Transcripts For SFGTV BOD Replay Public Safety Committee 12116 20161212

The meeting is broadcast by sfgovtv staff. Can you share announcements. Please silence all cell phones and speaker cards included to the file should be submit thood the clerk. Items will be on december 13 board of supervisor uzjnda unless otherwise state. The before the first item if we have a motion to excuse supervisor kim. I second that i take without objection. Item 1 is ordinance directing the rec and Park Department to install in bernal height memorial for alex nieto. This is ordinance to create a memorial in brurnal heights park and we had a meeting the other day looking as well perhaps in the future to rename the entire park after alex nieto. I knew alex when i worked at cole man advoicates for children and youth. [inaudible] coleman advocates for children and youth and also served on the board of Neighborhood Center so very familiar of course with [inaudible] who was the executive director at the time. Alex was a young man working many how ares in the neighborhood and communities from many years from early age in emmentary school to middle school and in high school he was in Youth Employment programs with the city. He was the young man who was really brought up by a lot of people in the community. [inaudible] of course is his family and relatives and was really a big part of you know, what was happening in the mission and Bernal Heights. True native son. He lost his life in a very tragic way when officers shot and killed him on march 21, 2016. There was a lot of contversery about that police killing. There was a trial and the officers were seen to have been released to continue to work as officers without a determination that they had done anything outside of what was in their service. That was determined by the courts. But, for many people in the community wasnt a sense of justice from that court ruling and in fact a lot more pain was created. Alex nietos killing also happened at a time when we have seen a huge increase in Police Officers killing young people of color. In fact, it seemed like at that time march 21, 2014 was really the beginning of about 5 wuj r one after the other officer involved killing. [inaudible] mario woods, jessica williams. Luis gongora that create a huge amount of count versey and huge amount of public anger and harm and hurt within the community. Not just the families, but many members of the community who felt we were under siege in terms of officers who were not following any real clear directive that was addressing how they use force in the city and how they use their guns to put down what they considered unrest. Um, and there is still open wounds. Clear sense justice has not been served with many officer involved shootings, killings of civilians by Police Officers in San Francisco. Early on after his killing, alex nietos parents requested that the city create a memorial on bernal hill at the site where he was killed. There was already a shrine set up in bernal hill on the Southern Side where alex was killed and i visited it a few times. I know alexs father and mother would go there all most on a daily basis. What they sfound the memorials they had there was getting disturbed. Was getting vandalized at times and it really marked that we have real clear divisions within the city of what justice should look like and who is deserves to be here without suspension from the authorities. And that harming of the memorial was part of that sense that we have those divisions. But what is really beautiful about what happened since is that there has been a real Strong Community presence that has come around the family with a lot of love to support their desire to have a memorial to support their fight for justice and that is reinvigorated the call to have the memorial for coming forward. Last year i was part of a march where we talked about the whole effort againit was this year, probably in the summerand i made that commitment that yd work with the family to establish the memorial. At first we talked about having a resolution, but a ordinance is actually a much more strong to require the effort. And for my purpose and i believe flaum communities purpose as well is this memorial is to mark the tragic event to also acknowledge the life and contributions of alex nieto and as well as the suffering and harm that is caused to the family and the community. In the hopes of putting this memorial for wrbdward we could actually create healing and bring people together and look forward to better relations between police and community and the real transformation of a Police Department that has decades of history with over extended heavy handed use of force that results in many people losing their libes lives in ways thatd are unjustifiable. With that i will let supervisor campos add any questions he may have but want to welcome the community and [inaudible] nieto, alexs parents, thank you for being here and i want to again extend my apology from my own part as much as i can for the city and my colleagues for the tragic killing of your son by the San Francisco Police Department. I hope that working on this mural and bringing the Community Together on iton this memorial and bringing the Community Together can add a little bit to some relief of your suffering. Supervisor campos. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. I have the honor of representing this neighborhood on the board of supervisors and want to thank supervisor avalos for taking the lead in bringing this item forward. Im proud to be a cosponsor. A couple of things about what has happened with this tragic incident and others, there is no way to undo the tragedy that happened and it is horrible and there are so many bad things besides the tragedy of what happened to alex nieto. What the family has gone through and the outcome of the trial and so many Different Things that we wish we could take back every one of those and all of those. Right . And in that sense a memorial or something that acknowledges alex nieto cant bring him back and undo that, but i do believe a memorial is in many respects the very least that we can do and it is a important part of beginning to heal this community. If it is possible to heal a community or family after something as tragic as this, i think that healing requires some recognition of what happened and the tragic nature of what happened. To me thats what this memorial represents. It is a opportunity to begin the process of healing. And it is really that simple and yet so fundamental and important. And that is the thing about this for me and that is why i want to make sure that we move this item forward as quickly as possible as we are facing the last month of our tenure as supervisors. Beyond that this family has been waiting for a long time for justice and i think especially around the holidays to be able to have Something Like this move forward is important, you know . Better late than never. [speaking spanish] with that, i look forward to hearing from the family, from the nietos, from the Amazing Community lead ers like christina and others that have come out to support them every step of sth way. Im grateful to see that it is not just folks connect today the nietos but folks connected to other people who have been the victim of incidence with the police. We have here the family of luis gongora. We have folks connected to mario woods. We have actually a year that is coming up and very important date anniversary happening this week and anyway, i think this is really long overdo and look forward to this passing not only out of committee and unanimously my hope at the board of supervisors. Thank you. Before going to public comment, ill just describe very quickly it is very short ordinance. This ord nnss directs rec and Park Department to install in Bernal Heights park memorial in honor of alex nieto. It also waves permit and inspection fees for installation but there is a effort that will happen within the community to raise funds for the mural, to design the mural. Thats not discussed in this ordinance itself, which is merely about saying it shall be a installation of a memorial in the park. There is still that work to do in terms of finalizing design, raising money and going through the Arts Commission process to approve what the final design will be for later to be installed. So, it is pretty straight forward that way and with that, we can go tostart with public comment. Well have three minutes per person and so we can open up. I dont have cards for people but if you want to just come and whatever order they want to come up. Alex parents want to come up first. [speaking spanish] thank you, he says he is [inaudible] nieto and he pleads with you to pass this ordinance. This memorial will be not only for himself and his family, but for his community, his friends as well so they can memorialize him often. Especially for his birthday. This has been a very difficult realty for [inaudible]. It has been over two years and 7 months since alex was killed and he is still very traumatized. Something that helps him through this trauma is going up to the hill and cleaning the make shift alter that exists there now. Never the less, at 4 a. M. He is haunted and for the trauma he seeks counseling, but it is still a very difficult time for him. This will help him passing this ordinance and getting this memorial will help [inaudible] nieto. Thank you and elveeta nieto will now speak. [speaking spanish] [waiting for translation] she says good afternoon to all of you and she pleads with respect that you supervisors pass this ordinance to get the memorial made at Bernal Heights park. She still sometimes thinks that he is here, but she knows he is no longer with us. Very hard for her and she asked that you board of supervisors help her, help the community. Thank you. Thank you. My name is ben [inaudible] i greet you can love, supervisors. Thank you for supporting this memorial. You strongly encourage you to honor the family and communey wishes and vote yes and also urge your colleagues to vote yes for the memorial. After this hearing we will go to each individual supervisor and urging them to vote yes for the memorial vote, which is this tuesday, december 6. We imagine that Community Members will be able to hike up to Bernal Heights mountain and pray there at the memorial site like alex used to pray. And look out over the beautiful view of San Francisco and be inspired by our community resilience. We want students of all ages, k12, College Students to travel up to that hill for field trip and to learn about the history and creativity of our community. I am sure that they will write thousands of educational essays about alex nieto and the movement that followed. We want families to pilgrimage, hands together and love each other at the place where alex breathed his last breath. We want this memorial place to be a place of peace, of inspiration and amore. Also in order to begin repairing broken ties with the community the board of supervisors can take a stand with the people and join justice for posterity purposes for amore. Note there are many people and organizations that fully support this memorial. You have already noted the Bernal Heights mission community. The university of california, hasting caul california of the law, united players, [inaudible] our mission no eviction, loco blokeo, San Francisco State University students, justice for [inaudible] mario woods commission, the luis gongora coalition, the San Francisco Labor Council ect. Against the violence and injustice of 59 bullets family and Community Rose to defend, honor and promote positive spirit. We need your vote. Your Community Needs your vote. Thank you for your attention. Thank you very much. Public comment is open. Other members of the public who like to comment, please come forward. [speaking spanish. Waiting for translation] he is luis armando gon gorea pat, the cousin of a person who was also killed by the San Francisco Police Department. That persons name was luis gongora. He says, good afternoon. He is here to support the nietos and we need to support because we need to understand that the San Francisco Police Department assassinated alex nieto. There was no justice in his case. The family, the Community Needs a place where they can remember a son, a brother, a citizen of the united states. He solicits the supervisors to be human ist, to be fathers, sons, brothers and to put themselves in the place of [inaudible] and elveetaneta and think how they feel in this tragic time. He pleads that the supervisors do not play politics because this is not a political issue. This is a human rights issue. The San Francisco Police Department killed alex nieto. He also says that he is only the cousin of someone who was killed by the San Francisco Police Department, but he suffers because of this. He can imagine how much luis gongoras mother and children also suffer. So, if that is the case, San Francisco supervisors dont embarrass the great city of San Francisco. Support this memorial. Support human rights. He says, thank you. Thank you very much. And thank you for your translation as well. Good afternoon. [inaudible] king. Archbishop of saint john whos name we like to be among the institutions that supports this bill. I just want to thank you supervisors for the courage you have demonstrated by coming out in a very strong way to do this. You know, im not a memorialist, im a man to fight for justice. Memorials dont bring justice. What brings peace is justice. I dont think this is a act of justice but i think it is a act of compassion the city should show i as the brother supervisors said, has there have been killings taking place in the black and brown communities in the young people. The hearts of the parents surfing will be only be answered with justice. However, i do support this and again, i think that if we were going do a memorial, we should name bernal hill after alex nieto because it doesnt just represent what is happening here, it doesnt just represent this killing and the blood that cries out from the streets for justice, but this community has been dev straighted without migrations, the predatory loans that has really drivthen black and Brown Community out of that particular part of the city and i think that that in itself is enough to recognize that that hilli dont want people to just march up there, i want people when they fly into the city or fly over the city they should be able to see alex nieto hill. Also, i could continue to speak, but i just want to thank brother ben and those that spoke before me that i really think they brought it to you in a very compassion and loving kind of way so we will be in prayer and we will stand with these brave parents. I think also we acknowledge the strength and the courage of alexs parents that let lit a fire of compassion in the community with their ability to stand under so much pain and disregard and disrespect from this city and from the poa and the Police Department. So, again we would like to support this and we encourage you to continue to stand fast and know that you have the love of the community in doing so. [speaking spanish] frank [inaudible] rising in support of alex nieto and his horoic family. It would be useful if there is meant to review how many times this matter has come before these chambers. In december of 2014 there was a simple inclusion of alexs name if my memory is correct on the date and what occurred then was the dahmsination by the association resulted in a inability to even have his name register, alexs name registered here who was murdered by the Police Department. What then transgressed was a period of denial. And lets just speak plainly, a period of denial when the board of supervisors stated that things were happening somewhere else. They were not happening here and we were very special here because that didnt occur here. And yet, alex nieto was murdered and we all knew that and there was a long period, a very long period when after denial there was inattention and there was a frankly it appeared a inability to politically grasp the situation and provide the leadership as a city thereafter the people rose up in defense of this haunable family and the injustice that occurred. Now there is supposedly a new day in San Francisco. We of course celebrate that we havent had the same rash of killings by the police, by killer cop. Letes rr be plain and simple, by killer cops who took the lives of so many others. We are want thank you for your leadership and willingness to lead and we hope that this willingness to lead isnt left in the vacuum, in the hollow words of the chamber that speak in hollow words and yet does not take the measures needed. Recently, these challenges have been met by the supervisors in putting something behind those words and along with todays hearing and your presence and your willingness to lead we also know there is some burning issues that demand actions and those supervisors present are providing that leadership around issues of deportation. I close with simply saying, there is not enough to render in an apology late and after the fact what cannot be blurred from our memory is the attempt to after the assassination of alex nieto, the character assassination performed which was the Police Departments pr. They accelat pr, they do not accelin justice. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Good afternoon supervisors. My name is [inaudible] and im a neighbor, a friend of the family. Im also a educator for 16 years i have been working with young people and heard many Different Things from many different aspectoffs justice and injustice have taken within the juvenile and crimeinal Justice System. Today i speak as a parent and a neighbor to support the family. In our neighborhood we are appreciative of both of you supervisor campos and supervisor avalos because we know this is a pending issue in when chthe community demand justice and this is a good answer for it. At least a good beginning we know both of you have actually tried to establish and bring up justice and we are very thankful for it. The Community Needs healing. Specifically and i can speak of the anger and the frustration that young people feel because i work with them every day and i actually worked with many different generations of namlies who still feel in this particular case there is so much injustice that has not been resolved. Again, im here to support the family and thank you for your support, to encourage other supervisors to join you and the answer for justice because again, the Community Needs to healing and needs to move on and as they move on and begin to start feeling there is a solution and that there is hope that the citys answering some the concerns that they have, then we can move forward. Interesting enough perhaps, we might never be able to move forward from such a tragedy, but we begin to start repairing the feelings and the emotions in the community. At least start repairing the relationship we had with our politicians and folks that represent our city. This is a good and great step to see if you guys can do that and you actually push that as well. We are really thankful you are doing this, but at the same time we want to make sure that the rest of the folks here and supervisors understand the community is asking this, the Community Needs this. This is something that needs to happen and should have happened a long time ago but now we are taking the right steps. Thank you. Thank you, next speaker, please. Hello, my name is mary mendoza and i like to thank you for proposing this ordinance and honoring the family. As a teacher in the community and a artist and someone who lived in Bernal Heights, having this go forward is very important to me. I have worked with the Alex Nieto Coalition for the past year. What happened to the the nietos son, what happened to alex was horrific and sure no one want Something Like this to happen again or a member of their own family. The parents are extremely humble loving compassionate people who have not only been fighting for the right jz memory of their own son but helping other Community Members who have gone through something similar unfortunately. The community has come together to collect a petition that was signed at theon the hill im alex nieto play by over a thousand people, Community Members who came out to see the play and hear alexs story. There were students from San Francisco state who were so inspired that they asked me for a copy of the petition they take to San Francisco state so they can hear the story and let people know more about what was going on and what could be done. And then we also at Bernal Heights Community Center also had signatures at the Community Meeting we had regarding the memorial there. So, in paper signatures we have over a thousand signatures. There is also been a change. Org online petition that has over 2 thousand signatures. Just so you know, at this point im proud the Community Stepped forward and over 3 thousand people are standing up to support this family and this community. [applause] excited about that and have these to share with you. In addition, i agree with what people have been saying this is a human rights issue. Alex was a human being, he was a Community Member and i think sometimes in the politics of things that gets lost. I also am really proud that San Francisco is stepping forward to embrace immigrants rights and so many of us if we are not native american, we are immigrants to this country and so that is something that is really important to remember. Alex was misrepresented upon him first being seen on Bernal Heights hill and those issues of gentrification and race are real and that is something im excited that the police is making efforts to move forward in terms of addressing that. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. My name is Maria Christina gut airs i want to thank you. Usually i dont like politician. There are only three paul tgzs in my life with the two of you who i feel comfortable with and have [inaudible] and the two of you and people who i believe in some way or another have come to really understand that you represent the community. Thank you. I want to thank you too because to me at the heart of the struggle is the unity of black and brown people and you two brown supervisors who also propose and vote for the [inaudible] mario woods. You deserve our thanking feelings. [applause] i want to say that it is a honor for me to speak here in favor of this memorial. In favor of this memorial i dont see it as compassion, i dont see it as justice because justice could be only we have the boy back. We have alex nieto back and all the other ones that have been murdered. But the fact it is a recognition that the city of black and brown board of supervisors can unanimously recognize that a murder was committed and that we need to do atonement for that murden and we need the recognition these young beautiful man full of life who has a lot going for himself was murdered because of race mp in the city by the police of San Francisco. Thats what that memorial means to me and that memorial means to me once we recognize we will continue with the struggle because i want everyone to know that the nietos are not only fighting for that memorial, they are every friday we are in front of the hall of justice saying that we want the police that murdered our children because they are all our children. The black and brown children to go to jail and be charged for murdering or people. I thank you very much for putting this forward and want you to take to the other board of supervisors to please put your hand in the heart and follow your leadership and vote for that memorial because it will be a sign of freedom for the people that live in the city and fwr those who come to visit the city and see we stood together as black and brown people to stop what is happening to our people. Thank you so much. [applause] thank you, come forward please. Good afternoon. My name is melissa gomez, a student at the university of San Francisco and one of the actors involved in on the hill, im alex nieto. On the hill is a piece that tell as story of alex nieto, how he was killed and the effect on family, friends and greater San Francisco community. Unfonchinately i never know alex but through the telling of the story and feel i know his spirit y. Dont believe anyone who hearathize story of alex nieto can believe his death was justified. The Justice System did not only fail alex and family but every citizen of San Francisco who believe the police are here to protect us. I believe this memorial will do what justice could not and in the years the police took away from him he make sure his memory lives on forever. [applause] thank you. Next speaker, please. My name is mimi and live on alabama streets in Bernal Heights for 29 years. I think that this is the least that the city can do and i would suggesti dont know if it is possible that the rec and park be required to maintain notd just install it because it could get vandalize jd shouldnt be up to the family to have to repair it. I wanted to bring up an issue that christina brought up which is the question of race. I am a white person and there are lots of white people who have lived in Bernal Heights as i have for decade who support this memorial. I have been in touch with a lot of them and they couldnt be here today, but in addition to offering some small measure of comfort to the nietos, what im hoping and you know, call me crazy, is that the memorial will also serve as a point of education for a lot of the new people who have moved into our community, have devastated our community. The whole gentrification thing, which is somebody else raised that. And hopefully that maybe some of them are open minded and can be taught that the police right now are not our friends, are not the friends of the black and Brown Community. As i have two sons who are in their 20s they will never be faced by the police as alex was because they are white and a think a lot of white people dont understand this and hoping this memorial will do a little bit to hopefully educate those people. So, i hope thati really hope we get 100 percent unanimous decision on the port of the board of supervisors. Thank you. [applause] thank you very much. Good afternoon superizvisors. I want to applaud you for craijs how you stood up and you will be missed. I like to add bring closure to this beautiful muths mother and father. For alex nieto, you know because even the shrine they had was vandalized. All they want is closureit wont bring they son back but it also gives his spirit a chance to rest, you know what i mean . I mean, i just dont like to bring this up, but if they can give [inaudible] steinly one who was killed by accident and that was a tragedy. We need to do something about alex nieto. He was shot 29 times and had a closed casket funeral and didnt deserve to die like that. I had a chance to meet them. You can see it in their eyes, they are loving people, man. I never want to feel the pain they feel because i feel and all feel this pain for them and so you know, the memorial would be something you know what i mean . Imarchbishop they need to name the park after. And that aint asking for much. It isnt like [inaudible] my name is gilbert [inaudible] and im a resident of bernal hill and i want to thank the two supervisors for helping us. The first reason im here is because of the injustice that happened to alex nieto and his wrongful death and never should have happened. But since that sad day, i have come to get to know the nietos and i fallen in love with these two people. They are amazing. And also, i have fallen in love with all the people that spoke before me. All these people that spoke before me they have character in their hearts. Im hoping the board of supervisors can find the character in their hearts and give the nietos and all these human beings here, these are real human beings that came and talked to youyou know what they need closure to this and just you know, do the right thing because the only way anything can ever get changed is quh you tell the truth about it and the truth is, what happened to alex nieto was wrong. You cant make up stories about it. It was wrong. It was notthe truth is it never should have happened. Thank you for giving me the time to say what i think. Thank you. Thank you. Anymore speakers . Hello. I just wanted to take a minute to speak against a apparent public rule which seem tooz hold a precondition for discharging firearms. The intention of engaging in the use of deadly force as the policy seems to have the preserve effect of compelling some officers in some instances to commit to of course unfochinate irreversible and tragic actions and perhaps this is done to underscore justification or simply in line with a conformation byssus which bias which is sometimes based on mistaken evidence. So, there appears to be a need to take pause and step back from Current Police policy and i hope that you will consider some ways to help bringing that about. Any other members of the public who would like to comment on the memorial . Seeing none i close public comment. We have this ordinance live before us. Want to thank everyone for coming out and supporting this ordinance and the memoral. Especially want to thank [inaudible] and nieto and [inaudible] for your work in helping to keep this on in front of us. And i take to heart all the comments that came today. Yes, i do believe that the mural on the hill will be about healing and education. We have to know what the history is and what tragedies happened here in order for us to live more completely in the future. This city is the city that should work for all of us and it a city for people who have been here generations recognized to have a future here that will continue and not one that will be cut short through displacement or gent fiication. I believe this memorial stands for that. So, we have some amendments to make, very slight amendments that dont change at all the ordinance and it is to take out language that is not necessary for it. So, the firstthe twoe amendments, the first one in the title is remove line 7 and 8. It is language that says and making findings of consistency with the general plan and 8 priority policies of planning code, section 101. 1. That language isnt necessary for this ordinance so the First Amendment is remove that. The Second Amendment will be to take out lines 21 through 25, which reference the same language that is in the title. So, i would like to motion that we amend those 5 lines or 6 lines out of the ordinance. Lines 7 through 8, 21 through 25. Seconded by supervisor campos and we can take that without objection so that amendment is made. Supervisor campos. Thank you supervisor avalos. One point that i thought was a really great point that was made by one of the speakers, one of the residence from bernal heighticize the maintenance of the memorial. I dont know what language would work but maybe the City Attorney has ideas. I was thinking something along the lines perhaps in section three, page two following line 15. There is a sentence there that describes the memorial located along the pathway on the northern side of bernal height jz maybe add a sentence that says the maintenance and upkeep of the memorial shall be the responsibility of the recreation and Park Department. Great. That way it will be up to the department to maintain it and the family doesnt have to worry about that in the same way. You have a motion to add i have a motion to amend the ordinance along those lines. Okay. We can take that without objection. Well add that language. I think it is a great amendment and thank you for the suggestion from the community and supervisor campos thank you for adding that in. With that, can we motion to move forward with positive recommendation . J move for approval the ordinance will go to full board december 6 with positive recommendation from committee and again want to thank everyone for their presence here today. Mr. Chairsorry to interrepresent t is december 3 board of supervisors. December 13. Okay, great thank you. Well take that without objection. Thank you. Just to confirm the date is switched to the 6 to the 13ths now then . Is that correct . That is correct. Im coming out of todays committee are going to the december 13th meeting. No possibility for Committee Report . That hasnt been agendized, mr. Chair. Okay. Thank you. The 13th. That is 1 p. M. , 2 p. M. . 2 p. M. Okay, if we go to item number 2. Item number 2 is hearing on the status of implementation of City Navigation Centers for homeless ordinance passed unanimously by the board of supervisors june 21 to require the city toope squn operate no fewer than 6 Navigation Centers within 24 months of the Effective Date of the ordinance. Supervisor cal campos. Thank you, mr. Chairman and thank you to the nieto family and all the people that came out in support of this item. As you know, perhaps in terms of the daily life of communitys throughout the city and certainly the neighborhoods i represent, perhaps the most critical issue facing those neighborhoods is the issue of homelessness. I call this hearing with the department of homelessness and supporting housing and i know we also have here the department of Public Health because our city and in particular district 9, the district i represent continues to face a severe homelessness crisis. Encampments and im proud to say this and i know it is controversial statement in the eyes of some people, but for me encampments are not a solution to homelessness. They are unhealthy for the Homeless People that are in them and they are unhealthy for the residents and businesses that are around them. What we have always known is we need to build alternative places for people to stay if we are going to see a difference in our streets. The fact is our current existing shelter system is beyond capacity and so we have a situation where the city is doing the best it can and this brings us to the topic of todays hearing. On june 21 of this year the board of supervisors unanimously passed a ordinance that i authored requiring that the city open up 6 Navigation Centers over the course of the next two years. I introduced this ordinance. This legislation as well as the declaration of a state of emergency because we have reached a crisis point on the issue of homelessness. My office proudly work with the city and the Mayors Office to open the first Navigation Center at 16th and mission and while we were very proud of the results from that effort, we had been hoping that more centers will be open and when that was not happening we introduced this law. Navigation centers are temp laer low barrier alturn tvs to shelter. They offer comprehensive helths, Mental Health and other service tooz Homeless People includesing case management, social Service Program and other relevant city services. They are low barrier and allow people to enter with partners, pets and belongings. These centers are designed to specifically address the proliferation of street encampments throughout San Francisco. We in this law require the opening of 6 Navigation Centers and we applaud the work the effort by the department to so far open two navigation sentards and look forward to hearing more about when and how and where perhaps the 4 Navigation Centers that remain will be open. As we sit here today and face the crisis of encampments, we know that there is a 900 person wait list for our regular shelter system and i want to say that for the last couple of months i have been going on a regular basis with the staff of the department to speak to many folks in the encampment jz have been successful resolving some of the encampments in the mission, but resolution isnt possible if we run out of space to place people. And that is not to say anything of the fact that there has to be housing connected to the Navigation Centers for those centers to actually be successful. I want to state for the record, i have been working with the staff and mr. [inaudible] for the last couple of months as he took office and took over and in a very shortd period of time he had to hit the ground running and i have been very impressed and think the mayor hit a home run with his appointment and want to thank him for the great work he has done and i think there has been a lot of success because of his efforts and again i just want to personally thank him and his staff for the excellent work they have done and with that, mr. [inaudible] look forward to hearing from you and at some point i know that we are going hopefully hear from the department of Public Health because one of there things that was included in the original ordinance was the issue of exploring safe sites and houses. We after discussions willingly voluntarily took that out but not because we are giving up on the issues but we want the navigation piece to go forward but with a understanding those iges issues would not be dropped. Jeff [inaudible] with department of homelessness and Supportive Housing. Thank you for inviting us here to speak about our progress on the Navigation Centers and supervisor campos thank you for your kinds words and thank you to your and your staff for all the work we have been doing together for the past few months. Want to give a brief presentation on the progress we made at the Navigation Centers and particularly our progress towards addressing some of the items that were outlined in the legislation that youchb you have already spoken of. You already gave a excellent overview of what the Navigation Centers are so will skip that part and talk about what we have done since the passage of the legislation. As you have mentioned, prior to the passage of legislation, Navigation Center one was opened at 19 50 Mission Street and operational since march 2015 and hope it will stay open until at least the summer of 2017. Currently it is run by our Excellent Service partners apiscicul Community Service and Mission Neighborhood resource. There are 75 beds there. We have recently changed the way we utilize the Navigation Center and now the primary destination of individuals who we are working with through our Encampment Resolution Team meet wg the Encampment Resolution Team led by jason albert son is in the community. We look for exists with folks, sometimes it is reunifying with families and sometimes they have gone into Substance Abuse treatment thanks to Department Public health. We use 1950 as the primary place where we bring folks. The civic center Navigation Center is the first site that opens after the passage of this legislation so it is really the first of the 6 which we are opening. It is manage aged by Community Housing partnership. Currently has 93 rooms but hope to expand that by rehabilitation existing rooms that needed more work and not ready for people to habitate but we are currentsly using this in much the way 1950 was used. It is the primary place where we take folks who have been identified by the hot team or through our coordinated entry system in which we prioritize the longest term and highest acuity homeless folks to housing. This is a place where they go to wait for housing which is available to them. The next navigation scepter cept center we are planning the second och the 6th scheduled to open february 2017. It will be a 600 25th street on port propertyment we havent choseen a oprairtd. It will be 70 beds for 3 years of operation jz likely use this as part of our coordinated entry system as well. Finally, the third navigation scepter that we have planned is scheduled to open mid2017 at 520 jessie street in a building owned by salvation arnly. We are still working on the details both in terms of raising private funds to do the developments. Work wg neighbors to get their support on the issue and of course with supervisor kims office andologist working othen budgetary issues around funding the funding we need to operate the site. This site will ultimately be used as a Triage Center for the encampment response and hot team. 1950 will go back to be used for the coordinated entry cyst mg. This site is critical in our ability to address encampments and street homelessness. It is where we bring folks, they will be able to stay 30 days and then we will find other places for them to go in their Journey Towards existing homelessness allowing us to break up the larger encampments thatd are in the city. Um, we currently do not have plans or items in the budget for opening up the next three Navigation Centers. That is something we need to address in the fiscal year 17 18 budget but in order for us to do that we will need to plan for the cost of operating and developing those sites. We have a number of ideas in mind, particularly around opening up a youth Navigation Center as the legislation called for, and sites that might work for the next three but we are currently on hold pending budget discussions. Youll see there is a map of the current Navigation Centers. As well as the locations of where folks have been referred to the Navigation Centers from. All over the e city with some of the areas that are with the larger circles is higher concentration of folks particularly in the areas where we have been working to resolve encampments. Wanted to share outcomes. This has been a incredibly Successful Program and want to give kudos to sam dodge and to emily cohen and the staff of the hope office what was formally the hope office that is now part of our staff which we are grateful to have them on the team who helped make this happen. Their model they helped put toort clearly had really great outcomes for the folks who have been served by them. You see the mission Navigation Center served 864 individuals since opening in march of 2015. 79 percent of them exists have been to stable housing. The civic center Navigation Center has served 123 unique individuals and 60 percent of those exists have been to permanent housing here in San Francisco. So, as you will see the Mission Sites of the 865 people serviceed, 609 have gone to permanent housing and 46 to temporary housing or programs. Also, the average length of stay at the sites is about 120 days. We had some excellent results in terms of helping clients get on to benefit squz other benefits and want to thank hsa for their excellent partnership. Really, this servess a a model how to collaborate with departments. Department of Public Health and hsa to make sure the folks we bring to shelter squz navsenters access benefits to help them exist homelessness. Demo graphics of the center frankly have been a little disappointing and think it is something we need to work on. The main item here i want to point out is that about 37 percent of the Homeless Population in San Francisco are African Americans only 26 percent of the Navigation Center clients are African Americans so have redoubled our efforts around outreach and held a large convening followed by a day long training around racism, racial bias and how that impacts homelessness and im very proud of the staff for taking this on. This is difficult issue head on and confident we will continue to do a better job in terms of outreach to clients and making sure that all our services reflect the demo graphics of the Homeless Population. Can i ask a quick question would the percentage with the numbers, do you know how that compares to the rest of the Homeless Population for other groups . I do know off the top of my head that the Homeless Population for African Americans is 36 percent. I dont know if my colleagues have it data off the top of their heads. I think it is a little low. Just wondering what the latino population and asian population. Maybe if we can get that. It is on my phone and will give it to you before i leave. No worries. Thank you. Okay. So, as part of the legislation, the was a request there is equitable entry and exist plan and provide a report to the board of supervises within 120 days. We provided you a letter which will serve as that report. Overall i think our approach needs to be as a city moving towards the idea of coordinated entry that everybody who accesss Homeless Services receive the same assessment and put into had same data system and choice decision around what they have access to isnt made on the strength of the case manager or how loud a voice they have based on peoples needs and the lengths of homelessness. We feel the Navigation Center entry and exist plan needs to follow the coordinated entry protocol which we are putting in place that it shouldnt matter whether you are in a nav shelter or a or on the street people need to be match today the right prament jz prioratized to the housing not based on the nav center but based on the need is so moving in that direction and that is described for you in that letter. You probably heard the same concerns i had from shelter providers that they need today have access to housing exists as well and we only about 400 units of Supportive Housing for single adults opening on any given year, we have made the decision to not necessarily attach housing to nav centers but attach housing to people who need it the most. Youll see the next slide here. This is a map of what the coordinated entry system we are driving towards going to look like and present this next week on the Strategic Plan. Folks will be to access our services through a variety of Access Points whether it is through schools, through the criminal Justice System or Public Health system, Homeless Outreach through shelters or resource centers. They will then be put into our coordinated entry system and given assessment and matched with the right resources and some of them will be sent to temporary housing which includes shelters and navigation sentsers and from there director towards various exist tooz homelessness we have available and other folks will skip the temporary housing process and go right towards various exists. That is we feel the Navigation Center needs to be a part the system not its own separate system. We were asked in the legislation to explore the feasibility of a alcohol management model. As you pointed out initially the legislation also spoke about exploring Safe Injection Sites. My response around the alcohol management model is really the same around the coordinated entry system is we dont want to create the Navigation Center, special programs or we want to be able to match each client with what they need and created a Navigation Center that is specifically directed towards medical intervention like alcohol management isnt the best use of the nav centers. We do however believe that Alcohol Management Program in a permanent Supportive Housing site is a excellent idea. Many visited the site in seattle and believe some of you visited that as well and do believe that is wurkt pursuing. But we also learned a lot from operating the Navigation Center and lower barrier to entry shelters where there is a greater tolerance for people who are struggling with alcohol and Substance Abuse and a excellent execution of the Harm Reduction model that many programs in the city try to utilize and we hope to take some of those learnings from the Navigation Centers and also have resources, the same resources there and bring those to our shelters so that there are no barriers to entry for people suffering from alcoholism or Substance Abuse to make the shelters more welcoming places because we have seen great outcomes from people who have been struggling with Substance Abuse and alcoholism through the Navigation Centers but believe folks who need call whaul alcohol management are better served by a permanent Supportive Housing site. Just want to also comment on the Community Outreach process that we have been using and to highlight the fact that our staff sam dodge or Deputy Director for policy is doing an amazing job at all the sites work wg the local supervisor in the district but also resident and businesses, attending many meetings, but i think not just taking the input because there is nothing worse than asking for input and having it ignoreed, but taking that input and putting together Community Agreements with the neighborhoods based on concerns that they have and in some cases creating advisory groups in the neighborhood and we have developed great partnerships with the communities at the two nav sites currentsly operating and the folks in the dogpatch and just now beginning with folks in midmarket and soma. We were also asked to put together a housing and revenue plan. Want to opponent out a few things. We have worked closely with philanthropy and trying to raise Capital Funds in order to expedite the opening of nav centers. We secured the operating funding for three navigation scepter. The two in existence and dogpatch. We have budgets for the future Navigation Centers. They are all operating at about 2 to 3 million a site but no clear defined budget or Revenue Source at this point. I am cfds cds confident as we find more locations we will raise fundsing from a generous fill Philanthropic Community and many expressed interest supporting nav centers so really lucky and pless blessed to have that opportunity and again it will make opening these faster. As far as have aghousing plan, revenue plan we are working in it departments Strategic Plan. We were hope toog have it done by december. I think that will be delayed by probably a quarter as we are struggling to sift through all the data that is available in the city but will have a long term both housing nav center and revenue plan probably looking at a 5 to 15 year period of time to talk about what it is we are going need to have a major impact on the issue of homelessness in San Francisco but we are going to need more time before we are able to put that together. There was a question about a youth Navigation Center brought up in the legislation and as i mentioned we have been actively seeking sites for this and thichck we have a number of locations that will work well. We have spoken with a number of youth provider jz want to give a shout out to at the cros roads and rob geten and his team. They are not a city funded nonprofit but work with homeless youths and given excellent guide toons the department as other youth providers like larkin and taking it to the street and others and we are working on a model that will be veryvy effective but it is a matter of identifying the fundsing. Then also want to opponent out to you and direct you to and believe we should probably send your aufs a copy of a report done by the Controllers Office where they took a lot of earnings from the Navigation Centers and they helped us think how to apply some of that to the shelter system and well get you a copy of that report. And that concludes my presentation mpts supervisors as you mentioned before did commit to explore the idea of safe injection site Navigation Center chblt we at this time do not believe that having a safe injection Navigation Center makes sense for much the same reasons as have agalcohol management Navigation Center doesnt make sense or fit in with the coordinated entry model and however, i will differ firthser questions you have about that to my colleagues from the department of Public Health on that issue. Mr. [inaudible] i dont know if you want toi have a couple questions on the presentation you provided. But should we deal with that first and then have Public Health address the issue of Safe Injection Sites . What is your preference . That would be fine. Just a quick question. In terms of the plan and i also see sam dodge and want to thank him as well for his excellent work throughout this. In term thofz planit is disappointing the plan isnt in place buts when do you see having a plan for implementation . How much longer do you think it will be . Talking about a Strategic Plan . Yeah. Pieces of it are close to be completed and done by january on schedule and that is there plan to move to a coordinated entry cyst mg. We have selected a data system and mapped out how the services will work. We will start implementing the system with families that will begin in july. That is already well defined and that piece is done and can present that at the hearing next week. I think we have a pretty much mapped out how to move forward in terms of managing services around single adults and youth and veterans. Where we are struggling right now really is to try to determine what is the number of shelter beds we need, what are the number of permanent Supportive Housing units we need for each individualment we have a model we developed but as we plug numbers in we see the model isnt producing the information doesnt seem accurate to us and we want to spend a few more month coming up with that modsal because we plan to present a specific and detailed plan around how many more beds we need whether they are shelter or Navigation Center and how much more housing we need. But we are not slowing down in terms of implementing the coordinating entry system or opening up the dogpatch and soma Navigation Center. We are bringic more housing online but more time isnt what we do next month but what we do for the next 5 to 15 years. You dont have to answer this, but if we make the comment that i know that prop q passed. As far as im concerned prop q doesnt add anything or find solutions so my hope is you will proceed to continue the strategy which i think challenges as it is provide a actual solution. As far as im concerned we should follow anything that is going to provide solutions and to the extent that prop q provides zero i think which is just ignore. It terms of encampments, my question to you with this, what keeps me up at night is the fact that as we are trying to resolve encampments, we are running out of beds, places to send people. So what are we going to do . Especially as encampments continue to not just in my district and areas like the mission, but in others. So, seems to me that we need to have as much of the ordinance provides a roadmap, i actually think that even if we do 6 this year that that wont be enough and so how do we deal with the fact that we are quickly running out of places to send folks . I think thats absolutely correct. So, just to talk about how to address encampment jz can say which we are not planning to change our approach based on prop q and want to point outwe are not Enforcement Organization or have Enforcement Authority so prop q may be a tool that the police choose to use but as far as we move forward we will continue with what is a very successful straetagy with three goals in mind. The first goal is help people in the tents exist homelessness. The second goal is to help neighborhoods that are impacted by large numbers of people and we see encampments of 50 people and up in residential parts of the northeast part the mission and many other neighbors is help those neighbors by remubing the encampments and creating a safer cleaner environment for them. The third goal is disrupt this relatively new phenomena of very large encampments in areas where there are a lot of housed individuals as well. The way we are doing this is really by using compassion and common sense. We are not coming in and i do noti object strongly when the media reserves to this as sweeps. We dont sweep people. These are our brothers and sisters and somebodys son squz daughters and dont operate that way. What we do is go into encampments and identify the informal leaders and ask them to help them hold a Community Meeting at which time we verbally and in writing notify folks of our plans and usually there plan we come back and spend about a week talking to each of you and finding what your needs are. In some cases we will make sure showers and toilet and garbage resep cltcolorize and once we understand the needs and what we think will happen next is have a written notice and hold Community Meetings and have folks from the encampments to come to the meetings and let everybody know what will happen and what happens next is often times we find 3 our 4 people in the encampments that in need of Behavioral Health or substance abutte abuse. We will find other folks whoant to reunify with family members but the vast majority of people need a place to go sleep. That requires us having access to beds and as you pointed out, sometimes there is up to 9 hundred people waiting for the shelter beds so what keeps us from moving faster and keeps us from doing more is the lack of shelter beds because if we do this any other way it wopet be legal because as we discussed a number of times here, the 9th Circuit Court ruled on the 8th amendment numerous times that you cant move people without having another place for them to go toment you have to allow people to sleep. It is a basic need that we all have. So it isnt legal. It is not humane by any stretch and also it doesnt work. If we just move people from here to there then we have done nothing other than that. We just maybe helped a few neighbors and then really angered a bunch of others and disrupted a group of people who have been hunkered down to sleep. We need to have beds for them. We hope the new Navigation Center in soma will be a great resource to be ableit will all most triple our capacity to be able to do that but at the end of the day tripling our capacity with 3500 unsheltered people in the city isnt going solve the problem either so as part of the Strategic Plan we are trying to determine the optimal number of shelter beds and need to put together a plan how to get to the numbers and whether they are temporary or permanent shelters remains to be seen but we are trying to do this as thoughtfully as possible and make sure our numbers are correct and unimpeachable so when weprint the plan folks have confidence that there is smart thinking behind it. Im disappointed it will take a few more mujt but think it is wurkt it to know what innext move needs to be. Thank you. Unless my colleague has questions if it is okay to call upon and was listening and appreciate the work your department has done and of course people who were there before you came in, all your great work. It will be very important and yet we still have so murch more to do to create the shelter that we need. Thank you for coming in and your work. Sorry we couldnt pass k to fund it, but for the next 5 weeks im committed to doing what i can do to help find funding to move forward for future years. Great. I just wanted to thank both of you in your final 5 weeks for your leadership on the issue and also want to say the legislation that some visor campos and i worked on closely together, it is great to have wind at our backs in terms of we know we will add 5 our 600 beds durs during the next few years based on the legislation. It is less than what we need but a important start and want to thank you for your leadership on this. Thank you, mr. [inaudible] thank you very much. Thank you and lastly i appreciate you mentioning the 9th Circuit Court ruling and that we just dont move people where there is no place to move people. I worked on legislation earlier this year to actually put standards in place for how we move encampments and generally what we trying to achieve in the legislation you articulate td now so know we have much more compassionate approach that is Still Available to us as a city and i just want to hope that we continue to put more meat on the bone s and that type of approach so we are on the right path with your effort. Thank you. Thank you. Before we go to the next section with dph i need about a minute recess, so well be back in about 2 minutes at the most. Thank you. Well move on to department of Public Health version and we have our director department of Public Health here. Let me thank you both for your service. When you said 5 weeks i fss like god that is like tomorrow. You really want to thank you for all the service you provide frd the city and think we worked well under all your work with department as well so thank you for all the support over the years. Supervised injectionside sites. We had conversationwise some of the offices here and we do know that supervised injection sites are becoming a intervention for particularly those individuals who are injection drug users. It does provide safe locations for individuals for safer injection practices as well as engagement with health. We do not oppose injuckz sites, but there are some barriers for us. I was here from 9 30 to one aclock talking about the reenvisioning of the jail and the Department Just invested and will be investing about 8 million in new beds for Mental Health individuals seeking Mental Health service and try to focus on people coming out of jail. There is a cost to the centers. There is also legal barriers that we know that we could probably get some legislation from the state that tried to get out of the Committee Last year that will give cover for opening oplocation like this and particularly the fact that locating some of these facilities could pose difficulties for us. I have found being one of the site of over 200 beds in the community over the last 15 years that it is even for the solutions to issues of addiction, we do have challenges within neighborhoods who do not want those types of facilities in the community. But, as a department of Public Health we always try to find solutions anyway and so one of the areas we are looking at and working closely with the drug policy asilencee look at the legislation that can provide the Department Authority to open up some of the facilities, but also trying to prepare for today what we can do for injection drug users. So, over the last 15 years there was a treatment on demand process in which we really put in about 10 to 15 million to expand our program but it was also philosophical change of culture. We were a abstinence based system of care meaning you were never going use drugs again to come into treatment and when you relapsed you were pushed out of the system because you were using drugs. Abstinence based. We went into a very long process, inl fath our director of the Homeless Coalition was a great part of that, which move said the system to a Harm Reduction approach. So individuals could be work wg individuals who are active drug user jz when people relapse they were engaged gaen again because this is a chronic disease and people relapse and it becomes a life time process. What we propose in lieu of injection drug site today is one is we have a Harm Reduction center on 7th and mission. We are proposing and working with them on expanding that facility for 40 hours. It is actually working with injection drug users, providing them a lounge, nursing care along with services of syringe access and we know in many oof of our pub lb locations people are shooting up drugs. We know and my bathroom of 101 grouv people come in to shoot drug soze need to acknowledge that publicly that is a issue and have to find resource squz locations for people to be safe in those needs that they have to do. As we seek more treatment and are able to provide more housing we have 17,000 injection drug users and not all in the street. I think housing is oorths component so will be able to work with Harm Reduction center and expanding hours for that. We will also be work wg our Sobering Center and medical team and ill share my presentation today with dr. Bury zeben who is our street medicine drethjure we will tried to provide people a opportunity to come into the sobering sents squr seek treatment and provide assessment and care for them. Well also be adding 30 beds for medical respite for sheltered individuals. This will open up 30 beds within the shelter system get thg most chronically ill individuals out of the shelter to the respite and we have to contend with people that will act rfbly inject drugs. I am not at this point ready to open an official injection drug center but we will try to open facilities people can come and safely get care. Our Street Medicine Team will actively work with homeless individual tooz provide medical support and access to Addiction Services and dr. Zeben and his team are out in the tents and in the streets work wg active drug users to seek treatment. We are also going to apply for about 5 million from the state for low enforcement Diversion Program that will focus on injection drug user jz drug users engaged with police and hope we can work closely with the police for referrals and individuals instead of taking them to jail to work with them in providing care as well as with support and also trying to make sure they get into Treatment Services or get the type of care they need. So, thats our approach today how we look at the issue of injection drug services. Thank you director garcia. I just want to sort of be clear about something because i think that what you just said is very significant. I think it is something that we hadnt heard before and i just want to cumind you for that. It seems that assuming that legally the approvals are obtained that your department is open to pursuing this idea down the road of opening up a safe injection site . Absolutely. Again, it becomes aficial issue. These cost between 3 million to 3 and a 3 and a half million. The research we did looks if you want to make a impact because i do not want to create a false hope that you open up a injection site and cure the need you have, we see we need at least 6. Similar to what we just talked about with Navigation Centers and make aim pact. If ewoo are able to open one we would be very successful at least for a population or neighborhood. I work would the local group working on this for several wrore jz trying to emphasize if we work with the Neighborhood Group in a block thats the impact we would have and that would be a difference for individuals but fleed the neighborhood support to do this. I think thats actually very very significant. I think that is a very significant statement, so i want to thank you because i think it means a great deal to have director of Public Health say that. I can tell you speaking to a lot of residents in my district and especially in the mission where we just went towe had a number of meetings at [inaudible] grove street and we are adding a bin so that some of the syringes that have been on the floor and there is a very small bin and we want something larger, from talk toog them but also from talking to a lot of other residents in that fusinty, people are open to trying new things so actually think that most san franciscans are open to this as a option because the status quo is so bad squl frl the same reason that they support giving needles and Needle Exchange and syringes as a form of Harm Reduction, i think that many people are open to this in trying something new and i think it is great not only you say you are open to it, but second that short of actually opening a safe injection site you are actually taking step s to incorporate further efforts of Harm Reduction to allow injection users to use these facilities. I think it is really important and also the fact we could see the situation to work with the existing location if we get this legislation passed at the state level. And then we have to go further to think how we do this in continuation with some of the other programs. I have a lot of Treatment Programs who are supporting this as well, but again i just want to emphasize we dont want to create centers where people sit for the day. It is really about the final location that people have in their homes and i think that is where the Homeless Department is wirking towards and it will be a struggle for us so we do have a Public Health responsibility to insure that these individuals are safe and also getting their appropriate servicess they need. I think that is very significant and i actually dont think that would be possible without work that both you and mr. Cuzinsky have been doing. Just a final question on the issue of alcohol and i understand the point for mr. Cuzinky he doesnt want to do it in a Navigation Center but know it is a issue. On 24th street there are a lot of habitual alcoholics who i think would probably better serve if they had a place to go. Any thoughts on what else we could do beyond what we are doing now on that issue . I think as the drether director of homeless and housing talked about, a permanent setting and i also visited the Seattle Program and it is important to have a stable group. This contractual process of reducing your alcohol. We have wet housing. People can drink in their homes tmptd is people that want to reduce harm by reducing the alcohol use but still need the alcohol because of the alcoholism and that there is no cure for alcoholism and it is it maintenance of being able to keep their alcohol use lower and also to boo have a safe place to do that so there thereis a contractual obligation with provider jz group process and the ability to drink together in smaller quantities to reduce their overall harm. We are very supportive of that. Im also looking at that as a potential in the Sobering Center and talked to staff about that because we do have people coming in, they stay 4 to 6 hour jz need a drink and so they leave the Sobering Center so the question there is, if we provide that for them and that support, would they stay longer in that facility to help them in their overall care. Thank you. I would like to call up dr. Bury zebens who is doing the work for us and him and i worked over 20 years together on the issue and he does have comments. Thank you. Dr. , we look forward hearing from you. Thank you very much. Im bury zerfben the medical drecktder for street medicine and Shelter Health for department of Public Health. I like to start with a case. This is 30 year old woman who i saw with heroin and methuse. She grew up in San Francisco and in foster care. She has hepatitis c and concerned about the health. She has not had a hiv test in two years i worried about that. She is homeless for more than 10 year jz stays in a encampment in the mission. She is quite distrustful of systems and care providers. She tried to stop using drugs in the past but not been able to. When she shy treeu tooz stop she becomes paranoid jun able to function. She feels very hopeless about this mpts like to talk very briefly how i think about this situation and what we might do for this patient. My thoughts. First of all, we know that addiction is a brain disease. It is treatable condition not a curable condition. We got a number of good medication treatments for heroin and opioid depends. We have good medication for alcohol dependence and stimulate dependence. I know change is possible, but to work on change requires starting with where the person is at and that is crittle to our horm reduction approach. If you want a definition of Harm Reduction, my definition is harm rediction is doing what works. One of the key things work wg Homeless People that i see continuously is people need a place to be. People need a place that offers some kind of meaningful option beyond something that is more compelling than staying stuck in the streets or encampment or a shelter. Some place that will be able to start that process of restoring hope for peep ople. That can be drop in center of various types of models. Harm reduction centers with various services. One of the key things to say about Harm Reduction centers is that they are pure and professional driven. Peers consistently play a Critical Role in any kind of Harm Reduction Oriented Program that we have because thats the way that people not only feel that there is someone they can trust, but also feel there is something constructive that they can be contributing in the world when they are disenfranchised and stigmaicized as drug use and addiction deaffootly does. Safer consumption spaces can be a very important part of the model and has been studied. Low threshold hepatitis c streement is what we talk about now and starting with people because much of the time people have the idea they have a incurable disease they will die from and coming in and saying well, i got the cure for that, but you need to stop using drugs and need to get stable, thats just like saying well, there is nothing i can do for you or at least it sound that way. We know we can treat people for hepatitis c when they are still using and that is something that many of our starting. And there is a range of pretreatment service we can offer people. The idea that somebody might not be ready to go into a abstinence based Treatment Program but ready for counseling, medication treatment of coacuring disorders whether physical or Mental Health. There is a lot we can do from that point of view in these type of loflesh hold settings. Finally, i want to talk about our public injector pilot. We are focusing on civic center south of market and the encampments Resolution Team is working with. Particularly to work with people who inject in public and to be offering some options for phose folks. That includes counseling in connection to treatment. That includes throw threshold start on bupumaureen which is a effective treatment for opioid dependency and includes giving people a assertive model if you are ready to make a change, whatever it is, we will be here following along with you to try to make that change effective and will use our sobering sent squr use our humming bird program as adjuncts in the injector pilot so hopefully will have something to reporti will have something to report to the director in about 5 weeks. Thank you very much. Thank you. Dr. Director [inaudible] director garcia there is a huge news and very exciting news so thank you very much and with that i want to thank you for your great work and open it up if it is okay with you supervisor to public comment. Public comment. Any member of the public who would like to speak . Please come forward. I have one card. Laura thomas. Laura thomas with Drug Policy Alliance and first of all, i want to say thank you to both of you for this hearing and im really going miss you on the board of supervisors both of you. I also want to thank supervisor campos in particular for your attention in championship on the issue of supervised Consumption Service including going van coorfb to see the programs there in action. And as was referenced by director garcia, we sponsored a bill last year in the state legislature with Assembly Member susan tell monte and our plan toog reintroduce it again and it is legislation that would give local Health Jurisdictions the ability to allow supervisored consemption services to happen and if they were permitted by the Health Department it would provide Legal Protections for the people who operate and staff the program volunteer squz participants and help address some of the potential legal barriers to operating supervisors Consumption Services. And what would help greatly if the city and county of San Francisco would support this legislation. Last year we had a chicken and egg problem where the state Legislature Said why support the bill if there are not cities to support the program. If you pass the legislation there are cities that would step forward so having San Francisco on record saying we are interested and understand the benefits could have for our residents would be really helpful for us. A couple other things i want to add in there is new research about to be published that is a cost benefit analysis looking specifically at the benefits to San Francisco of opening even a small supervisors Consumption Service squz the findings are every dollar we spend on the programs we would save 2. 33 with annual savings of 3. 5 million a year even for a small dwevl seat facility. I think the nimbe issueerize real in the city as we all know. I think supervisored Consumption Service because the fact they move public injection off the streets and sidewalks has the potential to be supported by people who may not want other subss in the neighborhood but this addresses their problem in terms of their concerns about seeing people or chair children see people injecting drugs. I am available as always to meet and talk to absolutely anybody about this topic and drug policy alinesh alliance is here to provide education, partner with anyone to support any eftsds here andal want to thank director garcia and all the folks in the Health Department when they were not able to speak about this in public were supportive of the issue and understand the evidence behind it. Thank you. I have a follow up question. I really appreciate your comments. When it comes to cost savings, sometimes most often the can cost savings occur in a different place [inaudible] to address a issue, so in this case if our expenditures to create supervisored consemption center say 3 and a half million, the cost savings are about 3 and a half million i think is what you said for impacts, where would those cost savings occur . What department is most effected by the cost savings . Is that dph or Different Department because it is hard to move that sense where you save moneyi think saving money is still a important thing to do. Yeah, so this analysis im referring to alex crawl in San Francisco is one the coauthors and they worked with researcher in canada who has done cost benefit analysis use thg data from van cuver and other places and applied San Francisco data and found the savings came in three places. One is averted hiv infections which are extensive. Averted hepatitis c and averted soft tissue infection. A lot of soft tissue infection and reducing hospitalizations related to soft tissue infection. They didnt even look at the criminal justice related savings and i was hear this morning about different alternative tooz the jail and the extent we are preventing people from ending in the criminal Justice System we will see savings there. The analysis that im citing the savings were all in the health system. Great. Thank you. Good afternoon. Um, as we heard in the presentation about the Navigation Centers, housing doesnt necessarily become a outcome anymore because there are services and a lot of people sleeping on the streets and the length of stay increased to 120 days, so in my opinion these are becoming shelters of a different nature as they have different rules and different abilities to work with clients. As you may know or may not know, San Francisco is unique and in that we have a grievance policy for people in the shelter system. If someone is denied service or kicked out they have the right to appeal this denial of service and internally with management and externally in front of a probony attorney and have the right of representation through had process. Myself and two other people are they representation and work with eviction defense collaborative and as of now the Navigation Center does want have this right or process so kwrust do want to bring it up here. I do want to let you know that we are trying to talk to hsh but want to keep it on had radar we vatwo tiered system where people have a right to appeal denial of service and people with Navigation Centers donetd have this right. I encourage including discussion about extending the right to Navigation Center clients which if they are asked to lever which people have been asked to leave they have the rights to representation and right to internal and external appeal process. Again, just hope this remains on the radar with hsh and legislators. General feedm [inaudible] coalition on homelessness. Just thinking about we just passed our thanksgiving holiday and this whole Trump America is exaseing for all of us so want to appreciate and breath of fresh air hearing from director cuzensky recognizing people have a right to rest and director garcia talk how her department will care for people and do a lot to care for people regardless where they are at and that a beautiful thing. I also want to appreciate you two legislators as latinos in Trump America and as men of integrity and men of conscious and it is wonderful. So, we havei think if we were from the coalition on homelessness if we are able to dream opsystem it will be a system where it engages people and where it is meeting people where they are at and where people regardless of what is going on with them and especially if what is going on with them and they need help with, we certainly dont want that to be a barrier to get thg help they need. Whether they are active injection drug users, whether they have severe mental illness, we want a system that is still able to serve folks and that is fundamentally what we are talking about and what we are really talking about with the Navigation Centers and moving forward on those. We worked with supervisor campos on his legislation. I think we had a lot of thoughtfulness there. I think what we learned over time we learned in the process around trying to expand the treatment system and the various work that has happened with the homeless system is that cultural Competent Services specific Service Really work well and so if we are talk about a supervisor campos mentioned maybe some of the folks who were immigrants from latin america who are suffering deeply and are suffering from severe alcoholism we need a program that addresses that that is cultural relevant to their experiences in the being who they are. They alcoholism is severe enough that means we need to meet them where they are at and have a appropriate program. That was the idea when we were talk bth expanding the Navigation Centers building on the truthsment we also know that about youth and so and we know that with injection drug users as well. If we want to be successful we need to recognize that cooking cutter approaches dont work. We also need to recognize that as we move forward, we have thousands of people over 4 thousand People Living on the streets about 6 to 800 in 20s. There is a lot of folks who are outside of tent that are also in need and we are absolutely supportive of moving people from encampments to permanent housing but supportive of moving all people on the streets who are in need off the streets and need permanent housejug should be our comprehensive approach. Thank you. Thank you, next speakers please. Thank you supervisors. Really appreciate what you have been doing for this issue. Im tess [inaudible] live in district 5 and like to see a Navigation Center in district 5. I lived on the panhandle about 22 years now, maybe more and so im not completely up on the new changes that are coming. Most of my remarks will probably address the Rearview Mirror here, but i have seen so many gaps in servicess. Im so tired having neighbors call the police to move somebody around the block. Maybe the new department could prepare a handout to give to the neighbors saying if you see somebody sitting or sleeping and dont know what to do, dont call the police, call x. Something like that i am willing to distribute. Ive seen people camped with a lot of stuff. I have seen them camp with animals. I had even a permanent camper for over 2 years and requested help many times with this person in particular and didnt get it. But all these people are still humans with human rights. They still have friend in the community that they are connected to churches and various Health Services and programs and use the library. They are just like other people. So, i always have trouble with these distinctions and then there is some special people. I know one person who has multiple diagnose squz that is very hard to get services if you have more than one or more than two situations. People who are in vehicles for example, we really have lots of parking lots in San Francisco. There are places where the people who live in a vehicle, they are San Francisco residents and been residents and got kicked out, we should have a place where people can have parking for their vehicles 24 7. Not have to move at dawn or Something Like that. People have a right to rest and now the people who live in vehicles have to get up during the night or stay up all night for the street sweepers coming through so like to see that addressed in the future program s. There are lots of people we get to know in our neighborhood who have been on the streets 10 years or more. I think of a woman named andrea who lives on the block. Make had heart surgery at general and put back on the street. Not only does that strike me as a lack oof compassion and respecting human right it is a waste of money. If we cant treat people decently maybe not waste money side of things. I do think the progress that is being made but we need to get more centers opened. It is winter. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is mellied and im asking you to please remember me. This friend of mine passed away a couple years before he passed away. The sfmta towed his vehicle worth thousands of dollars and everything that he needed to work. Thousands and thousands of dollars worth of equipment and then they made him hand truck everything up a steep hill and would not let anybody help him get his things. So, im trying to be short. I just want to know how does taking away a mans only assets help him over come being homeless by deliberately, willfully, premeditatedly intentionally stressing his physical and Emotional Health and maintaining that stress level until he suffers a premature death. You probably known someone whos houses burned down in a fire and regardless of monetary value whether you have a Million Dollar home or whether your home is a cardboard box, the value of your home to your wellbeing is the same value of my home to my wellbeing and the difference between a fire kroig destroying a home vuss the dpw, the sfmta or the police destroying a home is a fire may not be able to be prevented, a home destroyed by the dpw, s sfrks mta or the police is not only preventable, it is intentional. We need these Navigation Centersment we need more than the Navigation Centers but we need these Navigation Centers and i again am asking the board of supervisors for a safe place to park because without your help i cannot overcome my circumstances and thus i am a scapegoat of society hypocrisy that demands i overcome my circumstances while stripping me of every resource required to do so. Thank you so much for your time. My name is mellied. Im a bayview Police Community meeting citizen since 2009 and ccsf student since 20079 and volunteer since 2011 and a scrap volunteer since 2011 and belong to the San Francisco Folk Music Club since 1982 and a San Francisco resident since 1978. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Very good perspective. Kelly cutler with coalition on homelessness. Um, one thing i want to say is the Encampment Resolution Team there is good staff and outreach workers working on that which is really nice to see. Thral are some concerns that i have withthey talked about the entry where they are accessible entry so it is fair. My concern is when complaint driven for encampments how to keep that fair across the board. Also, where now there is a big focus on stopping from reencampments and so i have been at different Community Meetings where they say once they go through and clear an encampment, they are now encouraging people to contact the police on the non Emergency Line if there is a reencampment. One orphmy concerns is that with the nav center being a temporary option after 30 or 60 days if people are release td from the Navigation Center where are they to go . If we are calling the police that is really not a great option. I think thats about it. Thanks. Thank you. Any other members the public like to comment . I have one card, tess wellborn. Still here . Spoke . Okay. Thank you. That will close public comment. Supervisor campos. Thank you. I do want to thank the coalition on the homeless ness for all the work they do on a daily base squs being partnerwise us and all the different efts and on the issue of reencampments i look forward work wg you and any suggestion you have in terms how the process should work and i know that the department is interested in that so welcome any ideas in termoffs what the right approach should be. The point here is not to criminalize the homeless or the poor to the contrary to treat with respect and dignity, so open to specific ideas how to best work on that. I just want to say that i am very encouraged by everything that i heard today. I have seen first hand the work of the department and specifically Encampment Resolution Team. I have gone with them to speak to a lot of people and i have been very impress would the work and quite frankly it is very heavy work and dont know how people do that to be honest. The many times that i have gone it is very hard to go home to a shelter and a house and think about people and what they have to indur being on the street. I have been very touched by the humanity with which in the dignity with which the workers interact with people and so i was very proud to see that interaction and greatly appreciate that and i also appreciate the role that the coalition plays because your advocate for a community that needs advocacy and we in the city have to heed that work and your words. In terms ofit is not a perfect system but i think we have generally the right approach how to tweak it to make it better is important. On the issue of Safe Injection Sites and safe Alcohol Consumption sites, im sort of in a way shocked to see the level of progress because when we first introduced this ordinance it wasnt necessarily that reaction and think to be able to hear this in the context of everything that is happening it makes me very proud to be a san franciscan and very proud of the people who are keeing this work. Mr. Cuzinsky and his staff, director garcia and her staff and the Drug Policy Alliance for their advocacy. Their relentless advocacy and think it is exciting simply because i think that what is happening on the street to the the people who are not only homeless but also Substance Abuseers and to the neighborhoods and the Community Businesses that are impacted by all of it, all of us we all collectively deserve bet squr think we are open to do that and proud that we are doing that in the context of coming trump presidency. Very proud to be a part of that. Thank you very much. With that, supervisor avalos i dont know what the righti guess we file we file but before we do that i just want to just recognize your work on this issue. I am in a district where the encampments are not as prevalent by any measure as they are in the central part of San Francisco, the north mission, south of market, other places, and so i have been captivated by a lot of issues in my district but nothing as difficult and challenging than what you grapple with. I think your effort has also be instrumental in helping the city to be more broad minded in its approach so looking at safe injection or wet housing and something to that effect that is different than where it was before. Also the expansion of the navigation sent squrz the urgency that you put forward for that is also i believe got city working well together so want to acknowledge that work. If i may supervisor, thank you very much, but my gratitude and my recognition goes to my enough credible staff. Carline gusen, supervisor elect hillary mu roanen, [inaudible] nathan aul be who was a prior staff member, all of whom have done incredible work and made it possible for us to move this forward. I am eternally indealted to them. Okay, youre welcome and i want to thank your staff as well. I know they have worked very hard and hear a lot from them on it as well. So, with that we can motion to file so moved. Well take that motion without objection. Mr. Clerk, do we have any other items before us . J there is no more business before the committee. Okay, we are adjourned. Thank you. [meeting adjourned] 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 Mayors Disability Council meeting for october 2016 and be here until 4 p. M. We will have sth introduction red by Denise Senhaux good afternoon and welcome to Mayors Disability Council meeting, this friday october 21, 2016 in room 400 of San Francisco city hall. City hall is accessible to persons using wheelchairs and other assistive mobility devices. Wheelchair access is provided at the grove van ness and mcallister streets via ramps. Wheelchair access is polk street carton b goodlet entrance proded wheelchair list. Assistive listening deviceerize available and meeting is open captioned