It is wrong to force me to provide the locations of where ever i am in that particular calendar so i have a big issue with that. Thank you very much. Mr. Preston i think too much happens in secret at city hall and strong proponent of open government laws. Supervisor breed now provides her calendar because the law passed requiring her to and was a 101 vote at the board of supervisors and she was the lone opponent and while shes entitled to have her concerns about that legislation, the other tenant supervisors thought that it was worthy of passing that law to require folks who are paying salaries of our supervisors and you are supervisors or representing us to know who theyre meeting with and when. Thats a basic right that this is a basic for anyone who believes in the sunshine and openness and city governments did i think that law was a nobrainer and as i said it past 101. So while the other supervisors agreed that it is eight essential to have a level of disclosure. Thank you very much. Now, for clarification, we further terms moderate and progressive used in many elections. So also in a recent column and this is where this question comes in, a recent column in the chronicle said supervisor breed is a moderate and mr. Preston is a progressive. Do you agree withhow you were categorized and why . Will start with mr. Preston. I agree with that characterization did i sit it on the campaign trail. Im an unapologetic about progressive. In the best sense of that word. I hope. I do believe, lead supervisor breed the first opensolaris look at her voting record on the board and are siding with the moderate colleagues on the board, and the mayor in vote after vote, believe its accurate to characterize her as a moderate and i think this is a key issue in this election. Theres a number of seats that are open and the future of this port are we can have what we have with the mayor and a board moderate majority for three years which i believe cost a lot of the proms that we have, or, are we going to have a board that identifies as progressive and willing to tackle the issues that matter most to the people and the city. Thank you. Supervisor breed as far as labels, again, when i ran in 2012 i ran against the mayors appointee who was a socalled progressive. From my perspective, what i try to do as a legislator is due i believe is right for the people that im here to serve. So i dont consider myself a progressive or a moderate. Im not going to put myself in a box did when i first became a member of the board of supervisors, i made it clear that im going to review every policy. Im going to make changes if nasa. Im going to explain my position am going to do what i think is best for the people i represent and im not going to accept the conservative people in my district on not going to act out the extremely liberal people in my district. I think drunken typing it does people a disservice. Because of someone who brought in the neighborhood for many many years i felt asked out by a lot of progressives neglected Public Housing neglected the Africanamerican Community and so its important to supervisor but inclusive of everyone who i represent. Thank you very much. The next question will go to you supervisor breed. When the subject of increasing theft in the city was discussed at the last step of according to this card a young man said, get us jobs. What you plan to do about getting jobs for Underprivileged Youth . Whats great about what weve done when i first got into office i made the position neighborhood access point which is called the success under my numberone priority because i had so many people even before i was on the board of supervisors that was a lot of the work that i did was to help people get employed. It was definitely really a challenge. We put money into this Western Addition neighborhood access point. Which basically is this incredible resource that is provided over hundreds of jobs for young people who did not know the first thing to do about getting an Employment Opportunity. Whether it is trying to get put the resume together, whether they need support or understanding of what it means to show up on time. This center has become a great wraparound support system that has provided the kind of resources the kinds of comprehensive resources, to make sure that young people can get jobs and they can keep them. On the board of supervisors, we got about which is incredible because what that means our people who may have made a mistake on the life and paid their debt to society and get a second chance. So those are the kinds of things have been able to do on the board of supervisors. Thank you very much. Mr. Preston we spent a lot of time disagreeing is the nature of campaigns. I think that some of the work supervisor breed has done and talk about in terms of job training in terms of certainly banning the box were in agreement on that. I think one aspect of employment issues that tend to not to be focused on relates to an earlier question around Small Businesses. Whenever employment comes up it seems like were always talking about employment at either Big Tech Companies are some Big Companies where really, the driving engine of so much of where folks can get entrylevel jobs are often in our Small Businesses. Some of the issues we are talking about about supporting Small Businesses i think our job creation issues. I would also say that the employment and housing issues we discussed our directly link and if you get both jobs and you can afford to live in the city at the end of the day those jobs are not going to last people are not able to afford to stay in the city right now. Thank you very much. The next question. Some feel theres a disconnect between local governments and constituents. What is the most efficient way for district 5 constituents to raise concerns . Regular town halls, phone calls, emails, how will you increase engagement and responsiveness . Echoes to you mr. Preston absolutely regular town halls and those involved in our campaign know weve done over 50 Community Meetings and its at the heart of what this campaign is about. The approach right now, all too often, from our mayor is to cook up ideas in city hall and to roll them out in the neighborhoods and then insult anyone who stands up to it by calling them scuttle thats the playbook in San Francisco writenow. We need to put that script entirely. We need to be planning from the ground up is what we did with affordable the coalition that responded to supervisor breeds decision to the zone the visit arrow as a massive giveaway of density. To developers without consulting the neighborhood and we held committing millions and responsiveness that is good we will contingent of meetings if im supervisor while the monthly meeting different parts of the district throughout my term. Thank you very much. Supervisor breed thank you. Actually we did attend several Community Meetings with the north panhandle neighborhood association, with the alamo square of Hope Association there were meetings the planning information was in my newsletter. We get a lot of outreach and when i stood and announce the highest Affordable Housing requirement for private development in the history of San Francisco maybe many of those same leaders stood out in front of the harding theater with me to make that announcement. So there is communication with my office and the community and there was in the case of what happened around the rezoning of the visit arrow. So at this point, i feel that a lot of the work that ive done is try and be in terms of communication, be responsive to many of the neighborhood groups by of course attending their meetings announcing their events, holding housing workshops, and other things throughout the district and again if anyone is interested in getting on my newsletter list am happy to add you as well. All this information is also online on the sf cup website thank you very much supervisor breed. As you may guess theres many questions regarding housing that are coming in. We have another one. Regarding Affordable Housing. We start with supervisor breed. What will you do to increase the construction of nonluxury housing in district 5 . What is a reasonable percentage of affordable units in any new Housing Developments . So what id like to see is i like to see us do of course 100 Affordable Housing. I want to make sure that Everyone Wants to live here in any income level has an opportunity to live here. The sad reality is, market rate housing hopes to pay for low income and Affordable Housing. So part of what we have to do is make sure that theres a balance. There has not been a balance. Because of the mostly push to build really highend housing really low Income Housing and leaving everyone else out in between. Not only do we need to make sure we develop a plan to build more Affordable Housing but more over the housing for middle income residents. Secondly, we also cant forget the weve a lot of low income and Affordable Housing developments in district 5 that are falling apart better in a state of disrepair. We cant neglect those could so thats what the work of a doing since ive been on the board of supervisors is making sure we protect those units. We preserve those units and we do everything we can to rehabilitate those units. Thank you very much. Mr. Preston thank you that were in an error when i call trickledown housing here. Those who lived through the 1980s with Ronald Reagan know what trickledown theory is all about. This is how the mayor and the moderates the new housing. Build luxury condominiums and things will trickledown to those who are low income or middleclass. This is where some of these labels we were talking about earlier matter. The progressive supervisors are standing up to the developers could go to go with the developer saying if you want to build in our neighborhood and make a fortune off our Beautiful Community you are going to provide more Affordable Housing. As opposed to the other view which is just come on in and build it. The right. Just come on in. Thats what happens with on visit arrow and supervisor breed, and is a little off. She stood with Community Leaders after we lobbied and fought with her for five months to force her to get more affordability in what she has given way to developers. Thank you very much. Our next question, also going to housing but for on the side of i guess, of the landlord, the question comes in, some small Property Owners think renting out a property in San Francisco is risky. How will you encourage rental Property Owners to keep units on the market . This goes to mr. Preston first so, i dont think landlords in this city need any more incentive to rent out antiunits than the current market price of a rental unit. I had talked to a lot of landlords wife think appreciate other property has appreciated and appreciate that theyre doing quite well even within the regulatory scheme of San Francisco. But i dont have a lot of sympathy for landlords that claimed to be holding rental units off the market. Frankly contribute into our housing price. Because they are complaining about that they are too burdened by the current system. Again, theyre allowed to charge for 5000 a month. The property taxes are not risen accordingly because of prop 13 innocent we dont have a lot of sympathy for those that hold rental units off our rental market the was thank you very much. Supervisor breed thank you. As someone who is an actual renter without housing security and a building that just sold with a roommate, im really concerned clearly about whats happening all over our city. I know there are a lot of properties that are empty and Property Owners who are saying, im just not going to rent in this market. We are talking about Senior Citizens who have anxiety who are uncomfortable who dont know what to do and i think that what we need to do with the cities look at how do we work with our senior population to try and allow the city to potentially maybe take ownership somehow, rent out these properties, and allow them to be somehow used for individuals who need them. Take full responsibility of paying the rent your i know their section would outline of his house in 70s did i know this creative ways that we as a city can try and figure out a way and get control of these units and work with a Property Owner who may have anxiety with making this unit available to someone and take that particular unit and put back on the market potential. Thank you very much. When you are responding supervisor breed dimension section 8. This question is, currently, all section 8 recipients are only partially covered under rent control. There protections for just cause evictions but not price controls. What are your plans to address the addictions and displacement due to rent increases . So that definitely has been one of the Biggest Challenges that weve had with people who have come to us and have just struggled with this particular situation. The first thing we try to do is we work with for example the Housing Rights Committee and they been really helpful in facilitating a process and work with the San FranciscoHousing Authority to try and get Additional Support or additional subsidy. In most of the cases that i personally doubt with with tenant, but not been put out. That accepted the money that they were getting due to section 8 vouchers and we are not able to work. They were able to force the tenants out. The been a few instances that we worked on personally to try and protect them. Its not just in district 5 with section 8 vouchers but in other parts of the city. So we want to continue to that work and make sure that people have the resources they need in order to fight with the situation and help with the city side of providing additional subsidies if necessary because we do that now. Thank you very much. Mr. Preston ive a long history of working on such a naked including at the state level where we have been pushing against the Real Estate Industry that refuses to ban section 8 discrimination. Unlike in word on weasley would ban section 8 discrimination california has not. The huge problems in section 8 is one of the most successful housing programs despite the federal effort to keep cutting the funding. Per section 8. When it comes to the specific issue raised by the question around folks who are fighting against rent increases in such a property, i think that the best looking thing we can do to protect those sentences to pass a robust right to counsel. So that the people who are facing those kinds of editions basically an rent increases that are exploiting a loophole in our local law are represented not just when they go to court but from the moment they get their eviction notice did we can provide a full right to counsel in San Francisco. It will not cost that much and it will stop those kinds of evictions. Thank you very much mr. Preston. The next question. What is your position on proposed grocery tax and how can voters be sure the tax will not spill over to other grocery . Mr. Preston first of all congratulations to the Beverage Industry and their lobbyists. [laughing] rebranding the grocery, the soda tax good as a grocery tactic brilliant maneuver and we will see if it works. So i am in favor of the soda tax good i think its a Public Health basic Public Health issue for me and that its important. I view it very similar to like cigarette tax and other efforts to try to actually influence, to provide funding or Public Health and to go after some of those things that are rising up a lot of the cost. I understand thats an issue where a lot of people a reasonable minds disagree but thats where i stand on supportive of the soda tax thank you. Supervisor reed i dont support it. Okay. [laughing] okay. Thats it for that one. The next question will go to supervisor breed. What can we do , what have you do, what will you do, to promote and encourage women and people of color to be involved in politics and government . Wow. I actually do a lot. There are a lot of young women i was mentored by a lot of amazing. My grandmother raised me good Kamala Harris was a great mentor. The late gloria r davis was a great mentor. The reason i am even here as even a supervisor for district 5 is because of people like Willie B Kennedy and doris ward. They raised me in this community and am so grateful for it and so the work that ive done, ive so many Little Sisters and young people that im really proud of that ive worked with for over 20 years good many of graduated from college good are working fulltime jobs. I mean, i consistently make myself available to them and i spend time with them and am available when they call me or reach out to me. I make a mage is one of the things that i consistently have done for the majority of my life because i would not be here they were not for the folks who raised me. Thank you very much. Mr. Preston so in my work and in my history both running at state rights Tenants Organization and other professional endeavors, i have always recruited and mentored women of color and women. Its absolutely essential in our society. Im proud to be back in a lot of candidates among women and women of color who are running for various offices including kim at a rental from district 11. Hillary ronan from district 9. Sandyin district 1. But i will say that its important, as strong as i believe in supporting women and women of color, for elective office. Another position that also matters what their positions are. The boat survived endorsed are strong supporters and fighters for workingclass people in the city and for Affordable Housing. I think that is essential. Okay. We will move to education. We will start with mr. Preston. How would you fund, or how do you see funding be made available for perl dems like universal preschool and would this be done through a new parcel tax or sales tax . Or neither . Thank you. Im a parent of two young girls. One in preschool and one in public elementary school, both here in the district 5. What educational issues have always been important to me but taking increasingly personal importance to me. I am rolled out as part of my proposal, if in office to move forward with a universal preschool program. New york has done that i think San Francisco absolutely should do that. We should be guaranteeing fouryearolds the right to go to preschool and families the ability to actually afford to be in San Francisco without paying a fortune just to educate their children. Its also an equity issue ensures everyone starts kindergarten with the same opportunities. I see a stop sign being held up a happy talk about funding but thank you. Supervisor breed im proud of the work thats been done already in the city round first pocket either one of the Biggest Challenges we have is we have robust programs for low income families. The biggest challenge is sometimes connecting those families to those opportunities. That is number one. Then the second issue we have is those families who are just right above the threshold against qualified which makes it difficult for them to access preschool. So creating a fund is something supervisor trainees in legislation this past tuesday to create a specific fund that could help support funding for preschool legislation that i support hes been incredible advocate around this particular issue and supported him on every step of the way. Thank you dennis. According to my little list here, this is supposed to be our last question although i have many more questions here. So i encourage all of you to contact the candidates and contact your supervisors and ask those questions that we do not get a chance to ask here. But the last one, i thought would be would give us a chance to see what you think about whats coming in that coming years. What is the most difficult decision you will have to make in the next year and what forces will you balance to make that decision . Supervisor breed lets see. I might need a minute to think about that. Theres so many different difficult decisions that i know as supervisor i mean every single day when you make a decision sometimes from the outside it makes seeing is. You go this way because this is what i believe because we vote that way because thats what this person believes that these decisions have consequences on peoples lives. So making sure that im doing everything to wait both sides and keep think about the lies am going to impact is really important to me. These been challenging decisions and i think coming up i cant think of anything off the top of my head in terms one might be difficult but i have really a great housing blueprint am working on that my opponent is definitely waiting for me to release. Itll be released soon. It talks about the past present and where do we go from here. The decision is going to be what we prioritize as it relates to developing new Affordable Housing. Whether its going to be the new offered about housing, the finish your thought so whether were going to look at the newark Affordable Housing and focus on really low income, middle income get what can happen with that whether we neglect that continue to neglect public and Affordable Housing. So balancing all those things and making sure the limited resources we have that we are concentrating our efforts on doing those things simultaneously is something that could reach really challenging. Im putting continue to push for it. I get criticized for pushing for rehabilitating Public Housing because its not new development. But on the continue to push that effort along with all the other things im doing on the board he was taking very much. Mr. Preston well we agree on anxiously awaiting the promised housing blueprint good we will see whats in that. I think the most difficult decision quite honestly is going to be what we move forward with first if i am fortunate enough to be elected supervisor. I say thati think it will be a difficult decision. We are out on the Campaign Travel talking to you about the things that are most difficult for us right now. On day one and people can talk what their first 100 days or some period of time. What are we going to move forward . Weve identified some things on this campaign that i think are essential. We have to do it right to counsel for tenants. We absolutely need to move forward with some kind of agency tax to do all these commercial vacancies and protect small business. We talked about universal preschool. The list goes on. The hard decision and as you mentioned the balancing of interests, is what are we moving forward with first year and i will welcome, if elected supervisor, the input from folks who open not only involved with this campaign, but even folks been supportive of supervisor breed and or did not vote at Community Meetings and really decided what the Community Wants to move forward with first. But thats no easy decision. We will have to be realistic about how we face in and what were doing and when to address these critical issues. Thank you very much. Now, we come to the candidates closing statements. But me first remind you that if you are not registered to vote, please do so right away and urge others you know to register. The actual deadline is october 24 and if you moved you need to register again at your new address. We will do the closing statements in reverse alphabetical order and remember, you have 2 min. For this, so candidates, mr. Preston closing statement well, thank you so much and thank you for taking the time to be here this evening. As i mentioned earlier, i think we are facing a critical problems in the city particularly around housing right now that are not just the result of the natural order of things. They are the result of decisions that have been made at city hall and too often the decisions in the last handful of years have been to favor bigtime developers, multi billionaires and folks who have tremendous influence in city hall. I believe the mayor has been far too accommodating of those interests and believe he has that assistance from the moderates on the board in not standing up to those folks and not standing up for the people who are struggling day in and day out in this city. I am very proud to be endorsed by the San Francisco tenants union, by the sierra club, the league of conservation voters, the california nurses association, the Harvey Milk Club the latino democratic club, tom on the arnold max gonzales, David Campos Eric j mark, john avalos, hillary ronan, kim power ranger [sp . ] scuttle the reason i mentioned some of these folks and we both have endorsements right the muppet these are some annuities folks are people within fighting the fight that i hope to further and take the torch from them and fight for the progressive values that are so important in this district and for the future of this city and i believe we are not only have women going down the wrong path , but were at a critical juncture where control of the board is at stake. The future of things like rent control, Affordable Housing, the issues that we care most about here in San Francisco are really at stake in this election. Whatever you do, i just urge you please, to go. Thank you i love to have your support thank you very much. Supervisor breed thank you and thank you to the league of women voters for this great opportunity or i appreciate being here. You know, this is an incredible honor to serve as a member of the board of supervisors, to represent district 5. What is so great about that is i know that a lot of the work that im doing may not make every resident, every single resident, in district 5 happy, but i know that many of the folks in district 5 support me if they reach out to me. Ive been a response of supervisor in a jar to make sure that im closing my ear to advocates in focusing on the district residence for the people who elected me to be here as a member of the board of supervisors. So what i hear is what is a big concern clearly is housing, homelessness, transit, the environment, all of these things in some way or another, since ive been on the board of supervisors i have been a leader. Ive a comprehensive record of delivering so much for district 5. Specifically, ron homelessness. 179 empty Public Housing units at an rehabilitated because of the work that ive done and 179 formerly homeless families. Now house because of my work. Clean power sf. Good people have been working on that for years. I made sure that was delivered. Working on completely replacing all of our buses and train fleet from muni and hiring over sen. New muni drivers. By bush continued to make sure were getting the resources we needed i took the ambulance crises head on and out Response Time are a lot quicker than they have been in the past. On employment i make sure we have the right kind of center to work with many of the folks in our community with consistently been turned away or Employment Opportunity did not with just big businesses but with Small Businesses in our neighborhood like taskbar. I understand there aream i done . Okay. I was just getting started. [laughing] but thank you and i appreciate your support on november 8. Thank you thank you and much ladies and gentlemen please give them a great roundabout clause. [applause] it takes a lot to stand up. I can tell you. [applause] and answer questions to you their constituents or prospective constituents good so you all did a great job on it too, for being here so we think. Now for my closing statement so dont run off. [laughing] on behalf of myself, the league of women voters and our Partner Organizations are thanks to the candidates for participating. Thanks to all of you again, good thanks to each of you again and again for taking time to inform yourselves about your choices on november 8. Ladies and gentlemen, have a wonderful evening. Thank you. [applause] im emily executive director of the San Francisco department on the status of women. Welcome to our event to mark Domestic Violence awareness month. So i want to invite the folks with the signs to come on in and walk in closer. Before i introduce our speakers tonight, i want to recognize the Domestic Violence survivors among us, they deserve our continued support and a round of applause for our survivors. [ applause ] next i want to recognize the frontline staff of our Partner Agencies and all of the folks here who work on fighting Domestic Violence every day and lets show them our appreciation [ applause ] Domestic Violence continues to be a huge problem in San Francisco last year there were almost 9,000 911 calls for help, 3,000 Domestic Violence cases reported to the Police Department, and according to official counts we lost four lives in the last two years. Were so fortunate to have a mayor who has made ending violence against women, including Domestic Violence a priority. At the begin thing of mayor lees tenure in 2011 the city was investing 3 million in a year in direct services to survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking and under mayors leadership this funding has increased to 6. 3 Million Dollars today. [applause] [applause] without further ado, please help me welcome our mayor, edwin lee a true leader in ending violence against women. Please give him a warm welcome [ applause ]. Thank you emily and everyone, welcome to city hall. As you all know, october marks Domestic Violence awareness month, and i want to say thank you to members of on or our board of supervisors, supervisors campos and weiner are here and they agree with me that funding for more doors to safety is really important for this city. And you know, i think Domestic Violence and abuse of loved ones most of the time happens behind doors. So were trying to open more doors. So it doesnt happen. And that is why we have resources to spend to make sure our prosecutors and our da and Police Department are working together to make sure that we hold individuals accountable. That is, of course, our criminal justice system. But we also know, given the great work that our department, our status of women, our great, wonderful communitybased nonprofits that are working every day, have seen other doors close, and we have opened them up. Because we need a School System that educates our youth. Violence is not acceptable. It may be good for certain types of sports to hit a ball, but its never good to hit another person. That is what education door is opened with this funding. We need our Health Care Centers to have their doors opened so we can treat and find those that are abused and help them out of that misery and Housing Authority to make sure Public Housing residents dont feel any less than anybody to get treatment and support. We open up the workplace to make sure that we can talk about it, and that reports can be made around Domestic Violence. Our schools, our youth, are there to help us prevent and to support those who are victims. All of these systems, we are opening more doors with this resource. So i have been proud to work with the board to increase funding. Its not so much about the dollar amount, we actually all have to feel that we have completed every single door opening to make sure we prevent violence. Because every time we hear of that fatality, we look upon ourselves and say what did we not do to try to prevent that from happening . That is why were going to be even more successful. Finally, were in the process of creating a brandnew program. Again to connect survivors of Domestic Violence, who call the police. We want to connect them immediately to an advocate to make sure all of the things are done properly at the very time that person that victim is in need. And were going to do that with this additional funding. Were using data from the Family ViolenceCouncil Report to start this program, and were starting it right in the bayview, because the bayview and the Bayview District has the highest call volume of 911 calls related to Domestic Violence. So let us all keep focused. Let us make sure that not only are we making awareness, but were actually investing in the very programs that will end Domestic Violence. With that, im happy again, tonight, to announce for the fourth time with everybodys support, but especially with the support maybe its 6 million times support from our San Francisco giants tonight, city hall will be lit in purple for the support that we have for awareness of Domestic Violence. Let us all celebrate that and continue with the giants. Thank you [ applause ] thank you so much, mr. Mayor. Next please help me welcome someone who represents the heart of the community, my dear friend, woman warrior, Beverly Upton with a very special presentation to make to the mayor. [ applause ]. If you know me you heard me say before i have the best job in the world and now i have the best job in the best city in the world. Thank you so much. Were really here today with this letter signed by so many of you that are ending violence against women, violence against children, violence against transgender womens, violence against the lgbt community. We are here to say that we stand together to end Domestic Violence. We want to take a moment to thank mayor ed lee for his continuing support for raising those dollars for us, for the board of supervisors, for really making this a priority, and really raising the issue that this hurts everybody who lives in San Francisco. So we just want to take a moment to thank you for your continued support, mayor lee. Your continued support, and also, may the purple on city hall be a beacon to everyone in San Francisco and beyond for safety, justice and healing. Thank you so much. [ applause ] thank you very much. Thank you so much, beverly. That is such an important acknowledgment of the citys support. Next i want to welcome Supervisor Scott Wiener who stands with us today in the fight to end violence against women. Please welcome Supervisor Scott Wiener. [ applause ] good evening. And welcome everyone to San Francisco city hall and i especially want to welcome our students from school of the arts and the district that i represent. Welcome to city hall. [ applause ] thank you. So Domestic Violence, its one of those things that it is always present, and its often just underneath the surface. And i think a lot of times people dont talk about it, and its very silent, and its secret, and its hidden. But it is always, always there, and it is deep and broad and toxic in its impact on our community. And once in a while something happens that brings it to the surface and people finally start talking. That happened four years ago this month in this building when sadly the board of supervisors, a minority of the board of supervisors made the wrong decision in allowing our sheriff to keep serving. I will just call it out. That was one of those moments when people started to talk, and i remember in the days and weeks after that unfortunate decision, a tragic decision, i really was reminded how broad and deep this problem is. The people that would talk to me about their experience in a relationship, about their experience as a child, observing or seeing one parent abusing another parent, or the experience that they had with a college roommate, or a friend who had been abused. People who havent been abused, but it has impacted their lives and how many people in this city, in this society have been deeply, deeply affected . Yeah have been deeply affected by Domestic Violence . And so it is so important to talk about it. And not just to sweep it under the rug, or quietly take care of it. We need to be talking about this problem, because that is the only way that were going to put an end to it once and for all. So lets keep fighting thank you. [ applause ] thank you, so much, scott i want to acknowledge a few senior officials Assessorrecorder Carmen Chu is with us today [ applause ] and if you might hold your applause, we also have list liz and jackie and Police Commander greg and adult probation chief karen fletcher, if we could give them all a big round of applause. [ applause ] i also want to thank mayors deputy chief of staff Paul Henderson and our budget analyst laura bush who joined us today and chief fletcher asked me to make one quick announcement to save the date for friday october 28th, 9 00 a. M. To 2 00 p. M. The Adult Probation Department is supporting veterans and survivors of Family Violence from trauma to healing from 9 00 a. M. To 2 00 p. M. And please join us there. I would like to if any introduce the Deputy Health director at department of Public Health and please help me welcome dr. Chan. [ applause ] thank you emily. I just want to spend my five minutes just giving a little bit of the data that reflects supervisor wieners and the mayors sentiments about us coming together. The mayors sentiment and also the underlying prevalence that we all know is in San Francisco and most of us know that the prevalence one in three women have been victims of intimate Partner Violence and in San Francisco we know among our most vulnerable women, those in ninemonths of pregnancy, there is a wide disparity in ethnicity, as well as socioeconomic class. So amongst those who are most stressed, those in poverty. The prevalence is 11 . That is about three times higher than those who are not in poverty. So that really speaks to the increasing gap between the haves and have nots in San Francisco and what that does to all of us. Im in Public Health and im a pediatrician and tell you this issue profoundly affects women and children. This prevalence of Domestic Violence experienced by lowincome women and women of all classes, causes an increase in coping and reactive behaviors and that is why we have this link in intimate Partner Violence causing a fourfold risk increased risk in drug use, fivefold risk in depression and of course, increased risk of suicidality and it affects babies too. Women who are experiencing intimate Partner Violence are three times more likely to have a baby born preterm or lowbirth weight. So this all attributes to life course of consequences in child abuse and neglect and drug addiction. But there is hope in the Health Community and research we now recognize and understand that your interventions are aeffective. Primary care intervence and communitybased interventions are effective and its more and more important that we come together, integrate our Community Programs and health services. So that we can better address this issue as an entire community. One great example is that our county hospital led by many of you advocates, and internal medicine physicians, dr. Lee kimberg, who has received a federal grant, the arise grant. That really builds upon the partnership of San Francisco general hospital, ucsf, bay area legal aid, la casa, against violence and Trauma Recovery center to provide integrated screening, counseling, quality counseling, and effective referrals to all of the women who go through our county health system. So this type of integration we feel is very promising. Its a National Leader and its becoming a National Model of how we in San Francisco can integrate our Services Better to serve our most vulnerable population at their most vulnerable times. Thank you very much for all you have your service. [ applause ] thank you very much, dr. Chan and i want to acknowledge kathy, who is here representing sheriff Vicky Hennessey and our Assessorrecorder Carmen Chu would like to say a few words. Thank you, i serve as San Franciscos elected asesor and im so honored to stand with beverly and with you, emily and all of our Community Partners to bring awareness to Domestic Violence. My comments will be short. When i stand here today i see how wonderful it is to see over the 100 people here all behind us, but also in front of us. Who came out because they understand just how important this cause is, to bring awareness. And i know that here we have 100 people already who know that they can each play a role when they see Domestic Violence happening, or they are worried that Domestic Violence might be happening, that they are going to do something. That we all take a pledge to do something about it and to make sure that our loved ones arent suffering alone. Emily was just telling me there are a ton of resources that are available and listed on the department on the status of womens website and encourage everyone who cares about this issue to please take a look at it and if you know anybody of your friends or any of your family who is going through something and not ready to take about it, please be a shoulder and please share with them all the ways that we might we able to help them. I think that is the only way were going to end Domestic Violence with that, congratulations emily on your tireless leadership year in and year out [ applause ]. Thank you carmen and i want to next introduce carmen chung and gabby, High School Seniors who participate in the young asian women against Violence Project of the Community Youth center. Lets give it up for carmen and gabby. [ applause ] hi my name is gabby. Hi, my name is karlen and were from the Leadership Program called young asian against violence. We dedicate its a program dedicated to positive empowerment and development of api High School Youth young asian women in San Francisco and to strengthen resilience, pride, healing and knowledge of young asian women to advocate for the end of Domestic Violence in our community. We educate about violence against women through creating and for thiating workshops and education creates longterm effect rather than a bandaid solution and enable using to create a foundation of change. Together we stand in solidarity with the 15yearold meadows who was incarcerated for defending herself and her family from her abusivefather and today is the day of her Court Hearing and instead of being given a safe space to heal she is being isolated from her community and loved one as she faced prosecution. It angers us to see one of our own peers for being punished for defending herself. Why are systems that are supposed to protect us harming us . As youth, our experiences are often invalidated. We have few opportunities to speak up for ourselves. We are disempowered. There are limited resources and space for healing and safety. And its really rare for us to find the resources. It} n a society where youth hold less power than adults we need spaces to be heard and four survivors to be visible and validated and providing a space for young women to share their ideas and experiences and create and opportunity to heal and grow from trauma. Youth are capable, but we need a community willing to stand with us in times of need, rather than turning away. The end of the violence starts with us. We urge you to keep your ears open to the voices of youth. To keep your mind open, to learn. To keep your heart open to our experiences. We urge you to stand in solidarity to stand with survivors of violence. [ applause ] thank you carmen and gabby, we have a whole crew here from Community Youth camp center. If you want to wave, i want to invite the Sheriffs Department to talk about the positive reapered of sheriff hennessey, please welcome dahlia [ applause ]. Good afternoon everyone. Again im davila the survivor restoration director for the San FranciscoSheriffs Department and as i look out at all of you, im reminded once again how important it is for our community to come together to support survivors of Domestic Violence. I have had the honor in working in our Sheriffs Department for over 20 years, and proud to be in the position that i am as the director of our program for the survivors. I would just like to take a moment to share how the Sheriffs Department has supported innovative programs for Domestic Violence survivors over the years and continues under our new sheriff Vicki Hennessey to not only provide those same services, but also we have enhanced them. Many of you in the audience, i know, know about our resolve to stop the violence program, our rsvp program that was started in 1997. Yes, its been 20 years. And its still here, going strong. But it was the first Justice Program that specifically worked with male offenders who have violence documented in their criminal history. Particularly Domestic Violence and again, that program is still going strong today. In fact, with our Court Collaborations in 2015 rsvp participants that were in custody for Domestic Violence increased 93 , which was a substantial increase from 2014, which was only 20 . The Sheriffs Department also has our out of custody Community Programs utilizing the Violence Prevention Program man alive, which is used in both our Community Programs and in custody programs. While we do need programs to hold offenders accountable and to give opportunities for them to change their behavior, we need to equally and more so provide services for our survivors of Domestic Violence. The San FranciscoSurvivor Restoration Program which i have been honored to be with over 20 years, provides services for survivors through their own process of restoration, empowerment and providing opportunities for them to contribute to the development, implementation, and evaluation of all the key components of the program. As we know, as we all know the importance of having Survivor Voices at all of our takes. Tables and we offer with our Sister Community agencies many of whom are here today direct Crisis Services through the Response Program along with our empowerment groups which is under our Survivor Empowerment Program and i would like to give special acknowledgment to my staff here and my team, that together with their fierce advocacy in 2015 as we supported 65 survivors who obtained their visas and six granted political asylum and permanent residency and db survivors graduating from our empowerment program. Our Newest Program in the Sheriffs Department is our survivor in custody program. A Reentry Program that we make contact with incarcerated survivors of Domestic Violence, and provide resources which are traumainformed and culturallyresponsive to the many challenges that they face. These services are also provided for our incarcerated db transwomen, stalk and trafficking victims. I will just end with this quote, one of my favorites from helen keller, that i love and its just simple as to say, alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much. And when i look around with all of the agencies here, and the hard work in changing our systems together we can definitely make a change. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you so much, dahlia. I just want to acknowledge a couple of staff people who are here, alden from Assembly Member tings office and i want to acknowledge the Family Violence counsel chair Katy Albright who here as well. Next up is the Community Education at las casa delas madras that opened as the first Domestic Violence shelter in the state of california and only the second in the nation. Please welcome cara. [ applause ] im going to put this down, but i was holding the door to shelter. Good evening, its wonderful to be here with all of you standing in support of Domestic Violence survivors. Over 40 years ago we began as a small shelter for battered women in San Francisco and today la casa is still providing Emergency Services to women and children in need through confidential shelter and 24hour crisis line. We also provide counseling, case management, support groups, a teen program and Legal Services at our jobs center on Mission Street four of our advocates work as the only two womenspecific Supportive Housing sites in San Francisco, providing emotional and practical support to over 150 female residents. This partnership is entering its 18th year. La casa also had the opportunity to extend our support services in San Francisco by providing targeted programming to specific populations alongside amazing Community Partners. I would like to highlight four of these programs today first were pard to be pard of zuckerberg San Francisco gener hospital and la casa advocate is onsite to meet with patients that dispose instances of intimate partnership violence to their physician and providing danger and risk assessment, safety planning, grief counseling and resources and referrals. This individual will also provide training on intimate Partner Violence to health care professionals. Second, funded by the department on the status of women, colocated at San FranciscoHousing Authority. As many of us know survivor safety challenge is navigating the Public Housing system in San Francisco. We work to ensure they have safe places to life and raise their families. Our advocates at the Housing Authority also educate Property Management and support staff at housing sites