Transcripts For SFGTV 20130116

I also want to take this opportunity to thank and number of individuals that have been helpful and supportive getting us to this place. I want to begin with stuart milk, and the immediate family of harvey milk, strong supporters of this item including the harvey milk foundation. The family is a family that has gone through a lot. I know this is not something to take lightly i appreciate their support. I want to thank people who knew harvey, and were close to harvey, and gave me the guidance whether or not to proceed with this. Including a seven member jones was another icon in the Lgbt Committee and former supervisor harry britt, who had the honor of being appointed to the seat following harveys assassination. I want to thank other leaders of the Lgbt Community including who represented district 8, now represented by supervisor wiener, as well as treasurer jose cisneros. I think there are many things to discuss in this process. There are many questions to be talk about including the question of whether or not an airport should be named after an individual to begin with, and if it is an individual, who that individual should be. I cannot sit here and say that there arent and number of individuals who are deserving of this honor. The reality is that one of the Amazing Things about San Francisco is that over the last couple of hundred years of our history we have had some Pretty Amazing people live in the city and county of San Francisco. People from all walks of life who have made tremendous contribution to the city and in the process not only made seven cisco better place and made the state and the country and the world a better place. The reason i moved forward in a factor Deputy Attorney for his support and drafting this as well as City Attorney. The reason is a very personal one. For me, coming to terms with my own sexuality, not on the density is not something that happened easily. Unfortunately for many of us who are members of the Lgbt Community is a process that many of us have had to go through and many of us are going through. The one good thing happening is that the process of coming to terms of who you are is becoming easier for a lot of people it is quite gratifying for me to see so many young people for homecoming out is a member of the Lgbt Community is no longer seen as a big deal. The fact remains that there are numerous airports in this country and in the world but in fact are named after individuals. There are in fact more than 80 airports in this country alone that have been named after individuals. It includes all whole range of people; includes president s, aviators, military heroes, entertainers, people ranging from Ronald Reagan to arnold palmer, trent lott, a number of people. What is striking as we begin thinking about this item is the fact that of the 80 people that airports have been named after, not a single one of them is an openly lgbt person. In fact not only is it true that no airport in this country has been named after an openly lgbt person but to our knowledge no airport in the world is in fact been named after an openly lgbt person. And so to the question of why harvey milk, why not someone else . That is a legitimate question. I can tell you as an openly gay man that i do think that there is something disturbing about the fact that we do live in the world the year 2013 that no airport has been named after someone who can say that they are openly gay, that they are open member of the gay lesbian community. No city in the world is done that. To the extent that San Francisco can be proud of so many things, one of the things that i am very proud of when i think of San Francisco is the fact that we have always been at the forefront of civil rights and at the forefront of lgbt rights. And there is a place in this world where i hope the city would be open to recognizing the contributions of an openly ldbt person. I would hope that that place would be San Francisco. One of the things that struck me about this conversation is something that we learn about harvey milk. When he was first elected, he understood the significance of his election. I would like to share with you a part of what he said. It goes, the hope speech often talk about. This is what he said to use his own words two days after i was elected i got a phone call and the voice was quite young. It was from al tuna, pennsylvania. The person said things. You have to elected a people so that young child and thousands of people know that there is hope for a better tomorrow. Without hope, gays, blacks, seniors, the ss give up. Without hope life is not worth living. Harvey closed, and you and you and you. You have to give them hope. As i think about this, i really think that that is what we are talking about. In this measure. We are talking about giving hope to so many people who live in parts of this country, parts of the world where they cannot fathom being true to who they are; they cannot fathom being honest to themselves let alone other people about their sexual orientation. Something that struck me about what was said in the last couple of days was something that was said by stuart milk. As he was pointing out that there are 40 Million People who fly in and out of San Francisco International Airport, and that these 40 Million People, 9 million come from other countries. In stuart was talking about that young man from dubai, or from pakistan, one of 66 countries, 77 countries perhaps where it is still illegal and a crime to be gay. And stewart was talking about the idea that in that airport in dubai, or in pakistan, that that young man who happens to be gay, or that young woman who happens to be lesbian sees on that board, that flight to San Francisco, mentions harvey milk, San Francisco International Airport. The hope is that just like harvey gave hope to that young man from altuna, pennsylvania, we as a city can give hope to that young man and had young woman from the 77 countries. The timing is especially important for me as a member of the Lgbt Community. We are at a crossroads in history of lgbt right in this country. In a few months our United States Supreme Court will be deciding a number of cases that at their core go to the very question of whether or not we as members of the Lgbt Community are equal under the constitution and under the laws of this country. And what a better time for the city and county of San Francisco to send a message that recognizes the dignity and humanity of this community, by dodging the contributions of one of its heroes harvey milk. That is what this is about. My proposal to name this airport is the first airport named after an openly gay person we are in no way trying to diminish the work and accomplishments of other individuals who are also deserving of that honor. This has to be viewed in the context of what is happening in this country and in this world. It has to be viewed in the context of history. One of the things that i have learned about my term on the board of supervisors is that time flies. Time goes by very quickly. I am now beginning my fifth year as a member of this board. And the decisions that we make are important. They are the most important when we can impact peoples lives; when we can change peoples lives and how people see the world. What is amazing about this idea is that those 40 Million People, those 9 Million People who fly in and out of San Francisco International Airport will have an opportunity to ask who was harvey milk . What was he about . At its core its not just about lgbt rights, its about the rights of all people. Colleagues i am proud today to introduce this measure. I look forward to this discussion with each and every one of you. What is remarkable about San Francisco, and i will close with this, whether the renaming of the airport, or any other issue, there are always reasons or questions that may lead one to not move forward. There are always reasons to not do something. But what is remarkable about the city is that San Francisco has always found the reason to do things. It is a city that has not been afraid to lead the way where leadership is needed. And so i look forward to this conversation. I look forward to hearing from all of you. And i look forward to we as a board letting the San Francisco voter decide this question. And my hope, my faith, is that at the end of the day will be able to send a message of hope to the rest of the world. Thank you. Thank you supervisor campos. President chiu. I have a number of items. In memoriam i would like to recognize the passing of the district 2 resident, one half of the famous brown twins. He and his sister marion decided to pursue acting and star in commercials. The sisters could be seen throughout the city walking, eating and acting in complete unison. The chronicle describe the sisters as an entertainment fixture, beloved for their 100 matching outfits and cheerful dispositions. San francisco is a place that embraces creativity an expression and vivian will dearly missed by all san franciscans. I will also asked the City Attorney for legislation that requires that conduit for optical fiber be installed any time streets are open up for any project. Fiber is the backbone of highbandwidth ip infrastructure; we need more of it; it is a modest and inexpensive step of installing so that we can pull fiber anytime. I would like to introduce in the ordinance and requirement for a new study of the citys leasing of new fiber. For one penny leased, the department of it is on track for making 300,000 per year. This is a part of the larger vision of San Francisco wired for the 21stcentury. We should take his mother step to keep our city a place of innovation. Today im also sending a letter to the pharmaceutical industry regarding the topic of safe Drug Disposal. In 2011 we considered legislation around the fact that when we improperly disposed used drugs in the trash or water system they end up in landfills or are carried the bodies of water. Unecessary drugs can be dangerous in our homes. In 2011 in discussion around legislation the trade association for the pharmaceutical industry, contributed 100,000 dollars to San Francisco to launch a Pilot Program for safe disposal. They could drop drugs at 13 independent pharmacies and police substations. The program has been tremendously successful, resulting in the safe disposal of close to 11,000 pounds of medicine. Unfortunately the funding will last only until the middle of this year. At that time the program will have to and unless the source of funding can be found. I am requesting that the organization consider additional funding to the city to continue this partnership. If that funding is not provided from my perspective, we should consider legislation to require Drug Companies doing business in San Francisco to pay for and operate a Drug Disposal program. I am announcing today Committee Assignments for this year. I appreciate the feedback and conversations that we have had over the last few days. These assignments reflect a balance of diverse perspectives and interests. Im confident that we will Work Together well. And move forward legislation that addresses our numerous city challenges. For the budget and finance committee i knew chair would be supervisor farrell, vice chair will be supervisor mar. Third member will be supervisor avalos. The Budget Committee will be augmented by supervisors breed and wiener. For our City Operations and Neighborhood Services committee, i discussed with a number of you. I plan to introduce a motion to combine our cons committee with Public Safety to a new Neighborhood Services and safety committee. I will mention that that is the name we are using is a placeholder. If any of you have better more creative names , we are open to suggestions. The chair will be supervisor campus, vice chair supervisor mar, third member supervisor yee. Supervisor kim will share the school committee. For government audit and oversight, chaired by supervisor chu, vice chair supervisor cohen, third member supervisor campos. Landuse committee will be chaired by supervisor wiener, by shared by supervisor kim and i would join the member of the third member. Rules committee will be chaired by supervisor breed. Because we have a budgeting rules Committee Schedule for this week these assignments are effective this friday the thirteenth. For those of you who are chairs start to work on the agenda items. Supervisor cohen. Supervisor cohen good afternoon colleagues. I have several things that i will introduce today. First being two pieces of legislation that the mayor and i are introducing; introducing two ordinances to strengthen and expand our cities regulation of lethal firearms and ammunition. We have restrictions on the sale of hollowpoint and military style ammunition; we have requirements that vendors selling any type of ammunition keep records of individuals and amount purchases and make them available, and make this Information Available to the Police Department. These existing requirements and not go nearly are enough to regulate Internet Sales of ammunition and the possession of especially lethal types of ammunition. Legislation that we are proposing does a number of things. I will go over them quickly. In makes possession of legal forms such as hollowpoint ammunition and military weapons illegal. Requires that the Police Department maintain a list of brands and ammunition prohibited. In the wake of the tragic incident that occurred at sandy hook elementary school, the cities, states and now president of looking for ways to stem violence what. What took place in connecticut was not the only reason i began working on this legislation. Oftentimes it takes a National Tragedy to create significant among them and political pressure around the issue of gun violence. But, what is getting missed in these debates is that the reality is that these tragedies associated with gun violence take place every single day in our neighborhoods all across the country. I know all too well what this tragedy looks like. I experienced it every time every time i get a phone call in the middle of the night for the Police Department alerting me of another Violent Crime are shooting. Families as they grieve. I experience it every time i go to San Francisco General Hospital to console the victims of gun violence, last year a victim as young as five years old. We continue to address the causes and impact of this senseless gun violence. Increasingly involves young adults under the age of 25; often related to disputes over turf and status, fueled by the fact that it is too easy to obtain and possess military style weapons and hollowpoint ammunition. Individuals such as doctor andre campbell, the head of surgery at San Francisco General Hospital, has given me firsthand accounts of the impact on the human body of hollow impact bullets. I believe the desire for us is elected officials is to take greater steps to implemenr solutions. I will like your knowledge the people here in support of this legislation. There are multiple conversations happening simultaneously here not only here in San Francisco but also on the state level, i want the public to knowledge the work that assemblywoman nancy skinner, a democrat from berkeley, introduced Assembly Bill 48. Bans of the manufacture and import of any device that fires 10 rounds or more at once. Working on sb 53, requiring an annual permit, 50 each, which includes an annual background check. Not only are we doing things at the local level in San Francisco but also on a statewide level. To the best of my knowledge president obama will make a presentation to Vice President biden will make a presentation to the president next i would like to bring to your attention that on the imperative agenda i have a resolution commemorating the 150th anniversary of the emancipation proclamation; many of you know that the emancipation proclamation was issued by president abraham lincoln, january 1, 1863. One of the most influential documents that declared all persons held as slaves within the confederate territory are here for and henceforth held free. I just want to go on record publicly acknowledging 150 years. That is quite an accomplishment. Todays actually the 84th anniversary of doctor Martin Luther kings birth. Many people know who doctor king was, a clergyman, activist, husband, father, the most prominent promoter of nonviolence and civil disobedience; he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 in recognition of his nonviolence. Only we discussing assault weapons ban ammunitions but acknowledging that today would have been doctor Martin Luther kings 84th birthday, a very prolific activist. I would like to recognize and former City Employee and decorated soldier mr. Hillyer terry, born june 4, 1923. While attending college he was drafted to serve in world war ii; he served the United States army from 1943 to 1946 where he received an honorable discharge; he was awarded the American Theater Campaign Medal; the eaim Campaign Medal with four bronze stars, good combat medal, world war ii victory medal. He was the city and county