Transcripts For SFGTV Entertainment Commission 20220721

And masks are available at any city hall entrance. We welcome your Public Comments. There is a opportunity to comment on each discussion or action item on the agenda. Each comment is limited to 3 minutes. Public comment will be taken in person and remotely by video or call in. Each item, the commission will take comments first from people attending the meeting in person. Then from people attending the meeting remotely. For those attending the meeting come up to the podium during Public Comment. State your name, affiliation, and comment. You will have three minutes. Opportunity to speak are available via zoom platform using meeting id 812 2355113. Or by using the phone. If you use the zoom platform select the raised hand platform. Dial star 9 to be added to the speaker lineup mute yourself by using star 6. Call from a quiet location. If you view the meeting on sf. Gov tv you should mute your video. Use the chat function on zoom as well. Commissioners and staff cannot respond to comments or questions. Thank you sf. Gov tv. Org for sharing this. Lets do a roll call. [roll call] the Vice President and commissioner calzon are exsettlement. We would like to make sure we move california cold coe for a hybrid meeting. Fore. Second. There are no Public Comments. We may take a vote. [roll call] resolution approved. The next item is Public Comment on items not on the agenda item tonight. Are there any Public Comments . There are no Public Comments for this action. General Public Comment closed. We would like to approve the minutes. Do we have a motion to approve the meetings. So moved. Second. Any Public Comment on this agenda item. There are no Public Comments. Meeting minutes approved. Number four is report from executive director. Thank you and good evening. Id like to call attention to and call attention to deputy direct kaitlin for receiving one of the spur Good Government award. This is a huge deal. She was representing the community by doing that. We conducted close to 4,000 inspections for Small Businesses in San Francisco along with her being awarded also Vice President dory received an award for her work and learning hub. We had a few great honorees part of the commission and doing good work for the city. Id like to shine light on them. Thats all i have this evening. Congratulations. Congrats. [ applause ] any Public Comment on this agenda item . There are no Public Comments on this item. All right, we can move to item five. Thank you commissioners. We received 86 sound complaints since our last meeting. I dont have many enforcement updates. Most were resolved through education. The first is about the ramp located at 855 terri swab boulevard. We received eight complaints since january. We visited the business eight separate times. We set a sound limit and educated the team on how to monitor their levels. On july 9th inspectors responded to a sound complaint and they were operating 7 december bales about above limit. Management learned they were only monitoring their a limit which wasnt the cause of the problem. They brought their volume down and reeducated the manager to monitor levels correctly. We also sited them for this. They removed the tent from their outdoor patio area. We did new sound testing this past weekend to learn that the current sound limit they have is correct. They just need to follow the limit. The next business for you they administration returned later that night to observe their closing time procedures that were fully compliant. The inspector noted the g. M. Wasnt present. There were novilations less efficient. We spoke to him about things buttoned up when onsite and when hes not onsite. He will speak to security to make sure all things are great. We did go back this past weekend and they were closed friday and saturday. The last update is about hotel via. We received two sound complaints on july 9th and another two on july 10th. Inspectors were able to respond in realtime during both dates in which the complaints came in. They were in full compliance of sound and operations. They took a sound measurement that was just above their limit. Here worked with the sound engineer to bring them into compliance. He noticed during the visit the staff were diligent about sound limits and they put their sound permit conditions into the contracts they have with artist to make sure there is no wiggle room. Those are the only updates i have. Id be happy to answer them. Hotel via [inaudible]. I dont think i have seen a group of unicyclist sited in a sound report before. It was a ride. Interesting. The memorial ride should be given some grace. I was surprised as well. We made it through pride without extra parties and so on. Thats correct. Thereerer nominal amount of complaints and we didnt witness any violations. Some complaints were afterhours. I noticed that. They were closed so we couldnt make observations. The g. M. Called me and when i called him back his number was disconnected. I need to call him about the allegations. Got it. To be continued. No farther questions from me. Is there any Public Comment on deputy directors report . There are no Public Comments for any items. Let me figure out where i am. The next agenda item is number six hearing and possible actions for applications. We will start with the consent agenda. Great. We have one limited life performance entertainment on the agenda this evening. Two neighbors reached out with questions about the permit. They voiced concerns about the 11 00 p. M. End time. I told them we didnt have a reason to limit the business. If they have issues launch a 311 complaint. If they demonstrate income incompat ability you incompatibility. One neighbor responded okay, thats good. The other neighbor didnt respond. We would like to approve with the Good Neighbor policy. Do we have a motion. I move to a prove this with the Good Neighbor policy. Second. All right, any Public Comment on the consent agenda. There are no Public Comments on consent agenda. We may vote. [roll call]. All right, congratulations would you believe. Great name. All right, so, the next agenda item or the next part of the agenda item is the regular agenda. Well continue on here. Good evening commissioners. Dillon grace. Senior analyst to present this item. For the first permit we will hear from golden boys for their inaugural Music Festival called portola music vest val. It will take place on september 24 and 25th 25th , 2020. They will have indoor and outdoor performances. They will have deejay shadow and more. The expected attendance is 32,000 people per day. Goldenvoice is producing this. If approved they will be able to host extended hours of Outdoor Entertainment and amplified sound on both days and allow them to exceed the standard. They are requesting to hold sound checks on september 21st flu the 23 21sh september 23 that will not go past 10 00 p. M. They will exceed article 1060. 16. When setting their sound limit they will take into consideration the closest sensitive receptors and work to derm what detert will effect their sound. They will check sound limits throughout the event. They will have a designated hotline for a person to call to speak with someone at any time. The number will be published in advance of the event. You will see their jam application, event summery and overview. Their Neighborhood Outreach plan to effect neighbors. Goldenvoice has been working closely with the port and they have voiced support of approval. They are going through the application process for the special application from the port. They will do another check 7 to 14 days from the permit. We didnt receive any mechanic recommendations. We assume they have no issue with the permit. I have aaron from goldenvoice. Staff recommendation is approval with conditions listed in your commissioner memo in front of you. Take it away erin. I do have a presentation. Im not sure if you can pull that up if you want. Hi, commissioners great to be here in person. Im jordon the president of nonplus ultra. Excited to present this and also bring something to San Francisco we havent seen in sometime. A big festival. A big show that will bring out a fair amount of people in the center of downtown San Francisco. The exciting thing golden voice is putting together. Pure 80 is very unique and special. We hosted a large event out there for 2019. We had 20,000 people out there over two nights. Its a prime location for transportation. Its off of cesar chavez. There is also not a lot of residents in the area. Im happy to talk about this and do Something Like this after three years of it being tough. 2. 5. Yes. We wanted to take a few seconds for dany bell one of our Vice President s of golden voice to talk about the name portola festival and where that comes from. Thank you for having us. You might want to use the other mic if thats not working. Thank you for having us. Its been a dream. We are excited for the opportunity. I should know this. They both work. Thank you for the opportunity. Its great opportunity for us. The city of San Francisco, the fan base. Such an amazing setting for a festival. When coming up with the name we thought about what the festival meant and what the importance was. We stumbled pon a festival called port toll la. It was hosted in the city in 1909. They represented to everyone outside of San Francisco that San Francisco is open for business. That was after the earthquake and fires of 1906. We loved the name and adopted to bring it back for a festival in 2022. I hope we have eeverything is we will host the event on september 24 and 25th. We will complete our load out on september 30th. For event hours we are looking at 12 00 p. M. Until 10 45 for the outdoor stages. We plan on ending our main stage at 10 00 p. M. We will keep a smaller stage going until 10 45. To help with egress and staggering that. We look to have the warehouse stage located in shed a going until 11 00 p. M. Our capacity is 32,500 per day. Ages are 21 plus. Nobody under the age of 21 can be there to be clear. Demographics we are looking at a bit older between the ages of 27 to 34. Yeah. Im laughing im at the high end and ill be there. Thats great. This is just a rough site map to show you where we look to have our stages. We are looking at four stages. 3 outside and one in the warehouse. We will have two entrances to help with egress. We are looking to have road closures. They will be soft road closures for the most part. One lane closure on illinois. A rough overview of the traffic plan. We will have Public Parking in cal palace. We will allow for the egress and allow folks to be dropped off near site. We will work with lyft and uber on blocking off areas so people cannot get picked up within a certain radius. We hope that cuts down on the traffic. Again, this is a rough overview of what that will look like as far as our shuttle plan and additional ride share. We have started reaching out to mta and muny and working with a company that are handling of the permit. We are reaching out to piking organizes such as Bicycle Coalition to encourage folks to ride their bikes as well. We are looking to have one security staff for 10,000 onsite. Thats at least 350 security. Thats a Security Company and police. We as goldenvoice have a few internal staff groups. We have a Public Safety group and Emergency Response group as well. We have that. We will have people under go a scan and metal detector. We will have signage and Message Boards with a lot of different ways of letting people know via flashing lights and loud messages and coordinated announcements from radio calls and also the ability to message people directly via our app to let them know if something were to happen. We have a few notes on the Harm Reduction front. We will have a main medical tent and additional l an ancillary tents. They will be able to administer narcan. For Community Outreach we are working directly with into action based in bay view. We have our proposal assorted out with them. Im still working with them. We have an internal Community Relations specialist assisting on that front. We will be working with the midway that has an existing neighbors of the midway. They are there for the neighbors that will be using as well. They also have a next door app that will be able to message through as well. We will be fliering through any adjacent neighborhoods but specifically calling out bayview and Hunters Point. We have a website with a live outreach hotline and specific email address for folks to check out too if they have any anything they have questions about. They will have someone that can respond in realtime and address concerns. We will also do a job fair in bayview and adjacent sites and make sure adjacent neighborhoods are aware of that happening. Additionally we encourage vendors to take part in that and have rep celebrityives as well. We will also be reaching out to local restaurants on the noise front in addition to shutting down the main stage we will utilize a dmvgsl sound system. It is specifically designed to ensure noise bleed is going out. So, hence our stage also being pointed out toward away from the neighborhoods. We will have our hours for amified sound and wont go past 10 00 p. M. And, i believe thats it. Thank yall so much for the time. Any questions of course. Just a quick question. We know from previous events at the midway we get noise complaints from alameda island across the bay and the sound clearly travels. I realize thats necessarily something within your control. Are you doing any outreach to folks on the other side of the bay. Thats out of our per view and yours. We are totally open to that and aware of that. On the front end we hope since we are doing this towards the end of september we wont see as much of the heavy bog that contributes to the sound being carried across the bay. We produced an event across the bay at the glenn arena parking lot and we can include a heads up that we are also doing this when we do our outreach for that as well. Yeah, yeah. Its a misterrous misterrious. Thank you for describing the Community Outreach. What are your plans to reach the unhoused neighbors. Do we have a plan to reach them . The official plan is to have the fliering going out. If there are any farther suggestions wed be down to look at how we can take care of that in a better way. Okay, ill see what i can come up with. Okay, thank you. Thank you for bringing folks back to the city for live music and what looks like a great set. Congratulate you on top of it. Im a producer and i like the planning you have done so far. You said the amified sound ends at 10 00. For the amplified sound prior to event we wont go 10 00. On event days well have amplified sound from 10 45 outside. Sorry. What happens between all right, good luck to you. Thanks. I have one comment we are happy to put out any information about the job fair. Amazing, that would be great. I play disk golf thats embarrassing my family does too. The course is closed because they are conducting an active Shooter Drill with the police in the park. Other than the patdowns and wounding. Its a horrible thing to ask. What is your plan for an active shooter situation. If you didnt mind i might turn it over. Im tim the festival director. With any type of incident our staff along with Law Enforcement agencies follow typical command structure. We work with the Law Enforcement to derm the best plan of action. The top exercises and bring you anything from active shooter to buy to bio. It depends on the situation. U. S. A. Yeah, unfortunately. Any other questions . I dont have any other questions. You can have a seat and we can talk about this for a second. Do we want to entertain a motion first . Sure, i move to approve with staff recommendations. Second. All right, lets open it up for Public Comment. Any Public Comment on this agenda item . There doesnt appear to be any Public Comment for this item. All right. I should have asked you are familiar with the staff recommendations . Okay. Okay [roll call]. Congratulations. Sounds like an amazing verbal answer event for. Continue to work with our staff. Thank you. All right, we can move to the next permit on our agenda. Great. The next permit on our regular agenda is for an llp permit for aura restaurant and bar located down by on 2368 third street. They would like to have live performance. One neighbor was worried. I spoke with the neighbor and the applicant spoke with her directly. In the days leading up to the hearing the business held a zoom meeting for any concerned neighbors which i attended. Two neighbors showed up and we had a productive conversation and the business was able to layout their plans. There set an internal sound limit using the rear of the property for the measuring point because thats where the closest sensitive receptor is. The sound limited is in the recommendation below and they agreed with the permit. For the outreach they sent 19 letters to commercial neighbors and there was no opposition to the permit. There was one added condition. Here to speak with you is the owner jack and manager ollie. Hi, there. Is this working properly . Move closer to it. They summed it up pretty well. I would like to reemphasis Public Comment. Im the owner of aura business and bar. Currently we try to offer live singing, bands, and other events. Like i mentioned we sent out letters to our neighbors. They received this through mail and email via phone. Patrons and support of the permit. We have that enclosed as well. I want to make sure with get you one. We addressed all of the sound from our neighbors. The goal is just to increase business out of covid19. Its a restaurant and bar. We were only open for business 16 months prior to covid19 hitting. As you know we would like to negotiate leases with landlords and we hope that trying to get patrons next to 30 minutes. Any questions . Thank you for working collaboratively with your neighbored thats nice to hear we had an upset neighbor before we got the permit. Thats a great menu. Its k action raoke is the it in a room. No. Just on the stage. Will you do regular checks with the manager onsite . We did a disbal test. We kept it around 50 and that seemed not to travel to the nay neighbors. We will will keep it at that 50 level and never exceed that. Okay, great. I dont have concerns. I dont have any questions. Sounds like a good idea to drum up business. I love live karaoke. I move the staff recommendations. Any Public Comment on the agenda item . There are no Public Comments for this item. All right, we will close Public Comment. I think we can have a vote. [roll call]. Thank you for. Coming in. Up next. Next permit application on the regular asecond located on 690 street. This was her outdoor recorded music on the patio part of the property footprint. It was prerecorded since july of 2021. We never received a complaint. The business would like to continue the usage of the amp sound but expand the hours from 10 00 a. M. To 8 00 p. M. Daily. Staff would like to approve the request. For outreach they sent out the attached letter to 10 businesses, hotels, and apartments within a one block radius. They approved this with one standard. I have the operator zarina eastman. Basically yes. You got it. So we are here to talk about two permits and i wrote something that covers both. Id like to puton the record there are two separate permits for two separate grove locations with different operations. If you want to give one narrative thats fine but they will whether be voted on separately and different plans for operations. You didnt have to have them do the same thing again. Thank you so much. So, yes, we have been part of the let me get used to this the San Francisco restaurant seen since 1999. They live five blocks from one location. Kenneth who is here with me today is president and cofounder of both of the grove with his wife and cofounder annazankel. We had four locations before the pandemic and now down to two. We would like to request limited live limitation permits. We would like recorded music at both locations and never had a noise complaint atmosphere either location. We have been open for 13 years. Music is a background to the location. Management is very well versed in this and music is part of the fabric. Just below everything its like a heartbeat. Its not meant to overload or power. With are requesting indoor and outdoor music thats at 65 did we vision street at the corner of henry adam street. This is from showplace square. We have a 2,000 square foot patio covered within the property line. The permits we had previous to covid19. It raised off the sidewalk 6 feet. Again, its not much louder than it is now. We would like a jazz combo playing or deejay playing versions of a song on vie vinyl. Its something people can expect and management understands. So, in that particular location im sure, you may or may not know its been a struggle the past few years there. At this location we had a lot of different issues. There is a large encampment issues and tend to hold onto it upswing. Offices surrounding us. We hope to add something positive to survive the neighborhood and could assist in making the area as a draw for guest we would like to keep it alive and thriving. This is at the corner of third and mission. The music would be within our property line. We have a large space with high ceilings and perfect area set up in front of the fireplace to add a jazz combo to enrich the experience. There is a four story 6foot vertical buffer. Both of the spaces on either side we are affiliated with. We wont complain. The music level would need to be at the same level. There are a lot of challenges. Everyone here can understand and experienced in their own ways. The main goal is to bring vibrancy to both areas that have been depressed for the past few years. Neighbors are really supportive to us. People stop by and encourage us to see a letter of encouragement. Its a positive thing. We hope this works out. They are happy to answer any questions are concerns you might have. Thank you. Questions. I manage harrys bar. Thats funny. Any questions. I dont have anything specific. Talk it over. Do we have a motion. So, well take these one at a time. We will start with yerba buena. Second. Any Public Comment on the yerba buena half . There are no Public Comments. None we can vote on that. [roll call]. Congratulations on yerba buena. Lets try the other one, whats the address . The next permit application is for the grove Design District located at 65 did we vision street. I know that one. Do you want my narrative. Its a separate set of plans. I stand corrected. This location is also seeking an llp for prerecorded music. The patio location is part of the property footprint and cant have share spaces. They have the jam permit from our was a. 2021 they never received a complaint. They are seeking to expand outdoor hours. They request a opportunity to host outdoor or interstainment from 10 00 a. M. To 9 00 p. M. They continue it for the existing jam sound permits. This is within a one to two radius. There is no opposition with more conditions. Got it. Anything about this application we should know. No. Thank you. Do we have a motorcycles for this location. One approval with application recommendations. Second. Any Public Comment on the Design District location. No Public Comments for this item. All right, we can vote. [roll call]. Congratulations. Please follow up with staff as you get your next steps. All right, to the next. Final permit is for a place of entertainment for big baobab. This is the sister business for little baobab. Big baobab will be open wednesday through sunday and continue to serve the community for food and performances. They are spocking to activate both inside and on the outdoor patio. At the restaurant through sunday 10 00 p. M. Indoor through service. For the outdoor patio. They have amplified sound from 4 00 p. M. To 9 00 p. M. Its 12 to 2 00 p. M. Its not exceeding six weeks of activity per day. Business is up and running. They conducted outreach in the community. They sent the letter included in the file and spoke with 16 businesses. They received 11 letters of support including from supervisor ronan. In addition. They received 450 signatures. We received opposition from the hoa residents were concerned about the resell of their homes and the restaurant being a bothering to a preschool. Their biggest Sticking Point was the 2 00 a. M. Cutoff time for entertainment. They requested they end at 10 00 p. M. This is not feasible for their program model. They will install more widows to mitigate sound leakage and end outdoor at 9 00 p. M. The preschool submitted a letter of approval. They approved the permit with no added recommendation. I would like to read the staff recommendation to approve with the Good Neighbor policy and sound to be permitted wednesday through friday 4 00 p. M. To 9 00 p. M. Also 5 00 p. M. To 9 00 p. M. Here to speak with you this evening is the owner marco and associate kevin. Hello, thank you for being here. Thank you for your work. I have emailed over a slide presentation. If we could look at that really quick. Oh. It will take time but well try to set it up. Im kevin ortez. Marco has owned this restaurant at 19 and mission. This has been the hub of senghor food. Marco is excited to continue sharing his vision of food and drinks from all over the world. Moving around the corner from 1h to 19th. Marco has an outdoor patio and operating from 5 00 to 9 00 p. M. With live music and commencing with indoor deejays. The security plan includes guards, two outdoors and two inside as well. Marco informed his neighbors about his entertainment application on 2243 Mission Street. He has support from several community leaders, neighbors, and online petition with 597 signaturing supporting the application. These are folks that are not always on the same side of things but speaks to marcos character. We have installed wood floor panels. Also adding sound boards on the establishment. They will stepup 35,000 with the hopes of being the best neighbor they can be. Marco is here as well. Good evening, commissioner. Thank you for having me and the support. What id like to say here is. I feel like im in my community of west africa and happy to have you all here with me. Ill always looking for making peace. Thats why i took my hand to the neighbors. I was very excited when i could move to 2243 Mission Street. Just give a little space on the microphone. Okay. Sorry. When i was a deejay. No worries. Just a little farther away. Im here just to make sure i make peace with my neighbors. I love working with my community. Its not about trying to win. We win together and thats always the case is San Francisco. Outside of the business. When i was on 19th street for 23 years i had nuns in front of me and they had my phone numbers. Thats what its about at baobab. With have not open the location and forced to be closed 10 00 p. M. We will make it a beautiful place and wonderful for everybody to come from around the world. Thank you for giving us the time to speak. Thank you. First question. Sorry. Do you want to show your presentation. Oh, presentation. It has some photos. Okay. Hello, thank you for coming in and bringing the community here. Im impressed to see how much support you have. Thank you for taking the time to come and support. You mentioned spending 35,000 on sound mitigation. What will that entail. A lot of sound boards. Someone offered me 75 boards i have at the restaurant. We also have some of the most efficient material to puton the wall. We will be able to measure the decibels. We will also do steel reinforcement. We hope to work with the neighbors because we want them to be happy. If they are in compliance in the future from a neighbor. How do you plan to install that in realtime. They will have my number and number of the manager. Figure out what we need to do to fix it. You will have a manager on sight. When there is music you can turndown the volume if needed. Most of the people feel like they are part of the family and feel responsible. We will have a manager beside me. Okay. Thank you, marco. Thank you. There is something ability your voice. [ laughter ] its like the note in the shower that makes everything resonate. More questions . I have been going to your restaurant since with first opened. Obviously all of the people here are a testament to that. It adds to the neighborhood. There are other places of entertainment even though there is habitation nal usage. You have attacken steps and investing a lot of money in noise mitigation. Before we do Public Comment we should go motion. You can have a seat unless there are any farther comments or questions. Well do a motion abdomen open up and pub. Id like to make a motion to approve the application with staff recommendations. Second. Ill open it up to Public Comment. There are a lot of people in support here of the project. I saw some people not standing. Id like to give anybody who has concerns to speak first. Maybe we can talk through those. Well do 2 minutes of Public Comment due to the overwhelming number of people. I will never stop anyone from giving Public Comment. Seeing a giant show of support is powerful and good an effect as speaking for 2 minutes each. If you have something to say ill never stop that but note. We understand each of you has come here in solidarity that was standing. First of all, is there anybody with concerns that would like to come up first. Please, stepup if you didnt mind. So, each of you will have two minutes for Public Comment and have to go separately. Can we have 3 minutes. We know there are a ton of people in the community. Im representing the whole hoa. You can have 3 minutes can you have 3 minutes. Is there a way of showing. Does this thing project . Im suzanne and president of the hoa. Id like to say, im glad you build community. Thats wonderful. I just, it makes our building unlivable what they are planning to do. We wont with able to live. We have a long building. There side is southern facing and entirely exposed. The sun, when its just a warm day makes our home an oven. The only way to mitigate that is having windows facing the street open in the afternoons and evenings. Im familiar with little baobab. They are very loud. They are very loud. Its a choice of cooking in our oven or not being able to hear anything or do anything in our home. So, it would make, all of the residents oppose this. We are happy to have a lot of things and diverse neighbors. When we moved in it was a furniture store. We didnt oppose it. The noise of a brewery is fine. This is outdoor drumming and live entertainments and deejays until 2 00 a. M. I was at the meeting and the main concern was not the 2 00 a. M. The main concern is the noise. It will make it impossible for us to live. Thats speaking as the president and personal homeowner. I conduct a Small Business out of my home. Most of my clients are high risk and have serious conditions. So, this is the room i use because it has so many windows. To meet with them safely i must have the windows open and we both wear masks. If there is noise with the business. Its hard to communicate with kn95. I will close my business. I work until 8 00 or 9 00 p. M. The hours wont help. Finally, from a personal note, this is my home. I lived here for 13 years. Its a challenging place to live especially on Mission Street. I love where i live. My favorite restaurants are within a block. The they move in i wouldnt be able to livein my home or move. The Property Value if aloud bar is next door. Im so sorry for those who support the community. Id love a bar like this nearby but right next door to anex sisting building it doesnt make sense. I beg you to say no. Thank you for your time. Thank you. I also livein the which woulding next door. I have lived in the mission for 13 years. I love the neighborhood. Its a rough neighborhood to livein at sometimes. I have never been here before on a topic like this. Im concerned about aloud restaurant close to my home. I have respect for everyone that showed up today. I have respect for the Baobab Community restaurants. The one on 19th is a great place and its loud. They didnt have neighbors right next to the house where they spend their days. Its a big difference. I heard, the owner of the establishment and owners say how much outreach there has been. I livein the building and i never received a letter. Ultimately, we the hoa contacted the commercial space of our building reached out to the owners and spoke to them. It makes me wonder if they spoke to 500 different businesses we are 20 feet away. Where was that conversation . What i heard in the debrief is they will hang sheets or something to mitigate sounds. That worries me. Its aloud restaurant. There is a place for loud restaurants its just very charging. I hope people can understand that as the resident of the building right next to it to have that much exposure to sound. I dont have faith that everything will be under control. Im a Property Owner in the city. I pay taxes in the city. If i had aloud establishment like the one on 19th street. I feel like im making a 6 figure donation to the baobab group. I would look at that as a new home. Oh, im not moving next to that. I understand. It might not be a popular view in the room but thats my home. I have a lot of investment in the home. Im really concerned about the level of outreach to the neighbors its not outreach. Thats problematic to me. All right, thank you. Thank you. Any other commenters that have concerns . All right, does anybody want to speak in support please, you are welcome to. I have no ability to limit it. Lineup. Are we still doing the 2 minutes . Yeah, it has to be 3 now. It has to be 3 for everyone. 3 minutes. Hello. My name is shana lee and i livein the mission. I have been there since the 90s. I also a former Business Owner. I had a restaurant called the rooster. It was there since the 90s until 2003. I also had the founder of a bar called ab abanilla. Im on both side of the fences. So, i remember when i went through this process the liberty Hill Association had opposition for abanilla. We did a lot of work to work with the neighborhood. I was a respectful owner and responsible. I can attest that marco is the same. I have known him since golden gate university. We later begame business colleagues in the mission. With are a long hauler. We are not here to make profit and run. I am no longer a Business Owner but marco is making the neighborhood better. Speaking of liberty hill. They were afraid the Property Value would go down too. We were painted as being loud and punk rock and bringing riffraff. As you can see, the neighborhood value didnt go down. So, i just really want you to consider im responsible to help marco as a friend doing a lot of things he needs. One of them, several of the objects are for soundproofing. Its not just a sheet. Its not sheetrock. Its not fabric but professional soundproofing materials. Hes serious and we went through the space and we spoke about the floorsment the first thing he told me about was soundproofing. Hes very responsible and i have been his client and discuss. Com mer and hes always there. Hes responsible. What happened marco is always there. So, just soundproofing wise, yes. Hes making a lot of effort. I live ablock away. I apologize. Your 3 minutes is open. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Before we start again. For people making Public Comment can you put your name down. If you want to that aesop nal. I have to put minutes and names. Its voluntariry but id like to make sure i spell it correctly. Just write your name down as youd like to see it in the minutes. Thank you. My name is abdul. I have written my name if you can read my writing. Im the executive director of the network. We are the only block in the entire city of San Francisco. I remember arriving 20 years ago. Everybody knows what it was like. Im looking for a place i said talk to marco. Its the place where all newly arriving african immigrants would go to listen to music from home. Our former volunteer coming back to the u. S. They would like to go to africa. This is the place natives us the opportunity to bring piece to the patchwork of cultures in the city of San Francisco i understand people but marco said it where there is a will there is a way. They can work together. We can discuss step by step come up with a solution. So, i hear in full support for marcos project. We need more African Music and food and culture in the city. We need to contribute to the cultural space in the city. Thank you. Thank you. Im francisco. Im a neighbor marco. Id like to say marco and little baobab will be great for the mission. Hes a Good Employer and letters wrings the community together. He brings jobs to the mission. During covid19 he was making meals deliver to the city for the homeless. He got employment to employees. So, hes always there for the neighbors. Hes going to bring cultures together. He brings them to the mission and, you know, its not loud. It will be a lot of good for the mission. Hes eager to please the 19, 18 part of the mission. He will be full of color and different people from everywhere. Its amazing. Ill just add the possession corridor is alive. Its full of bars and restaurants. Im sure he will fit perfectly in this environment. Thank you very much. Don forget to write your name if you want to be included. Thank you, guys. Okay, i have been going to baobab for decades. When i started uc berkeley there wasnt much like my culture. Every visit is like visiting home. The community and people i met were paramount. This is the one place bringing people of all walks of life together. This is a hub for community, support, and growth. We need baobab and many more places like this. Thank you very much. Hel loo. Im i zach. I came to corroborate what you i have been to baobab twice. I felt at home. The Creative Community that has lived through the test of time and marco is one of the warmest people i ever met. Mission street would be lucky to have him in the space. Thank you. Thank you. Hello. Hi. Im just going to talk louder farther away. I opened a cafe called new harm any in january of 2020. That was a terrible time to be a first Time Restaurant owner. Marco saved me from financial ruin by providing advice, help, and storage for the equipment i had to store once i had to close the cafe. He cared about the people in the community and he cares cares sincerely about the concerns. He spoke about noise and soundproofing it starts to irritate me because its everything he cares about. He cares about the people around them. Whether they are friend or foe. Im not saying they are foes but he cares. You can see the actions and steps he takes. When the baby would cry in church he would celebrate it. Noise is the sound of life and thats what marco is trying to do. We are bringing and growing the community. I worked with him on the space and he has different plans to mitigate a lot of the possibility for noise to escape. Im working to bring plans for the space. He will take all of the things that people that are around him seriously and do what he can to help them be a successful loving part of the community. Thank you. Thank you very much my name is don. I share a lot of the admiration thats been expressed about marco. Im sure and confident that any problems that have been brought up that marco is more and willing able to do. This is the worst amount. I just wanted to make an overall comment. They en abled them to the city. Hes an asset to the neighborhood. Its establishment at the Gathering Place for people who have come to country or part of the world that they could possibly be very familiar with. Its a service and place where they can feel at home in a new environment. Finally, i think provides a service foundation. We are reinforcing the reputation that San Francisco is trying to provide a center in america its a cosmopolitan character and promoter of diversity. Thats all i have to say. Thank you very much. My name is angry angie hannah. I have been working to curriate art. This is known for having a similar environment as little baobab. I have had similar complaints with noise in outside elements. What i can say about marco. Hes constantly present and i have seen and generosity. This is about each and every person that comes in. Hes not one to let go of the issues. He will take care of it right away. As far as noise complaints and concern of neighbors everybody has fear about what will happen. Its a troubling time and depressessive economic and social time for everybody. What we cant account for is the future. Making a decision for what will happen in the space that hasnt had a chance to show what mark cois doing. Hes taking account ability for the noise and all of these precautions for the noise and caring about it. We keep building community. Its building up everything around him. It benefits your hoa. The mission itself is a noisy environment. Mission is chaos in general. There is beauty bar around the corner. There are other establishments not to say they are good or bad just to provide another element. If someone is begun rally taking care you can consider this as a positive environment. I feel incredibly lucky to work for marco after my experience in the mission. Everybody in the Restaurant Industry knowing each other i feel very lucky. Im in marcos corner. Thank you very much. Hello. Im maria sanchez. I have lived in the mission for 20 years now and im a homeowner. I was concerned about noise next to my house too. I have known marco for 16 years when i went with my child remember to classes. Hes a very solid person and take note that this is next to a residential area. Disregard we are working together to present baobab in a series. With are presenting movies that are geared towards the mission about in latin america. They are not completely and shown indoors and contribute to music outdoors. The way the restaurant is going it wont be exactly along the lines with little baobab. Since its so small its geared towards the outside. I am very, this is my favorite place in the whole city baobab real restaurants. I have been going there with my families. Im excited about the opportunity to come to life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I just wanted to, i just want to speak to what marco brings. I have pretty noisy neighbors and one thing that makes it hard to live is how inconsid rate people can be. Id like to speak to how considerate mark cois. We speak to of course there is concern. Marco is a professional person. Its not just his style but its the type of place he runs. Hes a professional owner and i have worked with him for many years. I know if there is concern that arising in the future. There is professional behavior. This is to the point that was risen to how much noise little baobab producing. There isnt the same neighbors. I can second what has been said which others. Thats all he talks able. I have followed marcosture any to find this place. Before he had contact with the owner and previous tenants. He was staking up on soundproofing boards and he already had a plan if place before knowing he would have neighbors to insulate the space. This is how much he cares about making sure the noise is not an issue. Thank you. Thank you very much. Hi, is this good. Me name is nicholas. I just wanted to echo what everyone has said. This is a culture appear hub. In a way that provided and vibing energy. This will contribute to this in a bussling neighborhood. As for the sound concerns were inspected by neighbors marco will do everything he can. There is a hefty investment. Marco will do everything to work with the community to find a solution just like he did with before. I juice used to live by ar and they would party everyday. I used to work from home from 8 00 a. M. To 11 00 p. M. The noise was never debilitating. It does become debilitating and there is a way to file noise complaints if too loud. There is always the choice of filing a face complaint in the future. Thank you. I think we will have to do sound testing with the city Hall Building management. My name is invol. You have heard how important baobab has been to the community. I wouldnt repeat it even though i just did. What id like to maybe add to the story here is that i have been going to baobab for many years. I havent met marco until a few days ago. He didnt know i would show up today but i went with a friend of mine and gave us a tour of the state maybe for 20 minutes. Out of the 20 20 20 minut. I didnt know much about soundproofing before and i wanted to tell you that. Marco he showed us it safety person. The bar where they are located where the sound could come from. It went much beyond what i expected. Thats all i have to say. Keep in mind the fact that this is honestly a very important cultural hub spot. I would be alongside all of the other people. Im sad if it doesnt come to light. Thank you. Hi, can you hear me. My name is kristina. I was with her that night. I have been going to baobab for 15 muss years. I go with my family and its definitely been my family is from south africa but its home away from home. When my husband visit he says we have to go to baobab. Like many years we have spanish meet up. This is at boob. I understand the concern of its loud. I had loud nay boars and its inconvenient. We went into the spacey and we spoke about soundproofing and direction nal al speakers. Hes taking it seriously. If there is an issue or if he does his maximum to the soundproofing hes willing to do the work. He wont say thats your problem. He wants this place to be here for the long hall for the community. He has a Strong Community behind him to help him achieve the dreams. I hope People Better living next deeper can feel comfort in the fact that not only marco but the community that supports him would like to make this a livable environment. I hope there will be more communication between the homeowners. They will love it when they listen to music during the day or eat the food and everything. I think he takes it seriously to make it a place that everybody will enjoy. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, my name is joanna cruz. Im the operations manager. Question are a culture alartist. We have been representing the diversity of San Francisco. And the bay area for almost 20 years. We have been working with marco alongside with the baobab for over 10 to 12 years now actually. The culture aldi versety during the pandemic this is a restaurant that supported the Homeless Community in San Francisco. Currently today hes helping organize like the Youth Network that i support to help with programming by donating food to our program of the youth. Thats just one example. I was apart of his Community Management team over the years and working with him personally for at least 7 to 8 years i know he cares so deeply. Not just about the restaurant but the city. Hes here for the long hall and hes here for the hard work and make sure that all people feel welcomed, safe, this is something as a community and city we need to value. People like marcco are valued. They do the work too take care of each other and make cross culture alex change. Thats very special. I hope you understand as the commission you have a valuable asset in marco. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. We have a line sure, go ahead. Everybody is allowed a chance. Thank you. I wasnt planning to speak. I livein the mission for 30 years. I have been to 19 that was denied when i went to mission 30 years ago. I have known marco since the first day i think such incredible assets to have the baobab on Mission Street because its life. Its music. Its bringing people together in the human manor. I believe that he deserves to prove hes honest and has community value. Hes responsible and make thank you. Thank you very much. My adopted name is aphoa. I have traveled to other countries in africa we call the mother land. When i went to visit baobab. This is senegal. This is senegal here in our area. I have been to baobab to get the food and music. Be a appreciative of the culture they are brought here. I thank you deeply. When you are dancing to music you didnt really here but i have never had any loud music, you know, in my experience and now that i livein oakland i dont get a chance to come over as often. Of course im older and didnt travel until a group of friends in the past and now in the future we are sure to come to baobab and enjoy and appreciate the experience. Thank you. Looks like Public Comment. Commissioners we have two zoom Public Comments hand raised. Well start with fredrick. Hes a very responsible owner. Always looking out for the neighbor. This is just a restaurant or bar. Its a culture alcenter. People from all over the world meet there and also locals as well it helps these kin of places to be there because there are places ta all people meet at the end of the week. They exchange cultures. It will be very far. Please consider that hes a caring owner and concerned about people. I always come back because i know marco is there for us. Find a neighbor and be aware that hes very aware for the situation. He will do all of this if possible to make sure people are happy. Thats all i have. Thank you. We have another person with their hand raised. Ill momentarily let them in. Please unmute yourself and let us know if you can hear us. Yep, i can hear you. Can you hear me. Yes, you have three minutes. The ownerover condo on 2235 Mission Street. Im next to the other baobab site. I heard comments on the call about the value that baobab brings to the mission. I am not sure if anybody is disputing that. It brings great food. The challenges around the hours and thats until 2 00 a. M. Everyday. From a soundproofing propective and when we spoke with marco the soundproofing was only around the floors. No discussion about the sides. In terms of soundproofing plans they have not been communicated to the neighbors. I dont believe there is flex ability in the hours. They say that they will go until 2 00 a. M. As much as we appreciate the culture al benefits of baobab being open its really disruptive. How many times has the neighbor called. How many times can you call the police. Is that the status statuo of how you live. I dont think there were concrete plans around soundproofing. We havent reached out to the neighbors. We had to reach out to marco. I appreciate the comments about Community Building and what he has done in the past. It feels like the ball has been dropped on this. Neighbors are just concerned about the lack of funding about the space. The main sound of hours. Its not like its shutting down at 9 00 to 10 00 p. M. We are able to go there and get a taste of africa. I appreciate the fact that its there. Reasonable hours. There are Gathering Places around. Thank you very much. No other hands raised and no comments in the chat. We have one more okay. How are you doing. Yeah,also in solidarity with baobab. I have been in the city, i was born and raised in 97 thats the year marco has been here as well. I collaborated with a number of events every event i have seen him with on behalf of love, light, and positivity. Its a family restaurant. There are youth that come there. They were born and raised in San Francisco. They are welcome there and if there is some noise. Let it be noise from a Conscious Movement like baobab. There is a lot of ignorant noise in the city. They need to preserve the culture. I feel like San Francisco is losing that. We come together through food, music, and id also like to address i have never seen baobab open to 2 00 a. M. Everyday of the week. That seems like an exaggeration. Maybe on the weekends. Im not sure the Business Hours from the last person that spoke was employing that. Its an exaggeration. Thats my vote. I think, if anybody marco has been a pillar in the community. He really just we leaves in all colors. It was with positive movement. I appreciate marco doing he is thing. I respect what it takes to open a restaurant in a pandemic. After the mom and pop shops and original businesses. My children have been going to places since they were little kids. I hope he has success and pray for that. I pray for the noise to rimle more beautiful things in the city. Im andrew. I represent the culture aldistrict. Its about culture. Marco goth here 25 years ago and put in the work to be apart of the community. Yeah we see how Mission Street is. We would like to bring life back to Mission Street. It will bring the culture back to San Francisco. San francisco is losing it and its up to us to bring it back. Lets bring culture, music, and dance. Thank you. Thank you very much. Seeing no more Public Comment and none on the line. We will close Public Comment. Any thoughts to start things off . I have a question regarding the application. What are the exact hours being applied for monday through friday 4 to 9 00 p. M. Saturday and sunday 12 00 to 2 00 . Outdoor. Is it 2 00 p. M. To 2 00 a. M. Its to not exceed 6 hours per day. Its a two hours of activation they will take a break. 12 00 a. M. To 2 00 p. M. Its not a place of entertainment. Its a place of entertainment. The outdoor location is limited to 6 hours per day. Anybody else want to open with comments. I do have thoughts on this. We need to be extremely conscious of the concerns way its permitted for entertainment. This is a permanent usage. However, they have not had a entertainment venue next to them that could lead to changes and that could be nothing. Very ska are scary and cause issues. I dont think this will immediately ruin where they live. I dont think that because who knows or roll the dice. We heard from many people about the quality of marcos character and business on Mission Street. There is no question that hes one of the most conscious people that you can meet. You know, i have known him as the pacemaker he helped me to mitigate what i had with people especially with neighbors. He helped us build bridges. Hes just that kind of person. Thats necessary. That is the testament of a character and all of you spoke an that behalf. We have cut out from the conversation here. What role we play as the Entertainment Commission in this. A lot of it is based on misunderstanding. Lack of knowledge of what we do. We are the liaison between neighbors if this were to be granted soundproofing is great. Im happy hes working on soundproofing. The point is do not, you know, this is the code we have. Thats all great and conscious and amazing. If he communicated that well or didnt. He feels things are different. We are the ones that arbitrate and decide if somebody is acting in their permit based on code. We didnt just come in and say this doesnt feel right. We have sound measurements we do before they open and we have staff to correct the caller. You do not call the police when someone has an entertainment permit. We have inspectors in the field regularly that try to act in realtime. If they didnt catch it in realtime they come back and they come back and come back and come back. Our goal is to get permit holders into compliance. I totally understand there is fear and things that go on when Something Like this to happen. We deal with it. Our staff has a good track record i belabov. The proof is in our track record which is on the record auto of relent leslie making sure permit holders are in compliance. If they are out. There is a cascading set of things that happen. It doesnt happen overnight. They have a permit. The first they get a notice of violation or warning. The notice of violation said if we come back and this happens again well get a citation. One they start they cascade as well and get worst and worst and worst. This is until they are in compliance. We didnt have any permit holders regularly out of compliance that we hear 311 complaints. We had 86 complaints in less than a month. Inspectors responded to every single one. About the they didnt set the record straight. Thats what we do as the body and thats our job. The fact that little baobab didnt have neighbors next door. You have for years. You have others. They are able to be loser there. That doesnt mean that big baobab has free license to operate the same way if there are neighbors and violation of the code. Id like to be on the record. There are experience as a department permit holders almost overwhelmingly have a Good Relationship because we bring them into compliance ands trying to punish for the sake of punishing. This is well documented. Neighbors have a good opinion. We are so relentless. This is from the deputy director. I just want to make sure its clear what we do and how we do that. I think thats the general crux of my thoughts. Id like to hear from other commissioners about the thoughts you have. I appreciate so many folks come out and support. I appreciate the folks that spoke to the applicants sense of community and desire to work with people to resolve conflicts and that makes me feel good about moving forward with this. You know, i think in terms of the sound clear there is work being done to address mitigating the sound. You know, our staff will be able to go out and check the noise level and set appropriate noise levels. So, you know, i feel like all of that has yet to be done. So, you know, normally thats the processes that works well. Staff are able to go out and help said noise levels and set levels and understand and explain to the owners and managers how to be in compliance with the sound ordnance and then we move forward from there. If there are complaints after that. When we go through a more set of problems i feel like, you know to me, this sounds like the kind of project that we that we approve all of the time. There is sound mitigation efforts underway. The sound complaints levels are not set yet. They get complaints of anything. I feel strongly we should move forward. This is set until next monitor. I left one thing out of the escalading situation with people who are out of compliance. One option we do have is any time we want we can call back a permit holder back to hearing and to look again at their sound limits and either their limits or hours of operation. We have done that many time in my tenure here and done it with operators that for one reason or another cant bring things into compliance. We say this is not working. Maybe in thank you fur which are if you are effective we can revisit those. There is a natural tension between neighbors. Thats why we are making sure rules are in placed and enforced. Given the did i have t measures that have been taken we have the tools in place to make sure its still a livable neighborhood and the business can operate and engage in entertainment. I wanted to emphasis this is a busy corridor. There are a lot of knife life already high happening. Im a very much moving forward to grant this. One is. A lot of people spoke on marcos behalf. Hes someone thats straightforward straightforward. You want someone that can work with people but we decide if things are working out or not. Thats where my head is at as well. I think the proof is in the pudding going forward. A few things it does seem like, for whatever reason, some of the neighbors adjacent to the property didnt feel that there was a connection made i would encourage you to continue to build that and go out of your way. I would say that to the neighbors. There is a lot of good will. Acted very well. Id like that to be open for the lines of communication. If we vote on this and approve on it which im in support of. Im trying to be careful. Thats why im stuttering. I apologize. We have a motion and second. Lets vote. All right, [roll call]. All righteous, ris is the starting place and a lot of work to be done here. There is a lot of love and so, i feel like tease are surmountable problems. I just encourage everybody to get together and make it work and we will help facilitate. Congratulations marco and follow up with staff for next steps. [ applause ] all right, the next agenda item is number 7 the election of the Vice President. Do we need a nomination. I think i can speak on behalf of the Vice President shes interested in continuing on for another term as Vice President. I would like to nominate her for the position. Do we have a second. Second. Is there a motion. I would like to make a motion to elect. Thank you for that. We had a second. Is there any Public Comment. Who dividual you motion for. You second it. Fallen off the rails here. Is there any Public Comment on this agenda. There doesnt appear. Well close Public Comment to have a vote. [roll call]. So moved. Congratulations whenever you are. The next agenda item is the election of the president. I would like to, begun. I have been honored by the position. This gives my life meaning other than my daughter. What about your cat . The cat is good. They are having conflict. I move to elect ben as president. Second. Second. To seconds and and a third. Is there any agenda pc speakers. I said im interested. Who would like to nominate. We would have to go back. There was a double second on my right. I actually think i have to vote on this which is awkward. It would be awkward if you vote against yourself. Thats between me and my therapist. Webb [roll call]. Congratulations to me. Final is commissioners comments and questions and final requests for future agenda items. I just want to tell the audience that there was an article written about nightlife that brought up a nightmare. I was excited to see passion and energy from people and leaders and public on how we can better support nightlife. I ask in the future into the either. Any reporter or anyone thats interested in the issues should interview people in our department or office for said story. In the case of that specific story that didnt happen. I think that showed in the article itself and its take on thing. I hope in the future people will realize our Entertainment Commission is a one of a kind thing in the world its all nightlife and government. We are bombarded by people that goes for cities like london, austin, texas and seattle. You feel a strong nightlife. Im so proud to be a small part of that. Who were you thanking. My people. Any Public Comment on the final agenda item. There are none. I close the meeting adjourned at 7 42 p. M. First dibs on the bathroom. Thank you. You know, i remember when i was a teenager, they did i think it was on the grammys, boss scags narrated the San Francisco scene and they did a spot on it and how its evolved and convergence of multi culture and the emergence of gay community, lgbtq, it was not even called that then. So like any good listening back then, i played softball and a friend on the team said, the Fire Department is recruiting women. I took the test in 88 and 89 i got hired. And i always say this, it was like a perfect career, it was like social work, i love that connecting and helping people aspect and physical. So i was like a social worker with an ax basically. And i just thought, this is like, this is it, i hit the jackpot. Part of my story is, i grew up across the street from a fire station and as a young girl, i use today love going in there and would go in there whenever my parents voted, they the old fashion voting machines. Sxifs in awe of the place but i never saw anybody that looked anything like me. It was all men, it was all white men and so, i never knew that i could do that. This was in the 70s. And i worked in several Different Things and i was at the pride parade in 1991. And the chief of the department, she i did give her courtesy card to come in, i remember it to this day, june 30th. The hand and hand together and i was with a friend of mine and fire fighter named anita prattly came up to me and we had a mutual friend and we didnt meet. And she came by the table and as soon as i looked at her, i said hi o to my friend, i could see she was super athletic. And she knew my friend and she said hey, do you want to be a fire fighter, heres an interest card, join us. There was something about her that could roll with the punches and also give a few punches. She would be great and i just knew it. I did give her the courtesy card. It was my greatest achievement. And it was something i saw myself, yeah, i love a good crisis. And im good in crisis and im good on thinking on my feet. And im you know, super fit and physical, maybe i can do this awesome. But just in terms of pride in general, being able to go to pride and be who we are and be who i am, its like the sense of digity and equality and inclusion. I was always incredibly proud to represent the community and to be doing service for the community, because thats what i love doing. Coming to San Francisco for me, was really key because i love the city. The city is so vibrant and diversity is really, its one of its treasures. So being part of a department that represents diversity is huge and so important to me that we welcome everyone. And not just face value, truly to integrate to have diversity, have representation not just on the fire fighter level but all levels in this department, all ranks up and down the chain of command. Its huge and its, stepping in as a woman of color as part of the Lgbtq Community, means more than just myself, right. I represent more than just myself. But as a leader, other people in this department, other people in the community that are looking at me and seeing that there is space for them. And so that is really creating space for everyone. When i first joined the military, it was still under dont ask dont tell. I had to be super cautious about what i was doing. I was still figuring out what i was doing. I joined when i was 19, i knew i was part of the community i was not accepting yet. My first duty station was officer guam and thats where i got to explore who i was. And being under the umbrella of dont ask dont tell, and having a friend being separated because he was gay. It was very rule. Had you to make sure that you were following the rules you needed to do everything you need today do. I was fortunate to be there when dont ask dont tell was repealed. You find people who are making a big deal about it, the next day everybody went to work like nothing happened. We were accepted and nobody made a big deal about it. Work performance was even better because you didnt have to hide something and worry about hiding. The transition from that world into this one is basically the exact same. I was able to just jump in and just you know, not even test the waters. I grew up with firefighters, my uncle and cuss infor a volunteer department in canada. Here its quite different, bigger department, a lot of different people. You know, just working with San Francisco i really enjoy having all the different personalities, background, experiences, im a pro lead rhyme now. Im a year into my probation and im already finished. And i felt like everybody has brought me in and show me what they know. And regardless of my sexuality, my gender, my race, i was 28 when i decided to change my career and go any different direction. Im 35 now just starting out in a whole different field. San francisco has a Large Population of Lgbtq Community in general and our department is reflective on that. The one thing i love about the San Francisco Fire Department, is we do look like the community we serve and were making every strife to reflect that. So even in our out reach, recruitment efforts, were trying to make sure that every Single Person including the Lgbtq Community has an opportunity to become a member of our department. Soz a subpoena officer, its important to make sure that i welcome my crew. That includes every Single Member that is on my apparatus, i feel we can do a better job. My dad was a football coach and he taught me to persevere and be committed and im showing that im doing that. Im very proud to say that i get to start my career off as a fire fighter for the San Francisco Fire Department. And im proud to be who i am, proud to be all the colors that i represent, proud to be, you know, i love being a woman in the department and to feel comfortable with who i am and very secure and excited to come to work. You know, one thing my mom also en grained anything we set our heart to and anything we wanted to do, the only thing stopping us was us. Its my dream to be a Fire Department member and im here, being changed because of who i was and now being able to out and proud of who i am, its, i feel it should mean something. Its important as a San Francisco fire fighter, that we understand the community that we serve. Its important that our department is made up of different genders, different ethnicities, different sexual orientations, because the community that we serve need to reflect the apparatus. Ive seen, ive seen the evolution of this department, ive seen it change through the years. Were in a better place than we were many years ago. I think we continue to evolve. Im really hopeful for this next generation of leaders who do smart, determined, lead with heart and im hopeful for our future for this Department Going forward. Were your department. Were here for you. Were you and that, and i really believe that San Francisco really embodies that. I tell you, it was the greatest decision i ever made. I kept thinking, my gosh if i didnt play softball i wonder if i would have heard about it. Its funny you plan in life and gu to college and you plan your next steps, but the most profound decision nz life, is how you meet people are random. I was meant to be i think and it was such a great fit being that social worker with the ax, thats it. So i see San Francisco and San Francisco leadership and government as a beacon for the entire country. Because we are so up front about what we believe in, were really up front about inclusivity and i know that, others look at us, many look to us. Weve had other departments, contact us in terms of how do you, how do you do this . How do you create a diverse equitable and inclusive workforce . And so, but i would be lying if i said that we dont have any problems in california or in San Francisco or in the department. We are out liars, sure . Are we doing our best again to address those things with implicit bias training . With changing the culture, our department has made huge huge leaps as has the city and i really feel like San Francisco is part of the solution to moving forward in a better way. People are individuals, there are a lot of different types of people in this world and celebrating our differences is what pride is all about. In august 2019 construction began on the new facility at 1995 evans avenue in bayview. It will house Motorcycle Police and department of Forensic Services division. Both sfpd groups are in two buildings that need to be vacated. They will join the new 183 million facility in late 2021. Elements of the cfi and the Traffic Company are housed at the hall of justice, which has been determined to be seismically unfit. It is slated for demolition. In addition to that the Forensic Services crime lab is also slated for demolition. It was time and made sense to put these elements currently spread in different parts of the city together into a new facility. The project is located in the bayview area, in the area near estes creek. When San Francisco was first formed and the streetcars were built back it was part of the bay. We had to move the building as close to the edge as possible on bedrock and solid elements piles down to make sure it was secure. It will be approximately 100,000 square feet, that includes 8,000 square feet for Traffic Company parking garage. The reason we needed too new building, this is inadequate for the current staffing needs and also our motor department. The officers need more room, secured parking. So the csi unit location is at the hall of justice, and the Crime Laboratory is located at building 60 sixty old Hunters Point shipyard. Not colocated doesnt allow for easy exchange of information to occur. Traffic division was started in 1909. They were motor officers. They used sidecars. Officers who road by themselves without the sidecar were called solo. That is a common term for the motorcycle officers. We have 45 officers assigned to the motorcycles. All parking at the new facility will be in one location. The current locker room with shared with other officers. It is not assigned to just traffic companies. There are two showers downstairs and up. Both are gym and shop weres are old. It needs constant maintenance. Forensic services provides five major types of testing. We develop fingerprints on substances and comparisons. There are firearms identification to deal with projectiles, bullets or cartridge casings from shootings. Dna is looking at a whole an rare of evidence from array of evidence from dna to Sexual Assault to homicide. We are also in the business of doing breath allyzer analysis for dui cases. We are resurrecting the gunshot Residue Testing to look for the presence of gunshot residue. Lifespan is 50 years. It has been raised up high enough that if the bay starts to rise that building will operate. The facility is versus sustainable. If the lead gold highest. The lighting is led. Gives them good lights and reduces energy use way down. Water throughout the project we have low water use facilities. Gardens outside, same thing, low water use for that. Other things we have are green roofs on the project. We have studies to make sure we have maximum daylight to bring it into the building. The new facility will not be open to the public. There will be a lobby. There will be a deconstruction motorcycle and have parts around. The dna labs will have a vestibule before you go to the space you are making sure the air is clean, people are coming in and you are not contaminating anything in the labs. Test firing in the building you are generating lead and chemicals. We want to quickly remove that from the individuals who are working in that environment and ensure what we put in the air is not toxic. There are scrubbers in the air to ensure any air coming out is also at the cleanest standards. You will see that kind of at the site. It has three buildings on the site. One is for the motorcycle parking, Main Building and back behind is a smaller building for evidence vehicles. There is a crime, crime scene. They are put into the secure facility that locks the cars down while they are examined. They could be vehicles involved in the shooting. There might be projectiles lodged in the vehicle, cartridge casings inside the vehicle, it could be a vehicle where a aggravated sexual occurred and there might be biological evidence, fingerprints, recovered merchandise from a potential robbery or other things. The greatest challenge on the project is meeting the scope requirements of the project given the superheated Construction Market we have been facing. I am proud to say we are delivering a project where we are on budget. The front plaza on the corner will be inviting to the public. Something that gives back to the public. The building sits off the edge. It helps it be protected. What we are looking for is an updated building, with facilities to meet our units needs. Working with the San Francisco Police Department is an honor and privilege. I am looking forward to seeing their faces as the Police Officers move to the new facility. It is a welcome change, a new surrounding that is free from all of the challenges that we face with being remote, and then the ability to offer new expanded services to the city and Police Department investigations unit. I cant wait until fall of 2021 when the building is finally ready to go and be occupied and the people can get into the facility to serve them and serve the community. Really want to thank folks for joining us this morning for a host of reasons. Im also very privileged this morning to actually serve as the mc. We will take you on a story today. One that we are not just so proud of, but everyone that is going it to have this experience today will leave i think excited, proud, but most importantly i hope energized for the work we are going to continue. Today is marking an important moment. A important moment not just for home rise, not just for the city of San Francisco, but really as we want to