff working with community and being very thorough in our analysis of what would be safe. And i also want to let folks know that we have over 100 schools. [please stand by] we should be testing out is it safe with ventilation, with, you know, social distancing, entries and exits. All of those things should be worked out on adults before were trying them with peoples children, and additionally, i also think that involving family and community is very important. We should continue to do that, and i think it helps because as commissioner lam said, none of us have been through this before, and so its a way for us to cocreate an understanding of where we are and what we should do together. This is a partnership, and then finally i also heard a comment of how do we make this transparent. I like the idea of, you know, i understand theres a department of Public Health says we need to have ventilation. As an educator, i started thinking, i was never in a i never taught in a classroom that had operable windows, right . That was going through my mind, and i know a lot of teaches were having that experience, and so thats why right away, you know, educators were saying, wait a second, like, if thats a requirement for safety, i dont know about that. And so i know there are classrooms with operable windows and there are not, and so what does that look like . Having a quantifiable understanding i think would be very helpful, not only for me as a board, but also for the general public so that when the chronicle likes to run headlines that are exciting that say schools may reopen and everybody is wondering whats going on, i think regularly we should be communicating this is what we need and this is where were at and, you know, this is how far we need to go. And so, you know, its not as its been very stressful worrying about all these changes, and i think it will help us to regularly communicate, you know, with the larger community, you know, where we are as far as, you know, meeting the requirements to be able to open safely. And i think in some ways well also serve as a leader for other independent schools, private schools and Charter Schools. They should also be as transparent with their families as well. So thank you again, and i look forward to getting some followup in the way that we can continue to be communicating. So thanks. Commissioner cook . Thank you for the presentation, and to everyone that weighed in, [indiscernible] one of the things that i think at least i agree with is that, umm, for our younger children, i dont know how much disagreement there is Distance Learning isnt working. Theres a lot of truth in that. [indiscernible] is not working. Theres lack of Internet Access for some of our marginalized communities. Theres a lot of gaps, you know, and so theres also a lot of confusion because a bunch of things are open, a lot of people are walking around, you know, and were in a city that had a lot of restrictions, but i live in hays valley, and if you walk through there, people have their mask on kinda, you know . You see the whole city moving in certain directions. You are like why cant kids be back in school. The kids, a bunch of kids playing together in different programs, or i see them at the park through other programs. Visually, things are throwing people off. And you know, we are responsible for a lot of people, and so they are thinking if they can do it why cant we do it. As a part of the decision tree, one thing that was mentioned that i wanted to kind of have a bit of a conversation about was whats happening here versus other cities. When we decided to close, it was this discussion with dr. Matthews about being in conversation with the other counties. Is that still happening around reopening . Yes, we meet at least once every two weeks, and then all of the big four superintendents meet once every two weeks and the county, all of the county superintendents meet once every two weeks, yeah. The question is for reopening no one is no one has put a date on bringing students back yet. And as a matter of fact, san jose has already extended through the end of the school year. San jose and santa rose and those two districts have already extended have announced that they will not bring students back before january 1. Okay. Do you happen to know off the top of your head what new york city is doing . They had announced they were going to reopen, and then they pushed it back, pushed the date, september 21 was the new date. It was like eight days later, and now theyve pushed that date back. So they havent announced when they are going to reopen either. They announced it and then they pushed the date back, at least a couple of times. Okay. And for the other major driks in the country that have opened, we have, like, some very large districts in the country that have opened, are we getting what is our sense of, like, watching those protocols, those traces . Are we i know we have a lot of local stakeholders we have to Pay Attention to, but can you speak to how the team is observing those districts . So large districts in georgia or texas or whatever the case may be. Yeah, they have definitely had some setbacks. I cant speak for every district. We definitely know there have been some setbacks. They have had some setbacks where they had to close down either some schools or entire districts, and then try to pick back up. Ufs going to comment after commissioner collins commented. It was only six months ago, as you recall, that last week that we were open we actually had three schools that we ended up closing, and as you recall, when the School Closed initially we had to put out notices to the entire school that they need to quarantine, entire schools needed to quarantine or 14 days until we got more notice. It was around the classroom, but its those kinds of one of the things that i would say, and this is in agreement with commissioner collins, that we dont want to open just to shut down. We know thats a long answer to your question, but the short answer is we know there have been some setbacks, and there may be some that have been successful, im sure, because the entire state opened up or different counties throughout the state, like in georgia. Clearly some may have had some success or may be successful. We know also know that there have been quite a few that have had to shut down either classrooms or entire schools. We will get into the protocol, what is the appropriate protocol if someone is positive, right . Because an entire shut down i mean, that made a lot of sense when this first came out, but it may not make, like, as much sense. Maybe its just me, but i thought, like i thought i had covered five times, right . So ill call kaiser they said if youre coughing youre probably fine. So we have a better sense of if somebodys positive this is what were going to do . Im going to ask ms. Lyle smith if you could just briefly are you on . Yes, i am. Could you just briefly talk about the states guidelines around the recommendations they made for the number of cases in which you need to do . Sure. Thank you, superintendent, thank you, commissioners, for the opportunity. Commissioner cooke, youre right, our knowledge of sort of transmission and what we would do in a case of a positive, in the case of someone testing positive is different than what we would have done, what we did do back in march, so really the key issue when somebody when we are notified that somebody has tested positive is the first part of the Contact Tracing is to understand who have been the close contacts of the when was the person there . Were they there 48 hours before their symptoms started showing . So if they were there, like, they were there and then a week later they had symptoms and they tested positive, nobody is at risk because at the time they were at the site we would not have to close the site down and tell everybody to go home and quarantine. Now if you have a situation where youre in a classroom and somebody tests positive and we find out that they were actually at the site, 48 hours before their symptoms showed, then we go and try to find out who have they been around, were they wearing their mask, how close were they, are they a close contact, and thats considered next to somebody with a mask less than six feet for more than 15 minutes. So we go through this whole protocol to determine who would need to be the people who would quarantine, and if were in a classroom where we think everybody is a close contact, then we would maybe close that cohort down, but we might not close the whole school down. But we wouldnt make like, all of these are sort of guidelines, and we would make the decisions in the moment. We would sit and think about it before we and work with the policy team and work with the department of Public Health. And there are some guidelines that the state will say that if you have say you have a number of cohorts in a school say you have four cohorts in a school and one out of four closes, you would close the entire school. And if we had four schools open when we opened up, if one of those schools closed we would close the entire district. Theres, like, a 25 threshold that the state guidance uses. So hopefully that wasnt confusing. That was a lot of information. Yeah. I mostly followed. Sounds like theres a plan. Theres a plan, yeah. This is all very serious and important, and its important that we have these scenarios. Its good to know we have that. Generally we understand that testing positive doesnt mean that youre going to die for everyone that gets it, and also. As a city we see that things are kind of moving back to the way that they were, right . If youre on the bridge, theres rush hour. Like, its like like, people are back, and they are out. So this piece about people on Public Comment mentioned having workspace that, like, their classroom is a part of their practice, and just having a room doesnt mean its going to be adequate to do the work that they do. So you listed out the remote locations. How are you thinking about people just going back to their classroom, like, at what point would that be . Im wondering if you can respond to that, people just being able to go back to their own classroom. So the issue is if it was if everyone was if a number of people, i know it wouldnt be anyone, but lets say its a large number that wanted to go back to their own classrooms, it would mean opening up more buildings. So the reason that if we kept it confined is because we had sof site captains for each of the buildings. We had to have someone basically in charge of the buildings. The administrators arent back in the buildings, so there had to be someone in charge of the buildings. That would mean that basically were opening up more buildings. It means more people are coming back, and at the same time that thats happening, remember, were trying to get some sites ready for small groups. So its a its a which one is a priority for us, either putting people teachers back in their classrooms who wanted classrooms. As you heard tonight, many arent ready to go back at this point. They feel theres a concern around safety. Or the party was going to get ready for the priority was beginning to get ready for at some point small groups coming back, and we believe that what we heard loud and clear from the work groups is after you begin Distance Learning, the next priority everybodys in Distance Learning, which they are, which provides a level of consistency, the next priority should be, okay, beginning to move down and starting to get ready for small group return. So that means that if you noticed those sites, you noticed they are all middle and high schools. So the elementaries arent being used because we know that that would be the first group that we would, as you saw from the student priority, bring back. Okay. Well, my last thing is about facilities. I want to keep. This is a really important equipment. I mean, just like we talked about the plan for if theres a case, can you speak to a plan of if theres a need on equipment, how youre going to address it . Does that make more sense . Yeah, i would say that we would as you said, there are cases there are some cases when im sorry for the interruption. That happened to me a few times tonight. So as so if someone puts a work order in, the work order doesnt get responded to. Thats the working example i have. Im saying now that we have the situation, how do people get what they need . I would say for sure its right now, like you said if the work order isnt completed, were talking a work order with 130 sites, when we would start, there would be a far, far fewer number of sites. At the max it would be a third of our students, 15,000, versus 45,000, and all of these, as we start, if its if we start if the small group is only a thousand probably wouldnt even be a thousand, but it would be far fewer sites, which means, you know, its much more difficult where work orders are requested to fall through the sites when the number of sites and the number of requests are much smaller. I think the other piece is that clearly, for example, whats going on now, even with the sites that we just the remote sites with teachers back in place, i mean, the needs are being met immediately. The cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, all of that is just immediately put in teachers hands as they enter the building. So i would say that would mitigate the things falling through the cracks because the numbers are much smaller. Looks like chief, you want to Say Something . Commissioner, happy to add a few details if its helpful for the conversation. To your point, just wanted to acknowledge the legitimacy of the concern and also let you know that we have actually spent this summer trying to use the time that students have been out of the sites basically sweeping through them, addressing work order backlogs. So in particular we focus on southeast, the southeast cohort, and we actually eliminated the backlog of work orders at most of the sites in the southeast. And from Little Things like relamping and replacing every single light bulb to also doing Major Mechanical system checks and overhauls. We are continuing that process, like, as we speak, basically, continuing to move through sites, and as we are planning for hybrid learning, we are also working and want to work and have actually started working with some volunteer sites even to figure out how to quickly working together as a team with staff at the site divide the work of assessing the conditions, the physical condition of the site, so that some of the easy things, the site path can help assess, and then that frees up as well our bng teams to be able to just work on the core mechanical systems and Structural Systems that i think are, to your point, the things that tend to really impact negatively student and staff comfort. We have also looked at our work order systems and created, of course, a covid19 response flag, and elevated and are going to just were going to have to shift the priorities for electrical and also mechanical crews in the coming year to say that these kinds of problems have to be put at the top of the list right off the bat, and ill be reviewing those work order lists with the team myself on a regular basis. So hopefully that provides some reassurance that while there are some types of mechanical failures that cannot be remedied in a 24hour basis, right, that you do require extra support and help, that at the very least those problems are going to be tracked really rigorously and prioritized in a way that they have not been in prior years. Okay, thank you. You are working very hard on that, and things have gotten a lot smoother and clearer, at least definitely in the communication to you with us about where things are. One of the last things that ill just say, just related to this what the chief just mentioned, a bunch of work happening at sites to catch up on things that havent been done, it highlights this tension that i was trying to mention about seeing if things are happening, why arent schools happening. People are working together to build entire buildings, today. Constantly amongst each other, edifices are getting they go up, Certain Industries havent closed, so theres a lot of people in close proximity with each other, which means theres a lot of ongoing examples of how those folks are or are not contracting covid, but the precautions are for those employers that are doing that. So theres just a lot that, you know, we can also go from and see and learn to get a better idea of how are we going to ensure that the people that work for our district are safe, because those people are still working and they are doing it in close proximity. So you know, we much prioritize safety, and we have these other examples of whats happening. At least the precautions we could take if we decide to as we decide to move forward. All right, thank you. Any other comments or questions . All right, i will just i think the commissioners covered all the bases on this one, but i do want to reemphasize the appreciation i have for the public coming out and speaking to us, and also to our staff superintendent and your team, folks out in the field, folks who are actually working outside now, the folks who are distributing food, et cetera, continuing to do devices, theres a lot of hard work going on, and of course our teachers, you know. We know im a teacher, so i know what it feels like, but our teachers are working really hard, our paraeducators are as well, and i know its not enough for our families. It will never be enough, Distance Learning cannot be enough, but like others are saying, we have to be as safe as possible. And we will be diligent and work with an abundance of caution as we move forward. So thank you again, and we will move on. The next item is j, discussion and vote on consent calendar items moved to previous meetings, k, introduction of proposals for assignment to committee. We have well, a number of things. Superintendents proposal 20922sp1, renewal for city arts tech in high school. I think thats the only proposal, and so do we have any Public Comment on that item . Please raise your hand if you care to speak on this item. I see a couple hands. Ill find them. They should also have their hand up. Pardon . Ms. Fisher. Thank you. Hello, hannah. Im sorry, i didnt mean to have my hand raised. No worries, thank you. Sorry. Kelly . Yeah, can you tell me more about this item . This is the introduction and proposal and assignment to committee for the renewal petition for the city arts and tech high school, the first reading, and its being referred to committee. Renewal petition for a Charter School. So what does the renewal permission charter what does that mean . So one of the things that has to happen is that in these meetings you have to read the background and then if you raise your hand, its to speak to it, but its not for us to explain the item to you. Im sorry, i didnt read that ahead of time because i have been working with a 3yearold all day. So i do have to say that i would like for you to reiterate, tell me what this means for me to vote on. So as i said, thats not how this works. You have to do the background and then if you have a comment, go ahead and speak to it. Otherwise were going to move to the next speaker. But what is this about, though . Its about a Charter School thats seeking to renew its charter, and the Charter Schools name is city arts and technology. And they are just wanting to renew their charter . Yes, so they are going through the process of doing that right now. Well, i would approve that charter. Okay. Thank you. Ms. Fisher . So as a member of the Charter School Oversight Committee, we look forward to on behalf of the Charter School Oversight Committee, we look forward to working with the district, and our meetings are open to the public. To the previous commenter, you are more than welcome to join us, and you can find our meetings on the district website. Please come and learn more about Charter School oversight. Were always looking for Public Comment and additional people to attend. More information coming once we fully review. Thank you. Thank you. And before i forget, we need a motion and a second for this item. I second. Kellyanne taylor. So moved. That was all we need. All right, this is referred to the Curriculum Program and Budget Services committee. Im really happy to see that our Oversight Committee will be looking at it as well. Section l, proposals for immediate action and suspension of the rules. Theres none tonight. M, Board Members report. We have reports from our standing committees, budget and Business Service committee, which was wednesday, september 10. Commissioner lamb, i dont know if you have anything to add. No, we voted on both of the proposals, the transportation resolution as well as the [indiscernible] pi resolution. Ad Hoc Committee on students which met on monday, september 14, commissioner norton . Umm, yes. The ad Hoc Committee sorry, i wasnt ready. Can i pass . Believe me, ive had to do that in the past. Program which met yesterday, vicepresident lopez . Yes, we had a discussion on virtual learning, and its actually led to another meeting that were calling in order to get some of the questions that we raised answered, and this is around just the spaerns that were having experience that were having right now, the communication piece, which is a lot of what weve discussed tonight. And we talked about the language pathway that carmichael and just in general how we can have a broader discussion as a full board around language programs, but there was a lot of Community Support around this item, and we are hoping to host our next Curriculum Committee meeting on october 8 at 4 p. M. And the Bessie Carmichael is to staff recommendation for a program instead of a dual immersion program. Theres an article about that today in the examiner. The following Committee Meetings have been scheduled, the joint select Committee Meets this friday, september 25, at 10 a. M. The ad Hoc Committee meets tuesday, september 29, at 4 p. M. Not at 5, which was the original scheduled time. Buildings, grants and services, wednesday, september 30 at 11 a. M. Rules, policy and legislation monday, october 5, 4 p. M. Budget and Business Services, wednesday, october 7 at 4. And then vicepresident lopez just mentioned theres a curriculum for october 8 at did you say 3 p. M. . 4 p. M. Thank you. Any reports from delegates to membership organizations, like the csba and others . Probably not. All those commissioner norton . Go ahead. Im ready. So we did have a student Assignment Committee on the 14th. We heard it was very interesting. We saw simulations from the Stanford Team thats been working with us. The committee did were asked by staff and agreed to take the first concept off the table which is a concept that would have just had one Attendance Area School for every you know, one attendance area for every school, and we agreed to look at the other two concepts and consider those, which are more multiple schools within a zone concept, and they differ based on how restrictive the choice is and how many schools are in the zone. The simulations definitely find that you can improve diversity, you know, you have a lot more ability to improve diversity if you are willing to have oddly shaped or noncontiguous zones, and we have some concerns about that, but our, you know, willing to continue to explore various ways of drawing zones in order to try to maximize all the goals which are diversity proximity and i cant remember its been a long night. Anyway, we are i really want to encourage Board Members to attend we have two more meetings before we really zero in on a concept that will come to the board as a proposal, so president sanchez just noted that the next meeting is going to be next tuesday at 4 p. M. , and then we have another meeting on october 14, so if you can attend those meetings, i think it would be really, really helpful to give your input and be part of the discussion, because its moving fast and furious now. So predictability, thank you commissioner collins, predictability, thats the one. All right. What . [indiscernible]. We had a lot of conversations about all of them. Simplicity, predictablity, diversity. Im a little punchy, everybody. So hopefully you can join us at the next meeting on the 29th. Thank you, commissioner norton. So if theres no board delegate or reports out, are all other reports by Board Members . Anything people want to mention . Commissioner collins . Yes, i do want to mention that theres a Human Rights Commission meeting on thursday, and its we will be presenting as a staff, so if deputy superintendent marcel, if you just want to share that, because that is a community its open to the community. Its an opportunity for us to listen to the community and speak within that forum. I dont know if shes with us. Its on thursday i want to make sure that i get the dates right. Ill look it up and then ill come back, but its one of the ways that we as a district are actually working with Partner Organizations to actually just be more accessible to the public in various Community Forums as a part of our equity work, so well be discussing our equity work, and i believe updating on equity studies and things like that, and potentially Distance Learning. Okay. The meeting starts at 5 00, and we are presenting on our equity studies resolution, a brief update, as well as an update on Distance Learning. We will definitely share that in our digest as well tomorrow. Thank you. I had something, president sanchez. Go ahead. So we have been as a Community Around ethnic studies in the state, actually, weve been pushing to get other groups that have been pretty much some have been excluded from the current curriculum, and so it has been a movement to, you know, get folks back into the curriculum, and so theres been a lot of success around it. We have been able to, you know, help get the Pacific Islander group, arabic group back in. Theres still more work around other communities that have been excluded from the curriculum, and so on thursday we as a community with Pacific Islander folks are meeting with state superintendent tony thurman to kind of go over the current recommendations that we have as a community. In addition, were working im actually working with other Pacific Islander school Board Members across the state to advocate for the inclusion of other southeast asians that have been excluded under the curriculum. My hope is that as we continue to ethnic studies in our School District in San Francisco that we are able to capture a good amount of representation that exists within the School District. Such important work. Thank you, commissioner. Section n, other informational items. I have one thing. Go ahead, sorry, i missed you. I just wanted to briefly acknowledge and thank educators for their welcome back ceremony that they had online. They gave an award to dr. Priestly, and i believe [indiscernible] got an award you guys know her, right . There are other educators. I wanted to and student delegates came and participated, so thank you to the alliance for continuing this moving forward of programming, elevating our educators and keeping our Community Close together, even though we are virtual. I appreciate you. Commissioner collins . I also wanted to acknowledge in connection with the commissioner talking about the earth nick study work thats going on that we are as a he is leading as a leader. We as a district have been leading. President sanchez, you can speak to the fact that as a district, you know, we have led in ethnic studies in our district, and im really proud of that work, and i think its notable in the sense that we have a current president right now that is trying to actually erase this type of work and actually teaching history. Actually true history, but also history that is diverse and inclusive, and so i just want to honor and respect just that as a district we are leaders, and in this nation as a district, and we have been for a while. Im just joining the board, but we have a history of that. And i just wanted to say thank you to teachers for social justice, united educators, previous Board Members and our staff across the district who are leading and even, you know, deputy superintendent marcel, superintendent matthews, the fact that we are saying as a district we want to engage in antiracist education is notable in this time. It is not something to ignore, so i want to say thank you to all to everyone, to our community, because we wouldnt be able to do this if it werent for our community as well. Thank you. I appreciate that. All right. So next n, other informational items . None tonight, but just a reminder that the next regular Board Meeting in october will be on the first tuesday of the month, october 6. At 3 p. M. Section o, memorial adjournment, theres none tonight. At this time we will take a total of five minutes for Public Comment. Thank you. Please raise your hand if you care to speak to items on the closed session agenda. Hello, kelly. Hi. I just had so many comments throughout this evening. I cant see my face looking amongst you all, but i can see all of you from your positions, and i have to say that having had a loss of our Supreme Court justice person, its been a difficult week. And i do want to say that i appreciate all of your members doing all that you can do within the city of San Francisco. I do have to say that i have much concern for the future of your board. I do have great admiration for a few of you that ive seen online, and i have to say kudos. I have to say great job, keep going forward, but i do want you to know that you need to stay on court and do your diligent job, do the best that you can do. Kelly, this time is to speak to items that are on the closed session agenda. So if you have a comment on an item thats on the closed session agenda, go ahead. Otherwise were going to need to move forward. Actually, i do have a comment. I do have a comment. I do have a comment. Okay. My comment is you talked about young kids, like two, threeyearolds that are in their own homes and mom and dads that have, like, got fulltime jobs thank you for your time, maam. Thats not on the agenda this evening. We thank you. All right, that concludes the closed session Public Comment. All right. Thank you so much, mr. Steele. The board will now go to section t, into closed session. Thus i call a recess of the regular meeting. See you all in the other meeting. Session, vote on number one, vote on student expulsion matters. Theres none tonight. Two, vote on Employment Contracts for unrepresented chief executive employees, none tonight. Three, report from closed session, on one matter of Public Employee discipline dismissal, the board voted by seven to approve the settlement with one community and approved the contract for an administrator. And two matters of anticipated litigation, the board by a vote of six ayes, one absent, lamb, provided direction to the general counsel. So we are adjourning section r, adjournment for this meeting, and then we are reconvening, and so we need a roll call. Youre on mute. Youre still on mute. Yes. Can you mention the meeting, commissioner . Yes, we are convening regular meeting of the San Francisco board of education for september, whatever date it is. I second. Second. So we need a roll call. Thank you. [roll call]. Its a roll call for check in. Yes, im here. We are going to go into closed session, but before we do, im going to open up to Public Comment for anybody that wants to speak to the closed session item. Noo please raise your hand if youd like to speak to this item on the agenda this evening in closed session. Seeing none. All right. So we are going to go into closed session. Well see you on the other side. [gavel]. Chair peskin good afternoon and welcome to the San Francisco land use and Transportation Committee of the board of supervisors, joined by acting vice chair dean preston, soon to be joined by actual vice chair ahsha safai. Our clerk is miss erica major. Miss major, do you have any announcements . Clerk yes. In accordance with Governor Newsom executive order declaring a state of emergency starting the covid19 outbreak and mayor london n. Breeds proclamation declaring a local emergency issued on february 25, 2020, including the guidance for gatherings issued by the San Francisco department of Public Health center, members of t officer, aggressive directives were issued to reduce the spread of covid19. On march 17, 2020, the board of supervisors authorized their bhoord and Committee Meetings to convene remotely and will allow remote Public Comment via teleconference. Watch the sfgovtv website at www. Sfgovtv. Org to stream the live meeting or to watch meetings on demand. Members of the public are encouraged to participate remotely via detailed instructions on participating via teleconference. Members of the public may participate by phone or may submit their comments by email to ericamajor sfgov. Org. All comments received will be made a part of the official report. Chair peskin thank you. Would you please read items 1 and 2 today. Clerk item 1 is ordinance amending the Administration Code to establish the social Housing Program fund for the acquisition, creation, and operation of affordable social housing developments, and item 2 is an ordinance amending the Administration Code to establish the covid19 rent resolution and relief fund, to provide Financial Support to landlords whose tenants have been unable to pay rent due to the covid19 pandemic. Members of the public wishing to make Public Comment may call the phone number streaming across your screen and enter the meeting code. Chair peskin thank you. And it is my understanding that supervisor preston would like to continue these items one week. Supervisor preston yes. Chair peskin okay. And weve been joined by the actual vice chair, supervisor safai, so supervisor preston, you youre demoted to member of this committee at this point. So just so that we are clear, the agenda next week is remarkably long, so i would ask your indulgence, supervisor preston, either to continue this to the call of the chair, or if anything falls off of the next agenda, we could get it on or alternatively, i could schedule it for the meeting in two weeks. But weve got a super hairy, fivehour probably fourtofivehour agenda next week. So what is your will, sir . Supervisor preston well, so my concern is we will be introducing amendments next week which will require further hearing. We are trying to move the funding from the upcoming ballot measure, so i you know, our hope through the meetings that were having with stakeholders is that we are hammering out issues before next week, but it would be our hope not to have a marathon meeting on monday, but i would say we are sensitive to the timing on this. Chair peskin and thank you for your sensitivity to that. It sounds like youre going to be introducing amendments that are substantive that would require a continuance. To the extent that proponents of these items could comment once it comes to the committee for a full consideration, cosoe can make next mondays calendar as efficient as possible given the number of items that we have, lets continue it to next week for that. Lets open it up for Public Comment. Clerk yes. I dont know why you have to put social in front of everything, but i think public sounds better. I yield the rest of my time. Chair peskin hello. Next speaker, please. Hello. This is anastas anastasia iovannopoulos, district 8 resident. Thank you for continuing this for letting us look at them and moving them inform a future meeting where theyll them to a future meeting where theyll be voted on. Chair peskin is there any further comment on item 1 and 2 . Clerk that concludes the comment. Chair peskin if theres knox, supervisor preston would like to continue these items for one week. That motion made by myself, the chair. A roll call, please. Clerk on the motion as stated [roll call] clerk you have three ayes. Chair peskin next item, please. Clerk item 3 is a resolution supporting california state proposition 21, keep families in their homed on november 3, 2020 ballot. Members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment on item number 3 should call the number streaming on the screen. Thats 4156550001. Enter the meeting i. D. 1469569029. Press pound, and pound again, and press star, three to enter the queue. Please wait until the system indicated you have been unmuted and provide Public Comment. Chair peskin thank you. This item has been sponsored by supervisor ronen and cosponsored by supervisors preston, haney, walton, and myself. Is there a representative from supervisor ronens office . [inaudible]. Supervisor safai i cant hear anything shes saying. Oh, no. How is this . Chair peskin much better. Thank you for allowing me to speak today. This item is a resolution supporting california state proposition 21, keep families in their homes, on the november 3 ballot. Prop 21, when passed, will significantly amend the california civil code section now known as the costa hawkins rental act and rename it to the rental affordability act. Specifically, what it would do is allow local governments to adopt local rent ordinances with exceptions for housing and condos owned by natural persons to own no more than two singlefamily units, and it would allow local governments to prohibit landlords from proposing more than 15 rent increases in one year in the city. While anecdotally, there are stories of rents dropping due to covid, the rents are still out of reach for many. A minimum wage employee would have to work 57 hours a week to cover average rent if they didnt spend a single penny on food or anything else. 44 of san franciscans are still spending more than 30 of their income on their rent, with a disproportionate amount of those being african americans. [inaudible] it has distorted our Housing Market into becoming just another commodity for corporate speculators [inaudible] longterm commitment and investment. Two years ago, this board formally endorsed proposition 10 through resolution offered by supervisor pesk kin. Prop 10 was disputed statewide after some of the nations largest rental corporations spent 60 million on a cynical and misleading ad campaign, but a majority of san franciscans voted in favor. The california secretary of state website reports that the California Apartment Association has already poured nearly 28 million into the californians for responsible housing measure. The measure is a balanced approach to allow cities the flexibility to consider local Community Housing needs and legislate appropriate protections. On behalf of supervisor ronen i ask you to support today to move it forward a Committee Report. Chair peskin thank you, miss bynard, for a thorough presentation. Supervisor preston i would just like to thank miss bynard for bringing this forward, and the resolution in support of thenproposition 10. I think its really i just want to add, you know, its very important that folks understand, when were dealing with these state measures, is all were seeking to do is takeoff the handcuffs that are, right now, on our city when it comes to addressing rising rents and a history of gentrification. Whether its the ellis act, costa hawkins act, things were created because of real estate special interests and significantly restrict us as policy makers in the city and county of San Francisco to extend protections to folks who are struggling. So weve seen that balance in the state and power give a little bit in the context of the pandemic, where we had seen the State Government willing to give us a little more power. San francisco peskin, you led on the commercial eviction protections, where the governor said in the pandemic, that as a city, we could do more than what we would be otherwise allowed to do. But i think this prop, proposition 21, really gets at the heart of not just whats going on in the pandemic, but beyond. Are we going to be able to protect folks from highrent evictions or not . And will we have the choice . And right now, that choice is made by the Renters Association and the State Government, and this would return the power to us so we can craft some protections. Its narrow in scope, as miss bynard pointed out, as there were fewer things that were controversial than in the former version. I just want to say i fully support this. I also hope the entire board sends a unanimous and strong message that we as a city are behind prop 21, and it will give us power to address those things. It does not dictate how we will address those powers. You can bet that ensuring protections for renters in San Francisco will have to come back through this committee with a full opportunity at Public Comment before those changes can be made. Chair peskin thank you for those comments, supervisor preston. Supervisor safai, anything that you would like to add . Supervisor safai yeah. Can we have a conversation at what happened at the state level and in that conversation . I think assembly man david chiu did something. And i think it would be good to get on the record the differences put out theres a little conversation put out, but whats different between previously and this time. The ballot went down in large part because there was a lack of understanding of how, talking about bringing rent control to singlefamily homes and how that played into a statewide conversation. I think thats removed this time, for sure. Supervisor preston talked a little bit about smaller Property Owners, but i think it would be good to get some of the main differences on the record and what was talked about at the state level. I know that the governor signed the ability to control rent statewide, but im sure that for many places, thats still not enough in peoples minds, so i just wanted to get that on the record, as well. Chair peskin thank you, supervisor safai. Before i turn it over to supervisor ronens aide, miss bynard, let me offer a few things. It gets into the state exemption over what has historically before the purview over local governments such as our own, and costa hawkins significantly changed that, and weve been struggling with that for a long time. What is profoundly frustrating about this is prop 10 did not need to be on the ballot, and prop 21 did not need to be on the ballots. Had the democratic assemblies not taken the steps to return these conversations to local governments because whats happening in San Francisco is very different than whats going on in fresno, and we all have to wrestle with that on a local level. This has been a profound failure by the state legislature because it is under so much pressure from lobbying. Even though we are still under democrat super majorities in both houses, they are still under pressure from the statewide rental industry. Yes, prop 10 did not succeed. Prop 21 has made some adjustments. I want to express some profound disappointment in the democratic majorities in both houses that have failed to actually made modifications to costa hawkins, which was enacted by the state ledge lay tou legislature, and they can amend to return power to the cities, if they want. With that, if you would like to respond, miss bynard, to supervisor safais questions, the floor is yours. I think the two that he brought up about the two described, those are already in the records. With record to assembly man chius a. B. 1482, a. B. 1482 limits the state increase in rent to inflation plus 5 , which is quite high. Its great for places that have none have no rent control, but its very high, and its very high controlled with San Franciscos rent control ordinance, so the potential, again, as supervisor preston was mentioning, what what the passage of prop 21 would do would be to allow this back to the local legislation process legislative process, and for this city and this board of supervisors to be looking at whats appropriate for this city and the rental market here, and not to defer to, you know, what has been kind of a safety valve for places that have no rent control but really is not the solution for San Francisco. Chair peskin thank you, miss bynard. Why dont we open this up to Public Comment. Are there any members of the public who would like to comment on this item . Clerk thank you, mr. Chair. We have six listeners, with five in queue. If you can queue in the first caller . Yes. Im, quite frankly, appalled by this resolution. The board of supervisors, in my opinion, has no place here. If you want to support something on the ballot, go out and vote for it on november 3. You know, chair peskin was complaining not complaining, but pointing out that next weeks meeting is going to be, what, like five hours . Dont waste your time on resolutions that do absolutely nothing. You say that San Francisco supports this . You will see that on november 3. This is disgusting. I yield the rest of my time. Thank you. Chair peskin next speaker, please. I will not even waste my breath responding to that. Thank you. This is theresa flandrick, senior and disability action. I am calling in support of this resolution. We did vote on prop 10, and the majority of san franciscans did want and need this back then and need it even more so today. Again, having local control so that we can do what we need for our residents, for our city, just as other cities should have that same right. So i hope that all supervisors will support this unanimously . It is about time, so thank you so much for bringing this forward. The champions of actually taking care of san franciscans as well as the small Property Owners who are also san franciscans, i really like that that is part of this ordinanc,. So thank you again. Chair peskin thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello, chair peskin, vice chair safai, and supervisor preston. This is jeremy shaw, d5. I think this is a modest compromise solution to afford some rent control. As an aside, this title of this resolution is supporting keeping families in their home. Id like to point out that the chair has to the committee has to the call of the chair resolution [inaudible] and i would like to urge that you take that matter back up. Thank you. Chair peskin thank you. Next speaker. Supervisors, this is lorraine petty. [inaudible] im calling in support of this very important resolution. Im in support of [inaudible] keeping families in their homes. I think this is a fair and measured proposition. This extends to local jurisdicti jurisdictions the ability to craft protections and improve current protections for tenants. [inaudible] and in other loc e localities [inaudible] wildfires, lost incomes, the racial and social injustice, and particularly the effects of the rampant speculation and dislocation. Prop 21 goes a long way towards [inaudible] id also make a nod to the brilliant legal minds of [inaudible] thank you. Chair peskin thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello. This is anastasia ionnapoulos. Id like to ask every one of you to support this resolution. We need this throughout the state. This is fair to do to Property Owners, and i think the only people that are opposed to it are the big money people. Thank you for introducing this resolution. Chair peskin thank you. Are there any other members of the public who would like to testify on item number 3 . Clerk that concludes the queue, sir. Chair peskin seeing no other members of the public for Public Comment, Public Comment is closed, and i would like to make a motion to send this item to the full board with recommendation as a Committee Report for hearing tomorrow. On that item, madam clerk, a roll call, please. Clerk on the motion as stated [roll call] clerk you have three ayes. Chair peskin all right. The item has been sent with recommendation as a Committee Report. Is there any more business before this committee . Clerk theres no further business. Chair peskin we are adjourned. [gavel] authoring the same good evening. Welcome to the Candidate Forum for the 2020 district 7 San Francisco board of supervisors election. Im alison go, the president of the league of women voters of San Francisco. Tonight, before we begin, id like to take a moment to remember the late Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg. She was a powerful advocate for womens rights and civil rights, arguing for equality regardless of age, race, Sexual Orientation or gender, and she was a fierce defender of voter rights, offering the dissenting opinion in shelby v. Voter. Justice ginsburgs wisdom, ded indication, and determination to equal rights embodied the league of women voters empowered us to create a more perfect democracy. We would not be where we are today without ruth bader ginsburg. The league of women voters is a bipartisan political nonprofit that encourages voter participation. This years election presents new and unprecedented challenges for voters, and we are committed to providing resources that voters need in order to access this fundamental right of democracy of voting. Please visit our website at lwvsv. Org vote where you will find all of the voting resources that we offer. The league of women voters is a nonprofit organization, and if youd like to support our events such as this one, please visit our website at lvwsf. Org. Id like to thank our Relations Department to promote Voter Education through their support of league initiatives, including tonights Candidate Forum. I am now pleased to introduce dee moore, our moderator for tonight. Shes retired from the startup industry, where she held numerous positions in sales and marketing for 15 years. She left the industry to raise her children, and she has worked in the community for several volunteer organizations, including sf casa over nine years, supporting foster care for children. Good evening and welcome to the San Francisco league of women voters board of supervisors Candidate Forum. First, id like to remind you of the ground rules. Responses to questions should be on issues and policy related. Candidated are expected to be respectful of other candidates anded to not make personal attack on other individuals. Thats the ground rules. Here are the procedures for the forum. The candidates will have the opportunity to make oneminute opening and closing statements. Opening statements will be in alphabetical order by first name. Closing statements will be in reversal if a bet cal order by first name. Each candidate will be an opportunity to make rebuttal and may be addressed in the candidates Closing Remarks lasting one minute. A count downtimer will be displayed with visual indication of the remaining time for a response, so please watch it carefully, and if you go over, ill politely remind you. Every aspect of the forum will be equally fair to all candidated. Thank you to our attendees tonight. You are in listenonly mode. The q a and chat features are not activated. We collected your questions earlier, so they will be available tonight. This will be available on youtube, our website, and sfgovtv cable channel. You have many decisions to make on november 3. Tonights opportunity will give you an opportunity to learn before you vote, so now, lets begin. Well start off with oneminute Opening Statements in alphabetical order. Thank you, candidates, for participating in this forum. Please introduce yourself, tell us which neighborhood you live in, and why you are running for district 7 supervisor. Well start alphabetically with ben. Hello. Good evening, and thank you very much to the league for hosting us tonight. Hello. My name is ben matranga, and im running for district 7 supervisor. I want to fight for working families and ensure that our city emerges from this Health Crisis stronger than before. As a new father and firsttime homeowner, i know the stakes are high in this election. I know the city is calling out for genuine leadership, for common sense, and frankly, for people that will deliver on their promises. Let me tell you a little bit about my background. I was born and raised in district 7. I live in west portal seven blocks from where i grew up. I met my wife in high school at st. Ignatius, and were raising our young daughter in that district. Professionally, ive spent 15 years building largescale thank you, ben. Thank you. And now, well move to emily. Youre muted, emily. All right. Good evening, everyone. Im emily murase, and i want to be your supervisor. 2020 marks the millennial of womens right to vote, and yet, after the departure of supervisor yee from the board of supervisors, we will have two women on the board of supervisors. Im the only candidate whos been elected to office, serving two terms on the school board, including as president. My spouse and i have lived in the lake shore neighborhood of district 7 for over 15 years, where we raised our two now adult daughters. My priorities are bolstering Public Health, enabling voters, and accelerating Public Health. Well go to joel. Hi, everyone. Im joel engardio. I live in the district 7 neighborhood. Families care about the basics housing, schools, quality of life. The budget has doubled the last decade, and nothing is twice as good, and now, were facing massive deficits. We need to audit every program and only pay for what works. I grew up in the gm town of sag saginaw, michigan. Ive lived in San Francisco for 22 years, lived in district 7 for a decade. As a journalist, i held city hall accountable and gave people a voice. Ill do the same as your supervisor. Its time to get it right. Clean streets, smaller deficits, and better services, and id be glad to be your candidate. Thanks, joel. Ken . My name is ken [inaudible] we lived off of every muni met metro line, and for the last 14 years, ive lived just a couple of blocks up in district 7 on ocean avenue. Ive been successful here. Both my wife and i were able to build careers. One is at u. C. Davis and another ones at roll, and buena vista horace mann. I feel with my experience, i understand district 7 well. Families are important. Doct from cradle to grave, everyone should be able to live in district 7. Thanks, kenneth. Next will be myrna. Hi, everyone. My name is myrna melgar. Two years ago, i live in district 7 with my husband and family. Ive worked in the community for 15 years in housing and Economic Development and workers rights. Im running because our city is experiencing changes. Changes to our global environment, inequality and income inequality. Im running because i want to use my skills and experience to plan for those changes. The policy changes that we make today will have a profound effect how we get out of this pandemic, and whether we continue to be that city of opportunity and that shining example that we have always been to the world. I would appreciate your support, and i am the candidate with the most experience. Thank you. Thank you, myrna. Next will be stephen. Youre muted. Steven martin pinto. I live in district 7. I just want to ask one question. Are you better off than you were five years ago . Ladies and gentlemen, im running on a campaign of straight talk. When i began my campaign, it was just me, myself, and i, and one promise. Tell it like it is and dont hold back. Ive been one of the most successful nondemocratic candidates in the last decade. The reason why is because i tell it like it is, i speak the truth, and i have a lot of credibility. Im a firefighter, a fifth generation san franciscan, a veteran of iraq and afghanistan and the war, and ive seen a lot of the effects of homelessness. Vote for me in november. Thank you, steven. Last one will be polasca. Hi. My name is polasca. I loved growing up in a union household. My mother worked the post office, the graveyard shift, her entire career, so they really instilled a deep value for Public Service and hard work. I came here to San Francisco, u. S. F. School of law, where i met my wife. We currently live in parkmerced, and my kids go to school or they did before covid right across. Im proud to have the endorsement of the nurses and people in the sierra club. I ask that you allow me to be your champion at city hall and standup for working class families. Thank you, velasca, and thank you all, candidates. Well now move onto the questions for tonights forum. Question one. What type of forum will you support to increase housing availability in district 7. Do you agree with the approaches that promote more housing density . Just yes, which approaches. If no, what other approaches do you favor . And we will begin with joel, and joel, you have one win. Hi. So theres three areas of district 7 where more housing is coming. Par merced, balboa reservoir, and stonestown mall, and those are all appropriate areas for housing. I do not support anything that would restrict singlefamily zoning. We have 40 communities, and theyre all gems. West portal has a five story art deco thats been there 90 years. We can match the height of that without harming any single neighborhoods. We have a plan for seniors to age in place so they dont have to leave the home they love. We have a plan to keep singlefamilies in San Francisco, and the housing along train corridors can support those needs. Thank you, joel. Thanks. Next, well have kenneth. Hi. Joel said a lot, and i agree with what he said. The transit corridors and the housing around should grow. I dont agree with scott wieners bill. I think we need to be smart about it. I think we just gave away the deal of the century. Less than 600,000 an acre for balboa terrace, so im ready to put a stop for future development. I want to see hwhats going to come out of that and how thats going to affect district 7. Thats a district 7 deal. I want to be smart when we have housing, but i want to remind people this is district 7. We are built on singlefamily homes in small neighborhoods, and i do not want to lose that character, so it has to be an equal balance. Thank you. Thank you, kenneth. Next is stephen. Okay. So kind of what a lot of people have been saying. Im im for increasing density along transit corridors. I feel like theres plenty of space to add a story to onestory buildings along west portal. It wouldnt change minimal impacts to the neighborhood. It wouldnt change much to the neighborhood if we do it right, but theres also one thing that i think we also need to reduce the [inaudible] weve found out that telecommuting is possible. Recent survey said that two thirds of all tech workers would leave San Francisco if they could. Theres a latent demand to get out of San Francisco. If they had a chance to get out of San Francisco and still work here, they would do so. That would make it easier for those who want to live here to be able to afford houses. Thank you, stephen. Now well move to question number two. How would you address providing more Affordable Housing in district 7 . Do you support programs that encourage the building of more accessory dwelling units, commonly known as granny flats or inlaw units . And well start with myrna. Thank you for the question. Yes, i absolutely support building more accessory dwelling units. I will point out that just because we think its a good idea and put together the legislation rights the state has doesnt mean it will actually happen. We have to do more that. We have to support homeowners to adapt their housing spaces and age in space. To do that, the city can help by making the process easier, friendlier, more expeditious, and more affordable. Its not just about development, its also about money because access to wealth is not equal in our society. If youre on a fixed income or youre a women, you tend to have woman, you tend to have less abhe is sccess to the mari support all of those things. Thank you. Thank you, myrna. Next will be emily. Can you please repeat the question . Yes. How would you address providing more Affordable Housing in district 7 . Do you support programs that encourage the building of more accessory dwelling units, commonly known as granny flats or inlaw units . Yes. I do want to start out by saying d7 is primarily singlefamily homes, and that keeps families here, not retreating to the suburbs, so its a very important part of our contribution to the city. We have over 40 neighborhoods that are very distinct from each other. Lakewood is different from Forest Knolls which is different from westwood park. And within that, there is a state law that allows for two accessory dwelling units within a single property. I do think there is an opportunity to be creative. Not only a. D. U. S, but coHousing Units and other ways to live together. Primarily, im looking at the new development for housing density. Balboa reservoir appropriates 1500 units, of which 50 will be affordable. Parkmerced and stonestown also promote ideas for more housing density. Thank you, emily. Next will be polanco. Im in favor of supporting housing. My concern is in terms of providing the Housing Units we need. I think there are sites here in district 7 where we can begin from day one after the election to really dedicate Affordable Housing to the working class families like educators. Back in 2018, the leadership of uesf, our educators and teachers actually identified a space that is owned by the School District at somerton and lawton. This is the per expect area where we dont have to treat these like theyre mutually exclusive, meeting the character of district 7 while still providing housing that will make a real impact and still provide the time thank you, polanca. Well move onto question three. Will the planned guidance of the guidance center, also called the juvenile justice center, provide an increased housing in district 7. If so, what type of housing would you favor . And well start with ben. So the closing of y. G. Yc. , think its the perfect example of the sugar high we see at city hall. Ive walked the facility several times. Over half of the board of supervisors voted to close it, but theyve never been there. Folks voted to close the facility but didnt know all the great programming, all the rehabilitation that was happening there. If you talk to the folks in capital planning, they say you cant use that site, so i think its fiscally responsible to do that. It would cost too much. The taxpayers are still paying off the rebuilding of the participation of y. G. C. From a decade ago. We need to figure out how to keep young kids in San Francisco that need that rehabilitation. Thank you, ben. Next will be joel . Yeah, i dont think we should have closed it in the first place. Juvenile haul, you know, you know, is a place that has good programs thats, like, helping kids get back on their feet and be more productive members of society, and we shouldnt give up on that. I dont want to put housing there. I dont think we should have closed it in the first place because obviously, you risk shipping kids out of county. Thats not going to be helpful for them, and theres good programs there already. I think we need to be mindful of the use of the land allaround that area, laguna honda. We want to make sure that were not using up land that the hospital might need. Thank you, joel. Next will be kenneth. Hi, thank you very much. I think ben hit it on the nose. That is a sugar high. The idea that juvenile crime is down forever and we are in some magic wonderland. The reality is that were heading into a recession thats already showing its teeth. California is now flattening at 11 unemployment. We know that during times of recession and high unemployment that crime does go up, particularly with youth. We likely have pressed it with the lows in Violent Crime that existed. So the magic that were going to be able to deal with our juvenile problems without Juvenile Hall is a sugar high. When we have a problem that manifests, we should look at fixing and solving that problem, not necessarily shutting it down. Thank you very much. Thank you, kenneth. Well move onto question number 4. What are the primary issues regarding homelessness in district 7. What programs or services would you bring to the community to address these issues, and well start with stephen. In my experience as a first responder, every day i go to work, im right there in the trenches, dealing with homelessness. I worked at some of San Franciscos busiest fire stations, where i ran up to 20 or 30 calls a day, most of which were homeless calls, and in my experience, the homeless crisis in San Francisco is very much closely tied to a drug and mental Health Crisis. We had nearly 300 fentanyl deaths in 2018, nearly 400 last year, and the number is on pace to be even higher this year. So one of the biggest things we can do to solve the homeless problem not only in district 7 but citywide is really crack down on these drug dealers who are imprisoning people in a cycle of poverty, misery, and drug addiction. Thats one of the biggest things we can do to start. The other thing is lobby for those increased conservatorship laws, and im willing to go to sacramento to do that. Thank you, stephen. Next will be myrna. Thank you, dee. Your question was about district 7, and i just want to point out that district 7 is very different than district 6 or district 5 in terms of our homeless epidemic. The majority of folks who are experiencing drug problems are not drug addicts, theyre working people, living in homeless encampments and vans. The other day, my friend who owns a coffee shop called me and said there was a young woman on the street with no place to go. Hes, like, myrna, what do i do . We dont have the Wraparound Services that exist in other districts, and we need them. We need to have shower sites where people can dispose of our waste so that it doesnt go into our sewer drains and people can be treated with dignity. Thats what we need. Thank you. Thank you, myrna. Next will be emily. Yes, i believe strongly that its a human rights violation to let people sleep on the streets. Were one of the wealthiest cities in the world. We cannot tolerate this situation anymore. Unfortunately, homelessness is not just a d7 issue. Its a citywide issue. Ive been on the record opposing a Navigation Center in d7 because its too costly. The embarcadero Navigation Center is 12. 5 Community Funds for 200 beds. Families and women are not well served by tents or cots. I advocate for the flexible subsidy pool that aims to provide 200 apartments with a door and a key and an address. And i want to make sure that women dont get lost in this. Domestic violence is the number one cause of homelessness on the streets. We need to Fund Domestic Violence services. Thank you, emily. Well move onto question five. What programs do you support that address homeless and Mental Health problems in San Francisco . Well start with polasco. Mental health access, if its fully funded, i think we can make a visible impact on our streets. This goes hand in hand with the reform that we want at the criminal justice level. If Police Officers can be focused on just reporting to crime, we can actually have social workers and folks that are really trained and know the nuances of deescalation and Mental Health intervention, and that really stems from Mental Health sf, and i think it is a much needed program citywide. I think here in district 7, i think we can all echo the same underlying issues that, you know, the unhoused issue is very different from the other districts, but that is one program and policy that im fully in support of. Thank you, velasquez. Next will be ben. Thank you. I had a young kid that worked for me four years ago that died of a Drug Overdose. Was born and raised in San Francisco and died of a Drug Overdose on our streets in San Francisco just two months ago. We have an epidemic on our streets. We need to make sure we have treatment on demand and the services that actually deliver for folks like that. This is an issue that hits folks of all backgrounds, of all neighborhoods, of all parts of the city, and i think the city has been slow to respond. You see it in the numbers, you see it in the raise in fentanyl deaths. Mental health sf is a good program, but in a way, its a repaneli repackaging of the services that already existed. It really is just the first step forward, but we need new services, and thats what ill do as supervisor. Thank you, ben. The next is joel. We will be solve our homeless crisis until we deal with our mental Health Crisis. In San Francisco, theres something called the Mental Health court. This is if someone attacks someone while having a Mental Health attack on the street, they dont get jail time. And this is a good thing because we dont want jail to be the de facto services. I think we should be supporting conservatorship laws. This doesnt mean going back to the awful days of nurse ratchet and the mental asylum. I know thats a reference to netflix and a show in the 70s, but its a new idea that will give people the treatment they need. Thank you, joel. Well move to question 6. The increase in crime, including burglaries and breakins have become a concern to the residents of district 7. What actions would you propose to the police and the City Administration to handle the increase in property crimes . Well start with kenneth. Hi. Thank you very much. Our current district 7 supervisor and president of the board held a meeting for our neighborhood. He lives here in westwood park, and i was surprised at the feedback. It was specific to crime, exactly what youre asking about, and it was predominantly property crime, and the conversation moved onto home invasion. What i could tell in that meeting was people were scared. They were scared about the change thats occurring now. You ask what we should be doing. First of all, we need to be much tougher on car breakins and home invasions. I agree that we need to help these people, but as soon as we have those Property Damage that actually scare people from wanting to go out to their car as night, from locking their door at night, triple locking, triple checking, we need to make sure we have a beat cop on the street and my time is up. Thank you, kenneth. And next is stephen. One of the things i think we can do right now as a community to help make our neighborhoods more safe is form Neighborhood Watch programs, and theyve actually shown great success. There is a particular block in Diamond Heights where the Neighborhood Watch program is wired very tight, and its actually an anomaly of no crime in the middle of a neighborhood which has signature criificanto thats one thing we can do. The other thing we can do is join programs like sf safe, which teaches residents how to be safer and look out for each other. Im always a big proponent of hiring more cops. Im one of the few candidates that have gone on record saying defunding the police is the wrong way to go. We need more training, more police, and the crime thats happening times up. Thank you, stephen. Next, well hear from myrna. Thank you. There have been other communities who have come up with really innovative communitybased approaches to keep better eyes on the streets. Folk who are embedded in the Community Know their neighbors, who know the patterns, know the businesses. One that im fond of in chinatown is the peace collaborative. Its young folks and retired folks who have been trained to do that. When things are kind of off, they have a person to call, and then, theres a person thats already been Building Trust in that community. I am a big proponent of programs like that. They are actually quite Cost Effective and less violent than, you know, having folks with arms on the street, but it also builds trust and a knowledge of the community and theyre remarkably effective. Thank you, myrna. Now well move to question number 7. How would you approach potential proposals to reallocate funds from policing excuse me to Mental Health and social services while still prioritizing Public Safety . And well start with emily. So ive been on record opposed to defending police, disbanding police. We have had an uptick in property crime, home invasion. There was a suspected arson of one of our local businesses, dragon printing. There was a robbery at miracle cleaning on ocean. We cant expect an Immediate Response if were going to cut the Police Budget. Now within the Police Budget, i do believe im very data driven and evidence based, and u. C. Berkeley did a study of foot patrols in sfpd. In 2017, when chief scott reassigned more officers to foot patrols, there was a 20 decline in assaults. Thats evidencebased interventions. We need more foot patrols, community policing, crime spotting, and antibias training in the Police Department. Thank you, emily. And next is polasca. Yeah, i agree with emily. I think when were being smarter about our Police Budget, we dont need Police Officers responding to noncriminal Mental Health crises. There is a world where we can be smarter about our Police Budget while reallocating that saved money to folks and social workers at the department of Public Health that can actually do that outreach for those folks going through a mental Health Crisis. Its unfortunate that weve gotten into slogans into defunding the police, abolishing the police, but i think if were truly committed to police accountability, well see our Police Budget getting smaller, and we can use that money for much needed services here in San Francisco. Thank you, velasca. Next is ben. We can certainly all agree, if you would have watched this same debate when i was growing up 20plus years ago, it was the same concepts that came out. We want more beat officers. Over the years, the same promises get made, and nothing changes. Right now, four out of ten positions at one precinct is vacant. Theres some very basic times around response times and now that correlates to staffing in the Police Department. I think chief scott when talking about the budget this year was accurate. We want a Police Department thats more diverse, speaks multiple languages. We have young kids coming through the department thats coming through with advanced degrees in criminalology, and we only do that by funding by the Police Department. Thank you, ben. Now we move to the next question. What specific changes would you support in defunding the police, and what changes would you like to see . Well start with ben. I agree with joe biden and Governor Newsom. Calls for mentally ill people can better be handled by social workers. Im Vice President s of a Victims Rights Group called stop police sf. I see that home burglaries are up 60 this year. Homicides and firearm shootings are both up 30 , so we still need police to do the detective work. We need police to protect the public, and we cant forget about the victims of crime. I do not believe in defunding or disbanding the Police Department. The New York Times recently featured our Police Department as a model of reform, so we should continue that process, and takes more funding, not less, but we should recruit more officers from Diverse Communities and those who only serve at the highest standards. Thank you, joel. Next will be kenneth. So lots of smart people, and i think if you vote for any of us, youre going to get a good supervisor. So velasco said it well. Defunding the police is a bad term. Its a horrible term. It sounds like you want to get rid of them, but in reality, its a reallocation. Im with our current chief. He has some really good ideas about how to use funding for Mental Health and Domestic Violence in particular, and i think those are two areas absolutely that we could have specialists that dont need to be police. That being said, i am a metricdriven individual. I come from the business side, and i believe firmly if we are going to allocate funds into just about anything, you track what occurs, and then, you make decisions about how successful it is, and if it doesnt meet the metrics you put in place and the goals you put in place, you take that money back, and you put it to better use. Thank you. Thank you, kenneth. And next will be stephen. I want to be very, very cautious about replacing Police Officers by Mental Health workers to deal with people with mental Health Crisis because human nature is very, very unpredictable. When youre high on drugs, even more so, and i have personal experience with this. Ive been on multiple calls where people have overdosed, and theyre sedated or passed out. You give them narcan, and even the smallest personal temporarily displaced can have super human strength. It happened to me, but this is the thing. People can act very violently very quickly, and a Mental Health worker alone by himself is not trained to deal with that. So while im not opposed to having Mental Health workers and Homeless Team outreach people to accompany police, i dont believe at any time they should be a total replacement for the police. Thank you, stephen. Now well move onto question number 9. How will you ensure that residents of district 7 have access to services and resources that will help them meet their basic needs as they struggle with the challenges of covid19, and well start with myrna. Thanks for the question. I think that district 7 has, for many, many years, been short changed in the services that we receive. Theres a perception that were all right. Were wealthy, and theres nothing that we need when, in fact, we have a very Large Population of folks that are elderly, immigrants, people who dont speak english. Were a quite diverse district that has a lot of needs. I think in terms of my priorities that you asked about are food security. When the pandemic started, we started working at the food bank thattum emily has started and my daughter, as well. We thought we were going to see 200, and we saw 700. Foot security, transportation, housing, all of those services are needed in district 7, and i will prioritize them. Thank you. Thank you, myrna. Next is emily. Yeah. So among the 40 different neighborhoods in district 7, there are varying degrees of organization. So, for example, i know ben has worked very hard to help the west portal neighborhood be organized. Lake shore was not very well organized, so actually, joel, whos a neighbor, and i helped standup resilient lake shore, and we put out hundreds of door hangers with resources for covid for our neighbors. Id like to make sure theres seed funding for every neighborhood to band together, whether its crime or covid, and really create Community Within the neighborhood. We have the strongest along access ordinance in the country, and we are obligated to provide services to english language learners at the same level as native speakers, so i will make sure that services for example, briefings by the police are in multiple languages. Thank you, emily. And next is velasco. Im extremely proud of my criminal justice experience, being a public defender going on my 16th year now. Every day, walking into court, that is a phenomenal responsibility to provide a voice to those who are forgotten and marginalized. I think as an extension of my advocacy as a public defender, we need a leader at city hall who is going to speak up and advocate and really ensure that district 7 has all the resources that our community needs. Myrna and emily touched upon some of our most vulnerable, particularly the elderly. And with the population and communities being comprised of 17 chinese, particularly a lot of elderly folks who dont have a lot of family support, we need a mixture and every resource available to make sure that theyre not isolated, and to make sure their health and wellbeing is taken care of during this pandemic. Thank you, velasca. Now well move onto question number 10. What is your plan to bring back business and encourage new businesses in the west portal and 9th and irving shop districts . Well start with ben. Thank you. And i would expand that question to include both ocean avenue, lakeside, taraval, and 19th. Our neighborhood commercial corridors are amazing. They are the envy of so many areas of San Francisco, and theyre a Gathering Place for so many in our community. And frankly, theyre not getting enough attention, and, you know, what we early on in covid, i helped set up the largest covid19 response effort in district 7, and one of the things that we did right at the beginning was we brought in the merchants. We knew how difficult it was going to be. That type of Small Business advocacy doesnt take place right now. The city loves to tout being in partnership with Small Business. Im a Small Business owner. I dont think that anybody in the city feels genuinely that the city is in partnership with them. Theres a lot of fees that you just dont know about. Theres an opportunity to have clarity, and i will certainly champion Small Business. Thank you, ben. Next, well hear from joel. Even when the economy was booming, our Small Businesses were in trouble. We have to remember that last year, 500 restaurants closed in San Francisco, and why did that happen . Its because city hall was killing Small Businesses with all of its permits and fees and regulations. So we need to acknowledge that Small Businesses were dieing before the pandemic because we cannot go back to the way things were. The chronicle reported that San Francisco is one of the most difficult cities to open a food truck. We should be the easiest city to open a food truck, especially during a pandemic. Some regulation is necessary to keep people safe, but beyond that, we should let an entrepreneur with a good idea try anything they want. Give them a long runway to see if it works, and we need to foster that creativity because we dont know what the great new idea is thats going to save our economy, but we want to make sure that we create the economy where that can happen, and were not stifling it. Thank you, joel. Next, well hear from kenneth. Hi, thank you. So excellent points already from joel and ben. Very consistent. I will tell you this, that the San Francisco does not city a Small Business as a help to the city, they see it as a tax base. The burden to open up a business is ridiculous in this city. It is easier, less regulation to put a satellite in space than it is to open up a basis in San Francisco. Thats a bit of a joke. If prop 13, this new amendment, passes on commercial development with commercial debt lessening that burden, some of that is going to be passed onto Small Businesses. The reality of the day is weve got a lot to change. Weve got a lot of regulation to get rid of. The last thing is this city may have changed. Look at whats happening downtown. And if the Office Workers dont even come back to 80 to 90 , the Small Businesses there are going to get hurt, and its going to permeate itself through the city. Thank you, kenneth. And next, well move onto question number 11. There is concern that the California Environmental act, ceqa, regulations are being used to create significant delays in the revenue of city projects. How will you approach this issue . And well start with stephen. Okay. So i think that the ceqa may have become a little bit convoluted. It was meant to be protecting the environment and ensuring the wellbeing of people, but i think its kind of become a little bit weaponized at times. People use it to stop other businesses and really burden new startups from ever happening. So one thing id like to see is if theres a way to simplify the processes, if the community has the ability to speak on behalf of their community if theres a new business coming in. I feel like we can do a lot to simplify the process, reduce the time that a business spends in approval, and really, i think that would go a long way to improving the economy, at least more Small Business startups. Thank you, stephen. Next will be myrna. Ceqa is a good tool, its an important tool. Not only does it help us protect the environment, it also helps protect our historic resources. It can be cumbersome and lengthens the time that a project takes to completion, but i am a Firm Believer in democracy, and this is the way our communities have had a say in whether we preserve something or we clean something up before something gets built. It is very important, and i think we need to not shortcut it or cut people out of the process or only let the loudest voices or the people who have the most resources weighin. I think we need to keep using it as a way it was intended, as a democratic tool for people to weighin on development. Thank you. Thank you, myrna. Next is emily. Yes. So my approach is generally to listen and lead for our neighborhoods. Community Stakeholder Input is essential in things like the ceqa. Were seeing sort of the negative impacts of environmental unsustainable behaviors with the fires and with the pollution, so ceqa is very important. Neighbors must have a say in things that go up in the neighborhood. On the other hand, it shouldnt be the case that a Single Person can halt a project. So there was a big article in the chronicle. A project should be halted by at least 50 people. I agree with that, and it shouldnt be at least one person. Thank you, emily. Okay. Well move onto question number 12. San francisco has a significant deficit in the upcoming budget, which, due to covid19, will likely persist in the future. What specific policies will you champion to address the likely current and future issues related to budget decisions . And well start with vela asca but in 2008, i remember being calling into my offices conference room, and i remember my boss asking if anyone wanted to take an unpaid voluntary leave. And i remember being shocked, angry, and pretty scared for about a year as a relatively new lawyer practicing. And im not comparing what we went through over a decade ago to this unprecedented pandemic, but it did serve us in terms of the rainy day funds that we prepared for this particular scenario. Im looking out the window, and it is absolutely pouring. If this is not a scenario to rely to those rainy day funds, i dont know what is. But we dont have to rely only on those rainy day funds. There are measures on the ballot in november that will enable us during this pandemic to survive. Thank you, velasco. Now well hear from ben. Were in an economic crisis, certainly in the state of california, and certainly in San Francisco. The challenge is the district 7 supervisor has historically been a leader on the budget and really been a longterm thinker. I think fundamentally in this race, voters are going to make trade offs. Because in a city that has a 13. 6 billion budget, there are 8. 6 billion of asks. I come from a 15year experience asking for money and getting results for causes. Whether thats large scale housing, whether thats building in ports, whether thats access to the internet. I think those skills are absolutely needed. Theres a misconception somehow that were one audit short from Better Outcomes of homelessness. It is a workmans journey thank you, ben. Next is joel. We have to acknowledge that the budget was too big the past decade. It doubled, and nothing got better. City hall just spends whatever it wants, and it uses residents like its a nonstop a. T. M. That needs to stop. The hard truth . We need to cut salaries and cut jobs, just like mayor newsom did during the great recession. Back then, we had 26,000 employees, which was too many. Today, we have 40,000, which is not sustainable. Theres never going to be enough revenue for what we need. We talk about rainy day funds. It was irresponsible yesterday or today to use our rainy day funds to give City Employees raises. We should be saving so we dont have to lay people off. Thank you, joel. Well move onto question number 13. Many residents take advantage of open space and nature for recreation and health benefits. How would you ensure that these resources are maintained not only for district 7 but for all of san franciscans, and well start with kenneth. At this, thank yhi, thank y. I really wish i could have answered that last question because ive got a lot to say here. Certainly, the open space in this city is fantastic. Actually, in district 7, its reasonably limited, so i am a huge fan of the parks. I think the parks are one of the most wonderful things that we have here in the city. Golden gate park running from the middle of the city to the ocean, mclaren park being the biggest park in the city over here not too far from the district. What i think we need to do is maintain them. Theres been calls to open up some of the nonused areas for development, and i am completely against that. What i want to say is the twablt to actually access them and for people to feel safe. I think its one of the biggest issues for mclaren. You can look at it statistically as the biggest park in the city. There are safety concerns in the city that we really dont need to anymore. We need to use those parks and fund them. Thank you. Thank you, kenneth. Next, well hear from stephen. Im a huge proponent of open space. As a kid, i grew up within walking distance of mount davidson. Glen canyon park, one of the few creeks left running through the city. Whatever we can do to preserve those treasures, im all about it. One of the things that i want to say is some of our open spaces are looking a little bit rough. Mount davidson in particular, its overgrown with eucalyptus, thornberrys, ivy. I think from a safety toppstan approximate point, you need to open it up and let people access it to enjoy. Theres been talk of using our park open space for development. Im totally against it. Theres so little of it left. Thank you, steven. Thank you, myrna. Im a little surprised, steven, that you dont have a lot of open space in district 7. We have a lot of really great space. For the past four years, ive been on the planning commission. I was the president for the last year, and in conjunction with the recreation and parks department, we approved a plan for the maintenance of the wilderness areas, some areas that are open space in the city. As steven pointed out, we are experiencing some nonnative species that have taken over our parks. Like Everything Else in San Francisco, it is contentious, whether we get rid of the eukal eucalyptus, whether we keep it, but its one of the things that makes San Francisco a great place to live. Thank you, myrna. What would you do to cut down on the amount of emissions caused by fossil fuels . Well hear from emily. Thank you. We need to promote public transit. We need to get mouny back where it once was precovid. Since the pandemic, ive become an expert avid cyclist. We need to encourage walking, but i also want to acknowledge that there are some folks in the community would have to rely on who have to rely on cars. Perhaps theres people with disabilities, seniors, Young Children. So i dont envision a 100 car free environment, but i would like to see more options. For example, for rental bikes, if there are families that cant afford to rent those bikes, we should subsidize those, really, and encourage bike traffic. We also need to address our eating habits. Im a big proponent of meatless mondays perhaps in the schools and the city, and to buy local. Thank you, emily. Next. Well hear from velasca. I like the idea of meatless mondays. I think im going to adopt that. We need to get to a point in our city where taking Public Transportation is the preference in terms of efficiency and the first choice. I mean, i drive my minivan and my two kids around out of necessity, and i dont like this dichotomy where people are blamed for depending on their cars here in district 7. I think we have a long way to go in terms of improving our Public Infrastructure and transit system. I think theres a world where we can get there. Its going to take a lot of work, but i think in terms of starting with meatless mondays and then taking this as a top priority in terms of improving our infrastructure will be a long way, but we can get there. Thank you, velasca. Now well hear from ben. Im a father, and i have a young daughter thats 15 months old. When i think about our city, i think about our planet, it rightfully causes alarms for people across the planet. If you look at the fires raging across california, people are concerned about that. San francisco has consistently taken a leadership approach on this. I think one of the key elements is actually pushing towards a transit first city, and how that becomes possible is when muni is clean, safe, and reliable. Its very simple. You know, for 15 years, when everyone looked at the ridership surveys, it says clean, safe, and reliable. Right now, even before the pandemic hit, people did not feel that way on muni. We have an opportunity right now to be able to change a lot of the things that were thank about the Transportation System and move toward that. It starts with replacing some of the basics, and thats what ill champion. Thank you, ben. Final question for all candidates. What would be your top three priorities for your term as supervisor, and what is the boldest idea that you think that you will bring to the table . And so this is for all candidates, and well start with kenneth. Great. I really like this question. Thank you very much. So so so accountability. We can talk how much time do i have . Its just one minute. So ive got a lot to say. So accountability on the budget. The budget was a joke that we just passed. Its based on data that income is not going to come in if we dont pass all these measures come november. I think we need to hold these supervisors accountable, but of course they wont be held accountable. The one plan that i would like to see done is every public official in San Francisco take mass transit, public transit, for 80 of their work and be fined if they do not. If these Public Officials do not back public transit, they dont have a willingness to ride that public transit, then they should vote that way when theyre in office. Im all for every elected official taking Public Transportation for 80 of their work and fined if not. Thank you. Thank you, kenneth. Now well hear from myrna. Thank you, dee. Actually, the boldest idea that i have is we are going to have a woman as supervisor for district 7. Thats pretty he had bold. It would be the first time that thats happened. I also have lots of ideas about housing production. I think that we are remarkably uncreative with how we do this. The biggest area where i think that we could make progress is in workforce housing. We have a lot of major employers in San Francisco that dont have this as part of their business plan. I think folks could, you know, put some of their money into a fund that would be more flexib flexible and more patient than what we could get from wells fargo bank. I think its an idea that needs infrastructure and capacity, and i intend to push it forward. Thank you. Thank you, myrna. Next, well hear from velasca. Its supremeextremely scary think what our environments going to look like in the next ten years, and we need to focus on Environmental Justice if were going to take care of our city and our environment. I believe that working class families really make this city go, so ensuring that working class families can afford to live here and earn a living wage is going to be a top priority. But being a public defender, i am proud of my work in terms of criminal justice reform. I think on day one, one of my boldest plans would actually be to write policy that would essentially outline Police Officers not responding to noncriminal offenses, and i think that would be a first step in terms of really improving our Police Department but ensuring the safety of our community. Thank you, velasca. Next, well hear from emily. Yes. So modelled after president obamas american recovery and reinvestment act. I would call for a San Francisco recovery and reinvestment ordinance. The bold part of this is i would ask my colleagues, the mayor to set aside political differences and work towards a single goal of getting San Francisco back on track, to get businesses reopened, get people back to work. I would call for expanding child care resources, investing in neighborhoods, more foot patrols. But another big idea would be universal free wifi, to have it be government owned but bid out to operations. I wouldnt want the government to run the wifi system, but this universal free wifi could be an engine for new businesses, new connections, new economic activity. Thank you, emily. And next, well hear from ben. You know, the boldest thing that i would do is actually deliver. I think all of the things that we care about in San Francisco, the fundamental challenge is the announcement, and then, the day after, nothing seems to go forward at the same pace. And i think what we see in a lot of these debates in city hall is what i like to call policy popcorn, and idea, idea, idea. All the big challenges that we have in San Francisco, whether its homelessness, whether its tackling corruption in contracting, whether its pushing back against affordable, it takes experience, and it takes showing up every day. One of the things that i tell everyone is i work for you. I think a lot of times, we have supervisors that are chasing the next announcement, not chasing the end result thats g going to make your life better, so im running, and im fighting to deliver on that. Thank you, ben. Next, well hear from stephen. Okay. So ive got a couple of, i think, pretty good ideas. Well, first of all, i think the three biggest issues that were facing right now is San Francisco is corruption, homelessness, and crime. So for the corruption part of it, one thing that i want to do which i think is pretty bold is call for term limits. Two terms, and youre done forever. We have john avalos and aaron peskin that have served before, and now theyre running again. I feel like theyve had their time in the sun, sand now its time to step down and let somebody else run for a little bit. As far as crime goes, im going to call out our d. A. I think hes failing as our d. A. Its time we get somebody in there that knows what theyre doing and is not afraid to do it. I think we need to have stronger conservators. Im willing to go to sacramento and lobby and enforce to get it. Thank you, stephen. And finally, well hear from joel. Were facing a lot of challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, but this is an opportunity, and i think we need to get city hall to focus, focus, focus on the basics. Less crime, better services. Until we get those right, Everything Else is distraction. I want fiber for all. Im not talking about the fiber you eat, im talking about internet for all. Work has changed forever because of the pandemic. We need fiber infrastructure, and its something basic. I think fiber is the 21st century version of filling potholes. I think the city should lease it out to private enterprise and make money on it, and then make sure that everyone has access to subsidies because this is whats going to save our economy and allow us to be plugged in and open for business. So thats the bold idea. Thank you, joel. That concludes our questions for this evening. And now we kpcome to the candidates closing statements. Well do the statements in reverse alphabetical order, and well start with velasquez. I think when it comes down to district 7, it comes down to who do you trust to represent the voices here in district 7, and also, who is going to be Strong Enough and unafraid to push against the status quo . I am proud to be the only candidate that is supportive of having a Navigation Center in district 7. I was equally as proud to be a candidate to support supervisor mars public advocate. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what were going to see as the corruption unfolds, and more individuals are indicted. And i also am extremely proud that when i started my campaign, i was the only candidate that objected to the mayors nominee of the police commission, a prosecutor who wasnt dedicated to criminal justice reform. I am the leader because i am unafraid to take bold action and represent the folks out here in district 7. Thank you, velasca. Thank you. Now well hear from steven. As long as were talking status quo, i dont think theres anybody less status quo or business as usual than i am. Im not afraid to speak truth to power. When i began my campaign, i made one promise to myself. That is always tell the truth and dont hold back, and the response has been tremendous. I started my campaign with myself and my accountant, and people have come out from all over the city to say, thank you, stephen, for speaking the truth. Someone thats not afraid to speak their mind and identify the problems in our city and talk about them honestly and frankly, and thats me. Im offering a different approach. Im offering common sense politics. Im no b. S. I dont have time for political correctness. Ive only got time to make good decisions and speak truth to power. Thank you for voting for me. Thank you, stephen. And next well hear from myrna. Four years ago, we had a National Election where a guy that convinced millions of american that policy experience and lemgs lay tiff experience were unnecessary in gorcvernin and that has not worked out so well for us. I will tell you that i have decades of experience in public policy, and i have more than just opinions about the things that really are affecting san franciscans. I can show you programs that ive developed and legislation that i have written, organizations that i have worked on that have produced results for thousands of families, housing projects that have been built and financed, and i think thats what we need. We need someone who has experience, who has relationships, who will be able to do the things that we need for district 7, to drieliver services for our community. I hope you pick me as your number one choice. Thank you, myrna. Next, well hear from kenneth. Hi, thank you very much for having me today. Youve heard a lot from all of us, and think any of us would be fine. Ive also heard a lot of platitudes. And it didnt take long to bring up trump. The idea of having business in government is incredibly important. Take a look at what people are expecting. Rather than solving a business crisis, you want to chase reality. You want someone with a good solid business background that can solve problems. What you have is people who have been receiving government checks for a very long time who want to keep doing so. I hope i get your vote for district 7 supervisor. Thank you. Thank you, kenneth. And next, well hear from joel. Hi. Im joel engardio. Ive lived in San Francisco for 22 years. I was a journalist, and my role was to hold the city accountable, and ill do the same as supervisor. I think city hall should be treating residents like customers because without them, we dont have a city. Kids should be able to attend their neighborhood schools, and entrepreneurs should be able to open a business without facing road blocks. City hall should be focused on the basics and getting the basics right. I have 24 years left on minority gage, so mortgage, so i wonder what San Francisco is going to look like by the time its paid off. We need a combination of innovation and common sense. Im joel engardio, and i would love to have your number one vote. Thank you. Thank you, joel, and next, well hear from emily. Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my ideas and platform. I served 28 years under five mayors. I was held accountable for every public dollar i spent. I already have relationships with police chief scott, Health Director colfax. Ive been twice elected to will school board. I served as president when the School District put together its long range strategic plan, and im so pleased to say that plan is paying off. San francisco had a Graduation Rate of 89 , exceeding the state rate of 86 , and black graduates exceeded 90 for the first time. Im supported by assembby nume officials, and i respectfully ask for your vote. Thank you, and last, well hear from ben. My name is ben matranga, and i respectfully ask for your vote. Im endorsed by Public Safety leaders like sheriff vickie hennessy, former district 7 supervisor susie loftus. These are going to be a series of difficult decisions over the next four years, and some people arent going to be happy. You cant fund everything, and what i come to the table with is a life thats been grounded in district 7. I come to the availabtable wite of delivering products for people that i think creates the best scenario where we can actually move our city forward and recover from covid. Thank you. Thank you, ben. Okay. On behalf of myself and the league of women voters of San Francisco, our thanks to the candidates for participating. And thanks to each of our attendees for taking the time to inform yourself about your choices on november 3. Its coming right up. Please remember to register to vote if you havent already registered, and please urge others to registered. I just heard today, one in four is still not registered, so we have work to do. If youve changed your name or youve moved, you will need to reregister, so please check that. And if you will be voting by mail this year, please ensure your ballot is dropped off at a polling place or Voting Center early. Early is the keyword there. If you have any questions about voting, go to our website, lwvsf. Org. Thank you so much, all of you, for attending and participating. Good evening, and vote. Hi. Im vallie brown, and im running for supervisor in district 5. I have fought tirelessly to better my community and solve the challenges we face. Improving quality of life in district 5 is personal. After losing my parents before age 14, i was raised by the community, so fighting for Affordable Housing, environmental protection, and homelessness has been my principle goal as an activist, as a legislative aide for ten years, and as a supervisor. Ive served two previous district five supervisors, and ive served the city and our neighborhoods in previous times of crisis. As your former supervisor, ive passed over 30 pieces of legislation, to build new housing, protect a womans right to choose, and create a more equitable and just San Francisco. Our neighborhoods face huge challenges. On homelessness, we need a real plan to get people off the streets and into housing and supportive services. We cant just handout tents and call our work done. We cant let this moment for change pass, with black lives matter remaining just a slogan. Well move more funding from our Police Department to the black community, funding nonprofits in the fillmore and western addition, creatiempowe jobs and creating more opportunities. This time calls for a supervisor who listens to neighbors and finds Common Ground to solve our challenges. I believe im that leader. You can learn more about my vision for district five and join my campaign. Thank you. Greetings, beloved citizens of San Francisco. My name is daniel lander, and im proud to announce my candidacy for driekt five seat. I was born here in San Francisco in 1968. My mother and father both moved here to San Francisco in the late 1940s and 1950s. Growing up in the 1970s, in lowincome housing and being displaced by the San Francisco redevelopment agency, i personally experienced the pain of living in a city that destroyed my community in the name of saving it from blight and unliveable conditions. Fortunately, ive been able to give back to my community and city i so dearly love and have been working as a volunteer activist now for 27 years. Im currently the founder and director of the San Francisco cats academy, and i have also cofounded many grassroots nonprofit organizations fighting for Police Reform, housing, and environmental rights. Im running for supervisor d 5 because im tired of not getting results from our leaders at city hall. My priorities, if elected, is to reform our Police Department, create real Affordable Housing, mandate a d5 covid19 Small Businesses task force, and tackle the homeless Mental Health issues head on. I respectfully ask for your vote this november, and for more information you can go to my website, daniellandry. Com. Hi. Im supervisor dean preston, and its been my honor to being your District Supervisor for the last 23 years. Ive lived in district 5 for the last 24 hours. I won a special election last year, and just weeks after i took office, the pandemic hit. Businesses were closed, and thousands of people were forced out onto the streets. I personally raised over 100,000 to put district five homeless women and families into a hotel at no cost to taxpayers. I authored legislation to do this across the city for 8,000 homeless people, and when our city wasnt moving fast enough to house homeless individuals, we organized the next homeless village in San Francisco. My office led efforts to stop evictions during the pandemic. I wrote and passed a law prohibiting evictions of tenants who could not pay rent due to covid19. I worked with the m. T. A. And neighbors to create slow streets in district five where pedestrians and cyclists could travel safely. On critical Racial Justice issues, ive been advocating for Police Reform and been marching with the black lives Matter Movement for years. This has been a time when neighbors, Small Business owners, and residents have come together. Im honored to have their support, along with the sierra club, california nurses, San Francisco teachers, the labor council, democratic party, and so many more. Id be honored to have your support, as well. Thank you. Lesb ri by the time the last show came, i was like whoa, whoa, whoa. I came in kicking and screaming and left out dancing. [ ] hello, friends. Im the deputy superintendent of instruction at San Francisco unified School District, but you can call me miss vickie. What you see over the next hour has been created and planned by our San Francisco teachers for our students. Our premise came about for San Francisco families that didnt have access to technology, and thats primarily children preschool to second grade. When we started doing this Distance Learning, everything was geared for third grade and up, and we work with the little once, and its like how were they still processing the information . How were they supposed to keep learning . I thought about reaching the student who didnt have internet, who didnt have computers, and i wanted them to be able to see me on the t. V. And at least get some connection with my kids that way. Thank you, friends. See you next time. Hi, friend. Todays tuesday, april 28, 2020. Its me, teacher sharon, and im back again. I got an email saying that i had an opportunity to be on a show. Im, like, what . I actually got an email from the Early Education department, saying they were saying of doing a t. V. Show, and i was selected to be one of the people on it, if i was interested. I was scared, nervous. I dont like public speaking and all the above. But it worked out. Talk into a camera, waiting for a response, pretending that oh, yeah, i hear you, its so very weird. Im used to having a classroom with 17 students sitting in front of me, where theyre all moving around and having to have them, like, oh, sit down, oh, can you hear them . Lets listen. Hi guys. I kind of have stage flight when im on t. V. Because im normally quiet . Shes never quiet. No, im not quiet. My sister was, like, i saw you on t. V. My teacher was, i saw you on youtube. It was exciting, how the community started watching. It was a lot of fun. It also pushed me outside of my comfort zone, having to make my own visuals and lesson plans so quickly that ended up being a lot of fun. I want to end today with a thank you. Thank you for spending time with us. It was a great pleasure, and see you all in the fall. Im so happy to see you today. Today is the last day of the school year, yea it really helped me in my teaching. Im excited to go back teaching my kids, yeah. We received a lot of amazing feedback from kiddos, who have seen their own personal teacher on television. When we would watch as a family, my younger son, kai, especially during the filipino episodes, like, wow, like, im proud to be a filipino. Being able to connect with someone they know on television has been really, really powerful for them. And as a mom, i can tell you thats so important. The social Confidence Development of our early learners. [ ] hell oh everyone. Thank you so much for joining us today. Well, covid has changed our lives. The fact it is has changed how we go to work, how we go to restaurants, how we interact with each other but this year will change how we vote. We want to make sure here in San Francisco, we make it as simple as possible. Im excited to be here to announce that although we cant do what weve done in the past, and provide early voting in city hall, we are going to be doing early voting right outside on grove street in what looks like a Beautiful Party at the present time. I want to thank the department of elections, and he will talk about more about exactly the steps that his team has taken to ensure that we not only make voting accessible, we make it safe. We want to make sure that people feel comfortable if they need to vote early. They can come to this Voting Center and it will be opening on monday. If they want to vote on election day or drop off their ballots on election day, well have 588 locations all over the city. And, what is dont be alarmed if you dont receive your ballot you wont be able to vote. This department of elections has received everything. If you didnt receive it in the mail can you provide replacement ballots. If you are going out of town and you need a ballot mailed to a different location, theres a system in place to do just that. For whatever reason, you are not certain or uncomfortable accessing a paper ballot, theres just a lot of options. Theyve been sending things in the mail, sending things online to say our goal is to make this as easy as possible. In the last president ial election, sa san franciscans tud out in record number. It was a 80 turnout. In 2008, it was 81 . This is a city that prides ourselves on making sure our voices are heard. Were not going to covid stop us from making sure that you have access to vote in San Francisco at your convenience. Im excited and i know that theres a lot of confusion out there but this department of election has done everything it can to make sure that its easy to call the department of elections, call 311, go online if you need information for where to pick up a ballot or a replacement ballot. We thought of everything. So, theres no excuse for anyone in this city who is a registered voter not to vote. And in addition to that, if you are not registered to vote, and you would like to register to vote, you have until october 19th. So, make sure that you take the opportunity to go online and this center is open and you can come here and register to vote and you can vote on the same day. In addition to the dress up locations on election day, and this Voting Center right across the street from city hall, we will have a number of of drop off ballot locations the weekend before election day. Linda brooks Burton Library and the branch library. Because again, were trying to make it easy as possible and its ballots inperson or on election day. If you need more information, please visit the department of elections website at spelections. Org. Call 311 or call 415 5544375. So with that, i just want to again thank everyone for their cooperation, the work they do. I really want to express a special thank you so john arts and the department of elections staff because they have been working very hard to make sure that no question is unanswered. Anything or any scenario that could occur, they wanted to make sure they were prepared to support and address the public. And they work with the number Great Community organizations and to get out the vote and some of those organizations are with us today, including George Chance from the chinese Newcomer Service center, jackie flynn, the ex you director of and these are organizations who make sure that communities all over San Francisco have accessed to vote. And we appreciate the work that theyve done for many, many years. I also want to thank martha cohen, the director of special events, for taking such time and care with creating a warm and inviting space. Thank you, martha for your work. And with that, i want to turn it over to our special guest, joining us here today, you probably recognize him because the tallest person here. Our state senator, scott wiener. Thank you, madam mayor. And i also want to thank martha and also our department of elections and john arts for once again really stepping up to make sure that san franciscans can vote and vote easily. Thats one of our core values in San Francisco that we want people to vote and we want to make it easier for people to vote so i have complete confidence in our department of elections that we will run a beautiful election here and that we will it will just be a really strong showing and a really difficult period of time. This is a partnership between the state and our counties including San Francisco we took action at the state level to people being able to vote during a pandemic and we authorized global vote by mail o so everyone gets a ballot even if you are not signed up as a permanent absentee and not put barriers in order to get an absentee ballot and normally, it has to be post marked byelection day and i do want to ask people please, try not to rely on post marking on election day and sometimes you can mail it after whatever the pick up is at that particular box and there are unfortunately thousands of ballots each time where people just mail it too late in the day. It doesnt get post marked. Make sure you are going to mail it, please, troy t try to mail tractortrailer dait theday bef. Even if theres a problem with the post office, which i dont think there will be. You have plenty of time if you mail it right up to election day. It has 17 days to a arrive instead of three and that is a huge change in stay law that weve made to just make sure that every ballot can be counted. What this is really about is auctions. We want people to make choices that work for them and people can drop it off in different locations and of course, we have absolutely amazing voting facility here which will respond to our health needs in terms of allowing people to show up and vote safely. And to be able to do it efficiently. The capacity here, as you can see, is huge. Its going to start on monday and also be opening two weekends before the election. Were making it so easy for people to vote in a way that works for them and their family and their own health situation. I have a digital town hall last week with our secretary of state, alex padilla and with con on cause and a representative of the American Postal Workers Union and she was very, very clear that she has confidence that the mail is going to work well for this election. Despite some of the turbulence we were saying, theyve been able to move through that and she assured us our postal workers, who are some of our front line essential workers, who are putting themselves out there during this pandemic so we can do what we need to do as eye society theyre going to work incredibly hard and they will deliver the mail and people can have confidence in the mail. So, again, thank you, madam mayor, thank you to our department of elections and lets just run a great election as always. Thank you. And now, i want to invite up our director of elections, john arts. Thank you, senator werent. Thank you mayor breed and also for organizing this event. This is a great timing for an event like this, just before early voting begins. Early voting will begin october 5th here at the Voting Center located outside bill graham auditorium. This is an example of the mayor and the senator wiener have indicated and the department and city have take ep steps to make sure that voting is safe and healthy experience for all voters in San Francisco. The ballots we mailed actually tomorrow and voters will start receiving ballots on saturday and then theyll most will receive ballots on monday going through the election week. We have a full compliment of polling polic Police Station ple want to drop off or they dont want to mail their ballot back, just before elections day, is they are outside the voting area so voters dont have to go mud the voting area. They decrease the amount of traffic that voters would experience at election day. And everything that weve done since really the end of the march election going through the cycle for november, has been to plan in relation to conduct an election, while trying to respond to a pandemic. So everything that is happening here at bill graham auditorium, is organized so that people can maintain social distancing and theres ppes that our personnel are wearing and useing and the public has provided ppe and hand sanitizers and sanitizing wipes, face shields and things like that and the same for the polling places. The voters and coworkers can maintain social distancing as they go through the election process on election day. Weve had p. P. E. S available for the voters and the poll workers on election day. And the inperson voting here at the bill graham auditorium and the polling places theres a cleansing of the areas and materials and the commonly used items throughout the day so voters will go into a clean voting environment when they go to cast their ballot on election day. Also, i want to echo the comments about the post office. Weve had conversations and meetings with the post office before this election and to make sure there was no issues and with the processing and to support the conduct of this election for november. The post office of senator wiener noted, has put tremendous men does attention and focus on their abilities and their requirements to give ballots up to vote and he is get ballots to voters to elections here in San Francisco. I want to share the city and the departments of elections has put much time and thought into this and so theyre safe and secure and everyone has a good experience on election date ill turn it over to george chan. And even we call chinese and were helping everyone. So this year were happy to be receiving support from the city to continue the registered people. So, this year, we see the ballot we mailed to you and we help people register. We follow that many times they dont know if you change your address, make sure you update it, ok. So also, if you do know your status, we can help you to check it as well. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is jaclyn flynn. Im the executive director of the a phyllis randolf of San Francisco and were working with the department of the elections in the city to really get out of vote this year. So i ask you, how important is your vote . 2020 is a challenging year as a nation. We have lost over 200,000 american lives from covid19 and these fires, as you can see, continue to raise and scorch our state and homes and businesses and and the california economy and our air quality and and they leap gap in time with racial tension zoos tie that they spilled into our streets. So i asked again. How important is your vote . This year and you can help redefine our jail system you can help reform our law eorcement system. You can help fund our parks, you can vote f housing and healthcare and your vote is a vote for change. I ask you, what can you do to effect change and drop it directly into a b