Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Replay Rules Committee 20160129

Annually at the timma board the board shall elect the newly postponed chair shall immediately precede his or her election according to the public speaker as soon as one of the nominees get a vote that person is elected and no other nomination mr. Clerk can you please call this item. Item 5 election of chair. Okay nominations are now in order for the office of the chair any nomination on the floor. Commissioner yee i nominate the current chair continue to be the chair. Thank you, commissioner. Supervisor kim. Thank you commission any other nominations . More than happy to take other nominations okay seeing none, nominations are closed oh, im sorry is there a second to commissioner yees if noting no further well open up for Public Comment on this item any Public Comment on this item seeing none, Public Comment is closed excuse me. . Okay. Mr. Clerk call that same house, same call . Well do that same house, same call . At this time we will take nominations for the office of vice chair. Commissioner campos. Id like to nominate commissioner avalos a nomination for commissioner avalos are there a second seconded by commissioner farrell colleagues by further nominations for this seat . Okay so on the motion so we will close nominations and take take Public Comment seeing none, no numbers of the public Public Comment is closed. Mr. Clerk can we do this same house, same call . We can congratulations to supervisor avalos who is now the vice chair of this timma subcommittee mr. Clerk, call the next item and introduction of new items. Any new items for introduction colleagues seeing none, move on to the next item. Item 7 Public Comment . Opening it up for Public Comment. Thank you and enforcement all enforcement on mission work all enrollment on teachings and making the perfection of the destiny one takes on the divided compassionate for the meeting in the days of difficulty forcing the deduction works worthy tragedy of the people having a destiny imposed on oneself should be wellappointed with a pubically managed nation missionary unity were well established literature and the understanding one can deliver the soul and selfnature for the success of what western mission like having a determined aspirations of a true objective well virtue and to facilitate of the person cultivation of 3 mighty personal kwchlts of achievement thank you. Thank you any Public Comment . Seeing none, Public Comment is closed. I do want to recognize Jennifer Lowe and bill dillon that reports overseeing meetings and makes them viable to the public online mr. Clerk, is there any additional business to come before this body . Item 8 adjournment. Meeting is [gavel] good morning, everyone, we are in rules committee today for january what day is today, january 28. I am supervisor cohen, as katy tang, and we have eric mar, and supervisor cohen will be joining us shortly, and we have the honor of having supervisor here and take his Charter Amendment first quickly which is item 7. And thank sfgovtv and our clerk, mr. Evans. Do we have announcements . Yes, please silent devices and any documents are to be presented to the clerk, and items will be on january 29 board of supervisors agenda. Call item 7 out of order. Item 7, Charter Amendment to amend the chart of the city and councily San Francisco to require an annual baseline appropriation for the park and recreation open space with an election to be held on june, 7, 2016. Supervisor farrell. Thank you, i will save my comments for a full board with this measure. At this point i counted this charter measure has been in committee five months and have gone over 15 amendments. And i want to say thank you to all involved. And thank you for my cosponsors, mar, and tang and cohen have been cosponsors from this from the getgo. And from everyone that worked on this from the Parks Department and Park Alliance, unfortunately i may have clipped the Park Alliances elbow but thank you everyone for their input. What we have done over the five months increased this measure and for the rec and Park Department its an equalizer for every San Francisco resident. Its so important to move this forward, and thank you that we are here and thankful to bring before the voters in june. And madam chair, thank you for your support. Thank you, colleagues, any questions or comments . Seeing none, we will open up item 7 to Public Comment. I have a couple of cards here and feel free to line up to this side of the room. Dee cellyman. Come on up. Good morning, supervisors, thank you. I want to my name is dee cellyman, i want to congratulate supervisor farrell and the committee on improving the draft. And i have one piece of text that i feel should be submitted. Changing page 12, line 3. I believe it should be changed as follows i will explain why, rec and parks guidelines for new open space and renovations shall be reviewed and adopted by the rec and Department Park commission. The reason i believe this, that the environmental and Design Guidelines are currently entirely in the hands of rec and park. There is no required review by the rec and park commission, who are in fact the ones tasked with representing the publics viewpoint. This is a very important point, design assumes policies. Let me say that one more time, and let you think about it. Any design assumes policies. What happens if recs and park calls for more grass lands in open spaces and the nonnative trees that they feel less desirable. Shouldnt the public have the opportunity to weigh in on this important matter. And one other thing i should say, that trees and their maintenance is not sexy as an issue. But they will produce oxygen and clean the air and reduce Global Warming for us. I hope you consider making that change page 12, line 3. Thank you very much. Thank you, next speaker, please. Good morning, supervisors, nate ogrady, i am c. E. O. Of the Park Alliance. Supervisor avalos, i like the beardless look. And supervisor farrell made a good point, this legislation has been before you for five months. Not counting the research and preparation leading up to this initiatation. And the Park Alliance believes that this is a stronger legislation for that input and effort. Its a very strong substantial improvement to the city, and how it will proceed with investing in and caring for this great asset that we have of our parks system. And it will be in place for the next 30 years. We strongly support the legislation as it currently stan stands. We believe there is ample input from all corners into that legislation. We are prepared to move forward with supporting that legislation in its final adoption in its current form. So we thank you all for your input. We especially thank supervisor farrell for his leadership every step of the way in this effort, ready to go. Thank you very much, next speaker, please. Hi, i am tom borden, i strongly support this amendment. However in 2002 the people of San Francisco excessed their wishes in article 653. 2, and in that they prohibited the plan until approved by the board of supervisors. Rped has violated many things forbidden. It explains two things of rpeds lack of enter and board of supervisors lack of control over rped. The issue of fairness and park funding is important, not just how much money is spent on the park but what its spent on. And to reduce the access to park lands, more spending in a park might not provide the improved facilities and maintenance that the public expects. Rather they may receive more fences and access closures and pesticides. In this outcome the parks outcome in the southeast portion of San Francisco. Thank you very much, any other members of the public i would like to offer these supporting documents. Any other members of the public to comment on item 7. Seeing none, Public Comment is closed, supervisor farrell. Thank you, for everyone that came out to speak. I appreciate all the comments. Over the course of the last few months some of the highlights we amended in here we strengthened with the board oversight with processes from the capital and achievement plans and worked on the equity portion and the language in here today. To make sure as we Fund Projects within our Park Department that equity is a guiding principle. I want to acknowledge that was emphasis from day 1, and the team as well. This is something at this point after five months believe it or not any further amendments would cause it not to get on the ballot in june. Its important to get out today and i appreciate everyones thoughts and comments about it. It shows how important parks are that everyone has an opinion. And its not an easy job but an outcome that we can be proud of. Before we introduced this last september, matt mentioned we were in every corner of the city and will continue to do before we get on the ballot. This received a significant input and more than anything else i want to thank my colleagues on the board to get where we are today. Thank you. Thank you, supervisor mar. Thank you, to supervisor farrell, i have a dozen of amendments i will be introducing just kidding. Five months is a long time but i appreciate a bigger tent now that the Park Alliance and the coalition that drafted this with supervisor farrells leadership involving a new equity metric and oversight. I think its really important. And 45 years i believe or the extension of the time okay, 30 years, i am too ambitious, but i am appreciative of the work that has gone into this. I want to say to two public speakers that recommended a change. I am supportive of the natural programs in the Park Department. And know that strong consideration goes in when trees are considered for replacement with natural and other changes and for trails and the natural areas its important to be supportive of what the Rec Department is doing. And i am supportive of the way its written. I want to recognize supervisor avalos for weighing in for the concer concerns, and everyone weighing in we will pass it and have the improved parks especially in lowerincome neighborhoods in the community. And thanks to supervisor farrell lets pass this in june. Supervisor farrell. I want to thank supervisor avalos who has been key in this and appreciate his cosponsorship well. With that we have a motion. So moved. Positive recommendation. Seconded by supervisor cohen, and without objection moving forward to the full board. [gavel] thank you very much. And now we will move back to item 1. Item 1 is a hearing to consider appointing one member term ending august 2, 2019 to the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Central Market street and tenderloin area. One seat, one applicant. We have applicant john bogacki and did not receive word that he wouldnt be here. And we will hold this item, and with that any members to speak on Public Comment. Public comment is closed. Colleagues. Good morning everyone i would like to make a motion to move john bogacki to seat 4. All right, and we have a second from supervisor mar. I looked through his application as well, and i think that all of his qualifications fit for this cac and Central Market and tenderloin area. I would be fine moving him forward to the full board, take that without objection, thank you. Item 2. Item 2 consideration appointing one member, ryan thayer. If you can give us a twominute of serving in this capacity and your background. Thank you, i am honored to be on the Food Security task force, for those not familiar with my work, i have worked in the last four years in tenderloin area for food justice. And mainly in a role serving to increase access to food, Healthy Foods within the local corner store since we cant get a fullservice Grocery Store in the area. And we modeled after bayview to hire and train justice workers to do ontheground work, and we under supervisor mars leadership and provide for the bayview. And tracking data systems and seeing overall that the stores are increasing their overall sales. And seeing Healthy Foods sold at a higher rate and seeing decreasing of alcohol and tobacco. And we are able to hold a regional meeting in november, where we brought 80 stakeholders through the bay area to work on a collaborative effort throughout the bay area to have food access to Corner Stores that have negative impact. I am attending usf where i am seeking to look at how to bridge gaps between food access and equity and economic empowerment, how to get more money in peoples hands that are live in impoverished communities. Those that are least wealthy have least health. With my role as an organizer i am trying to bring that perspective. And how to engage more Community Members around empowering them to address Food Security, food access within the communities they live. I hope you agree with the task force and accept the nomination. Great, thank you for your presentation, that was very thorough. And supervisor mar has questions or comments. Its great that paula jones is here too, but ryan thayer is an amazing leader, but i think its because he builds a base of other leaders from the communities most impacted and supports their leadership. I think that the food justice leaders that you have helped to nurture in the tenderloin are amazing. And you are the kind of leader that steps back when you need to and other people step forward. And you are constantly building capacity in the tenderloin and they really need it. And your experience of student organizing and support for immigrant communities in the excelsior supporting youth and the richmond neighborhood and others, you are an amazing addition to a Food Task Force system with great people and you will add much to them and i look to support your leadership more. Thank you. Any other questions or comments . Seeing none, thank you for your presentation. At this time we will open this item to Public Comment, if anyone would like to speak on behalf of thayer, come up. Good morning rules committee. Make it all fine or it will be safe and we will dine and we will be hungry like this city was and we are going on shine well not going to be hungry and we will dine and be hungry like the wolf thank you. Thank you much, any other members to speak. Seeing none. Public comment is closed. With that we have one seat, one applicant. Pretty easy decision. I move that we appoint ryan thayer to seat 5 on the Food Security task force. Second that. Thank you, i will be happy to support that as well and take that without objection, congratulations. Item 3. Item 3 is a hearing to consider appointing one member term ending january 15, 20a 18 to the San Francisco Health Authority, one seat, one applicant. Okay, do we have joseph david woods here . Good morning, supervisors. I am joseph david woods. I have worked with the city and county of San Francisco for 25 years now. Since 2010 i have held the seat of pharmacy officer to oversee Pharmacy Services for the Health Network. And one area that i oversee is to do with the pharmacy benefit for the healthy San Francisco program. We have a strong interest of aligning our formularies with the health plan to provide optimal care for the patients we serve. Issues that i think i am in alignment with the health plan moving forward, are the fact that the Health Network in San Francisco is one of the largest care providers for the San Francisco health plan. And as a result we have a strong interest in aligning our interest and resources. In addition the health plan works closely with the department of Public Health and performs the daytoday activities for the healthy San Francisco program. San Francisco Health plan also runs the City Option Program which is for employers that do not provide insurance for their employees but pay the city a per hour fee for the employees. The partnership between the health plan and dph is important to the success. I strongly support the health plan for healthy San Francisco. Coverage and health plans are mutually shared goals. Thank you very much, i dont know if you have been following the work of the Health Authority and followed issues they are working on. Is there anything in particular if you served in this capacity you would like to address . Working with them especially in alignment of pharmacy issues and issues on the daytoday activities of the healthy San Francisco program. I think those are areas that they continue to work on and the City Option Program are areas i would like to work with them and are key priorities for them over the coming year. Do you anticipate any other issues looming ahead that the Health Authority will need to be tackling . Looking into the future. One other area just from the pharmacy standpoint is the speciality drug issue, that a hot point. Prescription drugs have increased 10 to 12 over the last couple of years. There is a huge Financial Impact for the plan as well as for the city of San Francisco. So those are areas where we can definitely align our interest and resources to improve care without affecting quality. Thank you very much, colleagues any questions or comments . No, thank you for your presentation. At this time we will open up item 3 to Public Comment. Commission, commission, give me the news i got to, i want a Healthy Authority waiting for you and its going to fill our bill we have a Healthy Commission waiting and i want you healthy too thank you, next speaker please. Thanks very much madam chair, supervisors, i am sumi suesa from the Health Authority, we are delighted to have dave woods as an authority. And he said it clear that for healthy San Francisco, as a great challenge we pay medicare rates, and you can imagine the speciality drug important for our members, and that comes at a huge cost. And we are constantly struggling to transfer more dollars those really pharmaceutical therapies. Having dave on the board would be incredibly helpful for us, with our strategy and we very much support his nomination. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, any other members of the public to speak on item 3. Seeing none. Public comment is closed. Just to make sure were all clear here on item 3 on the requirements. Based on the City Attorney notice here, we dont need to adopt the residency waiver because mr. Woods works in San Francisco. So i wanted to clarify that, do we have a motion on item three . So moved. Madam chair i will move joseph david woods to seat 14. Second that motion. Thank you, take that without objection, congratulations. Item 4. Hearing to consider one member term ending april 29, 2018 to the children and Families First commission. Today we have two confirmed applicants. One has withdrawn, Zachary Townsend is no longer applying for the seat. And call up zea malawa, and nawz talai. Hi, i am dr. Malawa, and i am a pediatrician here in San Francisco. Today i want to tell you about my passion for the work of children and families. One of my passions is working with children. They are bridled in passion and their untarnished view makes me excite. I strive to give the parents the tools they need to help them realize their potential. Since i finished my clinical training, i have served lowincome communities. And i have seen the obstacles that children from underresource communities face. I have seen what primary language and economic status have to health. I have formed relationships with my children and families to understand abstract level and the personal daytoday level. Through my medical practice i have learned not just about the barriers but the strategies to overcome them. I have experienced with different ways to empower children and patients. And i have developed expertise of children who have experienced trauma. I have prioritized health and emotional well being for my patients. To support my patients i have built collaborations such as Child Trauma Program and ymca and other programs. While working at the bay area district i have honed my skills as we have strived to integrate Mental Health care in my practice. And i am acquainted with the concerns and needs of a population. I was sought out for healthy children, and to support San Franciscos most vulnerable children. My skills and experience fits me well, and my aspirations and personal issues. I have ideas for change and Tireless Energy for the cause. Its with incredible enthusiasm and report that i submit myself for this position. Thank you, any questions . Next applicant then. Good morning, thank you for the experience of serving before you today, i am nervous and will look down as i speak. I am nawz talai, and i a San Francisco resident and mother to a 11month boy. I grew up in a home to immigrant parents to rely on care and education to support a loving environment. This home is what some would call broken and unsafe. I have devoted my career to the sector and the surrounding community. I have received a bachelory from the District Of Columbia in health department. I have built loving and lasting relationships in santa ana, california, and the orange county. I have worked for the county in programs. I have worked with youth developing programs for high school students. I have worked for organizations throughout San Francisco and california to create partnerships with Government Agencies as well as private funders. As a firsttime mom i understand the desire and burden of ensuring Optimal Health for our children. As you know the mission is tasked with funding new policies and system change. My career in working with Program Design and evaluation and Strategic Planning and data analystics will ensure the commission well, and that their Funding Strategies are making a difference for the families and children of San Francisco. Appointing to the children and Families Commission and i would provide for services to support Early Childhood development. And i would provide my skill set and measuring of the outpouring of these programs and services to ensure that their goals are met and change is seen in San Francisco. As a person having worked in the Nonprofit Sector with families and children, i understand the Resources Available to the families throughout San Francisco. As a woman who grew up in a broken home and thriving community. I understand the importance that our children and families are supported by many systems. It would be an honor to serve on the children and Families First commission, and to ensure that all children and families will be healthy and grow regardless of what neighborhood they live in. Thank you. Supervisor cohen. Can you describe what work you have done in San Francisco . For the last three years i worked for a private Funding Organization in San Francisco and other states. My job was their Strategic Plan. They are a 20plus year organization, and after 16 years they had not changed their strategic direction. I was tasked helping ensure that their funding was going to the right organization and San Francisco. Which neighborhoods did you support . With the foundation we supported all neighborhoods. Not one specific, we did a lot of funding for mission area and bayview was one of the grantees working with naden burke there, and as a private funder. And now i work with lagunda honda hospital and we serve all san franciscans. And the population is older but those families with young youth. Have you attended a First Commission meeting . No, i am not. For you familiar with the order of the commission . Yes, i am. Supervisor mar. Thank you, mrs. Talai, and dr. Malawa, but we have two really, really great applicants. And wish we had more seats. And i want to thank you for the work with the Wellness Foundation and integrating art ending domestic violence. There are so many Different Things in your background, womens rights with the vagina monologues and hear more and listen to the public. Thank you, at this time i open item 4 to members of the public that wish to speak. Youre what we waited for please remember to give them more because youre the first, youre the last our everything thank you, walter, any other members of the public that wish to speak . Good morning, supervisors. Thank you so much for considering serious lly appointment to First Five Commission, we have an opening and waiting a while to fill it. Its amazeing that two wonderful people are interested in our commission and that makes me happy. We are now focused on our new Strategic Plan, and one major thing as we pivot to the new plan is to look at the health and development of our youngest children, birth to three. We have done a lot of work in preeducation and three to four years ago and we are pivoting down to look at the younger age. We are concerned about Kindergarten Readiness but focusing on the youngest will help influence that Kindergarten Readiness outcome. We are very interested to have a pediatrician focus on this, and one strategy is pediatrician outreach and trying to form a loop between the medical community and pediatricians and early care and education and family support. So there is a continuity of care. Thank you for your serious consideration and thats it. Thank you very much, any other members of the Public Comment on item 4, Public Comment is closed. Supervisor mar. Thank you, i wanted to share information, i was a board appointee for two years a year, i cannot. To the First Five Commission, and i have to give just biggest compliment. This is a classy commission with staff that care. They have been incredibly helpful when i had kind of lastminute 911 calls and needing help to identify preschool slots for people. They have been helpful in helping me juggle community priorities. So its really great that we have two strong candidates. Laurel, i am excited for you and the rest of your staff. And i want to also acknowledge that i had the pleasure of working with dr. Malawa. Probably it was my first term that i became familiar with her and her work and commitment. I will be supporting her and ask that you join me in supporting her. And shes smart and committed and she too is a mother. And thats special to be a mother of a young child and serve in that vain on the commission. That adds to its and bring a special touch that both women will bring to this body. With that i hope that you join me m supporting dr. Malawa. Thank you, supervisor. Yes, i want to be fair and say that mrs. Talai has a 11 month yearold, and i will be supporting dr. Malawa. And i want to thank laurel and the amazing staff from First Five Commission for incredible work that gets little recognition. But i learned so much, and now with a daughter who is soon to be 16. I see birth to five is so critical and what we do in San Francisco is amazing. Dr. Malawa from my understanding from the bayview work and mission and your four yearold on top of that. Its incredible what you have accomplished with serving the community with what you have done for diversity at csf. And you use the term infectious in a positive way, and i like how you communicate as well. Susan gerardo, the chair of the First Five Commission expresses a strong support. And i know that you are going to help round out an already great First Five Commission. Thank you for being willing to serve. And i know that you will bring a lot to the Strategic Plan that laurel talked about. And like supervisor cohen, i am excited that you are joining the commission. Thank you very much, and yes, this was very difficult for me. Because i liked both applicants very much, and they bring both wonderful qualities to the commission. To me the tie breaker, dr. Harris, who will be leaving the commission was also a pediatrician, and also hearing kind of the focus moving forward from mrs. Kumak, i will be joining my colleagues as well in recommending dr. Malawa to seat 8. And i hope mrs. Talai you will continue to be involved and other opportunities to arise to serve in this capacity or a similar one. I will reiterate my motion, i would like to make a motion to move dr. Malawa to a seat 8. Second. Congratulations thedr. Malaw item 5. Hearing to consider one member for the unexpired portion of a term ending july 1, 2017 to the Entertainment Commission, one seat, four applicants. Thank you very much, i believe we have three applicants as mrs. Sporik withdrew her application, and we will hear from charles stephanski, and Joaquin Castillo, and laura thomas. If anyone are here, come up and make a brief presentation. Hello supervisors, thank you for seeing me today and hearing me out. Briefly, i have lived in San Francisco 20 years. And in those 20 years i have lived in noah valley and castro and glen park, and downtown, mission patrilo. I lived here and was a waiter and dancer in club universe. What kind of dancer . I was a gogo dancer. Thats what you thought you meant. I have worked the door at [inaudible], and Performance Art at odc. I was the lead producer and lead on magazine for lgqt community. I volunteered regularly at castro street fair and San Francisco pride. I am an athleet and this will mark my 14th year to participate in the San Francisco marathon. As a Public Health official, i have worked for 15 years at ucsf in privileging and Revenue Management and contracting at a hospital level for every division of the hospital. And i manage their National Regulatory audits, and implement corrective action plans. I have put myself through my undergraduate degree at usf. And i just finished my masters in Public Administration with a Health Service focus also at usf. I volunteer at my tree, an aid hospice and patients that are suffering from aids related symptoms, and predominantly people of color. And i serve on the board of directors for queer life space, that is nonprofit for Mental Health services on a sliding scale. What i hope to accomplish on this seat is kind of really look and advocate for the diverse demographic of San Francisco. I kind of see that predominantly as artists and night life and families. I feel like i have grownup here a lot. And my friends are drag queens and dancers and fine art artists and acrobats and mimes and actors. I have spent a lot of time in the night life industry and working with the night life owners and events. And lastly and most importantly, i am an uncle and i have a lot of small kids in my family and living here and growing up here. And its interesting because i hear people speak about, and its humbling to be in the company of these people that are so pivotal in making important decisions for our city. I was literally just reflecting on why i am here. I come back to my nieces and my nephews. And think what does the entertainment in San Francisco do but inspires and delights. And right now with my nieces and nephews they are toddlers. And its easy for me to inspire and delight them. I want to leave them the legacy of San Francisco. Do they live here . They do, i have two goddaughters, and born here and raised here and two nephews that live in mount claire, and they spend a lot of time with me as well. And i have a nephew from new mexico, and now 20. And since seven has come up two weeks at a time everything in the summer. And we do everything from paddle boats to the ferries, and expressed an interest to move here and i want to leave a legacy for all of them. Thank you very much, comments . Can you talk to us about your Public Health policy background. You said that you are studying you have the degree. Yes. Do you have Work Experience in that area . I dont have policy experience, i did a lot of work on policy analysis. Predominately what i do, i got a new job at gentech, where i am a contract manager. And i had a similar role in writing and negotiating contracts at usf before i left. I have heavy contract background and experience, policy not as much. Okay thank you. Thank you for your presentation, next applicant, laura thomas. Thank you, supervisors, i am laura thomas. The deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance and i am based here in San Francisco in that work. My background is in Public Health. I have a masters in Public Health and Public Policy from uc berkeley. And have worked in h. I. V. Here in San Francisco and the Public Health department for six years. And i have participated in h. I. V. Community planning and bodies and sit on the h. I. V. Prevention planning council. What i do for the Drug Policy Alliance is work on heading up our Public Health and legislative and policy work here in california. Including passing legislation around overdose prevention, and h. I. V. And hepatitis c with substance abuse. And i work to help bring the Club Health Conference and conference looking at the Public Health of San Francisco a couple of years ago. I have been interested in the Entertainment Commission for a while. But it seemed like the Public Health seat that made the best use of what i have to bring to the table. And when demetri moshoyannis moved out of the city for family reasons and let me know that the seat was open. I wanted to take this opportunity to throw my hat in the ring. The Entertainment Commission is something that San Francisco does the best. Something that we created to meet San Francisco needs to create an opportunity and environment to have often Difficult Conversations of how we balance the needs of Community Neighbors and those come to the city to participate in our economic opportunities. And people that work in the Entertainment Industry. And its often been a source of tension. As gender identification changes neighbors and what our entertainment and industry looks like and continue. And i appreciate the Entertainment Commissions willingness to step in the middle of that. And try to work with neighbors, with promotors and club owners around mitigating noise issues and so on. And part of what i feel i can bring to that, expanding the focus on Public Health. That sometimes i feel that we are not doing everything we can in terms of interventions and strategies. To ensure the health and well being of the people coming to the city to participate in the entertainment and night life and outdoor festivals opportunities. And as well as the people that work in that industry. Thats what i am interested in bringing to this, how we continue to support our Entertainment Industry and keep people as safe and healthy as possible. While they participate in that. You know i am particularly happy that the timing of this seat coming open is happening now. As you know i just ended two terms as copresident with the harvey mill lgbt club, and my tuesday evenings are opening up again. And looking for again what i do next and engage and participate in civic life. And how do i do something for the city that i love. So the Entertainment Industry and the Entertainment Commission was very appealing to me. I am and supervisor cohen was on the previous iteration of the rules committee i was in front of just a few months ago. And was appointed to the new canvas task force, and thank you for your support. Then i am really excited about that. And i am also excited about the synergy and the opportunity for more overlap between that group and the Entertainment Commission. While that group does have some representation from the Entertainment Commission. There is no one sitting on the Entertainment Commission on that body. And i want to be sure that the information is going back and forth in both directions in terms of what does our entertainment and our nightlife industry look like in an era of legalized marijuana. If you have be to a show at fillmor, its clear that people are currently consuming marijuana in those spaces. What could change. What should change. And how do we ensure Peoples Health and safety and as well as their enjoyment of the entertainment opportunities. I am excited to have an opportunity to be a part of making those connections stronger in addition to the Entertainment Commission director. Who has a seat on that. And terse allen appointed a representative of the Entertainment Commission. Thank you very much for your thorough presentation. Supervisor cohen. I am glad that you mentioned that you were before this body, i think last month. Yes. To talk about the legalization, the regulation and the policies around i guess Recreational Use of marijuana or medicinal use of marijuana. I am a little concerned that you have a fulltime, very important daytime job. I appreciate your comments and making the connection between the task force and the commission. And i am still not entirely comfortable in supporting you and seeing you in both roles. Certainly considering that the task force they just have one meeting under their belt so far. And there is still vacancies and finding yourself and figuring out your mission and purpose. And the interesting thing about that this task force will probably be a model not only for the state of california but the country. I am concerned about your time, energy and focus. Can you relax my concerns to so i can feel good . I hope so. Both of these positions are supported by my employer, my boss. So i will be able to use my work time and manage my other work responsibilities in terms of this. In terms of my workload, i have a solid workload. But both of these positions are ones considered part of my job. So i am not taking time out from my job to do them. You know the cannibalis Legalization Task force is a time limited task force. My hope is to stay on the Entertainment Commission well past that time. My sense in terms of other responsibilities that i am ending in my life. Right now i think that i have the time and the capacity to do this. Thank you very much. Thank you, supervisor mar. I wanted thank mrs. Thomas for decades of work in so many different areas. I did have a question about the Club Health Conference that you brought. And i think that might be a good intersection of Public Health and entertainment and other things but could you elaborate on that . Its a Conference Held every couple of years and working with colleagues in the new york office. We wanted it held in the United States, and San Francisco seemed like a good place in large part because of the Entertainment Commission here that is unique in the nation, to have that kind of body. And so brought it here, brought in law enforcement, Public Health people. Clinicians. As well as entertainment folks and academics from around the world. And had presentations on a whole bunch of Different Things including Sexual Violence in nightclubs. And crowd control at festivals. And the intersection of law enforcement, Public Health, and entertainment. And i am happy to send you the website that has all the abstracts and some of the presentations on it. It was actually a very fascinating conference and i learned enormous what people are doing in other cities. I know with the Entertainment Commission different seats this Public Health seat is so important, and i am glad that mrs. Kaine is here too. Laura thomas, worked on the cannibalis task force, thats a temporary body and once passed at the state level that will cease to exist, is that right . Yes. The charge of that task force is developed recommendations to the state and city of San Francisco and once that is doneits done. I appreciate charles stephanski, and i think that laura has a fit, its not just marijuana, but new from crystal meth to different uses of heroin and ecstasy and different forms. And that is helpful and your background with the current work with the Drug Policy Alliance. And understanding the federal and state level. I was reading your amazing resume, you go way back to actup days and hepc and Womens Health and api Wellness Center and board. And it stretches so much that i am impressed, and involved in lower income women and communities of color. Mr. Arian works with the growing need in the queer community. But your perfect fit for this having to work in lowincome communities and color as well, but thank you for applying for this commission, i think you are a great fit for it. And i also once gogo danced a long time ago [laughter] all right, thank you very much. So i think seeing no other questions or comments from the applicants. Again we have a difficult decision before us. And before we make that, we will go to Public Comment on item 5. Any members of the public to speak on item 5. Seeing none, Public Comment is closed. [gavel] colleagues. Supervisor mar. I think again we have two excellent candidates but i think that laura thomas would bring tremendous Public Health experience and knowledge to the position. So i recommend laura thomas for seat 3. All right, and supervisor cohen. Thank you, i actually agree that laura thomas would be a great addition. But i disagree that she be appointed to the body. I think that laura thomas is a talented where is she, supertalented woman. And i would like to see someone else be able to share their talents with San Francisco. I think shes already serving in one capacity as a member of the task force. And i would like to see sorry, what is the gentlemans name . Joaquin. In seeing joaquin serve on the council, i dont think we have any gogo dancers, so there could a void there. But in all seriousness we have a responsibility to cultivate new talent and as well as bringing diversi diversity. And i think that the Entertainment Commission could use a little more diversity. And not to say that the task force could, but i spoke to that. In all fairness i think that laura thomas is doing an excellent job. But i would like to see joaquin in this particular seat. I too will put a motion and put joaquin, my apologies do not have your name Joaquin Castillo, support for seat 3. Yes, and makes it more difficult. This is tough for me too, all the members of the board have witnessed a lot of the work are mrs. Laura thomas. You have done such great advocacy for the board and resulted in great changes. I would be okay with supervisor mars recommendation and that mrs. Thomas would continue that work. I would be okay to appoint someone new to serve. So sounds like a second. I withdraw my motion. Mrs. Thomas, i hope you take this nots a criticism of you at all. You are very good but we have a responsibility to share that opportunity for people to serve San Francisco with others that havent had an opportunity yet. Okay, we can take that without objection. Congratulations Joaquin Castillo arana, item 6. Hearing to appoint one member term ending january 31, 2019 to the Veterans Affairs commission, one seat, eight applicants. Thank you, the following applicants in the running, caldera, and gabe, and joiner, and newman. If you are an applicant today come on up and we would love to hear from you. Good morning, supervisors. Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to be able to serve my fellow veterans. As an advocate, i wi tell you my experience. I enlisted in the military upon graduating from high school. I could have taken the easy way out during the vietnam era, because i had a disability. At that time i could have easily qualified for deferment because i was a severe stutterer but i chose to serve my country and i chose to serve in the military in the best of my ability. And i benefited from a great deal of my experience. Upon completing my military active duty activation, i enrolled in college, and my First College of choice turned me down because i did not demonstrate the ability to succeed in their program. Undeterred i went to another school that allowed me in and worked my way through and eventually received a phd. And in part, part of the treatment i received from walter reed medical center. I was enrolled in an eightweek inpatient Speech Therapy program. With practice and determination allowed me to overcome an obstacle in my working life. I went from being a severe stutter to a person that earned a learning lecturing to students around the world. And also since living in San Francisco, i have been a community servant. I have served five years for both haightashbury Community Program and the art. And in both capacities i served for the homeless, because my background was that of food service management. Further i helped the art by delivering seminars based on stephen coveys seven habits of highly effective people of the staff of the peninsula and east bay. I have developed and built relationships not only within universities but outside of universities. I have served a National Leadership organization in the field of training and education. And i have served with over eight years in four Different Countries providing Community Service for over 4,000 hours with my students. Its this kind of advocacy, its this kind of major project achievement that i wish to share with my fellow veterans. My field is that of education. I have been a Community Service, and i want to serve my fellow veterans as much as i can. This opportunity will allow me to do that. All right. Thank you, is that the end of your presentation . Sorry . Was that the end of your presentati presentation . Yes. Thank you, didnt want to cut you off. Any questions . Or else move to the next applicant. Thank you very much, any other applicants here, please come on up. I want to thank the supervisors for the opportunity to appear before you today and for your consideration of my application. Would you state your name for the record, thank you. My name is Stacey Newman, i am a veteran having served in the United States navy from 1982 to 1986. And i am the proud mother of a United States marine that serves in afghanistan. I apologize, i dont know why i am becoming so emotional. If appointed i would bring a wealth of experience to the va commission. Throughout my career i have learned about conducting interviews and collaborating with colleagues and impressing a team to achieve stated goals. My past accomplishments includes, membership of moms, that is an organization that sends care packages to men and women that serve overseas and to provide support to the families at home. And additionally i served on the [inaudible] Credit Union Board of directors and i set policy and met with state representatives to discuss regulatory issues. I would love an opportunity to apply my talents to address veterans to face the challenges they face as they transition into civilian life including employment, Health Services, housing, etc. Now i am fairly new to San Francisco. But that doesnt mean that i without contacts. For instance, my Current Employer has a Police Services department and many of the staff are veterans themselves. I am confident that i can persuade them to participate in events benefiting veterans. I am a member of the daughters of american revolution, a Nonprofit Service organization dedicated to preserving patriotism and history. I conclude saying it would be an honor to serve on the Veterans Affairs commission. Thank you. Thank you for your heart felt statement. I would love to hear more about the work you are doing here in San Francisco. I have not started any volunteer work yet here in San Francisco. I have only been here four years. I work for the Federal Reserve system, i am a senior auditor there. Okay, all right. Okay, i have no other questions. All right. Supervisor mar. Where is your son stationed . Hes currently stationed at camp pendleton. Why do you want to be appo t appointed . Giving back to the community is very important to me. And what other Community Work have you done . Not here in San Francisco, in arizona where i lived previously, i was with the blue star moms and with the ulterra credit union, i have not served on a committee before. What brings you to San Francisco . A job. Okay, and how did you learn about this vacancy . I saw a homeless man, a veteran holding a sign. Saying that he had served in iraq and needed help. And so i talked to him and i did what i could to help him and i did not address his longterm needs. So i started researching how to become involved and what i can do to address his needs and those veterans that had a challenge as they transition. And i came across this committee. I apologize, i am not usually this emotional. Do you want to share with us why its manifesting . My son was recently diagnosed with ptsd. And i am very concerned about him getting the kind of care that he needs as well as the stigma that can be attached to it. Fair enough. I think i dont have any other questions. Thank you for being with us. No, i have one. How long did you serve . I was in the navy, serving four years, and i was among of the first female sailors to be a navy ship . What interested you to serve in the navy . Well, its kind of family tradition. Pretty much all the men in my family anyway have served in the military. Going as far back as i remember. And it just seemed like the right thing to do. I didnt consider being a female being an obstacle to it at the time. So my father served in the navy. My grandfather was awarded the purple heart and served in the army in world war ii. I have uncles that served in the army, navy and air force. Thank you. Thank you, supervisor mar. Thank you for being a pioneer too for women in the navy as well. I wanted say that i had an uncle in the navy. My dad was in the army. Uncles in the marines but i know that sometimes the navy is overlooked. Can you talk about the challenges of women being in the navy like you have been . It was quite some time ago, and i was only about 18 or 19 at the time. And so i dont think i was as aware of attitudes back then being kind of young and cocky myself. So i didnt see it as a barrier. If someone had a problem with me, i didnt think too much about it and went about my business and did what i could as well as a could. Looking back i can see now it was a pretty important time in our nations history. And for the military. And that there were definitely that was 8286 during the reagan era. Yes, it was. Thank you for your story, any other applicants, please come on up. Good afternoon, chair tang, supervisors mar and cohen. My name is john caldera, and i come before you to request reappointment to the Veterans Affairs commission. This a position that i hold to close to my heart and served two terms and during those two terms i retained 100 attendance. I lived in San Francisco 25 years and i can join this commission hitting the ground running. And not only that with a proposal could you pass those to the supervisors. With a new item, a new suggestion which will honor the service of our veterans. And this is a walk of remembrance. As we know many times a candlelight march with bring the community together. And we have San Francisco veterans alley, would be a wonderful starting point. We have a natural forest within the tenderloin, that could be a wonderful transition. And then to the steps of San Francisco and end at the Veterans Building where there is a memorial to the service of all veterans. And have a reception afterwards in the Veterans Building. As i wear a hat before you now, and i have worn many hats in the city. In 2008 i carried a torch after completing a 200word essay why i love this city. And once again the call of service has come to me, and i am volunteer host and greeter and bilingual ambassador for the super bowl 50. And i have passed a background check and no skeletons in my background. I would love to be appointed to this commission, in october they were not able to conduct Veterans Affair because they were not able to meet quorum. Sadly one of the commissioners appointed when i could be appointed failed to make that meeting. I am not here to point fingers, but i believe that this commission needs someone who has been there before. There is not a report for 2016 on the calendar. I commend Veterans Affair commission they have added a number of minutes to their web page that were not there just six months ago. So the progress is there and i believe that i can join this commission and help them create a legacy that not only i but they as veterans would be proud of as well. I hope to bring the Veterans Affair commission to this holy sacred building when the Veterans Building was going to be closed for a retrofit. With many appointees of the Mayors Office and met with you, while on the commission, supervisor mar. I would also like to take an opportunity to express comments to you supervisor cohen. Thank you. Its not often in life that we get a second chance. And redemption is a wonderful thing and you have invoked your fathers service a number of times. And i as a navy veteran have invoked my fathers service as well. I believe you made a mistake last time and its not easy for politicians to admit to make a mistake. And here we stand you and i, and i ask for your support to return to this commission. You wont see my name on any other commission. But i have the tenacity and voice to fight for our veterans in a way that they need to be represented right now. Thank you. Thank you very much. Do we have any other questions or comments . Public comment or applicant . It was to speak on behalf of an applicant. Okay, which applicant are you speaking on behalf of that . That gentlemans name is scott joiner, hello, i am michael mathay, i am the president of the Veterans Affair association. An individual scott joiner that could not make it today and i believe he forwarded a letter and had a hearing that he could not reschedule that conflicts with the meeting today, i want to speak on his behalf. Mr. Joiner is a native californian and graduated from the collegeary, and returns to San Francisco with his wife and child. And he works [inaudible] United States attorney up the street here in San Francisco. And hes a veteran of Operation Iraqi freedom. He served in the United States marine corp and retained the rank of captain. And his commitment both to the city and county of San Francisco and veterans is genuine. Through my friendship with him, i realize that he will be a great addition to the Veterans Affairs commission. This current year we have a new leadership board and we would like to take positive steps to mend our relationship with the board of supervisors and the mayor. Whose duty it is our responsibility to assist you and advise you on veteran Affairs Information as it pertains to services. And mr. Joiner should he be appointed would be a great addition to our commission and the advisory role that we play in assisting you and the mayor. And i apologize again that he could not make it today and it was a Court Hearing that the judge could not reschedule. And conflicts with the hearing. You can answer a few questions of being the president. Supervisor cohen. Excuse me, thank you, madam chair. Mr. Caldera mentioned there was a missed meeting because of lack of quorum. There was, october 15 meeting there was a lack of quorum. Only eight of us i believe were there. Which is not enough to meet a quorum. How many short for quorum . Approximately two short for quorum. And did those persons give proper notification . No, madam supervisor they did not. And how did you handle that . We handled it several ways. Number one, immediately following the meeting the president at the time, gentlemen named steven notsel, sent a letter to the commission, reiterating when we serve its incumbent for the members to show up to the meeting or if not able to show up and properly notify the secretary and know we not wait around and faced with a lack of quorum. What i anticipate is an agenda item to address where when we lack of attendance on fellow commissioners. That is a problem in the past i will be honest with you. If we cannot function at full strength or make quorum to the meeting, that does a disservice to the city and county and veterans. And its unfort nunate that we will address. Thank you, and i believe that mr. Joiner i was on rules committee when he came before this body. Great, if any other applicants, i dont think i see anyone else in the room. Open this item to Public Comment. Anyone to speak. Once again i am john caldera, and i would like to take under Public Comment whether or not i receive this appointment. Mr. Caldera, please this is for Public Comment. You had an opportunity to speak about your ca candidacy we haveo be fair. Anyone else to speak on Public Comment item 6, item 6 . Veterans affair commission. Yes. Yes . Okay, great. Come on up. Just in the nick of time. Item 6 [inaudible] please come up to the microphone. The whistle blower program. Thats not on our agenda today. Item 6 before us is a Veterans Affair commission. Is this 216416 no, excuse me, i guess i was interested in the appointment of Central Market street. Mr. John bogacki. Yes, we recommended him to the full board. I didnt see [inaudible]. Maam, sorry unless you are speaking on item 6, i have to close Public Comment. Thank you. [gavel] Public Comment is closed. Its in the hands of our board are our committee, supervisor mar. I had a quick question, i know for the commission we are to ensure of the 12 appointees two must be Women Veterans and one to have a physical disability that arisen from the armed forces. Do we know the number of women on the body . I have a list and only base on the name. There a debra, and a person named angela jenkins. And that satifies the women and we checked into the disabilities and that is satisfied. Two out of 12 . We have the president of the commission, here and perhaps can comment. Thank you, you can speak to that more clearly. Yes, so commissioner dixon, and commissioner jenkins and commissioner dye, and commissioner wabe, we have four, there is three openings now on the board. Two mayoral and one for seat 11, which is for today. All right then, colleagues. If i may, i will start first. I will say that i have sat through many of these hearings regarding veteran affairs commission. Its been nice to see a lot of the same repeat applicants. As you know there are more applicants than seats available. It would be either okay with Stacey Newman and scott joiner, i think both of them bring different qualities to be able to serve on the commission. Like i said, i remember scott joiner coming before us several times. And i think he had a very clear sense of the policy issues to address through the Veterans Affair commission. And i didnt get a strong desire from other candidates i have seen in the past. Stacey i think brings a nice perspective being a mom and her own experience as well as as a pioneer. And again loving to see more women on this commission. I would be okay with those two appointees. Supervisor cohen. Thank you, i would also be comfortable with an appointment of Stacey Newman and or scott joiner. At this time. I will be honest, i am concerned that mrs. Newman is new to San Francisco. And doesnt have the base and the grounding in kind of San Francisco. Could which could be a benefit, i dont know. I am a native san franciscan and i do root for the home team. But i have to tell you that i am touched by her four years of service. Generationally speaking. Coming from a military family and also raising a son. I do believe that given the state of the world we are in now, the different wars. Whether we call them that or not. We have troops in different parts of the world. Serving. Posttraumatic stress disorder is very real and i believe that the Veterans Commission is doing what they can do to address ptsd. And i am kind of talking myself through and not sure which way to go. I want to take a moment and speak to john caldera. I appreciate you coming in and i agree it takes a big person to make mistakes. And to tell you the truth, i believe that your demonstration on Public Comment talking over the chairs and speaks to concerns and problems of reappointing you. And speaks to the things that i learned about you and your due diligence. I want to give you public credit, its a fantastic aware of ptsd awareness day, i think thats awesome. And i think this something that you can organize without being on the commission. And given that you have spent time on the commission you have relationships there. And would be very you are very well connected in the veterans committee. Organizing Something Like this can happen with or without an appointment. And mr. Koppel has come before this board prior and i have heard your story, and i hoped to hear Something Different and i appreciate your interest in this seat. I am the a crossroads between mr. Joiner and mrs. Newman at this time. Supervisor mar. I will defer to the experience of my colleagues on the body. Thank you dr. Koppel for providing leadership why so much of your experience in the communities. Mr. Caldera i know that you are a tremendous leader and continue to be. I will defer to my colleagues. I came to the meeting knowing of your work. I will step back and listen because this has come before this body before. I really like mrs. Newman and i agree with supervisor cohen, i think becoming involved in different activities and come back again. But i appreciate the amazing spirit and heart that you bring. And best wishs to your son. And i think parents of im from a military family as well. I think its so important to bring that Family Experience of veteran families to the body as well. I am also deferring to the current chairs recommendations for scott joiner as well, i will join my colleagues. Thank you for your time, and i was debating between two candidates and i would put forward a recommendation for scott joiner. I would support that. We will take that without objection then, all right. We are appointing scott joiner to seat 11 to the Veterans Affair commission. Congratulations. At this time, colleagues i will ask for a fiveminute quick recess. [gavel] [gavel] thank you very much, we are back at our rules committee meeting. Thank you for the time on the recess. We will move on to item 8. Item 8 and a Charter Amendment, third draft to amend the city and county of San Francisco to require the department of elections to hold a special election when there is a vacancy in the board of supervisors, and regularly scheduled election will be held within 1 eighty day as and provide that the mayor will appoint an interim supervisor to fill that vacancy and allow for an election to be held on june 7, 2016. We have a member from the supervisor office. Unfortunately supervisor avalos is at a conference in washington, d. C. , and unable to attend. This has been before you three times and i will be brief and this addresses filling vacancies in the board of supervisors and the process proposed is for the mayor to appoint an interim supervisor for 180 days and the department of election will call for a special election to fill the seat. And at that election the supervisor would be able to run for that election but no future elections. And supervisor avalos believes this is fair in separation of hou powers and hopes that you forward to the full board for recommendation. Supervisor cohen. Proposal has sparked an interesting conversation and got me thinking about different scenarios. And one scenario is yet to provide an opportunity for voters to weigh in how vacancies, who will serve in the vacancy. And curious to know what your thoughts are, or what your thinking is, if at all, around some unintended consequences that could arise. Are there specific unintended consequences you are concerned about . No, nothing specific, i was wondering. As you guys make legislation, in the business and you think about the benefits of a piece of legislation. And we have a responsibility to think about the costs. Sure. And not talking just necessarily about the financial cost of legislation. Put that aside. But what would be the impact of this . Right, i know in looking at the special election procedure was something in the previous iteration of this Charter Amendment, we gave a lot of thought to and met with the department of special elections and i have a spreadsheet of possible iterations. And looking at what the possible scenarios this could happen, where would the election dates fall and try to minimize if you have a case of special election in october or january or close to where a regular election would be. And so that led to the provision that is in here, that allows for the possibility of the election being consolidated with a regular election and giving the city the flexibility to consolidate elections. To try to minimize election when is it makes sense to have this election take place with the regularly scheduled election. There is a provision that allows for the director of department of elections to extend that timing. And that would have to be approved by resolution of the board and signed by the mayor. If the whole city and family was on board for the election to be moved to a certain date that is possible. And if we are not in agreement, then the election would stand with what is appointed within the legislation, the election day; correct . Yes, the election would have to be held between 126 and 140 days from the date of that calling of the election, or up to 180 days when there is a regularly scheduled election. What is the reasoning between these two dates . 126 days and so forth, this is just walk me through your thought process. No later than 140 days help me get there. Yeah, we took those numbers and settled on that to follow state election codes. Thats the state standard for when you call special elections. That was the date that the department of elections of comfortable with. Previously we talked about trying to shorten that period, there was a concern of the supervisor seat staying vacant for duration. And the district concerned with not having a supervisor, and led to this idea of interim supervisor. Residents know someone is there to answer the phone and appeal to their office with district issues. That was our way to address the concern of having a supervisor. There will be an appointment, there is someone in the office picking up trains and making sure that the trains are moving. Exactly. Supervisor avalos removed the initial mayoral component to this measure, can you explain what were the thoughts behind that . The first version dealt with the vacancies and the supervisor and vacancies in the mayor and to institute a runoff for the mayors race. Supervisor avalos heard feedback dealing with the mayoral runoff was too much to pack in one measure. And decided to put that aside and separate that out into a separate Charter Amendment that we are not pursuing for the june election. Its an issue that supervisor avalos remains interested in but down the road. Upon my initial review of the legislation, there was a little concern that came up. I am sad that hes not here, and i understand that duty takes you outside of the city, totally get that. I will pose the question to you and hope that you can answer it thoroughly. One thing that struck me anyone appointed cant serve as a City Employee for the year after the stepping down. And i can see the merits and the demerits to having that. Maybe you can talk me through the rationale. I feel that is a core value to this proposal. And if i can build on that question, i think that supervisor avalos in previous hearings has brought up the fact that our aides can step in and be the interim supervisor. First of all not all of them live in the district and that cant work. And if you prohibit them from city work later on that is a concern. Yeah, i know there was discussion about that provision. And weighing the pros and cons of it, without having consulting with supervisor avalos recently and not ready to speak his mind on that. There a balancing we have that provision in place for Good Government reasons. You want to have separation of power of office and city staff. And also we understand this is a special case that a new situation we are creating interim office holder. I imagine that something that supervisor avalos is open for future discussion. We are running out of time for Charter Amendments but room for a special committee and committee of the whole for teaks to the legislation. We would be happy to follow up with supervisor avalos on that. Sure the answer to that question and would get to the logic to be supportive. You are right that we are under the gun to bring the ballot to voters. This is coming in june . That is correct. Maybe something we can consider, duplicating the file and sending one forward and leave one in committee to have conversation around this piece. I have thoughts that i will share after supervisor mar, but i think there maybe discussion about duplicating files both to special committee. I want to go on record that i am dedicated to sitting for special rules committee, not a problem. Supervisor mar. So thank you, jeremy pollock for being here for john avalos, i know that jason freed did the study of elections systems and filling of vacancies. And one of the key arguments besides popular democracy and letting the Voters Decide is that this is state and federal and best practice used in other places. Can you elaborate on that . Sure, so in 2013 a local Agency Formation commission did a study of how jurisdictions fill vacant offices. And they compiled a table of looking at comparable jurisdictions and looking at cities and counties and across california. And basically the striking result was San Francisco was pretty much alone of giving the mayor unlateral appointment power for the board of supervis supervisors. And the fact there was no time constraint on that appointment or board of supervisor approval. Sort of check and balances that almost all other jurisdictions would have. And i just wanted to add the power of encumbansy. Even if appointed for a short amount of time before the next election is powerful. I saw that on the school board with other mayors. And i know this is an issue that a lot of my constituents are talking about to let the Voters Decide. The 126 day period and the temporary interim supervisor, i think that is helping to ensure that we have a system not giving that huge benefit of incumbansy. And i havent thought of the issues you brought up but this is good Public Policy based on practices all over the place. And extremely important for democracy, so that the voters can decide. And i think there are backroom deals that mr. Pollack and others have talked. And as a functioning democracy we should do everything we can to take away the sheningans and backroom deals and would be supportive of splitting the file. Thank you, supervisor mar. I had gone through this and noted in that study there was no consistent system for jurisdictions to fill vacancies. It said that 63 percent of jurisdictions studied engaged in the other category. It wasnt by appointment or individual or group, it was so varied there wasnt one way of doing things. I think that was telling and i dont think that our system in San Francisco is perfect. But i think it has worked on well. Sorry, i am sounding like a broken record. Just within the last five years we have had two mayoral appointees who lost their elections. And in 2012 lost election and in 2015 Julie Christie lost her election. That one mayor in five years, that is incredible, to show when the people dont agree with the choice that is made. They can vote that person out. I think it works. And so i would say that one of the things that i do like about the Charter Amendment that supervisor avalos has inserted a provision for the mayor to make an interim appointment for 126 days. I like that part about it. However, i think that i mentioned this before as well, but low voter turnout when it comes to these elections. The way its written no other ballot measures can go on the ballot when this election is coming up to solidify the next permanent supervisor. When i look at the department of data election results, its no secret that turnout is very bad. Even during president ial elections its 50 or something. I am concerned about that. If we think its so undemocratic the way it is now, electing someone permanently with low voter turnout is also not a good thing. And secondly this interim supervisor will be taking votes of the board. They are not just going to the phones but go to the meetings and they need to be accountable. And if that person succeeds in the future election, those votes count. And if someone is not to run in the future, you can vote how you want. There is no recourse or accountability there thank you, supervisor cohen. And i mentioned the difficulty of finding appointees in a period of time and to give up a job. Or someone is unemployed and needs a temporary position and the staffing for that. I feel that we have a system in place that tries their very best to make sure if there is an appointee. Depending on the situation, there could be three scenarios. Someone gets to run in an election that is coming up soon and would be the normal election cycle anyway. Or some time between 120 days and one year after the vacancy. Again there are different scenarios where this can happen and i think i just would at this point then like to duplicate the file we have before us. And have one version that just keeps the 28day window for the appointment requirement, i like that. Keep it there. And the second file would be the original file. And have that sent to our next rules committee meeting, which will be a special one to make the deadlines. And discuss those measures and hopefully supervisor avalos will be back to speak to those. Perfect, those are motions. Second. Supervisor mar. Mr. Pollack, i guess you would prefer to go to the full board out of this committee now. But this gives delay for supervisor avalos to come back, do you have objection to that . I havent had an opportunity to get in touch with supervisor avalos, his hope is that the measure be forwarded to the full board. I cant speak for him, but if there is a commitment to waive both proposals for the special rules for the timing of the Charter Amendment, i imagine he would be amendiable to that. We try to get this before the next meeting and do our best and speak to both. And not separately. We take that without objection then, we are sending the two duplicated files to the next rules committee meeting. Point of clarification, is that continued to the call of the chair . It may be a special meeting . Sure, we will do it continued to the call of the chair. We do that. Any other comments or questions, and then open up to Public Comment on item 8. My Public Comment for this sorry to interrupt. One moment, madam chair, we took the vote. We need to rescind that vote. Sir, thank you. I would like to make a motion to rescind the vote. Second. Vote is rescinded and Public Comment is open. [inaudible] Public Comment not to this item. [inaudible] being a supervisor would be [inaudible] people with well established government leadership style into education. One who qualifies even as a fillin supervisor should be able to project ones aspiration of [inaudible] talents, and business knowledge. Having a strong background on leadership, and unified capabilities in areas of politics, and [inaudible] education [inaudible] supported by [inaudible] studies should be a good candidate for the post. I hope that each new generation of the team [inaudible] can go a step above [inaudible] previous Board Members for the timelines of [inaudible] survey. [inaudible] Successful Team of supervisors in San Francisco. I thank you all for all you have done for the citizens and people so many years. And wishing you all having the best of luck for your future careers of opportunities. Thank you. Thank you very much. Any other members of the public wishing to speak on item 8. Seeing none. Public comment is closed. [gavel] we had our motion and both versions to the special rules committee meeting. Continue to the call of the year. I would like to second that. All right, take that without objection. Mr. Clerk, any other business before the board . There is no business before the committee. I Mean Committee our meeting is adjourned. [gavel] behalf of all the gues the staff at st. Anthonys it is great to have your here this morning. [applause] here at st. Anteanys work with people who are homeless and those on the virj of becomes homeless and what we have sheen more aunch unforchfootly than not is people that feel isolated and excluded so very happy to see when the mayor has something to say about the homeless pop ylgds he comes to the tenderloin and st. Ancyanys. We insisted those we serve the homeless in particular are not the problem, they are brothers and sisters. The problem has to boo with us and the way we structure our liferb jz cities and thijsss like that see great to see when we want to do something about homelessness the mayor is coming forward and making good proposals for how we can solve our problem, not fix the homeless. [applause] there are a lot of people here working for years on that problem. It is a problem for the whole community but it is also one we need to thitsy to step forward to help us do so we welcome the mayor in his remarks today. Without further ado, i would like to recognize a couple people here that have come and been long involved ing these issue. Angela alota is here today. From the San Francisco interfaith counsel we have mikem pops and rita chimal. Supervisor marc farrell is here. Supervisor jewel jewel yechristensen and all the Department Heads here of the city and all the Community Based organizations that are represent. Thank you for coming and welcome to st. Anthonys good morning everyone. Thank you all for being here. Let me begin with just comment about some things that have occurred in the last 48 hours that i know are on peoples minds and want to address that right off before i get fl to had body of the speech. But i want to start out with some words about the officer involved shooting that occurred yesterday in the bay view and rutted in the death of a man. Let me first say that any time, any time, there is a officer involved shooting i take that extremely seriously and so does our chief. I have seen the video too you know, you look at the video and you justbefore my words came out, we were yelling drop the dam knife. I already spoken to the chief and there will be a thorough and transparent investigation of this incident without delay and know the public deserves this and expect it and i expect it as well and will make sure the Community Knows all the details about this. I also want to take a moment of silence with all of you to remember the victims of the tragic and sensely shootings in san Dern Bernardino yesterday. Our thoughts are with the victims and families and the people of San Francisco grieve with them. But you know, you know what they really deserve . Those families deserve action. Deserve the congress that will stop this madness, stop and by enacting sensible limit ozen deadly fire arms and they need to do that now. [applause] we cannot just accept this. We cannot just accept this. Thank you. Thank you. And again, good morning everybody and thank you for being here. First again i want to say thank you to the [inaudible] and barry for hosting us this morningism barry you and the staff for helping the needy and velinable throughout the city is a inspiration to me and it is never tiring to cut turkey with you bury. I also want to say thank you to our elected and appointed officials and Community Leaders and pleny of the nonprofits providers are here this morning, thank you for joinsing us today. Im very proud for being reelected your mayor. This is a wonderful city and want to say thank you to the voters of San Francisco who believe in our Solutions Oriented and collaborative approach to solving problems and have asked us to return to do more. Thaupg for placing your trust in me for the next 4 years. This is the greatest city in the world and im honored and humbleed as the mayor to serve another term. You know, i often said and will continue saying i love the city, i love it as much of any of you and also with you. I love that we never run from the challenges. We confront them with our progressive optimism and something that has come to define our city in all of us. We tackleed a whole lot this last 5 years and some the most complicated and intractable challenges remain and i ran for a second term so we can work on them together. Foremost among the challenges wrun we struggled with for decades is homelessness. Let there be more doubt, the collective best effort like Service Providers like all you in the room today have certainly made a difference. I know that because i have been paying a attention to this for many years. While i may be a little silent sometimes, i watch, i talk to people, i engage and once in a while i might be lucky enough to hand out a key. You are the ones, everyone in the room, you are the ones giving the hor heroic rfts at front line staff on a midnight shift at the shet ers and do the outreach and are case managers with a challenging loud. Or you may be the one cleaning up the streets so people might have a cleaner street to be on because that is the only place they have. The best evidence of all of the work collaboratively is the over 20,000 formally Homeless People living indoors. Living independently and with the social and emotional support that they need and that the needs that are met with our City Services or they might be back in their home towns. But, despite this we havent eliminated homelessness. As we house and serve thousands, they are replaced by new thousands. People, people who fall in homelessness here, people sent from other states or people who arrive every day seeking a better life in our city. As a result we continue to have People Living on the street, under the freeway, in tents on the sidewalk and some even without tents. All together, more than 3500 people are street homeless in San Francisco. Human beings. Human beings with hopes, with fears, susceptible to cold and rainy weather. Human being who deserve or compassion. We know there are nearly the same number of people without homes that are living in our shelter, treatment programs or temporary situations. Friends , this isnt a healthy way to live, you know that and i know that, especially if children are a part of that family. It is not just a growing problem here in San Francisco by the way and we all know that as well. Major cities across our country, la, new york, honolulu, seattle and more and the state and federal governments offer us too little assistance. Thats why next week ill join at least 5 other mayors on the west coast and our federal government representatives to explore federal funding opportunities and policy changes in the area of homelessness. I know we look at the streets sometimes and the encampments and the depth and complexity the problem jz to some it all might feel hopeless, but as your may frr the next 4 years im optimistic because today in San Francisco all of the ingreedgents of success are here to end homeless for thousands of our fellow citizens. Thanks to a historically Strong Economy we do have resources. We certainly have creativity and know we got the passion. For our serviceers providers and city staff, we have the energy that is required. We have public support to try new more effective approaches. But you know what is missing . What is missing is the ingredient lacking for generations, it is what we call, real cooperation. We cant solve street homelessness, but it will if we want to , it will require cooperation. We have seen this cooperation at the place called, the Navigation Center at 1950 mission street. When Community Providers work with city departments, when the private sector in the surrounding community all come together with us, we actually are creating a National Model for ending homelessness. So, next year we are going to do something bold that skills up the cooperation and coordination this requires and we see at the Navigation Center all of that happening across the board on homelessness. I will call apauss all the departments to Work Together with our Community Based organizations, advocate and National Expert to ert change and reform or government and other, and will create a department with a mission to end homelessness here in San Francisco. [applause] i begin by not just makingi know people have worked on this for years and want to acknowledge first the great work of our past mayors, feinstein and agnos, mayor jordan and willie brown, of course gaveen newsome. I want to build on each of their legacies for addressing homelessness. Of course our former supervisor alota talks about passion. She dedicated a life time to the work and want to say thank you for being here and thank you for being a trusted advisor and advocate and one that reminds everybody we got to get to better solutions. I want to also acknowledge the good work of our former supervisor bevan dufty and director of hope for the last years for tireless work with Service Providers and client to move people into better lives. I learned a lot with bevan, but i felt his passion avenue day he has been on the job. And today, building on the work that came before we begin a new agency, a agency with a budget and mandate to solve homelessness. Well bring together under one roof the multitude of homeless outreach, housing, shelter and Supportive Services that exist across many Different Departments. Over the last 20 years, we increased our spending on homelessness because the crisis got worse. But because we didnt have a Central Department for homelessness we layered program upon program across a dozen Different Department said and then we expected the better outcome. No one agencyies mission was homelessness and today we fix that. With greater coordination we expect better results, more efficiencys and deep er accountability. To make this new department a realty next year ill be calling upon the leadership of barbarager seea director of public ehealth, trent roar director of human sunchss and [inaudible] director of hope. Together we have aurltd r already implemented some the most forward thinking progressive homeless policies in the country. We created the nations first Navigation Center, which is just 9 months that we have successfully moved more than 250 people off the streets into healthier settings. Great progress towards ending chronic veterans homelessness is done these last few years tackling family homelessness we made great progess. A new investment in Supportive Housing of 29,000,000 this year. I want to saw they think to tren, barbara and sam and all your team said for pourer your hearts in this work and thank you for joins forces with us to take it to the next level vlt i want to say a special thank you to public works. I know that department. You kept our streets and have done your best and for always having a positive interaction with the Homeless People and compassion and thank you for taking on the smelliest dirtgist jobs in town. I also want to say thank you to all of the people who are own Single Room Occupancy Hotels in the city thmpt hotels that are cooperating and working with us to make these Units Available for people transitioning out of homelessness. That is stock of housing. We never thought through our past loousts and insistence to get code enforcement, we didnt realize how valuable they are to us and a valuable assess they can be. I know some people will say, a department to solve homlessness mayor. 93 eve. We cant solve homelessness in San Francisco. I know that will will be peoples comments. I say we will end homelessness every every single day for least one person. For at least one family. For at least a veteran every single day. I know because i have felt the power of giving keys to people exactly in those situations. We will end it for every 1 for every day for someone who suffers on our street. That is what the purpose of creating this department is about. I want a staff at this new department, each person on the staff will come to work every morning with a single minded focus on ending homelessness for people on the streets. I want the measure of the work of this department and my office to be answering this question, what did i do to end homelessness on our city streets today and what did i do to give people a stable shelter, a home and a path to a healthier life. That is what i want them to ask themselves every single day. I want that to be the question that they ask of themselves. You know, ending homelessness in a very simple way is a matter of priorities. To get there we have to double down on programs that truly work. We have to coordinate with partners, federal, state and other cities. We have to share and do the best practices and we have to also share our challenges with each other. And you know, i always am focused and concerned about congress and as you know, congress is largely abandoned homelessness in the country and we in San Francisco cant wait frathe politics of waug wash dc to arrive, we have tolead and we lead with values. Our San Francisco values. That is what being a san franciscan is all about, isnt it . It is our values. To be fully able to achieve this vision im inviting a group of National Experts to advise how to create and set the mandate for this new department. I have spoken to president obamas point person on homelessness, matthew dorty and he agreed to come out and advise and has the expertise of looking at programs across the country to see what works. We want to be egressive on this but want to be practical at the same time. How will we define sausking street homelessness . What are the investments we are making and how can we double down on this . Is there something that we can be doing that we are not already doing . I aults want to invite the local homeless coordinating board to serve as a formal advisory body during the process. We convened San Franciscos best and brightest on that commission and definitely need your input. I invite all of you here, every one of you, the people working hard every day day in and out to join in defining the new effort as well because ill present this plan with the budget this coming year. Foremost among the efforts of the department are expanding the successful Navigation Center program. We learned that by removing barrier tooz entry into the Shelter Program and pairing ever Navigation Center with a housing exist we are making a difference. We already committed the funding in the budget this year to double our capacity at the Navigation Center and the department will significantly increase to this model. Well coordinate outreach and build more centers and secure more housing exists. Certainly this requires serious funding. Since i took office we have spent all most 100 mil yen more every year on Homeless Services and housing and my commitment today is this, to never let our city slip backwards on our funding priorities. That means movering forward well spend at threes 250 million a year on outreach and housing for 10s of thousands of people. We know success isnt mesered by how much money we spend, you know that. Accountability matters. We are measured by the number of human beings we lep off our streets and into a better life and by conditions on our streets also improving at the same time. So, im setting a ambishish but i believe an achievable goal for the second term. By the time i leave office we will move at least 8 thousand people out of homelessness and well remove them out of homelessness forever. [applause] and well build a system that ends a persons homelessness before it becomes chronic. That is another thing we learned from the Navigation Center and well do this and achieve this all together. Well do this by housing families, veterans long term homeless to Homeward Bound Program and Long Term Care for the seriously mentally ill. I also need cooperation for the private sector and philanthropic partner tooz participate as well. I already started conversation with San Franciscos Business Leaders on this particular goal. Business leaders, big and small, about a Multiyear Partnership to add additional Navigation Centers to the cities portfolio. To them across the board i say thank you and begin by saying a personal thank you to our first anonymous private donor to the the first Navigation Center. Im excited for our partnerships to develop more in the coming months just like the way we started our first Navigation Center. It was a partnership with faith and Funding Sources and community in the mission and then everybody else. We need more Partnership Models like our effort to end family homelessness in the Elementary Schools which is the focus of [inaudible] 2 great civic leaders. No less different than our Technology Leaders like nob nub who also became a partner to end veterans homelessness by funding a viable new housing for them in mission bay. Letting people live on our streets exposed to violence and whether that isnt compassion. It isnt healthy, it isnt safe and it does want represent who we are as San Francisco and it is not our San Francisco values. You know, im also proud of our city coming together over something that used to be controversial and im talking about lauras law. Thank you for visor marc farrell, thank you for your leadership in this effort on a issue that used to divide a lot of us, now it units us with a comma causs because we are figuring it out. Since we launched our consensus program just last month we have already received 28 referals from ern concerned family members and Service Providers. Some of the most severely mentally ill they are finally getting help. Lauras law is one the many compassionate programs we should be doing in partnership with our courts and District Attorney and Justice System. San francisco values means we wont lock people up or persecute them just for being mentally ill. That wont happen and wont happen as long as im mayor, but we can use the resources our Justice System to make sure people are Getting Better heltier outcomes. I want to challenge the courts, our public defender and District Attorney and Health Provider tooz come together in the same spirit of collaboration that i proposed today. Coming together with your diverse responsibilities and your legal mandates to better serve those desperately in need of our help because i will challenge you with the same outcome im calling upon everyone else. Lets talk about not just our legal mandates, lets also talk about outcomes for people. [applause] it is not compassionate and you will agree with me on this to let people suffer silently, to medicate with drugs and call and live an unhealthy life on our streets, that is not compassion and we are empowered to help the seriously mentally ill people but first have to agree to coperate. In a new year ill invite all our gurchlt stakeholders and Mental Health and criminal justice to convene with me. I bring this group together to get past the reasons we cannot do things and figure out a way we can do it. Lets say for example, you take this program, some of you in the room know what the 51 50 program is. It is a program with people in personal crisis and danger to themselves we take them to the hospital for 72 hours, but you know what is the challenging part of that 51 50 program . Once they come out they go right back on the streets and into the same unhealthy situation that they were literally 48 hours ago. We pulled them out and bring them right back in. That is 51 50. Lets redesignthality program for a better outcome, a sustained outcome for those individuals. Lets redesign conservativeship programs to serve the intended populations while respecting their civil liberty. We can have a better outcome on that as well. The seriously mentally ill deserve our best efforts. It is complicated and thats why we take that challenge up. As we focus on getting people into healthier settings, we also need to refocus on the people who are not homeless. The people who prey on our homeless. Drug dealers who target the addicted and mentally ill contributing to Serious Health problems. Im calling y i am calling for stepped up enforcement for predatory drug dealing around our Navigation Centers and shelter and Homeless Service locations and every place we house our homeless. [applause] we need to clean up drug dealing around the buildings where Homeless People are trying to clean up their lives. We are not criminalizing drug addictions, we are enforcing existing laws to protect the most vulnerable. I want to thank supervisor and president of the board of supervisors president london breed for being a leader on the reforms. She is a strong voice the quality of life and reforming our treatment of the mentally ill. Thats why friend i am optimistic. A new department, ambitious goal, a will in our city to succeed on this. We can make homelessness rare. We can make it brief. We can make it a one time event in peoples lives. We can move at least 8 thousand people out of homelessness forever. For too long deeply held and ideological differences divided all of us. Some say we are not tough enough. Others say we are not compalgzinate enough. Some say we spend too much money and others say we havent spent enough. It is time to reconcile these disagroogruments not to set them aside but work through them. If we can cooperate to solve homelessness the sky is the limit on what else we can achieve together. I want to say to you again, we can end homelessness for each individual that we touch, for each family, for each child, we can do that for them. Thats what we can define as ending homelessness. If we do it together, we will have demonstrated that collaboration and cooperation is the best way to move forward. So, i want to end by saying thank you to all of you for taking time out of your busy day to listen to me. Im excited to work with you, this will give a struck chur to work effectively with all of us. We can do better and will do better, im excited and we are San Francisco. Thank you very much. [applause] as a society weve basically failed big portion of our population if you think about the basics of food, shelter safety a lot of people dont have any of those im mr. Cookie cant speak for all the things but i know say, i have ideas how we can address the food issue. Open the door and walk through that dont just stand looking out. As they grew up in in a how would that had access to good food and our parent cooked this is how you feed yours this is not happening in our country this is a huge pleasure im david one of the cofounder so about four year ago we worked with the serviced and got to know the kid one of the things we figured out was that they didnt know how to cook. I heard about the Cooking School through the Larkin Academy a. Their noting no way to feed themselves so theyre eating a lot of fast food and i usually eat whatever safeway is near my home a lot of hot food i was excited that i was eating lunch enough instead of what and eat. As i was inviting them over teaching them basic ways to fix good food they were so existed. Particle learning the skills and the food they were really go it it turned into the is Charity Foundation i ran into my friend we were talking about this this do you want to run this Charity Foundations and she said, yes. Im a cofound and executive director for the cooking project our best classes participation for 10 students are monday theyre really fun their chief driven classes we have a different guest around the city theyre our stand alone colas we had a series or series still city of Attorneys Office style of classes our final are night life diners. Santa barbara shall comes in and helps us show us things and this is one the owners they help us to socialize and ive been here about a year. We want to be sure to serve as many as we can. The San Francisco Cooking School is an amazing amazing partner. It is doing that in that space really elevates the space for the kids special for the chief that make it easy for them to come and it really makes the experience pretty special. Im sutro sue set im a chief 2, 3, 4 San Francisco. Thats what those classes afford me the opportunity it breakdown the barriers and is this is not scary this is our choice about you many times this is a feel good what it is that you give them is an opportunity you have to make it seem like its there for them for the taking show them it is their and they can do that. Hi, im antonio the chief in San Francisco. The majority of kids at that age in order to get them into food they need to see something simple and the evidence will show and easy to produce i want to make sure that people can do it with a bowl and spoon and burner and one pan. I like is the receipts that are simple and not feel like its a burden to make foods the cohesives show something eased. I go for vera toilet so someone cant do it or its way out of their range we only use 6 ingredients i can afford 6 ingredient what good is showing you them something they cant use but the sovereignties what are you going to do more me youre not successful. We made a vegetable stirfry indicators hed ginger and onion that is really affordable how to balance it was easy to make the food we present i loved it if i having had access to a kitchen id cook more. Some of us have never had a kitchen not taught how to cookie wasnt taught how to cook. I have a great appreciation for programs that teach kids food and cooking it is one of the healthiest positive things you can communicate to people that are very young. The more programs like the cooking project in general that can have a positive impact how our kids eat is really, really important i believe that everybody should venting to utilize the kitchen and meet other kids their age to identify theyre not alone and their ways in which to pick yours up and move forward that. It is really important to me the opportunity exists and so i do everything in my power to keep it that. Well have our new headquarters in the heart of the tenderloin at taylor and kushlg at the end of this summer 2014 were really excited. A lot of the of the conditions in San Francisco they have in the rest of the country so our goal to 257bd or expand out of the San Francisco in los angeles and then after that who know. Wed never want to tell people want to do or eat only provide the skills and the tools in case thats something people are 2rrd in doing. You cant buy a box of psyche you have to put them in the right vein and direction with the right kids with a right place address time those kids dont have this you have to instill they can do it theyre good enough now to finding out figure out and find the future for clapping. i think we have more companies anywhere in the United States its at the amazing statement were not trying to be flashy or shocking just trying to create something new and original were one of the things about the conduct our you enter and turn your your back and just so the orchestra. The most contrary composer of this time if you accountability his music you would think hes a camera come important he become ill and it was crazy he at the end of his life and pushed the boundary to think were not acceptable at this point for sure it had a great influence he was a great influence on the harmonic language on the contemporary up to now. I thought it would be interesting because they have e he was contemporary we use him on this and his life was you kill our wife you get poisons all those things are Great Stories for on opera. I was leaving behind a little bit which those collaborative dancers i was really trying to focus on opera. A friend of mine said well, what would you really want to do i said opera what is it not opera parallel. Why isnt it are that i have the support now we can do that. I realized that was something that wasnt being done in San Francisco no other organization was doing this as opposed to contemporary we are very blessed in San Francisco to have organizations well, i thought that was going to be our speciality you create a conceptual idea for setting the opera and you spear ahead and work with the other sdierndz to create an overview vision thats the final product felt opera. I was very inspired to work with him because the way he looked at the key is the way i looked at sports looking at the daily. So much our mandate is to try to enter disis particular work theres great dancers and theatre actresses and choirs weve worked with and great video artists is a great place to collect and collaborate. I had a model they have a professionally music yes, maam assemble and as a student i benefited from being around this professional on and on soccer ball and as a conductor id be able to work with them and its helped my growth i had a dream of having a professional residential on and on soccer ball to be an imperial it operates as a laboratory we germ a national the ideas technically and work with activity artists and designers and video all over the on any given project to further the way we tell stories to improve our ability to tell stories on stage. Thats part of the opera lab i was to investigate that aspect of renaissance and new work so thats why this piece it is important it was a renaissance composer. There were young people that are not interested in seeing traditional opera and like the quality and its different it has a story telling quality every little detail is integrated and helps to capture the imagination and thats part of the opera how we can use those colors into the language of today. So one of the great things of the stories of opera and story combined with opera music it allows people to let go and be entertained and enjoy the music instead of putting on headphones. Thats what is great about art sometimes everyone loves it because you have to, you know, really great you have to have both some people dont like it and some people do were concerned about that. Its about thirty something out there thats risky. You know, disliked by someone torn apart and thats the whole point of what were drying to do you never take this for granted you make sure it is the best if you can. Youre watching quick bite, the show that has San Francisco. Were here at one of the many food centric districts of San Francisco, the 18th street corridor which locals have affectionately dubbed the castro. A cross between castro and gastronomic. The bakery, pizza, and dolores park cafe, there is no end in sight for the mouth watering food options here. Adding to the culinary delights is the family of business he which includes skylight creamery, skylight and the 18 raisin. Skylight market has been here since 1940. Its been in the family since 1964. His father and uncle bought the market and ran it through sam taking it over in 1998. At that point sam revamped the market. He installed a kitchen in the center of the market and really made it a place where chefs look forward to come. He created community through food. So, we designed our community as having three parts we like to draw as a triangle where its comprised of our producers that make the food, our staff, those who sell it, and our guests who come and buy and eat the food. And we really feel that we wouldnt exist if it werent for all three of those components who really support each other. And thats kind of what we work towards every day. Valley creamery was opened in 2006. The two pastry chefs who started it, chris hoover and walker who is sams wife, supplied all the pastries and bakeries for the market. They found a space on the block to do that and the ice cream kind of came as an afterthought. They realized the desire for ice cream and we now have lines around the corner. So, thats been a huge success. In 2008, sam started 18 reasons, which is our community and event space where we do five events a week all around the idea of bringling people closer to where the food comes from and closer to each other in that process. 18 reasons was started almost four years ago as an educational arm of their work. And we would have dinners and a few classes and we understood there what momentum that people wanted this type of engagement and education in a way that allowed for a more indepth conversation. We grew and now we offer i think we had nine, we have a series where adults learned home cooking and we did a teacher Training Workshop where San Francisco unified Public School teachers came and learned to use cooking for the core standards. We range all over the place. We really want everyone to feel like they can be included in the conversation. A lot of organizations i think which say were going to teach cooking or were going to teach gardening, or were going to get in the policy side of the food from conversation. We say all of that is connected and we want to provide a place that feels really Community Oriented where you can be interested in multiple of those things or one of those things and have an entree point to meet people. We want to build community and were using food as a means to that end. We have a wonderful organization to be involved with obviously coming from buy right where really everyone is treated very much like family. Coming into 18 reasons which even more Community Focused is such a treat. We have these events in the evening and we really try and bring people together. People come in in groups, meet friends that they didnt even know they had before. Our whole set up is focused on communal table. You can sit across from someone and start a conversation. Were excited about that. I never worked in catering or food service before. Its been really fun learning about where things are coming from, where things are served from. It is getting really popular. Shes a wonderful teacher and i think it is a Perfect Match for us. It is not about home cooking. Its really about how to facilitate your ease in the kitchen so you can just cook. I have always loved eating food. For me, i love that it brings me into contact with so many wonderful people. Ultimately all of my work that i do intersects at the place where food and community is. Classes or cooking dinner for someone or writing about food. It always come down to empowering people and giving them a wonderful experience. Empower their want to be around people and all the values and reasons the commitment, community and places, were offering a whole spectrum of offerings and other really wide range of places to show that good food is not only for wealthy people and they are super committed to accessibility and to giving people a glimpse of the beauty that really is available to all of us that sometimes we forget in our day to day running around. We have such a philosophical mission around bringing people together around food. Its so natural for me to come here. We want them to walk away feeling like they have the tools to make change in their lives. Whether that change is voting on an issue in a way that they will really confident about, or that change is how to understand why it is important to support our small farmers. Each class has a different purpose, but what we hope is that when people leave here they understand how to achieve that goal and feel that they have the resources necessary to do that. Are you inspired . Maybe you want to learn how to have a patch in your backyard or cook better with fresh ingredients. Or grab a quick bite with organic goodies. Find out more about 18 reasons by going to 18 reasons. Org and learn about buy right market and creamery by going to buy right market. Com. And dont forget to check out our blog for more info on many of our episodes at sf quick bites. Com. Until next time, may the fork be with you. So chocolaty. Mm. Oh, this is awesome. Oh, sorry. I thought we were done rolling. I want to welcome everyone to your home. The San Francisco Unified School District board room. Welcome to our second meeting. I want to thank you for the important work and its critical work for not only the children in the city today but for the children of our city of tomorrow. Today were coming together to approve the outcomes framework that will be our north star if you will. We want to be true for all children, youth and families in n