Transcripts For SFGTV Transbay Joint Powers Authority 20240712

Mr. Secretary, please call the roll. [laughter]. Thank you, madame chair. Prior to calling roll, i would like to note that julie chang is sitting in as director. With that i will now proceed to call roll. Directors, please respond when i call your name. Chang present. E. Forbes present. M. Hursh present. B. Lipkin present. J. Tumlin present. Vice chair gee present. Chair sesay present. Secretary directors, we have a quorum. Chair sesay and secretary, if i may just a point of clarification, this is a regular meeting, not a special meeting, just a point of clarification for the record. Chair sesay thank you, i appreciate that. Secretary thank you. Directors, the next item, item 3, is communications. Wed like to provide further instructions for the Public Comment process. To provide Public Comment, callers should dial into the published number, 18552826330, and enter access code, 126 729 5295. Then pound and pound again and listen to the meeting. As they wait for Public Comment to be announced, members of the public have up to three minutes to provide comments on each agenda item. I will announce when Public Comment is open on each item, or for the general Public Comment at which time callers should dial star 3 to raise their hand and be added to the queue. This callin number and access code will also stream on the screen during the entire board meeting. When callers dial star 3, they will be added to the queue to speak in the order that they are entered. All callers will remain on mute until their line is open. An automated voice will let callers know when it is their turn to speak. Everyone must account for their time delays and speaking discrepancies between live coverage and streaming. It is best to call from a quiet location, speak clearly and slowly, and turn down your television or radio. If there are any other communications from the Board Members, please let me know. If none, i will move on to the next item. Hearing none, ill proceed. Directors, item 4, is board of directors new and old business. Chair sesay we have none. Secretary if there are none, i will proceed to call the next item, chair sesay . Chair sesay thank you, mr. Secretary. Secretary directors, item 5 is the executive directors report. Thank you. Good morning, directors. First, i would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve as interim executive director. As we all continue our work to mitigate the impacts of the covid19 pandemic, and as we look to the future envisioning a state interconnected by rail, stable leadership and a Firm Commitment to the vision of the agency is critical. And im honored and excited to temporarily fill that role. My focus will be on advancing the Transbay Program by operating the Salesforce Transit Center in a world class Cost Effective manner, with transit agencies, neighborhood stakeholders. Advancing by collaborating with the San Francisco peninsula rail Program Executive Steering Committee and ensuring all aspects of the tjpa are met. In regards to the covid19 health crisis, were pleased to see that the city and county of San Francisco is moving forward with more activities. Our anchor tenant, has been conducting one of on one tt exercise sessions which is in compliance with the allowable outdoor activities. Were monitoring and adhering to all guidance from the citys Health Officer and were working closely with our transit agencies and tenants to reduce the Community Spread of covid19. Commuters and visitors to the Transit Center are provided the most up to date information about maskwearing and social distancing through multilingual signage, displays, throughout the Transit Center including the park and routine announcements. Enhanced cleaning protocol remain in place. On august 19, we were glad to support the bay area transit agencys press conference and john updike will speak about that more. Our role under the facility. And not to steal too much of his thunder, but im excited to announce weve had positive progress for lease negotiations which contributes to our health for the second floor of the Transit Center. As youre aware, christines tenure as director of communications has come to an end. With her departure back to the city fulltime, were looking to fill the position of communications which is posted on the website. Regarding phase 2. As you know, we are working with the executive Steering Committee to keep the public and our stakeholders updated and educated about phase 2. In order to accomplish this, we are taking a branding and outreach campaign. A communications and Outreach Services was released in july and we received seven proposals under review. Were pleased that the director of communications as well as our prior director of communications will serve on the evaluation panel. We anticipate returning to the board in october or november to recommend a contract for your consideration. Regarding the general Engineering Consultant r. F. P. Released in july, we unfortunately received only one proposal. We will evaluate the proposal and return to the board with the recommendation on whether to proceed or reprocure. It is important to note that there was extensive outreach and virtual proposal meeting held on july 8 was attended by 85 participants. Our research regarding participation confirmed that more than 90 firms exchanged contact information. Most firms were seeking subcontracting opportunities and the majority of consultants expressed interest in the future. We have had Good Progress with the Steering Committee. The review candidates, the Interview Time line and the process. That concludes my report, directors. Be happy to take any questions before having john updike provide his report. Thank you. Chair sesay i dont hear any Board Members. Can you have john proceed, please. Nila sure. Lets have john provide his report. Good morning, all. Thank you, jason. We can move to the next slide. So as mentioned, we were happy to host the press conference providing security, custodial and Logistics Support which i thought was an excellent message across many social media platforms. Then to our operator partners on that effort. Since our last meeting, were continuing our efforts with our contractors and subcontractors. It is very busy within our future tenant space with lots of tenant improvements being done by multiple contractors. So were working hard on logistics. And distancing between the groups and ensuring covid19 health order compliance by everyone to limit the exposure and potential transmission while theyre doing their important work bringing us these improvements. Also keeping our open dialogue with our tenants as they are moving forward with their efforts and also pleased to announce we have a new tenant up on the ac transit bus deck. Pharma box and they bring us to a variety of personal protective equipment as well as General Health goods available for sale to our patrons. So were happy to have them aboard. A sleeklooking vending machines theyve brought forward for us. Well give you a report when we have information back from them. So as mentioned, were continuing our oneonone training sessions. Theyve had some reductions in classes, of course, due to the air quality. But were doing everything we can to help our tenant who otherwise is not able to operate, at least keep some of their contractors and trainers active and keep those Client Communications going that will foster success when they do return to indoor fitness. Were also prepared to move forward with activation and programming as soon as shelterinplace restrictions allow. To date, we have not seen a relaxation of those restrictions to allow us to do anything beyond what were doing currently in the park. As you see here, were working on our exploratory work. Modest program. Important in that it has discovered clear paths to utility connections. We have some concerns that perhaps they would not be as accessible. This will bring dividends, bringing in a food and vendor kiosk on the plaza level, that will reduce risks and create certainties of the utility paths. Well see a return on that investment, i can assure you going forward. More on that once the report is in from nova construction, which we should have in the next meeting. Lastly, talking about the park in general. Were beginning to prepare for this transition. Well talk about that when we come up to the item for Landscape Maintenance. As you can see here, several cubic yards of mulch were brought in to approve the ground cover, improve the health of the plants. Weve also done trimming activity to address issues that security was having and overgrowth issues. So were pleased to see that. Were also working closely with our various contractors to ensure we have a plan forward once the ash stops falling, to properly remove that from the plants and ensure their health through this latest crisis were facing. Hopefully, we will not have the locusts appear next month. Lets hope ash is the last crisis we have. So now lets move to retail leasing. So this is a little deeper dive, if you will, into the exploratory work going on in the pad site. Its a very confined space, so it is taking us a while. Operating carefully and following osha regulations and ensure were finding variances from asbuilt, so this has been a fruitful venture. As mentioned, stealing my thunder, suite 232, we have a letter of intent, were negotiating a Lease Agreement. When we have that lease ready, well be able to divulge that tenant that fits in very nicely with the health scene of the second level of our facility and were excited to be welcoming the board. Lease negotiations going fairly well, so im feeling pretty good in the next meeting or two, we should have a Lease Agreement to announce to you. And heres a little more detailed look at our occupancy status. This is something that, if this format works, well probably use this as a base for future discussions so you can see particularly where we stand today. This also reflects changes in Square Footage following more accurate measurements, updating things from a few years ago when it was a food court concept. We may have more dividing walls. So these base numbers will be what you will see consistently going forward. So we did apologies, it took me three months to get the details straight and every square foot accounted for accurately. Now we have it. Were at 83. 4 current occupancy. Thats slightly different than the number last week, not because there is a change, but because the math is corrected and is more accurate. These numbers will change as we see tenancy change and well provide suite by suite updates as we secure new tenants. You can see the available spaces we have there. Now to the work of the individual suites. Making really Good Progress. First one up here is verizons space. You can see the sign is up. Finishes are happening inside the space. Theyre still on track for a late october or early november opening. Precise date has not yet been set, but were very close. Were making very Good Progress. Were looking over final signage on windows for approval. Love to be at that detail level. Its very encouraging. Another one that is moving along nicely is Kaiser Permanente space. They are still setting the public opening date as november 17th. Thats consistent with what you saw last time. These pictures, ill show you how we moved from framing to drywall and working on finishes within the space, so this, too, is moving along quite nicely. Looking at the other spaces, a little better defined scheduling now for you so you can see the beginning of what we would anticipate for opening. This is also reflective of our ongoing conversations with particularly the restaurant and cafe operators concerned about opening a little too early. So we have tried to finetune the delivers of the spaces to match the economy and the foot traffic will be returning to this area. So, therefore, you can see these q12021 opening slates. Happy lemon, pokey, spring fertility which is across the hall from our offices. And the second which is delivered later, but opening occurs for charlies and dim baos and tycoon kitchen. Then we have the openings in q2. If youve been by the facility, particularly on that end of the space, you may see the site that eddie ricks has out front. Were moving forward with the potential opening of that before the Permanent Location opens. So were discussing those logistics to make Good Progress with abc for Liquor License approvals. We have other things to button up with the department of Public Health and other regulatory agencies, but were very encouraged that could be open sooner than later. And then the precursor to many of these locations is having the gender neutral project completed. I think the last picture you might have seen was framing. As you can see, were looking like its moving along nicely. It is good work, remaining on schedule. That concludes my report. Happy to answer any questions you might have. Chair sesay thank you. For the presentation. Any comments or questions from fellow Board Members for the director . If there are no other questions or no questions or comments on the update, you do have the Quarterly Financial reports provided to you by our chief Financial Officer and shes available to answer any questions should there be any. Now we can see the screen. I couldnt see. It doesnt appear that anyone does. That concludes items under my report. Chair sesay thank you. Secretary are there any members of the public that wish to provide a comment on this item . Seeing none, i will move on to the next item. Directors oh, we have sorry i thought i saw a hand raised. Directors, item 6 is construction closeout update and we have dennis to present this item. Good morning, directors. Dennis truchon. Im going to provide todays brief phase one construction update for you today. Normally, you would see our director of all phase one construction activities, but hes been pulled away on other duties, because as a public works employee, he still has the San Francisco general project to wrap up and hes in arbitration today. So ill be providing the update for phase one. A few slides familiar to you. The first one here is the pie chart that we refer to show as our closeout of the trade packages of our 49. We have 37 closed out as of today. One is right on the fringe. May even be a final change order signed in the next day or two. Leaving the 11 that we have referenced for a while now. A couple of those are working their way through dispute resolution hearings. We do have a hearing next week with our r. S. C. , johnson controls, which is a low voltage scope that will have a hearing a couple days next week. So some of those are working through various disputes, but there are claims and lawsuit elements part of those 11 that will be discussed later today in the closed session. And also our contractor does have still two items left on his field condition reports, or punch list. So he has not achieved final acceptance yet. Theyre still pushing to get the last two which are lowvoltage type items and then ultimately d. B. I. Inspection required to closeout. So theyre still on the clock as of today to close out the contract. So as we track our construction, cont contingesi contingesies. This is our new budget, to reflect the new balances to the contingencies where the construction now shows the 17. 6 with 5 million in the cng contingency and 47. 5 now showing in the Program Reserve. With some anticipated continued use, the forecasted use of a couple of million on various construction in cmgc will be continuing to whittle away as we continue to work through about 70 change order requests. That were working through that are not in dispute as we finalize those out of the thousands that we have filtered through, so were in a very good spot. Almost near the end as we get to focus on really just those disputes, claims and lawsuits in the very near future. And then to complete it, the budget status, there is no changes to the bottom line number for the phase one package at 2. 259. No anticipated changes at this point at all either. This new slide does reflect some of the budget changes that were reflected a couple of months ago where improvements are their own bucket and the Program Reserve funding at 47. 5 million. That gives you a snapshot of where phase one construction is at this point and that completes my report for today. And wonder if there is any questions from the board . Thank you very much. Chair sesay Board Members, any questions for dennis . Thank you so much, dennis. Hearing none, mr. Secretary, do we have members of the public wishing to comment on this item . I think youre on mute. Secretary sorry about that. There are no members of the public that wish to provide a comment at this time. I will now proceed to call your next item. Directors, item 7 is the citizens advisory update and we have our Citizens Advisory Committee chair who will address you on that item. Good morning, directors. Can everybody hear me . Chair sesay yes. Great. We had a productive Citizens Advisory Committee tuesday evening. There was all around supportive comments for the interim director Nila Gonzales. We appreciate the level of consistency and familiarity with comprehensive issues that she brings. The cac members appreciate the staff report from john updike, as well as the closeout update by dennis. Looks like things are wrapping up nicely and well under control. There were positive supportive comments of the facility plans that identified areas of the park that may be showing preliminary signs of wear from the visitor usage. Sounds like that is under control. A number of the members are regular visitors to the Transit Center rooftop park and we appreciate updates on final facility projects such as the restroom facilities. The cac acknowledging the plans in progress while working with current tenants, given these Unusual Health and safety issues. Its great that weve got progress with a few merchants, especially in the health care field. Johns team put Significant Research and problemsolving analysis into updating the wayfinding resources. And cac members shared International Personal observations that john acknowledged when it comes to wayfinding topics. There were a number of questions about the phase 2 plans that steve addressed after his comments. The cac comments involved around understanding the clear path forward, including Steering Committee, topics, time lines, contractors and subcontractors, costs, political champions and General Program manager, project director topics. We just want to be in the loop to understand the path forward. There was also a restatement of the need to continue nurturing political and regional champion support. We want to avoid this project becoming bogged down as time goes by. We still are excited about the significant support and movement of this summer. Thanks again to all of you Board Members for your support and things you did behind the scenes to keep this moving forward. We want to make sure that the project continues and we want to look forward to key updates on the dtx dynamics, similar to what we received for phase one. Lastly, because there are significant connections with Regional Transit authorities that tie into the Transit Center, we invite communications and presentations at our upcoming meetings from regional transportation authorities such as caltrain. Were aware these times are having an effect on ridership and revenues throughout the state. And wed love to have updates on those dynamics as it affects our partners, so to speak. And this actually concludes my cac report. Chair sesay thank you for that presentation. Do we have comments or questions . My fellow Board Members . If we dont, hearing none, mr. Secretary, do we have members of the public wishing to speak on this item . Secretary yes. It looks as if we have one member of the public. I will have our moderator add that person to the queue and let him know he has three minutes to speak to this item. Moderator, can you let the member of the public into the queue, please . Theyre unmuted now. Good morning, directors. This is roland, very briefly. I think it is unfortunate that the significance of the dtx being moved to plan barrier 2050 period one was not communicated. Its almighty. It took effort by the entire region to get it there and i think this needs to be communicated to the cac in a strong manner because its moving forward, thank you. Secretary i think that concludes Public Comment. I will go ahead and call the next item, directors. Directors, item 8 is Public Comment. An opportunity for members of the public to address the authority on matters that are not on todays calendar. Members of the public that wish to provide Public Comment under this item, please dial 18552826330 and access code, 126 729 5295. Then pound and pound again. And then star 3 to be added to the queue to speak under this item. The system will prompt you when it is your turn to speak to draw your question, press to withdraw your question, press star 3 again. Seeing none, i will proceed to call the next item, directors. Directors, item 9 is approving the minutes of the august 18, 2020 meeting. Chair sesay thank you, mr. Secretary. Do we have questions, comments or edits . Ill move approval. Hursh. Chair sesay thank you. I have a motion and a second. Secretary i will now take roll call vote. Chair sesay thank you. Sorry, are there any members of the public that wish to provide a comment on this item . If not, i will then take a roll call vote. Director chang aye. E. Forbes aye. M. Hursh aye. B. Lipkin yes. J. Tumlin aye. Vice chair gee aye. Chair sesay aye. Secretary the ayes have it. Thank you. I will now proceed to call your next item, directors. Chair sesay thank you. Secretary directors, item 10 is approving an amendment to the employment agreement with Nila Gonzales for the position of interim executive director effective september 1, 2020. Good morning, deborah miller. You have before you this morning a proposed amendment to Nila Gonzaless Employment Contract to reflect her appointment from chief of staff and board secretary to the position of interim executive director. It reflects a change in the description of her civil responsibilities as well as a change in her compensation. The form of agreement is in front of you, both her existing contract as well as the proposed amendment and includes all of the details, but as required by government code 54953c3 i will note for the record that the proposed compensation this local Agency Executive would be revised to 124. 88 per hour, which would translate to annual salary of 259,743 over the course of a full year. The form and approach of the amendment to the employment agreement is consistent with both the form and approach that the board took in 2016 when it elevated an existing employee then Program Manager to the position of interim executive director. The form has also been approved by the tjpa employment council. As to the amount of compensation, its less than the outgoing executive director and its within the scope of the tjpas current budget. Happy to answer any questions if you have any. Chair sesay thank you. Any questions, comments from my fellow Board Members on this item . Just thank nila for taking on this difficult assignment. Im happy to move the item. Second, gee. Chair sesay thank you. We have a motion and a second. And do we have members from the public wishing to speak on this item before we do roll call . Mr. Secretary . Secretary seeing none, i will take a roll call vote. Director chang . Aye. E. Forbes aye. M. Hursh aye. B. Lipkin aye. J. Tumlin aye. Vice chair gee aye. Chair sesay aye. Secretary the ayes have it. I will now proceed to call your next item, directors. Item 11, authorizing the interim executive director to execute a General Service agreement for Landscape Maintenance services for salesforce park with gachina Landscape Management for an amount not to exceed 911,297 for a threeyear term. John will present the item. Thank you, donald. This item seeks your approval of a General Services agreement for Landscape Maintenance services with gachina Landscape Management to maintain salesforce park. As stated, the initial threeyear term has not to exceed amount of 911,297 and the contract has two oneyear options for renewal at fixed pricing. Following the issuance of the request for proposals in april of this year, tjpa received six proposals prior to the published june 22nd due date. A Selection Committee was then formed, composed of myself, a representative of the east cut cbd and the chief sustainability officer at the city of San Francisco. We were facilitated by ed sung of the staff. I want to give a shoutout to ed for his assistance helping the newbie through the process. The committee scored the written proposals and invited the top three scoring firms to the interview phase. Attachment c in the Package Details the scoring of each phase. Based on the reviews, the Committee Recommended the award of the contract to gachina Landscape Management. Gachina Landscape Managements experienced resources, their environmentally sustained approach, competitive pricing and green roof certification were all determining factors in the recommendation. Fiscally, the contract before you would have a fiscal year 2021 impact of 116,989 less than budgeted. Per the l. O. U. , cbd will be responsible for 79. 81 of the contracted amount. To actively engage the salesforce Park Committee in the process, beyond the appointment of a representative to the reviewing panel, we discussed some of the key terms of the landscaping specifications with the committee before negotiating the contract with gachina and then advised them of the recommendations, which was well received by the committee. So award of the contract at this time will facilitate a proper handoff from our current Maintenance Services provider and the original installer of the landscaping with wire and hester, whose obligations terminate in mid october of this year. Happy to address any questions you may have. Chair sesay thank you, mr. Updike for the presentation. Do i have any questions from my fellow Board Members for mr. Updike . Thank for the presentation. I just want to better understand. From the memo, when i was reading it, there one divergence in the proposal of the number of hours that we were seeing for the contracted amount. I dont have that page up, but i think it was somewhere in the 1500 or so to over 4,000. I know the winning the proposal that youre recommending is in the higher end of the range, not the highest. What is driving the difference in terms of in my simple world there is a certain amount of landscaping to do, so why were the proposals so different in terms of the hours involved . Its a really good question because it was a wide range of hours allocated to the task. The tasks were clearly outlined. I think what some of the vendors did not recognize is the diversity of the species. And as a result, those proposals that were closer to that 1500hour mark, we felt, the Committee Review felt it missed the mark on the detail that is needed, again, because weve got so many different zones within this five acres. And so what we did look at to ensure that this particular proposal was the most competitive, was balancing in a chart between the hours allocated and costs. And when we looked at the gachina proposal, we got a bigger bang for the buck in terms of the number of hours, the actual costs per hour was more competitive than other proposals. So we felt it was in the sweet spot between that almost 5,000hour proposal, which was over a half Million Dollars in cost to the tjpa and the lesser amount of hours which is still on an hourly basis fairly expensive for us. Hopefully, that addresses your question. Yes, thank you. Chair sesay thank you. Any additional questions . Hearing none, mr. Secretary, can you see if we have any members of the public wishing to speak on this item . And then well entertain a motion. Secretary seeing no members of the public that wish to provide a comment, moderator, can you confirm . That is correct. I do not see any. Secretary you may proceed, sara sesay. Move for approval. Chair sesay i have a motion. B. Lipkin second. Secretary i will now proceed to take a roll call vote. Director chang . Aye. E. Forbes aye. M. Hursh aye. B. Lipkin aye. J. Tumlin aye. Vice chair gee aye. Chair sesay aye. Secretary the ayes have it. Chair sesay thank you. Secretary i will now proceed to call your next item. Directors, item 12 is presentation by the lower case productions and applied wayfinding on the wayfinding gap analysis and Improvement Plan for the Salesforce Transit Center. Ill do a brief introduction. So first i want to thank our team for making the transition easy for me. I inherited this project when it was well along. Pleased to provide this final report and thank you to the board of directors and the mtc for the funding that was made made this venture possible. At this point the implementation, this really is a template that is shovel ready to move forward. Happy to ask wayfinding to take you through the program. Gentlemen . Take it away. This is dan ryder. Can you hear me . Secretary yes. Im the owner of lower case productions. Joining me is agent bell, as john mentioned, representing applied wayfinding. After this brief introduction, i will turn the show over to adrian to walk through the physical signage portion of the report. And then i will return to discuss the kioskbased digital wayfinding application. And then we will, together, complete our presentation with cost estimates and a time line for implementation. So if we could move to the next slide, please. Thank you. There are two main focus areas in this study to improve signage in wayfinding at the Transit Center. One was physical wayfinding signage and two was the digital application found on the kioskbased monitors primarily situated in the grand hall. And in order to research and discover what we did about these two areas, we went to a number of key steps, including conducting an initial assessment, which involved site audit, user and operator interviews, surveys that we track users while they tried their hand at the digital application. We followed them as they made way through the center, going from point a to point b. We then recorded our findings in the gap analysis report, which is the title of this project. After that we developed an Improvement Plan that recommended appropriate responses to the findings, as well as class 3 estimates on fixes. And finally, we brought everything together in a signage plan proposal that further details our recommendations along with the signage inventory and offered a set of estimates. Im going to turn the presentation over to adrian at this point and ill return in a while to discuss digital wayfinding. Adrian, take it away. Thank you, dan. Thank you, everybody, for giving us the time today to present this to you. As mentioned, im going to run you through the Information Planning and the physical sign element of both the analysis we did. So slide 3, please. So the background as dan explained was a variety of could you move that one slide as i mentioned, were going to run through really Design Concepts for the physical signage improvement were looking at proposals for the digital system including the kiosk and management system, and the preliminary plans and budget estimates for program improvements. We were focused on transit customer journeys and the reason for that is that is the core function of the building. And also because these people are often unfamiliar with the city and time limited, which makes them highly susceptible to any wayfinding system. We acknowledge the fact as we all recover from covid, improving the Customer Experience of transit customers will be all the more important in the future. Key findings from our review, which as i mentioned included a lot of engagement work concluded that the [inaudible] creates physical challenges to people, for instance, mistaking the bus deck for the plaza, can mean several minutes of confusion. This service as complexity and process steps. The design of the existing wayfinding overemphasizes esthetics and expense and the feature pilot elements are injectable to change. And that the digital which is an essential element of the design intent of the building have not been really successful. Theyre effectively unseen in our observation and the user interface is poorly designed and lacks accessibility. So, the key point of the way we approach this was to look really at three areas. One was the underlying logic of the wayfinding system. The Concept Design for adapted or new physical signs. Then proposals for Digital Systems including software, hardware and associated applications. Next slide, please. Im going to start with the information plan. The underlying logic of any wayfinding information plan. The plan describes the objectives, structures and rules. Assigns screens and other wayfinding tools. An example is found in the wayfinding standard, and describes the system of transit information to the whole bay area. There is limited evidence of a plan at the Transit Center and it does not use the m. T. C. Standard. This creates the problems experienced by visitors and limits the potential for the existing system to be expanded to future trains like caltrain. As seen here, different stages of the transfer journey. This zoning provides the framework for what types of information are required where. This is just an enlargement of that analysis process, which shows how a sequence of zones can be connected together to provide better information better idea about what information should be required where. For instance, the building is the first point to be on the outside of the building. Then to highly specific information like locating a particular service in that zone. The information plan also considers points to locate into motion intuitively. This shows design, so people typically take, mapped [inaudible] street, additional cross lines, and wayfinding decisions are made and information may be needed. In combination with the decisions that allows them to so its progressively disclosed to the user. Its the way that the information for the decision is provided to any point. This simplifies information design and ensures a logical sequence of systems. The current wayfinding point results in pylons that is complex attracts and other points where the visitor is left unsupported. Next slide, please. Again, a detail of that process here that shows how design lines and resulting decision points dont necessarily align with where i expect your experience would tell you that existing signs are located. In some instances, this only creates a minor inconvenience, but other instances, visitors have expressed they missed a direction that was important to them and they were unable to successfully continue their journey or faced significant delay. The information plan itself suggests fundamental problems to the existing wayfinding system that cannot be fixed by design changes to the sign contents or limited editions alone. Adaptation and use of infrastructure is possible and in some instances provides a wayfinding system that addresses current problems and scaleable for caltrain will, in our view require investment. We have suggested a phased plan. The intention is that the plan will create investment that will provide value to the each accepted phase. For the first phase, a Rapid Response and complaints right now, using materials, the existing signs. And phase one would develop the longer term plan as well. Phase 2 is a more substantive upgrade of existing signs. This would involve upgrades that would replace some signs, reengineer. Phase 3, is a new wayfinding system from phase 2 and allow you to scaleup for the use of caltrain without reworking the system yet again. Were going to show you a few consents, from the design process we undertook. The first example is the sort of iconic pylons used around the site. We found these are difficult to understand. That was supported by visitors and operators we spoke to. Very difficult for visitors and quite difficult for you to maintain and update. That represents an immediate opportunity for improvement. Our suggestion is that in phase 1, we would remove the embossed lettering and reclad those with a structural board and vinyl, so you have a clearer information system. That would be a temporary improvement. In phase 2, the top section of the existing signs would be removed and would be replaced with the permanent construction as illustrated here. This is a construction much more direct and easy to understand and more clearly follows the m. T. C. s regional direction. The next example im showing you here is exit signage above the doors. This is important because of the footprint of the building that covers several streets and the need to connect essentially between different transit modes. The current arrangement has been temporary addressed, but the overall impact is quite confusing and rather messy. Our proposal then is to cover those holes with vinyl panels and in phase 2, replace them entirely with illuminated sign boxes. Next slide. The third and final example im going to show you is just transit planning information. This is at the bus deck. Currently its a little difficult to find. We experienced. And that information is very critical to the information plan. Next slide, please. We proposed to much greater interest in those areas to create information hub similar to the transit information displayed at m. T. A. Across the region. That would be done using graphics and in phase 2, we would [inaudible] for that. Next slide. We also created an information plan of the preliminary locations of all of these. Where possible in phase one weve attempted to reuse or make compromise to limit the addition of the new signs or new infrastructure, but in phase 2, we have opted for an information plan place that would replace existing signs. Also, the proper place for the Digital Information in the transit information environment for customers. Next slide, please. Im going to hand it back to dan who is going to talk you through the wayfinding application, the digital element. Thank you, adrian. So beyond the fact that most users arent even aware there is an app living behind the ad placement on the kiosk monitors, our initial onsite assessment of the tool revealed two things. One, that there are so many fundamental flaws in the interactive experience. In the information architecture which is how the application is built. And the way the data is visualized and repurposed. That making incremental updates to the current is not going to fix the problem. The application needs to be rebuilt from the bottom up. The second thing we found, even after you rebuilt the application from the ground up, that in itself would not adequately solve the problem. The am caig is part of a application is a part of a larger ecosystem of hardware, software and work flow elements that all requires attention in parallel with development of the application. Next slide, please. So in summary im sorry. In summary, there are two things. One, we need to rebuild the application from scratch. And, two, we need to redesign research rather, design and develop solutions for these other supportive associated needs and elements. Im going to give you an illustration of what im talking about to help put this in better context. Over on the left is a picture of one of our kiosks in the main floor. On it, is the monitor and inside that monitor is the application that weve been tasked with reviewing. On the right, we see this grey area showing these five areas that we feel are really important to get a handle on in order to make the full package successful. So lets take a quick look at each of these areas, starting with the first one, content management network. So content and transit data coming into the center and also frankly on the main departure arrival big screen is all managed by a third party, that also manages placements appearing on the kiosks screens. Our recommendation is to consider options for bringing Data Management inhouse for quicker response to user issues with the tool to achieve better Response Time on communication alerts. And really to respond quicker to need for fixes in the software glitches. If we move up to the top of this graphic, the monitors and Digital Media players, monitors is a big issue as well. The current problem with the monitors are low pixel resolution devices. These were optimized for placement for large illustrations. They work great at a distance. The problem is when you look at them when you look at data that is put on the monitors up close, its really hard to see. You dont get the fine detail that you need to see maps, to look at small transit information, to look at floor plan graphics. Its just not there. So consider replacing these devices with very High Resolution and very bright i say bright because these monitors need to are used external to the grand hall. Right paired with the monitors are Digital Media players, small boxes, that feed the content directly to the monitors. That content comes from a third party. These Media Players have to work with monitors and if we replace the monitors, which we need to do, were going to have to replace half of those Media Players as well. So consider the status quo and upgrading both monitors and Media Players accordingly. Third category to the right is transit data dashboard. So the interactive wayfinding application is going to require regularly updated data from transit operators. Its going to be requiring live map data, including traffic conditions and things of that sort. And also up to date internal Transit Center floor plans, because we want to make sure that users, if they need to get from point a and point b and there is a retail chain, they need to know what is happening on the floor. So a facility of this sort of a public facility utilizing and sharing information of this sort typically has a backup house control system that is plugged into the cms, the application, that aggregates information and filters it and redeploys it smartly to the application. And this tool is recommended for this project as well. The fourth category is mobile. Why mobile . Well, viewers of public Space Software systems increasingly expect that they should be able to download these apps to their mobile device. You know, you dont necessarily want to have to go to an interactive tool on site in order to get from point a to point b when you can get the information on your way there, because youre going to be rushing when you get there. Another thing to keep in mind, due to the pandemic, people are going to be much more reluctant to touch screens and interact with touch. So we need to do everything to protect our users and give them the best experience and quickest access to the information they need. One last point about the mobile app, it brings up a template as an option to consider what a regional trip planner might be like, because it will be utilizing this type of information. So that becomes an added concept to consider for the future. The last item is digital wayfinding and Navigation Services for people with disabilities. The current tool has an option where you can click a button and the control interface moves down toward the floor for people who are confined to wheelchairs. Not only is it incompletely implemented, but there is much more to the disabled community than those with wheelchairs, including those with hearing and vision loss and cognitive impairment. Our final recommendation is have a research study, what is the full extent of what we can do to bring this tool to the use of more people in the disabled community . Unless there are any questions. Im going to turn over to adrian and hell discuss cost estimates. Thank you, dan. If we could just move to it slide 23, please. Thank you very much. So, we provide an outline estimate of mentioned based on the preliminary plan and visual designs. So this is sort of a plusminus 25 assessment of costs at this stage. Weve looked at physical signage. Digital information as well as the potential contingency associated with developing those to the next stage. I think its important to remember that phase one were anticipating something that could be introduced in a year. So a rapid turnaround. Phase 2 may take longer, obviously, its a larger investment. And we understand of course that may take more than two years to budget, but it is it is in our estimation possible physically within about two years. The costs are laid out there for you. I wont go through them in detail. But just to comment that phase 1 includes Detailed Design of all physical elements we have shown as visual concepts. The physical adjustments. Addition of static, temporary transit information display to replace diagrams on digital kiosks while theyre upgraded. Phase 2 proposals would be the physical elements for replacement of the signs as permanent items. Reengineering replacement of signs. Identity signage on the exterior of the facility. And also the potential of a mobile app development. I think at that point ill leave it. And back to you, john, to manage questions. Happy to take any. Thank you. Thank you so much. So all of us are available for questions if you have them, members. Chair sesay thank you for the presentation. Do i have any questions from my fellow Board Members . And thank you. That was very thorough and detailed. Question. M. Hursh jeff, did you have a question . J. Tumlin i do. Yeah, let me dive in. So thank you, adrian and daniel for the presentation. This is a topic near and dear to my heart. In my global practice i use the transbay Transit Center as the best example in the world of failed interagency coordination and deeply anticustomer wayfinding. We do not have a wayfinding system at the transit centre, we have a facility inventory of agency terms. If im a customer and i know that i need to get to alameda or sunol, there is nothing there to help me find my destination. So i have a couple of questions. Ill go through all of them because theyre related. One question is, can we please eliminate or at least diminish the use of agency logos as our primary wayfinding structure . I love the walter lan dow worm, but nobody knows what that means. And instead of having there be a worm and a little green circle with fog in the middle of it, can the sign simply say buses to San Francisco and buses to north bay . Secondly, the k1 panels are really useless. And yet theyre very expensive investment and seem to offer a lot of flexibility. I would love thoughts on how to make them useful in the shortterm, instead of counterproductive. Even putting up just some static maps of how the system works and explanation how the system works would be very helpful in the short run. And then most of my questions are about wayfinding details, like a standard for numbering exists so that the entire journey train can be explained with google maps. And you know thoughtfully integrated. Ill stop there and hear your response. Thanks. Ill take this first. I know there was a question about the sure. So if i may, through you, chair, thank you for the question. Yeah, i would agree, we have ourselves used the problems as an example of design over in other instances. Our view generally on Transit System wayfinding is that they are often driven by operator identity for historical reasons. And thats not in line with the clientele. The new riders we need to draw into the system dont understand any of that jargon. So i think you see from the Concept Design i went through quickly, we are suggesting simple messaging to buses to explain the difference between the bus deck and the bus which is incredibly important. And we did encounter people who would spend 20 minutes lost in the building, which is a remarkable amount of time. So i would totally agree with the comments. They are in line with what we suggested. I will mention as well we have also suggested reinstating some static system maps and building facility maps in the building because thats the sort of thing that people look for, its reliable and visual and increasing online information. Dan, any other thoughts . Before you reply, the idea of bus deck versus bus plaza is nonintuitive. There is a place where buses to the east bay depart from. And there is a different place where buses to San Francisco and the north bay depart from. And then there is a street where buses to the peninsula depart from. And then there is a block away, regional rail, that is not mentioned in any of the wayfinding. Yep. J. Tumlin so, again, rather than focusing on the facility and arbitrary agency terms, to focus on the information that the customer needs. I would agree. Sorry. When i say differentiate, i dont mean repeat the name. I mean in a way that the customer appreciates. So thank you for that clarification. Yeah, i would just add to your comments, jeffrey, in the shortterm to rebuild to do something with the kiosks at this point while development is under way, lets say within the first year, what i can say is besides putting physical maps or digital static maps in place with the current application that is broken is one option at this point. It will take approximately a year to develop something that is consistent with the needs of the station right now. So a series of static images that we could replace the current application with. Other than that, im not sure im concerned about advertising and how that is incorporated into this mix, which is something that as well. My turn now. First, im glad i yielded to jeff, because he was much more articulate than i will be. Thank you for the report. Thank you to staff for getting it here. It validates what weve been saying before the grand opening. Couple of questions. Well, a comment first. I appreciate the focus, but i also [inaudible] the use of the facility. The more we can drive business through our [inaudible] what are included with it. The wayfinding for transit makes great points about the buses in the city, to north bay versus the east bay. Is this work in the scope . Can we just say go . Or does this need to be bid out . Who is paying for it . And last, probably least important and probably not possible, i dont want to start a witch hunt, but we got it so wrong, is there somebody we can go after for errors and omissions . It seems like such a world class facility with so much attention paid to it. I dont want to start an investigation, but if there is someone we should hold responsible, we should at least try to thank you. Maybe i can talk to one part of that, because i think a little of that is out of my scope. Just to say as partners, our discussion with staff and operators, we certainly acknowledge that this isnt just a transit facility, that its a mixed use development. And the idea of building directories and maps to explain the other authority in the building is certainly part of what we considered and recommended. John, perhaps you can talk to the other . I may defer the last question to my executive director. But with respect to implementation, as we noted, there is no identified funding source, but were excited about the scope and completion of this project. We do have specifications here that allow us to move pretty smoothly to an implementation of that phase one work. Given the scope of the project, yes, it would probably require a procurement process. But funding first. We will be as ready as we can be when eget the green we get the green light to go in terms of initiating a procurement process. So readiness is what we get from this. I think maybe to add to that, john, in terms of readiness, we also have a partnership established with m. T. C. , who is very invested in helping us get this funded and implemented. We realize this is a time where no one has any extra money and it also says we need to have done, because when the economy comes back and the people come back, they can navigate easily. So we will have it ready and continue to work with m. T. C. And anyone else we might be able to coordinate or partner with to get funds for that. I actually had an idea ill run by john after as we were going to a presentation on who we might seek for additional sponsorship on in implementing more wayfinding. And again, my last question. I mentioned this was designed 10 years ago, but is there anybody we can hold accountable . Want to get back to us on that . I can tell you what i know from being here. Well, i can tell you what i can tell you is, i am familiar with the staff or i should say the Program Management staff that worked. From what i understand, worked with m. T. C. , but obviously not to m. T. C. Satisfaction, not the staff that is working with us now, to implement the signage that was there which obviously needs improvement. Ill be frank and share that i, myself, who have been here since before and saw the plans, and sometimes wonder where im at and im a native san franciscan that knows the city all the way around. Its a huge facility that needs additional signage. We will definitely take a look if there is anyone to hold accountable and if we can draw on some other monies to help support the effort. Perhaps if that is possible, thank you. A couple of questions. I dont know if i can follow jeff and mike on this, but just in terms of mtcs involvement. Have we shared the product that adrian has put together with them at this point . And did they have any reaction to and desire to continue their partnership with us in moving it forward . Yes, director. M. T. C. Has been a valuable partner with me on this project. Worked closely on the product that you have now reviewed. We find it in alignment with the overall bay Areawide Program at m. T. C. Is promoting. And ive been engaged with those discussions with a larger group. I think we have 88 on the last zoom call that was hosted. So lots of involvement from sacramento and bay area. So, yes, its in sync with their plans. And were continuing that conversation. I guess my second question was, almost the question for jeff and maybe i just missed it between the presentation and your comments, but i like what you were saying about helping passengers navigate to their destinations. And i know that some of the signs for the mockups that adrian presented, still was very agency focused. To me, that feels like there is still work to reconcile in terms of like, we cant because i agree, jeff, with what youre saying. If were going to move in that direction the details if you will. So i guess leave it to put you on the spot, but if you have a couple extra hours in your day to help with figuring some of that out or having a staff member figure out, your team perhaps that youve been working on this kind of stuff, but maybe thats another avenue to making sure we get it right. Because i want to go down the implementation route with things that we see as probably not quite up to what were actually looking for and getting too far ahead of ourselves with it. Im certainly happy to help on the next steps. Im sure that director hursh would be as well. Between the two of us if we can corral the other general managers and use our staffs to think about how do we focus on our customers and not just protect our turf . I would like to say, can we abolish the use of agency logos in the wayfinding system and instead pretend like we have one regional seamless Mobility System that happens to be operated by 20odd different operators. That the customer doesnt need to know about. They need to know where theyre going. How to get a ticket. They dont necessarily care which one of us is the operator and what our 1974 logo is. One point on that, if i may. I think just to explain why we retained operator logo, because we have in other instances lobbied for exactly the same thing as consultant. You go to user focused approach. What we had been aware of and wanted to emphasize was the value of regional consistency and the m. T. C. Standard which obviously this is a strategic [inaudible] still use operator logos and while there isnt yet a sort of Regional Transit identity agreed, that is something that we were aware that to fit in with the regional standard, that is something that perhaps is a concession that may need to be made to m. T. C. Standards, but certainly from a wayfinding consultant perspective, i agree that operator logos are somewhat acis inistic at best, well constrained. I would suggest going straight to a dutch or japanese standard and bypassing the standard which i think is a good effort rather than a global standard effort. This comment about us helping. Transit trivia for 400. Ac transit manages the regional sign program for mtc. Before my time, i wouldnt have done it, but we hired a contractor. We have staff that are very knowledgeable of the m. T. C. Process and were happy to collaborate and move this as fast as possible. Sorry to interrupt. Chair sesay i see director chang. Thank you. I really appreciate the whole item and all of the fantastic comments from the other directors. I wanted to suggest that we do continue to engage, if weve been doing so, the Disability Community and the c. A. C. , and just continue to keep public involvement and engagement in line as far as the user perspective. And to be able to budget for that as well, so we can go together to seek funding. So in our capacity as a transportation authority, i also wanted to offer our help to seek grants or other opportunities to help fund this very, very important, really critical work, ultimately. So im glad were discussing this today. Thank you. Chair sesay thank you. So it looks like any of my fellow Board Members have questions, but it looks like director gonzalez, you have offers on the table and at some point would it looks like there is enough interest it may make sense to come back and keep us all informed about this, because it is a Customer Experience. I know we get all wonky on that side of the house, but we definitely want passengers to be able to navigate to their destinations. So thank you for that. Do we have if there are no additional comments from my fellow Board Members, do we have members of the public wishing to comment on this item . There are no members of the public that wish to provide any comment on this item at this point. Chair sesay and an update, its not an action item. So can we call the next item . Item 13 is the San Francisco peninsula rail program e. S. C. Update. Executive Steering Committee chair will present the item. Thank you, mr. Secretary. Good morning, directors. Pleased to help present on the update for the e. S. C. This month. Since our last presentation before you in august, weve made steady progress on a number of items. As director gonzalez mentioned, procurement are making their way forward. The outreach and branding consultants as well as the general engineering contractor which is a really critical Consulting Service that we are going to need on a timely basis. So just wanted to underscore that as you consider. We have also been making recruitment of the permanent project director position. Appreciate being included in on that. In terms of our critical path, as youll recall from the last month update, it does remain, the rail operations as it will feed into the major focus of our work in this first period. And the good news there is that we have found a way as a team to provide the funding in the early stages of this work to caltrain, which is procuring the consulting for us. Theyre doing the work in conjunction with the highspeed Rail Authority and that the whole team is going to rely on. It is to help this work will help evaluate the different impacts of phasing options on caltrain and highspeed rails through input, capacity, reliability, safety, et cetera, among all the other factors that well be considering. Well be able to move that along using existing sfmta funds. And we may come back to you at the end of the year, depending on how the other pieces of work shake out, and that relates to the next item ill provide the update on, which is the joint board plan, the interagency schedule, and deliverables that the team has been producing. Supported by aecon and our director. The team hass developed this initial work plan. Well be reviewing it in a couple of weeks. That lays out all the interrelated tasks to get to a milestone next summer, which we hope to bring to you, the phasing results, phrasing Study Results operational analysis, funding and planning to support decisionmaking about whether and how to identify our initial operating segment that could be lower cost than the whole project that we see before us. So thats our goal. And we dont have that update for you yet today, but well bring that to you at your next meeting in october. Other tools that the team has developed include the phasing analysis sort of cost estimation tools to identify the impact of project features that may be deferred. And to escalate those appropriately. Its also been great to see them updating the projects risk register, which we talked about last time we met. Director gee commented on that as well, expressed a lot of interest. So we are using the f. T. A. Methodology to assure applicability of this work as we head into future grant requests for f. T. A. So that is really Good Progress on that front. Finally in terms of planning and funding, it did come up in Public Comment, following the good outcome of the placement of d. T. X. And the first period of the planned bay area, as was noted before, the team has participated in coordination meetings with related projects including the transbay the new transbay rail crossing with bart and capital corridor. And tjpa sent comments to the high speed Rail Authority, the draft environmental document. That just happened in the past week. So i appreciate that level of engagement and participation and really a form of championship since that did come up. I think its really great to see all of the related projects being a focus here at tjpa. With that, im happy to take sorry, one thing i did fail to mention. Our next meeting will be coming up september 18 at 11 00. As usual, the agenda is posted on the tjpa website and any callers who require additional assistance, we can provide that for the callin process through tjpa and director gonzalez. We did have folks experiencing difficulty at our prior meeting. I wanted to acknowledge that and offer that assistance. Chair sesay thank you for that update. Do i have any comments, questions from my fellow Board Members . I see vice chair gee. Vice chair gee thank you, chair sesay. Director chang, i wanted to say thank you for the update. This is exactly what not just this board needs, but the public needs to see where this is headed and where they can engage in the process. So i appreciate it. Look forward to the more detailed work plan as well as all the other items that you shared in your report. So thank you very much for that. Youre welcome. Chair sesay thank you. Anyone else . I dont see anyone else, at least my fellow Board Members. Mr. Secretary, do we have members of the public wishing to comment . Secretary yes. You have one member of the public that would like to comment on the item. Jason, can you put that caller in the queue . They are unmuted. Fellow caller, please state your name. Your three minutes begins now. Thank you, directors. This is roland from san jose. So, to start with i think that director chang is asking for the modelling on behalf of caltrain is critical. And in my mind, this is a very best 200,000 you will have spent on this project so far. Moving forward, i expect that the analysis will finally expose the Second Street alignment. That will ultimately make it impossible for caltrain to vacate the 4th and king rail yard until the new transbay tube opens. I would like to close with a couple of recommendations. First of all, when youre doing the modelling, limit the model to the section between breeze bane and the sfdtc. Any issues caused by to eliminate any issues caused by the rider way in san matteo county. I would like to share with you track work in the vicinity of the tank form that makes it possible to turn around 12 trains an hour per direction between the Transit Center and brisbane. The other thing i would like to address is to consider, is to expand the scope of the contract to study the 7th street alignment in parallel with the Second Street alignment, because this ultimately will inform the board the 7th street alignment is indeed the only alignment that will enable six fulllength true platforms in translink. And im pleased to inform you that one of the seven Design Builders who responded to the r. F. I. Gave me a verbal quote to construct both the d. T. X. And p. A. X. As a combined project for less than 1 billion. Which means that you currently have a funding envelope of 1. 3 billion, all this project needs is environmental to proceed. And we have two bills, one that passed, senate bill, i think it was from senator wiener. And the one that make in the session, which is 7965 which is extension of 8900. That bill is critical and i need you all legislators to basically join with the mayor in san jose and to convene an emergency session to pass that bill. Thank you very much. Secretary thank you. It seems there are no other members of the public that would like to provide a comment. I will proceed along with the agenda. Chair sesay thank you, mr. Secretary. Secretary at this time the board is scheduled to go into closed session. If there are any members of the public that would like to provide comment on the items listed for discussion in closed session, this is your time to do so now. Seeing none, i will now put us in closed session. Moderator, can you please put us into closed session . Yes. I can hear you. Thank you, jason. You may report out. As to item 16, conference with legal counsel, existing litigation in the matter as specified on the published agenda, there is no action to report. As to item 17, for the spaces in the Transit Center as noticed, there is no action to report. Chair sesay thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for that. So i take it were adjourned. Secretary it looks as if you have a member of the public who wants to provide a comment at this time. Chair sesay okay. Jason, can you please pass the person the caller through the queue, please . Hello, caller, please state your name. I dont need to state my name. Im pretty well known. You know, you need to know something about the brown act. So i was listening to the meeting and we are at home because of the covid19 situation. Those of us who Pay Attention to the various deliberations are getting piecemeal information on what is happening with the Transbay Joint Powers Authority. You know, some of us are very interested in the highspeed rail system with all the millions of dollars that have been spent at the transbay. And the last meeting i saw the one of the directors, i think the main director retired. And i know theyre going to get some new people in. I know your chair person pretty well. And all i say is, that san franciscans are very astute and stellar. Dont hood wink us in broad daylight. Keep us informed with goals that have time lines. And i know you have your c. A. C. And some others, but lets not have people that rubberstamp issues. We need sound deliberation. We need people who understand what this process is, including the brown act. And, hopefully, if you do things the right way, well go to a better place. If not, i think that Transbay Joint Powers Authority will also be involved in some sort of subpoenatype of situation, which we do not want to be. Or happen. Thank you very much. Chair sesay thank you. Mr. Secretary, do you have any more . Secretary no. There are no more members of the public that wish to provide comment at this time. Chair sesay, that concludes your items for todays agenda, you may adjourn the meeting. Chair sesay thank you, everyone. Goodbye. Congrats to you, director gonzalez. Everyone be well, take care. Thank you, take care, everyone. You. What do you think about working at an airport and i love it is busy all the time. We want it to be an those away was this is a venture if i didnt love it ill be an accountant. We want the experience that is a nonairport experience the negative stigma were trying to erase that. Everything is in a bad food to excite them about the food and they have time to learn about us. People are imitated by traveling and the last thing to do is come to a place fill of chaos. Telling me how the extent of napa a farms came about. It was a vision of the airport director he had a suspicion of a really cool gourmet speciality market locally friendly products this market local flavors this is the best. Can we get a little tour. Absolutely laughter so first on our tour. We have the clock we like to call it. This is coordinating it is made in San Francisco. What about the customer presence. We like to get the permanent farther i love the cappuccino and you have to go to multiple places for the cupcakes the cup a cakes from karis people want to live here theyre longing phone call for one thing in one spot in you know anything about San Francisco the cheese the most popular cheesy think a lot of the people from the west coast say so this the real San Francisco sour dough and theyre curious. You find people respond to the idea of organic and absolutely. This is autumn. Thank you, thank you and theres a lot of personal touch. I see San Francisco. Its very hands on. Whats the most popular items. This is quite surprising our fresh jotting this is the chronicle special a bowl of warm oats and coconut thats mites farther. And speaking of drinks tell me again the cocktail scenes is that one, the things your known for. The cocktails are fantastic. Really. Fresh ingredients we dont have a mixture it to order this is our marcus bloody mayor. Farmers market bloody mary the bloody marys in the airport are great shikz it up. And then were going to garnish it with olives. And some lime and a fresh stalk of selly. Right on. We like the San Francisco playgrounds hitsvery dates back to 1927 when the area where the present playground and center is today was purchased by the city for 27,000. In the 1950s, the sen consider was expanded by then mayor robinson and the old gym was built. Thanks to the passage of the 2008 clean and safe Neighborhood Parks bond, the Sunset Playground has undergone extensive renovation to its four acres of fields, courts, play grounds, community rooms, and historic gymnasium. Here we are. 60 years and 14 million later, and we have got this beautiful, brandnew rec center completely accessible to the entire neighborhood. The new rec center houses multipurpose rooms for all kinds of activities including basketball, line dancing, playing pingpong and arts can crafts. You can use it for whatever you want to do, you can do it here. On friday, november 16, the dedication and Ribbon Cutting took place at the Sunset Playground and recreation center, celebrating its renovation. It was raining, but the rain clearly did not dampen the spirits of the dignitaries, Community Members and children in attendance. [cheering and applauding] as a friendyou can submit u questions by chat only. Please submit your questions as clearly as possible and include your name and outlet. We will do our best to receive questions up until the q a begins. Remaining questions can be sent to des sfgov. Org. And here is the mayor, london breed. The hon. London breed good afternoon, everyone. Today, im joined by Community Organizations that have always been amazing partners with the city and have really stepped up during covid19 for our community. I was out with the Latino Task Force earlier this week to distribute p. P. E. For all businesses, and they are doing amazing work organizing and fighting for resources for the community. The sisters for perpetual indulgence are always at the forefront for keeping the sister of lgbtq healthy, always while having a little okay, a lot of fun. And the African American arts and cultural district has been working hard to make sure the Community Members know where they can go for support, from sharing information about testing, business grants and loans, and working to empower youth in the bayview, and opportunities for all has helped distribute books, activity kits, and technology that students need to be successful this school year, and their terms and fellows have repaired with Community Engagement and outreach throughout the city. So since the start of this global pandemic, we have always heard and received advice about how we can protect ourselves and others and slow the spread of the virus. Overtime, as our understanding of the virus has evolved, some of that guidance has changed, like face coverings, while other guidance shall stayed consistent, like frequent hand washing. You cant walk down the street, go to the grocery store, listen to music our browse social media without someone telling you to stay 6 feet apart, wear your mask, and wash your hands. Since january, our city has launched multilingual campaigns on t. V. , radio, social media, newspapers, bus shelters, and bill boards. A team of Disaster Service workers han been on the streets daily, blanketing our city with posters, multilingual posters and flyers. Since january, this team has distributed more than 3 million flyers. Posters, and fact sheets across the city. You cant turn anywhere in the city of without seeing our blue and yellow signs. This provides good information, and many people are listening. However, as weve stretched into our seventh month of this pandemix, we are looking for new ways to capture peoples attention to sustain the good work of our residents and communities. We want to be bold and strategic how we reach out to people who arent Wearing Masks. We wanted to find out why people might not be wearing face coverings and see if we can change their behavior because were all safer when we cover our faces when we go out, and regularly wearing face coverings will help us keep San Francisco on a path of reopening that we so desperately need. I asked our team, our city team to start working with people and organizations in our neighborhood to did he vel Community Led education campaigns and outreach efforts specifically around mask wearing, and many answered the call. Our nonprofits arts and faith organizations are on the frontlines impacting communities. Because of their relationships, they are often the most trusts and the most influential than the government. Im proud to say, today, we are launching our first series of communityled campaigns ahead of Labor Day Weekend, and you are going to hear from some of our partners shortly. But first, i want to address why we are launching this ahead of this current weekend. Historically, labor day is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of american workers. Because of the pandemic, this labor day has a special significance. It is a chance to honor the special workers in our community. We know this virus has disproportionately impacted our frontline workforce, many of them who have to reuse their medical equipment every sipping wisipping single day. Labor day marks the end of summer, and most years, we have barbecues and cookouts with our families, and i personally wish i could attend one of those gatherings. As we set at the beginning of the pandemic, the safest thing is to do is for people to stay home, but lets be real. People miss each other, and theyre going to decide to get together. So if you do, we ask if youre going to be other with others, keep it outside, make sure everyone is wearing a face covering, and avoid sharing food and drink. We know that oftentimes, when people come together, especially when they start drinking throughout the day, behavior changes. In addition to keeping our friends and our family safe, wearing a mask is one of the most effective things we can do to keep reopening San Francisco. Lets be mindful what we are doing and how we are impacting the spread of this share. Lets share the love, not the virus. And at this time, id like each of our Community Partners to talk about their campaign and why its important to protect our communities this Labor Day Weekend and beyond. First, we have dr. Scott sampson from the California Academy of sciences, which lent their creative and innovative design experts to help our city. Thank you very much, mayor breed, and thank you for your strong leadership during this challenging time, including in relation to this coronavirus. And warm thanks to all of our partners. Im scott sanchez, director of the California Academy of sciences. The academy has been part of San Francisco since 1853, just three years after california became a state. We care deeply about our city, and we are here to putting all of our cutting edge science to keep our community safe. When we heard that San Francisco is so close to hitting an important mask wearing milestone, our organization jumped at the chance to help get the word out. The science is crystal clear, wearing a mask makes a big difference, and we need everyone, especially young people, to mask up. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that wearing a mask, watching your distance, and washing your hands will help crush the covid19 curve. This campaign, available in four different languages all over San Francisco, is asking young people to take one small step that can make a giant difference helping to keep our entire community safe. Whether youre missing outside lands or dinner at your favorite restaurant, a giants game or inspirational evening of night life at the academy, we are all in this together. We are excited to keep the citys reopening on track so that we can all return to enjoying the many amazing benefits San Francisco has to offer. I wear a mask so that we ask safely open the academy and welcome you back for more awe and wonder in Golden Gate Park. Thank you, and stay safe. The hon. London breed thank you, dr. Sampson. Now next, we have up annie chung from selfhelp for the elderly who will talk about efforts to conduct outreach and education with our asian and Pacific Islander community. Annie . Thank you so much, mayor breed, and good afternoon, everyone. Im annie chung with selfhelp for the elderly, and as mayor said, weve been on the frontline, providing essential meals and other Elder Care Services to all of our seniors in San Francisco. And were honored today, mayor, to partner with you and to support you in your relentless fight against the covid19 pandemic, and to educate the chinese speaking seniors and families how to protect themselves once they step outside their homes. Mayor breed, i think the seniors are doing their part to abide by the health order. I urge all the seniors and families to remember what dr. Sampson just said and practice the three ws one, wear masks, two, wash your hands, and three, watch your social distancing. I know the Labor Day Weekend is coming up, and we may be tempted to invite friends and family over for barbecues and gatherings. Only invite people that are in your immediate household, and if possible, try to meet outdoors, which will be much safer for you and your family. Remember, prevent everyone from sharing drinks or using the same utensils or chop sticks with each other. Be aware at all times. Protect yourselves and others, and think positive. [speaking cantonese language] thank you, everyone, and thank you, mayor. The hon. London breed thank you so much, annie, for all the work that you continue to do. Next, we have director glen from the African American arts and cultural district. I understand the district worked with local rappers to produce a music video that well see at the end of this press conference. Evan . Thank you, mayor breed. We really appreciate the continued support that the city of San Francisco has shown the African American community. Its been a lot of unprecedented work over the last several years, and we deeply appreciate that. My name is evan glen. I am the executive director for the African American arts and cultural district located in the bayview and third street corridor. So it was a process working with fran says zamora, the frances zamora, the department of emergency management, making sure the message put forth in our campaign was representative of the people in our community our culture, the way we look, and it just resonated with our spirits and our soul, and so thats what youre going to see in bill boards across the city. We also thought it would be a good idea to put a rap together to resonate with the young people. After talking with my codirector, erica scott, she says hey, you know, my daughters going to parties, and the young people need a message, as well. So we got together with a rap group out of the fillmore, 16yearold girls called the poppin twins, and they wrote the rap that were going to share for everybody today. With that being said, i just want to send a message out to the community to remain safe because statistically, the bayview has been hit the hardest with covid19 out of any other area in San Francisco. We need to be aware of that. We need to wear masks, stay 6 feet apart from each other, and remain safe. And think about your grandparents. Think about the elderly in your neighborhood because their immune system obviously isnt as strong, and so we have to start thinking about each other. But again, i just want to thank the city of San Francisco for the work that theyve been doing to support the African American community. The hon. London breed thank you, evan, for your remarks and for joining us here today, and were looking forward to seeing that video. Now we also know that the Latino Community has really been the hardest hit in our city. In fact, over 50 of the cases that have been diagnosed were people of latino descent, and we have not been able to do we would not have been able to do the incredible work that we are doing to support this community and to address this disparity if it werent for the Latino Task Force. Theyve been an amazing resource in not only mask wearing but keeping people safe. Theyre here to discuss the latino Awareness Campaign in San Francisco. So thank you, susanna. Thank you, mayor breed. My name is susanna rojas, and i am the director of the Latino Task Force. Thank you so much for allowing me to speak and to collaborate dpshfor allowing the Latino Task Force to collaborate with the city so that our city can feel empowered to take action. The virus is just one more challenge to conquer, to stop the spread of covid19 and to protect our latino families ahead of Labor Day Weekend and beyond, im here to showcase the Latino Community. [speaking spanish language] [end of translation]. Our actions speak leader than words. We can show love by masking up. We can stay 6 feet apart, and most importantly, by not sharing food and drink. Now we in the Latino Community know that food is central to our interaction. It is the backbone to our community, and gathering with large families is how we show our love. Love during the coronavirus looks like wearing our masks, washing our hands, staying 6 feet apart, and protecting our seniors and our young people. Hugging in our families and physical contact is something we do on a daily basis, but right now, we have to demonstrate our love by hugging virtually by wearing a mask. And last but not least, we have sacrificed [speaking spanish language] thank you. The hon. London breed thank you again, susanna, for joining us and for all the work that you do. Im so excited for our next speakers. Sister, you are one of my favorite speakers, and i am so glad to have you here with us today. The sisters of perpetual indulgence along with supervisor mandelman launched an outreach campaign, focusing on the Lgbtq Community. The poster that you created was just amazing. Thank you, and join me, everyone, in welcoming sister roma. Hello, mayor breed. I cant wait to see that video, and of course im hungry for some great latin food. I want to thank you for unprecedented leadership during these very hard times. Your team is amazing. Since the beginning of the pandemic, its been hard for people in my community to not compare it to hiv aids, which we all know ravaged the Lgbtq Community very badly in the early 80s. And the sisters stepped up at that time and were actually leading the fight against hiv aids with providing information and education. So when this got here, we thought oh, this sounds familiar. When tom temprano approached me, i went back to my sisters, and we were all on board, and we went back to our methods of Harm Reduction and reminded our community that its best to stay safe and stay away from each other. This weekend, people are just itching to get out and dance and see each other. Its difficult, and itll be trying, and i want people to know that therell be a time that we can get together with each other and hug and hold each other, like we used to. But the sisters want to let you know that Wearing Masks can be fabulous. Look for us in dolores park on friday, where were going to be handing out 1500 masks, and then were going to be heading to the castro for our first friday event, which will be at 5 00 p. M. In the castro. So thank you for including me, and its been my honor and privilege. The hon. London breed thank you, sister roma. I almost didnt recognize you without your makeup on. Maybe ill join you on friday. That would be amazing. Oh, thank you so much. The hon. London breed okay. Finally, i want to introduce a leader who has a Bright Future ahead of her. Athena matthews. It is so important to demonstrate proper covid19 behavior, and masks are just one tool to prevent the spread of covid. Bypassi covid by catching droplets when you sneeze or cough, protecting those around you. Indifferent while understandable is not sustainable. It is imperative that this generation feel empowered to take care of ourselves and take care of each other because we need to be more active and take on an active role in fixing our nations challenges, even beyond covid19, so to my fellow general fellow genzers, let this be a warning not to just be aware of covid19, but be aware of those around you. Tag us on social media at 60s. The hon. London breed thank you. At this time, i wanted to play the video that evan mentioned, so lets get to it. [ ] the hon. London breed very nice. Thank you so much. That concludes our press conference. I guess now well be opening it up to a few questions. I want to take a moment to thank everyone for joining us and really express my appreciation to all the organizations for the work that you are doing to make sure that we are staying healthy, and we are staying safe. I love the amazing posters, the graphics, the videos, and all the cool things that we are using to really get people actively engaged in this need to finding Creative Solutions to get folk to see comply with the mask folks to comply with the mask wearing compliance. I think about when i was a kid, and talking about wearing your seat belt and the work that had to go into getting folks to wear your seat belt, and today, its just natural to get in your seat belt when you get in a car. And i remember when i was little, people used to smoke in buildings and on planes, and now, its completely different. Even wearing a condom and the push for safe sex, the conversation about mask wearing, we have to get creative in what we say in the culture and the fabric of this country. The work that you do in getting the community to trust you to know that twhat they do is important and it saves lives. So were thankful for your work, and at this time, were happy to open it up for questions. Thank you, mayor, and thank you to all everyone who joined us here today. Well jump right into the same questions. Mayor breed, we received multiple questions on this, and this is one question thatll cover it. What do you think about speaker pelosis decision to get a blowout in San Francisco on monday . Does she owe the Service Industry an apology . Is ignorance of the Health Orders an excuse . The hon. London breed well, let me start by saying that its really unfortunate that with everything happening in this country, with the fact that we basically have a dictator in charge of running this country, and we have our speaker, nancy pelosi, working day and night to try and fight, again, the challenges we have with the white house. She has spent her entire career working for this city and working for this country. Its unfortunate this conversation has blown up the way that it has and distracted us from the real issue. The fact is we dont have good, solid federal leadership that is helping to facilitate this covid19, and over 180,000 americans have died as a result of this virus. And had we had what we needed from day one from this federal administration, then we would probably not be in as bad of a situation as we are. Our focus should be on making sure that we as a city are providing also good information. I know that theres been a lot of confusion with our Small Businesses and operations and whether or not they can operate indoors or outdoors, and so we as a city, and the confusion between the local information and the state information, we have to do a better responsibility of doing a better job around communication. So we can either focus and blaming and saying who should do what, but we have bigger issues as it relates to this country, and i have a tremendous amount of respect and appreciation for the hard work that nanny pelosi does every single day to take care of this city and this country. And thats what we should be focused on because we are dealing with very challenging times, and leadership does matter. I do understand that the industry is suffering, not only the hair industry, but the masseuses and the salons. I understand the frustration, and some businesses may not ever open again. I understand this is hard for everyone. The decisions that were making around Public Health have everything to do with keeping people safe, and unfortunately, the economy and peoples li livelihoods have suffered. So i understand that, but i think its important to get back to the main part of Wearing Masks, and staying apart, and staying heath healthy, and the city will do a better job of communicating with our Small Businesses in San Francisco as we begin or reopening efforts. Thank you, madam mayor. The next question comes from cristian captain with ktvu. With the weekend almost here and warm weather for the forecast, what city parks and impeaches are open beaches are open, and what distancing steps are you asking for people to observe . Look, we know that parks and beaches are open, and its important for people to socialize and pick up a date or two, but what we also need you to do is comply. There are more parks that are dolores park or chrissy fields. Theres other places you can enjoy, as well. So what were asking people to do is to just make sure that youre using good judgment. If you go to dolores park, and you see that its crowded and theres no place for you to go with your people and maintain your distance with your mask and so forth, why even step foot in that park . We will be out doing enforcement more so than we have in the past, but we want people to use common sense because we tend to see spikes in our numbers as a result of the holidays, and labor day, im sure, is not going to be any different. Ive had people reach out to be to invite me to barbecues, people who want today do a jumpy with the kids, and im saying, why are you calling me . Im going to say no way. Its not that im not only going to go, its just that these are places where the virus could transmit. Im just asking people to remember, be a part of the solution, and we will do our very best to be out there, to do enforcement. We dont want to have to do enforcement. We dont want people out there, creating more attention than already exists because of people not being good citizens by Wearing Masks. We just want people to do their part. Were going to do our part. We hope we dont have to shutdown parks and parking lots and make it difficult for people to get out and enjoy things. We have so many parks where theres no reason why people have to crowd in one or two or three park in San Francisco. The beaches have been a lot more manageable because weve opened up more space there. Again, just use common sense not only to protect you but the people around you. Thank you so much, madam mayor, and everyone else for your time. There are no further questions at this time, and this concludes todays press conference. Thank you, and stay safe. The hon. London breed thank you. Were here to raise awareness and money and fork for a good accuse. We have this incredible gift probably the widest range of restaurant and count ii destines in any district in the city right here in the mission intricate why dont we capture that to support the mission youths going to college thats for the food for thought. We didnt have a signature font for our orientation thats a 40yearold organization. Mission graduates have helped me to develop special as an individual theyve helped me figure out and provide the tools for me that i need i feel successful in life their core above emission and goal is in line with our values. The ferraris yes, we made 48 thousand they were on top of that its a nobrainer for us. Were in and fifth year and be able to expand out and tonight is your ungrammatical truck food for thought. Food truck for thought is an opportunity to eat from a variety of different vendor that are supporting the mission graduates by coming and representing at the parks were giving a prude of our to give people the opportunity to get an education. People come back and can you tell me and enjoy our food. All the vendor are xooment a portion of their precedes the money is going back in whats the best thing to do in terms of moving the needle for the folks we thought Higher Education is the tool to move young people. Im also a College Student i go to berkley and 90 percent of our folks are staying in college thats 40 percent hire than the afternoon. Im politically to clemdz and ucla. Just knowing were giving back to the community. Especially the Spanish Speaking population it hits home. People get hungry why not eat and give San Francisco parks, Golden Gate Park transforms into one of the greatest Music Festivals of all time, lets journey, inside, outside land. To this, our 6th year doing the outside lands and our relationship with San Francisco, rec and park. And we work very closely with them in the planning and working very closely with the neighborhood organizations and with the city supervisors and with the city organizations and with the local Police Department, and i think that the outside lands is one of the unique festivals in the world and we have San Francisco and we have Golden Gate Park and we have the greatest oasis, in the world. And it has the people hiking up hills and down hills and a lot of people between stages. I love that it is all outside, the fresh air is great. They have the providers out here that are 72 local restaurants out here. Celebrating, and that is really hot. 36 local winerries in Northern California and 16 brewers out here. And you have seen a lot of people out here having a good time and we have no idea, how much work and planning has gone into this to make it the most sustainable festival in the United States. And literally, in the force, and yeah, unlike any other concept. And come and follow, and the field makeup the blueprint of the outside land here in Golden Gate Park and in the future events and please visit sffresh parks. Org. We are here today to discuss a very, very important issue that has been plaguing our community, even more so under covid. Some call it sideshows. Its something that, under covid , is happening all over San Francisco. Two weeks ago, we have one of the worst incidents that we saw in the city. It went on for an hour and a half, almost two hours. At the end, three individuals were shot and one individual died. I want to be clear, this is still under investigation. It is not necessarily associated with the activities that were happening that night, but its something that certainly shows and underscores that these are dangerous events. These are events that cannot be tolerated in San Francisco. These are not professionals, these are not individuals that have professional training to do these types of stunts and tricks with their cars. I want to say clearly that we have zero tolerance for these in San Francisco. At the end of the day, i also want to extend my condolences to the family in sacramento that lost their life. This individual was about to have a child. I dont want that to be lost. I think we need to pay respect to that. Yesterday, chief scott and i, after working on this for a couple of months, along with the mirrors office, introduced a piece of legislation that would increase the ability in San Francisco to impound vehicles. I want to be very clear. If you do involve yourself in these activities and we are able to videotape and document your car and your activity, you have the penalty of being arrested and put in prison for up to six months. We have the ability to impound your vehicle and first defence is no less than two weeks. Second offences longer than that and third event, just shy of 30 days. If you get involved in these, the police chief well talk about the unit and the task force that they have assembled to put together on this. We will take your vehicle. We will impound your vehicle and there will be consequences to your actions. I want to thank all the neighbours and all the individuals that have been involved with this. I want to recognize our captain who is around here. Thank you for working with us on this. And especially thank you to chief scott and the mayor for all of her support and hard work on this. Now i would like to introduce our mayor. Thank you. Thank you, supervisor. Thank you for being here today. I really want to take this opportunity to recognize the leadership of our supervisors. Since i have been mayor and since he has been supervisor, we have been doing a lot of work for the community. We have heard from a lot of the residents and merchants on the need for this community. And what i appreciate about his work is that he is bringing the resources, he is bringing the attention, he is bringing the support to what is a neglected part of the city. And even for the first time in over 20 years, one of the first Affordable Housing developments in the city, just on the streets , he helped to save units that were almost lost to market right with low income families. The reason why i go back to that is because its so important, it is so critical to make sure that we have someone who represents the district and answers to community and answers to the needs of the residents here. In in this particular case and the slot sideshows, the supervisor answered the call. He reached out to me and reached out to the team. It was not just because of the complaint of the people who live here and work here. It was the cause and currently a dangerous situation. It is dangerous for the participants, dangerous for the spectators, dangerous from all the folks who are in range of this particular event. Let me just say, i grew up in San Francisco. I have seen sideshows. I know people want to participate in them. I know people think they are fun and they are exciting and especially during covid. People feel like theres nothing to do. They want to go out and participate and see these things , but sadly, we are putting lives at risk. We are participating in these events. Sadly they could result in someones death and that is why were here today. We dont always want to use this heavy hand of Law Enforcement to address issues, but in this particular case, because of the danger, you have left us with no choice. In San Francisco, they will not be tolerated. We will do everything we can to address them in a manner in which it is fitting of what is happening. Do not come to our city with the sideshow crap that creates the problem that we dont want to see in our neighbourhood. Do not use this as a play to congregate for that purpose. We will do everything we can to make sure it doesnt happen and this is just the first step. We hope that you comply. We hope that you will also be considerate of what happens at these particular events. We understand that people want to do this, but they are dangerous and this is no fun if someone is killed. With that, i want to take this opportunity to introduce our police chief, bill scott. Thank you. First i want to thank the mayor and supervisor for their leadership. I want to reiterate a couple of things that have been said. First and foremost, these exhibitions of the stench driving, under the law are illegal. It is reckless driving. I cant tell you how many times people put their lives at risk for these exhibits. I want to point out a couple of things and highlight some of what the legislation offers and how it can be helpful for us. Number one, this legislation sets expectations of accountability. If you participate in one of these events, if you do trick driving, if we see it online, we see it in person, it is outright dangerous. If your car is impounded, the first offences it will be impounded for two weeks. Second offence, if the car is impounded, it will be impounded for 29 days. Your car will be impounded no more than 30 days, but definitely no less then what the law allows. We want to be consistent, we want to set expectations of accountability and consequences in the city, and if we can prove that you are behind the wheel, you will be arrested. What we are doing in the Police Department Police Department, a couple months ago, as a supervisor mentioned, we trained a spot of officers to deal with this event. We cannot do this alone. Our Law Enforcement partners in the bay area, this is a regional problem. We see all across the state. We are working with partners and other jurisdictions who had similar issues and we are communicating. When he the publics help in that because when you see these things occurring, we dont want people to put themselves in harms harms way. If you have any Video Surveillance at your residence or your business or videotaping with your cell phone or video camera, please share that information with us. A lot of people will posted online and that is okay too. If you are going to posted online, give it to us as well. Part of what needs to happen for this work effectively is we need to be able to put the driver behind the wheel. Then we can do something with that case. I want to say to the incident that brought us here today, we know and i know and we have heard from the public. There is a lot of frustration when these things occur. We have to have a thoughtful plan to respond to these events because of the danger. The one that the supervisor was referring to, there were hundreds of spectators. There were 50 cars and more participating. When two officers arrive at that scene, they cant just rush in. What our experience has told us is that often times we are compensated. We see officers surrounded, cars vandalized, we see, not in this city fortunately, but we see officers run over. We have to bring the appropriate resources to deal with this situation. It takes a little time to rally the resources. The units that we train up, we want them to specialize in being able to deal with these situations. It is a resource driven need here. We understand the frustration, but we want the public to know that we are working to make the situation better. We have trained our officers and we are working with supervisors. We have the mayors support and the legislation. It will bring consistency and consequences. Lastly before i close, i want to give examples of what we are talking about. This event a couple of weeks ago , as i said, there were 300 spectators, 300 vehicles and unfortunately a man was shot to death in the immediate vicinity. We had over 100 calls. People are concerned for their safety. You cant blame them. People are tired, yelling and screaming, if anything, you are bad news. When the officers arrive and shots were fired. Now they are dealing with a life or death situation where three people were shot. They needed to get medical aid and save their lives. It complicates the matter. Often times what we have found is these events, often times turn into conflict with shots fired. A good example, august 24th of this year, there was a motor vehicle, a daytime event. They were stunned driving. They were burning rubber and approximately 100 spectators cheering them on. At one point, one of them lost control of the car and almost hit several spectators. We did not have anyone killed in that situation. I could repeat it over and over again. We have we had other incidences in the recent past were events of culminated with shots being fired and people being hurt. Here is the message. If you participate in these illegal and reckless events, your car, if we catch you will be impounded and it will be no less than two weeks on the first incident. No less than 29 days on the second incident thereafter. If we put you behind the wheel, if we can prove that you aided or abetted in the participation and the facilitation of these events, you will be arrested. Even if you want arrested that night, if we have the evidence and video through the evidence that we need to prove then we are coming after you. That is the message that us, the mayor, the board of supervisors and the people of the city want you to hear if you are participating in these events. Thank you for your time and thank you for your leadership. Thank you, chief. I want to underscore one last point. Lets make this clear. People that also set the perimeter, people that use their vehicles a set of these events in criminal terms called aiding and abetting, those two will have their vehicles seized. We will have the ability to go after them. Its not just the individuals that are driving the vehicles. Is the individuals that are participating in and major participants of setting up the events. That is something that chiefs got in i have spent a lot of time talking about. The mayor feels really strongly about this. We have to have accountability. It will not just be the individuals who were driving the vehicles and doing the stunts, it will be the people who are aiding and abetting and setting up these events. We also, as a result, and i want to thank the mayor as part of the budget process, will be getting over 15 cameras on this camera and Video Evidence is one of the most important factors in these crimes. This corner that has been plagued a few times, in the next few weeks we will have 15 video cameras put up. We have been working with a captain in his office to increase foot patrol. It is not just about the activity itself. It is about setting the environment to make sure people understand that we take the safety of this neighbourhood as a top priority. [ ] [ ] i am the supervisor of district one. I am sandra lee fewer. [ ] i moved to the Richmond District in 1950 mine. I was two years old. I moved from chinatown and we were one of the first asian families to move out here. [ ] when my mother decided to buy that house, nobody knew where it was. It seems so far away. For a long time, we were the only chinese family there but we started to see the areas of growth to serve a larger chinese population. The stress was storage of the birthplace of that. My father would have to go to chinatown for dim sum and i remember one day he came home and said, there is one here now. It just started to grow very organically. It is the same thing with the russian population, which is another very large ethnic group in the Richmond District. As russia started to move in, we saw more russian stores. So parts of the richmond is very concentrated with the Russian Community and immigrant Russian Community, and also a chinese immigrant community. [ ] i think as living here in the richmond, we really appreciate the fact that we are surrounded three natural barriers. They are beautiful barriers. The presidio which gives us so many trails to walk through, ocean beach, for families to just go to the beach and be in the Pacific Ocean. We also also have a National Park service. We boarded the Golden Gate National Recreation Area so there is a lot of activity to do in the summer time you see people with bonfires. But really families enjoying the beach and the Pacific Ocean during the rest of the time of year. [ ] and Golden Gate Park where we have so many of our treasures here. We have the tea garden, the museum and the academy of sciences. Not to mention the wonderful playgrounds that we have here in richmond. This is why i say the richmond is a great place for families. The theatre is a treasure in our neighborhood. It has been around for a very long time. Is one of our two neighborhood theatres that we have here. I moved here when i was 1959 when i was two years old. We would always go here. I love these neighborhood theatres. It is one of the places that has not only a landmark in the Richmond District, but also in San Francisco. Small theatres showing one or two films. A unique they are unique also to the neighborhood and San Francisco. Where we are today is the heart of the Richmond District. With what is unique is that it is also Small Businesses. There is a different retail here it is mom and pop opening up businesses. And providing for the neighborhood. This is what we love about the streets. The cora door starts on clement street and goes all the way down to the end of clement where you will see Small Businesses even towards 32nd. At the core of it is right here between here and 20 tenth avenue. When we see this variety of stores offered here, it is very unique then of the any other part of San Francisco. There is traditional irish music which you dont get hardly anywhere in San Francisco. Some places have this long legacy of serving ice cream and being a hangout for families to have a sunday afternoon ice cream. And then also, we see grocery stores. And also these restaurants that are just new here, but also thriving. [ ] we are seeing restaurants being switched over by hand, new owners, but what we are seeing is a vibrancy of clement street still being recaptured within new businesses that are coming in. That is a really great thing to see. I dont know when i started to shop here, but it was probably a very, very long time ago. I like to cook a lot but i like to cook chinese food. The market is the place i like to come to once a year. Once i like about the market as it is very affordable. It has Fresh Produce and fresh meat. Also, seafood. But they also offer a large selection of condiments and sauces and noodles. A variety of rice that they have is tremendous. I dont thank you can find a variety like that anywhere else. Hi. I am kevin wong. I am the manager. In 1989 we move from chinatown to Richmond District. We have opened for a bit, over 29 years. We carry products from thailand, japan, indonesia, vietnam, singapore and india. We try to keep Everything Fresh daily. So a customer can get the best out a bit. Normally during crab season in november, this is the first place i hit. Because they have really just really fresh crab. This is something my family really likes for me to make. Also, from my traditional chinese food, i love to make a kale soup. They cut it to the size they really want. I am probably here once a week. Im very familiar with the aisles and they know everyone who is a cashier cashier here i know when people come into a market such as this, it looks like an asian supermarkets, which it is and sometimes it can be intimidating. We dont speak the language and many of the labels are in chinese, you may not know what to buy or if it is the proper ingredients for the recipe are trying to make. I do see a lot of people here with a recipe card or sometimes with a magazine and they are looking for specific items. The staff here is very helpful. I speak very little chinese here myself. Thinks that im not sure about, i asked the clerk his and i say is this what i need . Is this what i should be making . And they actually really helped me. They will bring me to the aisle and say this is battery. They are very knowledgeable. Very friendly. I think they are here to serve not only the Asian Community but to serve all communities in the Richmond District and in San Francisco. [ ] what is wonderful about living here is that even though our july is a very foggy and overcast, best neighborhood, the sleepy part outside on the west side is so rich with history, but also with all the amenities that are offered. [ ] my name is london breed and i am the mayor of San Francisco. Im joined by the supervisor of this district. [cheers and applause] we are joined by dr. Grant colfax with the department of Public Health and your Amazing Community member who helped spearhead and put this thing together. E. J. Jones. [cheers and applause] and let me start by saying that, you know, i really want to express my appreciation to all of the people with the resources that are here, to all of the folks in this community for your patients, for your understanding as we deal with one of the most challenging world pandemics that we have ever experienced ever. It has been an adjustment for all of us. We have not been able to come together with our family and friends. We have not been able to visit or open. So many of our Small Businesses are still closed. It has been over six month and it has taken our toll in our city and our community and all of you continue to be patient and continue to do your part. I see so many people, they are wearing their masks. People are socially distancing and doing their part because that is how we will get to a better place. More importantly, we are living with covid for some time. We all know that. And how do we get our city reopened . We do it by making sure that we provide access to testing and it has to be consistent because you can get tested today and then contract the virus tomorrow and then say, wait a minute, i am feeling a certain kind of way, but i have symptoms, but i just got tested and i was negative. And the fact is, we have to make it easier. We have to make it easier in the communities on the Southeast Side of San Francisco because we know the disparities are right here in communities like the o. M. I. We know that our latino population in particular has experienced higher amounts of covid19, over 50 of the over 10,000 cases diagnosed in this city have been people of latino descent. So we have to make sure that we bring the testing and the Contact Tracing directly to the community. Sites like this are so critical. The consistency of having pop up sites and permanent sights in the o. M. I. , in the bayview Hunters Point and in the mission are critical to our ability to get this virus under control and make sure that we meet people where they are in our communities so they can get tested whenever they want, no questions asked, nothing regarding your immigration status. We are here to protect Public Health and that is what this is about. [applause] so i am really excited. This is not just a testing sight this is also a site with resources. This is a site where we are going to provide access to various resources because this is really about the community. I want to thank e. J. Jones for his leadership. [applause] i want to also just say, just to put this into perspective, you all know the task on monday. We just opened an indoor salon. And you know what . I was so happy to get a manicure and pedicure last night. I didnt know what to do with myself. [laughter] i really didnt. Yes, it was the best experience ever. I want to make sure that places that we all go to, the people who have been suffering a collecting no income whatsoever, we want them to stay open. We want them to continue to be open. The fact is, we are doing okay with our numbers. We want to keep it that way. We want to improve the numbers. That involves all of us playing our role. In fact, we are doing okay and we anticipate, by the end of this month that we will be an orange. We are currently in red. We are not out of the woods, but we expect, based on if the numbers continue to go the way they are going, we will be at level orange. As a result, we will be able to open restaurants indoors at 25 capacity if that occurs and if we continue the way that we are. Because we know that restaurants are suffering. We know hair and nail salons are suffering. We know gyms are suffering. We know our Mental Health because of our inability to access our churches and our spirituality in the way that we have before, we are suffering. If we continue down this path, we will have an opportunity to reopen safely. Covid hasnt gone anywhere so far. We have to get used to living like this. We have to get use to the socially distancing and mask wearing. We want to have a party, and over time were hanging out with their families in the backyard or at the park, but we get too comfortable and we start drinking a bit and start kicking things up. We cant let up. We cant see another surge. We cant go backwards. We have gotten come too far. San francisco has been a leader in this whole coronavirus world pandemic. We were the first city in the country to say, you know what . We will shut it down. Our numbers have been decent, our death rates, sadly we have lost a lot of people, but not in comparison to other places. We are doing okay, but we can do better because i want to keep these businesses open. I want to make sure we dont lose the fabric of San Francisco and what makes San Francisco so great and so special. And that means we have to do our part. I want to thank each and every one of you for being there today we can have a good time socially distancing and wearing a mask. I have been saving a lot of money on lipstick, by the way. The fact is, we are all in this together. I appreciate everyone that each and everyone of you have done and at this time, i want to take the opportunity to introduce your supervisor of this district to has been an amazing, amazing advocate for the people of this community. [cheers and applause] good morning, everyone. Thank you to our mayor. Isnt she doing a wonderful job leading our city and taking the heat . We are all sacrificing. I know she actually put out a message this morning for our schools talking about families. There is a lot of people struggling right now. There is a lot of children, a lot of families who are waiting for their opportunity to go back to school. The work that we all do together as a community, coming together as a Community Benefits everyone it benefits those that are suffering the most. Theres a lot of children right now that are waiting for their opportunity to get back into the classroom and so much of that is already being underscored by what we have done in this community. We opened up one of our Community Learning hubs. I want to thank london breed and dr. Colfax and for the work that they have done and the Covid Command Centre for joining us here today. At this site is Community Driven this site is a perfect example of how a community that comes together shows its resiliency and strength. After months of fighting to open a testing sight, the Community Came together. These folks are volunteering their time. These folks are going above and beyond what they have been asked to do. They are a model of strength for the rest of our community. This is how it should be done. This resource hub, as you see here, it is more than testing. They can get access to Food Services and access to housing services. Soon they will be able to access the flu vaccination. All of this has come and shown how the community can come together and really serve those in need. I also want to give a special shout out lets give it up for invest black. For their leadership and owning this site. They have come together as a community and shown how you can lead and how community can turn a National Music movement into a neighbourhood driven movement. I want to give a special shout out to e. J. Jones for the wonderful work he has done here leading this site, being on zoom calls, juggling his day job and continuing to do what he needs to do to lead us through this effort. I also want to give a shout out to Patty Clement and catholic charities. This is their sight and their location. Patty was not about to say no. She just said, let me tell you how we can make this happen. I am ready to say yes. This pop up has been driven also , i want to give a special recognition to a lot of the people that have been here every day. I always recognized bernard munro, mary and al harris, felicia thibodeau, glenn brown, maurice rivers, delia fitzpatrick, brandon wiley, monique guidry, mary thomas, jeffrey morris, all the folks that have been here on the Ground Fighting every day, volunteering every day to make sure this community is safe. If i didnt mention you, im sorry. I try to remember everyone thats involved. Thank you again for all of your work. I am proud to be here and proud to be part of someone who has been supporting this all this time. Im really proud to be the supervisor of this district. Thank you, everyone. We will bring up dr. Colfax. Good morning, everyone. I am the director of health. Thank you, mayor breed for your ongoing leadership and supervisor. It is an unprecedented time in San Francisco. Because of your leadership, we are in a better place. There are so many places across the United States with regards to covid19. I want to thank e. J. Jones. Thank you so much for spearheading this effort to get to work on the ground. Also, the southwest community corporation. Catholic charities, thank you for making this available, and to all Community Partners for their collaboration and support to the True Community assets. This is so much more than just a testing sight. This is that collective and Wraparound Service centre that we need and that we know we need to have our approach to covid19 take root and our prevention work. We are supporting people when they test positive in helping people in their recovery. Not only individuals, with families, friends and the community. Like the mayor just noted, more than 50 of our cases are in the Latino Community. When we saw this trend, we responded by implementing Community Mobile testing strategies to bring testing to neighbourhoods most impacted by covid19. Our Community Mobile testing site have visited and are regularly testing people in the mission, the excelsior, visitation valley, sunnydale, the o. M. I. , the tenderloin, the bayview, among others. And while this virus does not discriminate by race or ethnicity, it does exploit our existing economic and social disparities. We know that this pandemic affects communities more than others and we must continue to focus on an equity approach as we continue to expand our testing and prevention and care efforts. This is why Community Mobile testing like we are having today is so vital to our response. To date, we have tested more than 5,000 people in the Community Mobile testing sites and have tested more than 23,000 people at our Community Testing clinic. Our Community Mobile testing strategy allows us to respond quickly to where the response the virus is spreading fastest and help people get what they need. This includes isolation and Quarantine Services providing the hotel rooms for people who need to isolate and quarantine safely, food assistance, healthcare services. We are here on the ground helping people in the communities in which they live. Im happy to say, with regard to isolation and quarantine rooms that are available to people who test positive. Fortyfive of currently occupied as people who identify as latino. We have expanded our Case Investigation and Contact Tracing efforts with Community Members and we are now expanding our Contact Tracing teams so 50 of our investigators are collaborating and our Spanish Speaking. 90 of latino cases have been contacted by case investigators. And of those who have been tested, 15 have tested positive seventy 2 of covid positive patients have been hospitalized are latino, reinforcing the need to care and test and reach out to communities most affected. Testing is one part, but prevention is so important. Its so key because we do not need the virus to spread quickly , slowing the spread of the virus is so important. They testing hundreds of people every day. To date, thanks to the dedicated staff and 30 people who run the site, we have tested over 700 people in the community at this testing site alone. 700 people. This is the only thing that has happened in the last few months. We hoping that we will add 250 more people to get tested here today. Because of these efforts, we are on our path to reopening. A path that gets people back to work. Let the Small Businesses open the doors and get the economy back on track. As the mayor mentioned, we saw some vital reopenings happening this past week and we are excited about potentially opening indoor restaurants at 25 capacity soon. We need to continue this work together. Im proud of what were doing, but we must take these prevention efforts. You know what i am going to say. Continue to wear the facial coverings. It is so important. Continue to social distance and be safe, dig deeper and together we will come through this. Thank you. [applause] thank you dr. Colfax. He has just been at city hall so he had to come in and give all the technical details. They are very important. I also want to give a shout out to some performers who are here today. He and his amazing wife and talented children are incredible and awesome and we are so glad to have them in this community. They are always performing for the singers and other groups of people all over the city. Thank you. [applause] at this time, we will wrap it up with e. J. Jones who is just going to thank all of the community and talk about the work that he did to help make this happen. E. J. . [applause] good morning, everybody. First of all, my name is e. J. Jones. Im a thirdgeneration member of this like you community. This Community Means everything to me. I also want to first off thank by say i want to thank the mayor. I want to thank you for allowing us the opportunity to have testing in the community. My story, with covid19 and testing began in early july when i thought i had an exposure and needed to get tested and could not find a place that would test me sooner then two weeks out. At that time, i gave the call to the supervisor and asked what was available in the district. There wasnt many options. I was able to get tested at the mission hub thanks to Community Members. And right after the supervisor and i had a conversation about how we can bring testing to the o. M. I. With that said, as you look around this testing site is not about me. Its about the entire community that is out here. There are numerous organizations that come together on a weekly basis to make sure that our community is safe in our community is taken care of. Really, when you are looking at the success today, youre looking at the power of community. We are only going to beat this in community. I just want to thank the entire community for coming out. We would not be able to do this without each and every one of the organizations and members that are here today. I appreciate everyone so much. Thank you. [applause] as latinos we are unified in some ways and incredibly diverse in others and this exhibit really is an exploration of nuance in how we present those ideas. Our debts are not for sale. A piece about sanctuary and how his whole family served in the army and its a long Family Tradition and these people that look at us as foreigners, we have been here and we are part of america, you know, and we had to reinforce that. I have been cure rating here for about 18 year. We started with a table top, candle, flower es, and a picture and people reacted to that like it was the monna lisa. The most important tradition as it relates to the show is idea of making offering. In Traditional Mexican alters, you see food, candy, drinks, cigarettes, the things that the person that the offerings where being made to can take with them into the next word, the next life. Keeps u. S us connects to the people who have passed and because family is so important to us, that Community Dynamic makes it stick and makes it visible and it humanizes it and makes it present again. When i first started doing it back in 71, i wanted to do something with ritual, ceremony and history and you know i talked to my partner ross about the research and we opened and it hit a cord and people loved it. I think the line between engaging everyone with our culture and appropriating it. I think it goes back to asking people to bring their visions of what it means to honor the dead, and so for us its not asking us to make mexican altars if they are not mexican, its really to share and expand our vision of what it means to honor the dead. People are very respectful. I can show you this year alone of people who call tol ask is it okay if we come, we are hawaii or asian or we are this. What should we wear . What do you recommend that we do . They say oh, you know, we want a four day of the dead and its all hybrid in this country. What has happened are paper cuts, its so hybrid. It has spread to mexico from the bay area. We have influence on a lot of people, and im proud of it. A lot of tim times they dont represent we represent a lot of cultures with a lot of different perspectives and beliefs. I can see the city changes and its scary. When we first started a lot of people freaked out thinking we were a cult and things like that, but we went out of our way to also make it educational through outreach and that is why we started doing the prosession in 1979. As someone who grew up attending the yearly processions and who has seen them change incrementally every year into kind of what they are now, i feel in many ways that the cat is out of the bag and there is no putting the genie back into the bottle in how the wider public accesses the day of the dead. I have been through three different generations of children who were brought to the procession when they were very young that are now bringing their children or grandchildren. In the 80s, the processions were just kind of electric. Families with their homemade visuals walking down the street in San Francisco. Service so much more intimate and personal and so much more rooted in kind of a Family Practice of a very strong cultural practice. It kind of is what it is now and it has gone off in many Different Directions but i will always love the early days in the 80s where it was so intimate and son sofa millial. Our goal is to rescue a part of the culture that was a part that we could invite others to join in there there by where we invite the person to come help us rescue rescue it also. Thats what makes it unique. You have to know how to approach this changing situation, its exhausting and i have seen how it has affected everybody. Whats happening in mission and the relationship with the police, well its relevant and its relevant that people think about it that day of the dead is not just sugar skulls and paper flowers and candles, but its become a nondenominational tradition that people celebrate. Our culture is about color and family and if that is not present in your life, there is just no meaning to it you know . We have artists as black and brown people that are in direct danger of the direct policies of the trump a administration and i think how each of the artists has responsibilitie responded ss interesting. The common as a woman of color who grew up in San Francisco i understand how institutions can have an impact on communities of color. I think having my voice was important. That is where my passion lies when the opportunity to lead an office in such a new space came up. I couldnt turn it down. I was with the District Attorneys Office for a little over nine years, if you include the time as an intern as well as volunteer da, all most 13 years. During the time with the das office i had an opportunity to serve the community not only as the assistant District Attorney but as director of community relations. That afforded the opportunity to have impact on the community in an immediate way. It is one thing to work to serve the rights of those without rights, victims. It is really rewarding to work to to further the goals of our office and the commitment we have as City Employees and advocates for people who dont have a voice. I dont know of anyone surprised to see me in this role. Maybe people have an impression what the director of the office of cannabis should be like, what their beliefs should be. I smash all of that. You grew up in the inner city of San Francisco. My career path is not traditional. I dont think a person should limit themselves to reach full potential. I say that to young women and girls. That is important. You want to see leadership that looks diverse because your path is not predetermined. I didnt wake up thinking i was going to be a prosecutor in my life. The city administrator reached out and wanted to have a conversation and gave me interest in the new role. I thought you must not know what i do for a living. It was the opposite. She had foresight in realizing it would be helpful for somebody not only a former prosecutor but interested in shaping criminal Justice Reform for the city would be the right person for the space. I appreciate the foresight of the mayor to be open how we can be leaders in San Francisco. I was able to transition to the policy space. Here i was able to work on legislation, community relations, communication and start to shape the ways our office was going to reform the criminal Justice System. It is fulfilling for me. I could create programs and see those impact peoples lives. I am the change. It took truants youth to meet with Civil Rights Movement leaders who fought to have access to education. Being a young person to understand that helped the young people realize this was an important thing to give up. What we find is that young people who are truanted have a really high homicide rate in our city, which is a sad statistic. We want to change that. Coming from a community we are black and brown. I dont reach out to other people. I dont think they feel the same way. I had the great opportunity to work on Prison Reform issues and criminal Justice Reform issues. We created a program at san quentin where we brought district opportunities t to lifs and talk about how we are all impacted by the criminal Justice System. We brought over 40 elected das to san quentin for the situation. Now we are inviting the Police Department. Our formerly incarcerated group born out of this programming asked for the opportunity to work on a project where we could bring the men in blue on the outside to come speak to the men on blue inside to start the healing dialogue around how the criminal Justice System specifically in San Francisco impacts the community. I was attracted to the role. There was a component of equity that was part of this process. The Equity Community here in San Francisco is a community that i had already worked with. Before i took steps to visit cannabis businesses i thought it was important my team have a chance to go inside and speak to men who ha had been impacted. That conversation needed to happen so we know how we are making an impact with the work that we are doing. The das office as we were leading up to the legalization of marijuana in the state we started having conversations on the policy team what that could look like. The District Attorney was really focused on the right side of history for this. We realized it would be quite a heavy lift for individuals who have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs to expunge the record. It was important to figure out the framework to make it seamless and easy. They put their minds to it after some time and many conversations the data analysts and other policy walk throughs on the team came up with the idea to engage the Tech Community in this process. Code for america helped us developed the rhythm to be used for any jurisdiction across the state that was important to create a solution to be used to assist all jurisdictions dealing with this matter. The office of cannabis is the first office to have a completely digital application process. We worked with the digital team to develop the online application. There are going to be hiccups. We are first to do it. It is one of the most rewarding parts to offer a seamless to offer a seamless approach. That is how they can find solutions to solve many of the community challenges. The best way to respond to prop 64 was to retroactively expunge 9,000 cannabis related records for San Francisco. It feels like justice full circle for my personal experience. In the past i was furthering the war on drugs just as my directive. Really coming from a place of public safety. That was the mandate and understanding. It is nice to see that pass a society we are able to look at some of our laws and say, you know what . We got it wrong. Lets get this right. I had the privilege of being in the existing framework. My predecessor Nicole Elliott did an incredible job bringing together the individuals superpassionate about cannabis. The office was created in july of 2017. I came in early 2018. I have been able to see the Offices Development over time which is nice. It is exciting to be in the space, stickily in thinking about her leadership. Looking for the office it is always we might be before my time when i was working for the board oforboard of supervisors. I learn new things every day it is challenging and rewarding for me. We get the privilege to work in an office tha that is innova. We get to spearhead the robust exprogram. I am excited she came on board to leverage experience as a prosecutor 10 years as we contemplate enforcements but approaching it without replicating the war on drugs. I was hired by cam laharris. I havent seen a District Attorney that looked kind of like me. That could be a path in my life. I might not have considered it. It is important that women and certainly women of color and spaces of leadership really do their part to bring on and mentor as many young people as they can. It is superimportant to take advantage of as many opportunities a as they can when they can intern because the doors are wide open. Plans change and that is okay. The way this was shaped because i took a risk to try something new and explore something and show that i was capable. You are capable, right . It was about leaning in and being at the table to say my voice matters. You find your passion, the sky welcome, City Attorney herrera. Good morning. Thank you to mayor breed, chief scott, supervisors peskin and haney for joining me this morning to highlight our collective commitment to combating an all too familiar problem. Open air drug dealing in the tenderloin. Were all created to solutions to make sure we combat this epidemic that is taking control of the tenderloin neighborhood. This morning, my office sued 28 known drug dealers, file. They do not live in the tenderloin, but sell deadly drugs there. The drugs that are fueling the drug crisis in our streets. This is to stop the brazen drugdealing that has plagued this neighborhood. Last year alone 441 people died from drug overdoses in the city and the tenderloin had the highest overdose mortality rate of any neighborhood in the city. Enough is enough. These injunctions are carefully crafted to simultaneously safeguard a defendants due process while targeting with precision, the problem of drug dealers coming from outside the area to prey on tenderloin residents, housed and unhoused. This prevents the 28 named defendants from entering the tenderloin and part of the adjacent south of market neighborhood. Roughly from van ness to ellis and geary to mission. The tenderloin would become a protected zone and these defendants, none of whom live in the tenderloin, would be allowed to go there unless they had a lawful legitimate reason to be there. Were focused on the predatory repeat dealers selling the most dangerous drugs, including those leading to the most deaths. We have rigorous criteria. He or she was arrested at least twice for drug sales or possession of drugs for the purpose of sales in the tenderloin in the past year and a half. One of those arrests must have been in the last nine months. Both of the arrests must have led to either criminal charges by the District Attorney or a motion to revoke probation. The drugs involved were fentanyl, heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine. And the defendant is not a tenderloin resident. Has been given the opportunity to present their defense in court at a hearing and the court finds there is sufficient evidence to warrant the injunction. In other words, an injunction is issued if the need for it is proven in a court of law. Demographics or Group Affiliations were not considered when putting together these lawsuits. Violations of the injunctions will have civil and criminal consequences. Violations carry Civil Penalties of up to 6,000 per violation. Perhaps just as important, violations can also be pursued as misdemeanor crimes and subject to the defendants immediate arrest. An arrest leads to the search and confiscation of drugs or contraband a person has in his or her possession. These actions are aimed slowly at criminals coming to prey on the people of the tenderloin. We know who the predators are and we will not allow them to victimize tenderloin residents. Our message to these dealers is simple. If you come to the tenderloin, youll be arrested and your drugs will be confiscated. This is not a silver bullet. More needs to be done, including drug treatment options, expanded Mental Health and a focus on major narcotics suppliers, but this gives one more tool to the Law Enforcement to help keep the tenderloin residents safe. We need to stop this neighborhood from being used as the open air drug market. Our goal is to keep the dealers out of the tenderloin. The kids, the parents, the seniors, the workers, the Business Owners of this neighborhood have suffered enough and deserve nothing less. The tenderloin has the highest concentration of children in the city. It also has the highest number of Overdose Deaths and that is not acceptable. Once the pandemic improves, the kids of the pandemic deserve to be able to go to the school, playground, go see a friend without being caught in the middle of a drug deal or a person overdosing on the sidewalk. This wont solve the problem, but its a step work taking. I hadnt to thank the hardworking men and women in the San Francisco Police Department. Their diligence laid the ground work to put together this creative approach to public safety. I want to thank the team in my office that worked hard to come up with a way that will deal with a longstanding problem. I also want to thank our mayor for her tremendous support and leadership during this incredibly challenging time for our city, as well as supervisors peskin and haney, for their commitment to combating this problem. With that, i would like to introduce our mayor, london breed. Mayor breed good morning, everyone. Thank you, all, so much for being here today. I want to begin by thanking dennis has rare kerrera and the Attorney Office to deal with one of the Biggest Challenges in the tenderloin community. Not so long ago we set down a path to address what we saw as a significant increase in homelessness and tent encampments in the t. L. And we made a lot of progress. Over 400 tents removed with over 600 people. Were now down to less than 30 tents. And we drive around the tenderloin, we walk around the tenderloin, and you would think that nothing has ever happened there. That no progress has been made. You see hundreds of people on blocks throughout the t. L. Who are dealing drugs openly, in broad daylight. You see people pushing strollers, mothers, who have to go out on the streets to go around the drug dealing and the drug using and the challenges that exist there. I grew up in this city. I grew up not too far from the tenderloin in the western edition. And the tenderloin has always had its challenges, but it has never been worse. It has never been worse. And we cant do this work alone. We need to make sure that, yes, we address the challenges that exist with people who struggle with addiction. This is why im fighting so hard to get Safe Injection Sites open. Why im fighting to get expanded Mental Health support, because those of you who have family members who suffer with addicti addiction, you know how challenging it is to get them on the right path. We have to do more as a city to provide alternatives. And then we know the challenges that exist. The people who are being trafficked to sell drugs on our streets from other countries. The folks who are coming from other bay area cities because they know San Francisco is a place where they can make a lot of money. San francisco has become the place to go to sell drugs. It is known widely. And that has got to stop, because there has to be consequences. Look, i understand there might be financial challenges, but the fact is, we cant tolerate what we see happening in the tenderloin or any other neighborhood in our city. People have got to be held accountable for the destruction they are causing to these communities. And when we talk about destruction, were talking about the people who are dying in record numbers from drug overdoses right in the tenderloin. This is a commonsense solution to a very, very complex problem. And i really want to, again, express my appreciation to our City Attorney, Dennis Herrera, for not only putting together a unique plan, but for caring about this issue in the first place. And i want to thank him for working with the San Francisco Police Department to actually use data to inform this decision. We know that there is a lot of work to do. And we cant continue to let the tenderloin be the breeding ground for all that is problematic and challenging in our city. Its going to take helping with homelessness. Its going to take drug treatment. Its going to take supporting lowincome families and people who live in that community. And, yes, its going to take holding the people who are holding this community hostage with the rampant drugdealing that is completely devastated this neighborhood. We have to do better and we will do better. This is a step in the right direction. And im looking forward to seeing the results of this work. And i want to thank all those who have been involved and supportive of this issue. And we have got to get the job done and thats what this is about. With that, i want to introduce the police chief of San Francisco, chief scott. Good morning. Thank you, mayor breed. First, i want to start off by thanking our mayor london breed for her relentless leadership when it comes to this issue. As the mayor stated, this problem is pervasive and i also want to thank our City Attorney Dennis Herrera for an innovative strategy that really gives us a much better opportunity to turn the corner on the drug dealing in the tenderloin. I would like to thank supervisors peskin and haney for their support and leadership on this issue. Youll hear from them as well in a second. The men and women of the San Francisco Police Department and those say sign assigned to the tenderloin, have been working very, very hard to address the rampant drugdealing in the tenderloin. During a recent threemonth operation to focus on narcotics dealers, the tenderloin officers and the narcotics detail officers arrested over 267 individuals for drug sales. 267. And although that number may sound high, its just a drop in the bucket. Our officers seized over 144,000 in u. S. Currency and a combination of over 7,000 grams of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and other drugs. 210 of those arrests had prior arrests in San Francisco and 55 of the 267 arrests were in violation of courtissued stay away orders where they were prohibited from the area where they were selling drugs. 58 of those arrested live outside of the city of San Francisco. Now our efforts to combine or combat narc sales in the tenderloin are ongoing as of today. And todays announcement of injunctions filed by our City Attorney will help us address the concerns and complaints of tenderloin residents and merchants. And those complaints come pouring in daily. These dealers prey on a vulnerable population and contribute to the drug degradation of the quality of life who work and live in the tenderloin. These injunctions give Law Enforcement officers another tool in our tool kit. Violators face up to a 6,000 fine, misdemeanor arrest and officers can potentially seize money and drugs along with other contraband. With the combined efforts in the drug treatment and other Public Health strategies, we hope to have a positive effect on the quality of life in the tenderloin area. As was stated by the mayor i cant emphasize this enough we have to do more, we have do better and we will do better. We cannot and will not further tolerate drug dealers coming into the tenderloin from wherever theyre coming from throughout the bay area to ruin our community. The injunctions will make coming back to the tenderloin have more serious consequences. And, drug dealers, if youre out there watching this news conference, know that your actions will not and cannot be tolerated any longer in the city and county of San Francisco. With that, id like to turn the mic over to supervisor aaron peskin. Thank you. Supervisor peskin chief, thank you, City Attorney herrera, mayor breed, for what is truly a creative solution. This is not a silver bullet. It must be coupled with Mental Health services, with drug treatment, with the addition of sorely needed Affordable Housing in and around the tenderloin. A year ago supervisor haney and i went to a meeting together just up the street in the tenderloin wherein we witnessed an individual who was literally dying of a fentanyl overdose. We were able to locate some narcan and that individual is alive today, but that should not be happening on our streets. This is not only a creative solution, but it is one where City Attorney herrera has crafted it very carefully in conjunction with my office. Has done so in a way that honors the civil rights of individuals in our community. It is structured fairly and will be supported by the board of supervisors. I want to thank the City Attorney. Were going to make a difference in the tenderloin. And if this works, this is a model that be exported to other parts of San Francisco because when you look at those 441 deaths, it is true a disproportionate number of them are in the tenderloin, but those individuals who are preying on weak individuals in our community are not just operating in the tenderloin. And if this is a success, i look forward to working with the City Attorney office, the chief of police and mayor to export this model to the rest of the city and county of San Francisco. We are available for questions and comments. Thank you, supervisor peskin. Well begin with the q a portion with City Attorney herrera. The first set of questions are from kate wolf. The aclu and other Community Groups have said injunctions like gang injunctions used in the past dont address root problems and violate peoples civil liberties. Can you address how these injunctions will be different from those . One thing you heard uniformly, both from the mayor, from supervisor peskin and from the chief of police, this is part of a has to be part of a comprehensive approach that focuses on drug rehab, Mental Health and the like. So there is no doubt that we need to also get the root causes which are contributing to our problem. However, this is different from gang injunctions. This is not based on affiliation or status, it is based on going after individuals who have been known to engage in criminal conduct that has been charged by the District Attorney and arrests by the Police Department for known activity that has occurred in the tenderloin. The fact of the matter is, we carefully crafted this to make sure it was based on conduct, not on status or affiliation. And there is also the opportunity for if people have a legitimate reason to be in the 50square block area, the protected zone, courts, city hall, have all been exempted from the limitation of movement. So this is very different from gang injunctions. I think it is something people need to be aware of. This is based on conduct, not status. And demonstrable conduct from individuals who dont even live in the tenderloin and 27 of the 28 dont even live in the city and county of San Francisco. Thank you, City Attorney. The next question is from joe with bay city news. Why would civil injunctions be used instead of criminal actions if the city knows who the dealers are . Its another tool in the tool kit. Certainly, there are criminal penalties that can accrue, but the fact of the matter is, if someone is going to suffer a financial penalty of a significant dollar amount, that is something that dissuades individuals from engaging. With respect to these injunctions, you have two tools, a criminal sanction as well as a civil sanction which did not occur previously. This encompasses the whole tenderloin, where something that the chief referred to earlier, the stayaway orders in other criminal cases were designed to be with respect to one particular corner or block. It was not nearly as comprehensive as what were seeking here today. Thank you, City Attorney. That concludes todays press conference. Thank you, everyone, for joining us. [ ] i am the supervisor of district one. I am sandra lee fewer. [ ] i moved to the Richmond District in 1950 mine. I was two years old. I moved from chinatown and we were one of the first asian families to move out here. [ ] when my mother decided to buy that house, nobody knew where it was. It seems so far away. For a long time, we were the only chinese family there but we started to see the areas of growth to serve a larger chinese population. The stress was storage of the birthplace of that. My father would have to go to chinatown for dim sum and i remember one day he came home and said, there is one here now. It just started to grow very organically. It is the same thing with the russian population, which is another very large ethnic group in the Richmond District. As russia started to move in, we saw more russian stores. So parts of the richmond is very concentrated with the Russian Community and immigrant Russian Community, and also a chinese immigrant community. [ ] i think as living here in the richmond, we really appreciate the fact that we are surrounded three natural barriers. They are beautiful barriers. The presidio which gives us so many trails to walk through, ocean beach, for families to just go to the beach and be in the Pacific Ocean. We also also have a National Park service. We boarded the Golden Gate National Recreation Area so there is a lot of activity to do in the summer time you see people with bonfires. But really families enjoying the beach and the Pacific Ocean during the rest of the time of year. [ ] and Golden Gate Park where we have so many of our treasures here. We have the tea garden, the museum and the academy of sciences. Not to mention the wonderful playgrounds that we have here in richmond. This is why i say the richmond is a great place for families. The theatre is a treasure in our neighborhood. It has been around for a very long time. Is one of our two neighborhood theatres that we have here. I moved here when i was 1959 when i was two years old. We would always go here. I love these neighborhood theatres. It is one of the places that has not only a landmark in the Richmond District, but also in San Francisco. Small theatres showing one or two films. A unique they are unique also to the neighborhood and San Francisco. Where we are today is the heart of the Richmond District. With what is unique is that it is also Small Businesses. There is a different retail here it is mom and pop opening up businesses. And providing for the neighborhood. This is what we love about the streets. The cora door starts on clement street and goes all the way down to the end of clement where you will see Small Businesses even towards 32nd. At the core of it is right here between here and 20 tenth avenue. When we see this variety of stores offered here, it is very unique then of the any other part of San Francisco. There is traditional irish music which you dont get hardly anywhere in San Francisco. Some places have this long legacy of serving ice cream and being a hangout for families to have a sunday afternoon ice cream. And then also, we see grocery stores. And also these restaurants that are just new here, but also thriving. [ ] we are seeing restaurants being switched over by hand, new owners, but what we are seeing is a vibrancy of clement street still being recaptured within new businesses that are coming in. That is a really great thing to see. I dont know when i started to shop here, but it was probably a very, very long time ago. I like to cook a lot but i like to cook chinese food. The market is the place i like to come to once a year. Once i like about the market as it is very affordable. It has Fresh Produce and fresh meat. Also, seafood. But they also offer a large selection of condiments and sauces and noodles. A variety of rice that they have is tremendous. I dont thank you can find a variety like that anywhere else. Hi. I am kevin wong. I am the manager. In 1989 we move from chinatown to Richmond District. We have opened for a bit, over 29 years. We carry products from thailand, japan, indonesia, vietnam, singapore and india. We try to keep Everything Fresh daily. So a customer can get the best out a bit. Normally during crab season in november, this is the first place i hit. Because they have really just really fresh crab. This is something my family really likes for me to make. Also, from my traditional chinese food, i love to make a kale soup. They cut it to the size they really want. I am probably here once a week. Im very familiar with the aisles and they know everyone who is a cashier cashier here i know when people come into a market such as this, it looks like an asian supermarkets, which it is and sometimes it can be intimidating. We dont speak the language and many of the labels are in chinese, you may not know what to buy or if it is the proper ingredients for the recipe are trying to make. I do see a lot of people here with a recipe card or sometimes with a magazine and they are looking for specific items. The staff here is very helpful. I speak very little chinese here myself. Thinks that im not sure about, i asked the clerk his and i say is this what i need . Is this what i should be making . And they actually really helped me. They will bring me to the aisle and say this is battery. They are very knowledgeable. Very friendly. I think they are here to serve not only the Asian Community but to serve all communities in the Richmond District and in San Francisco. [ ] what is wonderful about living here is that even though our july is a very foggy and overcast, best neighborhood, the sleepy part outside on the west side is so rich with history, but also with all the amenities that are offered. [ ] i love teaching. It is such an exhilarating experience when people began to feel their own creativity. This really is a place where all people can come and take a class and fill part of the community. This is very enriching as an artist. A lot of folks take these classes and take their digital imagery and turn it into negatives. There are not many black and white darkrooms available anymore. That is a really big draw. This is a signature piece. This is the bill largest darkroom in the u. S. There are a lot of people that want to get into that dark room. I think it is the heart of this place. You feel it when you come in. The people who just started taking pictures, so this is really an intersection for many generations of photographers and this is a great place to learn because if you need people from different areas and also everyone who works here is working in photography. We get to build the community here. This is different. First of all, this is a great location. It is in a lesspopulated area. Of lot of people come here just so that they can participate in this program. It is a great opportunity for people who have a little bit of photographic experience. The people have a lot, they can really come together and share a love and a passion. We offer everything from traditional black and white darkrooms to learning how to process your first roll of film. We offer classes and workshops in digital camera, digital printing. We offer classes basically in the shooting, ton the town at night, treasure island. There is a way for the programs exploring everyone who would like to spend the day on this program. Hello, my name is jennifer. My name is simone. We are going on a field trip to take pictures up the hill. Cmon, cmon, cmon. Actually, i have been here a lot. I have never looked closely enough to see everything. Now, i get to take pictures. We want to try to get them to be more creative with it. We let them to be free with them but at the same time, we give them a little bit of direction. You can focus in here. That was cool. If you see that . Behind the city, behind the houses, behind those hills. The see any more hills . These kids are wonderful. They get to explore, they get to see different things. We let them explore a little bit. They get their best. If their parents ever ask, we can learn they can say that they learned about the depth of field or the rule of thirds or that the shadows can give a good contrast. Some of the things they come up with are fantastic. That is what were trying to encourage. These kids can bring up the creativity and also the love for photography. A lot of people come into my classes and they dont feel like they really are creative and through the process of working and showing them and giving them some tips and ideas. This is kind of the best kept secret. You should come on and take a class. We have orientations on most saturdays. This is a really wonderful location and is the real jewel to the community. Ready to develop your photography skills . The Harvey Milk Photo Center focuses on adult classes. And saturday workshops expose youth and adults to photography classes. I am vivian coe. Carman chu cofounded the challenge along in 2018, along with the department on the status of women, as well as the league of women voters in San Francisco. Our mission is to raise womens voices and their voting power. You can learn more about our initiative on our website wchallenge. Org. Before we start, i would like to thank our w challenge partners and supports and occur cohosts and our cohosts listed in the shared screen before. For organizing todays event, as well as kicking off a social Media Campaign as this years challenge. We want to encourage more women to vote, especially