Vehicles parking in those space does. This is kind of a wooden structure thats parked in front of a parking meter there. Oh, sorry. So this, i understand, there is no jurisdiction for, so this this is another challenge that we need to address. Thank you. Chairman brinkman thank you. Next speaker, please. April prozer, followed by evan prozer, and then melody. I have a picture, too. I just put it on the thing . Chairman brinkman itll come up. There you go. I just want to i guess youd call it a reality check. This is a department of public works worker with a sledgehammer about to demolish a persons home. It had he had made a little stairway and a little desk in there, and he had all his tools hanging neatly on the wall. And he took a video. That is off the video, and he was very nice. You know, he never complained, you know . He just was watching them as they with the hot team and the police watching. This is the reality of whats happening. You know, i appreciate everyone saying that these people are vulnerable. They are, and until something is figured out to do besides just saying well, we dont know where theyre going, maybe we should put some kind of a mo moratorium on kicking them out and destroying their homes because they are vulnerable and theyre citizens of San Francisco. Thank you, miss prozer. Next speaker, please. Evan prozer. Today, folks, thank you for hearing us. Im aprils husband. Together we pastor the Homeless Church here fore the last 24 hours. For seven years, we lived on the streets ourselves in a school bus to get a sense of whats going on. We love the people very much and know whats going on. I want to add to that picture that she just that story. The police were there while this was going on, and they allowed the owner of the of the constructed home to film that far for the first part of the sledgehammer, and then they told after it had been torn down as a way of more traffic. They stopped him from filming when, being unable to to destroy the vehicle with a sledgehammer or by backing a flatbed truck into it, they took a a whats the right word . I lost it now. They took a backhoe and bashed it to the ground. Dear people, dear people, are you aware of the suffering of the Homeless People in our city . Do you have any idea what its like . Im just emphasizing im emphasizing the empathy and compassion that youre so aware of, im just emphasizing. These when you crush a persons home and hes standing right there, unable to film it, youre crushing him either further in his personality. Homeless people are crushed people. Thank you. Chairman brinkman thank you, mr. Prozer. Next speaker, please. Melody. Followed by sam christiansen. Chairman brinkman melody in . Is there a melody here . Im sorry, melody. We have to keep everybody from two minutes. Please go ahead, and im sure that you can do you want to wait and let somebody else speak first . Okay. Well call a few more speakers and then you can cull up. Mark, sam. Yes, im mark christiansen, speaking as an individual. Sfmta needs to take a lead role in a firm yet compassionate approach to vehicle overnight habitation on the streets of San Francisco. Currently, r. V. s park on the streets taking up valuable Parking Spaces for neighborhood residents and persons dispose trash and many other items on the sidewalks of surrounding vehicles. This is a health and safety issue. It must be addressed. I suggest locating perhaps up to three or four large public sites, each not in close proximity to a residential property, block or so away at least, that could support r. V. And vehicle lots and perhaps charge a very nominal fee for maintenance to sustain these special lots. All requirements could be worked on for the benefit of all parties, but i think thats a safe and compassionate wray way to deal with it, and i think there are sites in San Francisco that could deal with this. Probably take 12 three or four sites that could probably hows up house up to 1200, so thats my suggestion. Thank you. Chairman brinkman thank you, mr. Christiansen. Next speaker. Sam lu. Hi. Im sam lu, and i work at the coalition for homelessness, and we get calls every day from people who are homelessness, and theyre really in a state of distress because their car has been taken away. Melody wanted me to read some of her statement. There are approximately five to seven Navigation Centers with a capacity of 75 to 120 people each. Currently, the turnaround is 30 to 60 day stay. Its become nothing more than a revolving door. At most it can get approximately 500 of the 7500 Homeless People off the street for a very short time, and i think it just speaks to why were taking away peoples cars when we have such a burden on the homeless system as it is. Its also difficult to get your car back with all of your possessions in it. I was here with mr. Hernandez whos in the audience today, until 11 30 friday to get his car back because of the impounding tow fees. If you dont pay it that day or in a couple of days, the fee is so much that youll never get your car back. So i see a lot of different pla flaws especially for people who are living in their cars, and i ask you to put a moratorium on the tow fees or at least the impound fees for people who are living in their cars. Theres also an issue with a need to get an i. D. To get your possessions back. A lot of people get their things stolen, they cant get an i. D. , and also tow for low income fee, you need some sort of documentation. But if youre someone whos undocumented or if youre a working poor person and just are on any of those programs, you cant access that reduction, so im open to any questions if you have any. Thank you so much. Chairman brinkman thank you. Next speaker. Gonzalo hernandez followed by michael ignant. Hello. My name is gonzalo hernandez, and im homeless. When i want to say several help some people to this situation, right . I was i left my car and then they towed my car, right . I was desperate, right, because thats my house, right . Try to get back get my home back, right, and i couldnt do it because when i went to talk with one woman that was supposed to pay, and the next day, it was more, so too difficult, right . I was i was what im a drug addict, but i have five months im not using drugs right now, so and i was desperate, right, because i cant get my home back. So i was like one day before i was talking like god, youre why you let this happen, because i want my home. My car, its not my car, its my home. So i was i was decided to use drugs if i didnt get my car back, right, because thats all i have, right . So i would like i was decided but you know, i thank god you no listen to me, so i decided this person who listened to me allowed me to take my car back. So i own what can i say, iomy life to her. If it wasnt this, i would be on the streets, using drugs or stealing or whatever. Thank you. Chairman brinkman thank you very much mr. Hernandez. Next speaker, please. Michael ignant followed by jason zang. Hi. My name is michael, im from sources plow shares and outreach specialists, and i want to say there are over 1,200 People Living in their cars, their homes and their r. V. s in San Francisco, that being disabled, children, you know, adults with disabilities. All of these people are suffering, and what im asking for is that we pass a memorandum to allow all towed vehicles for people who are experiencing homelessness, and im also asking that we waive parking citations for people that are experiencing homelessness. I know im working with two veterans that are sleeping, one is in their r. V. And one is actually in a car right now and theyre actually worried about this right now, that they dont have any extra money to be able to with their citations, if they get a citation living in their car, so im here right now to be able to ask that we keep that in mind for them to be able to not create more of a burden than theyre already experiencing right now. Thank you. Chairman brinkman thank you. Next speaker, please. Jason zang, followed by kelley cutler. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is jason zang. Im associated with the coalition on homelessness. Im here on behalf of joe today, who wanted to be here for himself but couldnt, because his car got towed today due to street cleaning. In the past month and a half for joe, hes experiencing homelessness due to a home loss. This car is his last kind of defense before completely being on the streets. On top of that joe also suffers severe depression and other Mental Health problems, and he also has a physical condition, his foot that keeps his foot in a swollen state and can be quite painful. Walking is painful for him, and this morning when his car was towed, his hsshoes were still inside the car. Losing a car is a lot more than a place to sleep at night. His primary transportation to go to his appointments, his physical upkeep and Mental Health. Just the tow cost for joe right now is 542. 25. Which is a lot, even to working folks. He just wanted to share his story today and raise awareness because hes trying to get back on his feet. Hes trying to keep himself back on the street, but hes constantly being dragged back by regulations. Thank you. Chairman brinkman thank you. Mr. Zang. Next speaker, please. Kelley cutler, and then steven. Chairman brinkman and then melody after that. Right. Thank you. Hi. Im kelley cutler. I am a human rights organizer at the coalition fore homelessness. Been coming here fore years about this you believe. Sam took my introduction line about saying that were getting calls on a weekly, if not multiple times a week basis, and we dont really have any options for them. Its important to understand that when folks lose their vehicle, that that often times is the last thing thats keeping them from sleeping hard on the street. Our current shelter waist list has over 1100 people just on the single shelter wait list. The family is a different one. Its 111 days for a family to get into the shelter. So this is a housing crisis, so we need to keep this thing this mind. Oh, and once theyre on the streets, its against the law to sit or lie down. Something that was very disturbing to me was i had gone to a meeting regardi regarding encampments two weeks ago, and i was really surprised because im part of the working group that were having on oversize vehicles where we havent come up with the set things yet, but in this meeting, the city is really organizing and targeting people that are living in vehicles, so it wasnt just tha that encampments, they were talking a lot about oversize vehicles, which really surprised me in seeing how actively they are strategically targeting them when there are no alternatives. The Safe Parking Program is a great idea, and thats something weve been advocating for. I think we can push the Interfaith Council for a little bit more and others, and weve brokendown different models and things that have worked and things that havent worked as well because youve got to be smart about how you approach it and the strategy, but its something that is giving an alternative because right now wheth when theres no alternatives, its pushed around, and theyll be back here for another meeting and another one. Thanks. Chairman brinkman thank you, miss cutler. Next speaker. Herbert winer. Herbert winer. I notice in palo alto, there are cars that are parked. Certainly they dont pose a menace in palo alto, or elsewhere would have heard about it. And also, would you rather have them sleeping in their vehicles or sleeping on your doorstep. Thats the question. Theres also a double standard. You crack down on r. V. s, but you dont crack down on bicyclists riding on the sidewalk. Im wondering, theres one agency that should be here, and thats the department of homelessness. They should be involved in this. They should be testifying here. They should be examining the problem with you, you should not go it alone. This is a problem that affects many agencies, and i think it should be coordinated with the coalition on homelessness. I think this is a problem that involves more than mta because this is a one side solution to a problem that really affects the whole city. And we have to remember that many people who sleep in their vehicles are people who cant afford housing, and many of them are professors who teach at universities who cant find housing for them. I think this is a problem and the mta should not go it alone. Chairman brinkman thank you. Next speaker, please. Steven martin peak. Good afternoon. Steve martin. Itll pick you up. Good. Steve martin pinto. I represent 2200 2200 residents of east side neighborhood where illegal habitation of r. V. s has become a problem on judson and circular avenue. Since the arrival, weve seen an increase in Illegal Dumping of human waste and litter, we have seen an increase in crime and suspicious activity, and also drug use. We, the residents of sunnyside have the right to keep our streets clean and safe. Its become a health issue, and it threatens to become a health and environmental issue that threatens Public Health and the environment. We must remember that homeless individuals, although their situations are unfortunate, they do have a say in their situation, and they can make choices in how they want to live and how they want to live. We must remember that vehicle inhabitation is illegal, and we are a society of laws, and we must follow the law, even if it is unthinking for us because we are a Civilized Society, and a Civilized Society has laws to maintain the peace and security of all of its homes and businesses. We must enforce the laws, we have to decide as a city to decide to enforce these laws or not, and if we do not, we must be prepared for the consequences that will have a net negative effect on the residents of our city. Thank you. Chairman brinkman thank you, mr. Martinson. Melody, are you ready . I think youre the last Public Commenter one more after you go ahead. Thank you so much. Im so grateful for your time today. I want to tell you how grateful i am that the sfmta has not posted no parking over vehicle sign i cant imagine recentl signage recently, and im worried what will happen to more if more oversize vehicle signs are posted. Its impossible to tell you my story in two minutes of how and why i got here, but i can tell you what its like now. The public pressured and city mandated chronic displacement is nearly always carried out in a brutal devastating manner by what homeless experience as a small army of supposedly a team of various city officials, the dhsh, the dpw, the hot team and etcetera. And via chronic displacement, this perpetuates a man made personal disaster on the level of a flood or a fire or hurricane. This is like being displaced by a fire every few weeks, if not every few days. If the oversize vehicle restrictions are posted, the frequency at which im displaced will escalate. I would be very happy to answer any questions that you have and thank you so much for your time. Chairman brinkman thank you, melody. I think we have a few more public speakers. Yes. Emily cohen, followed by jennifer sergeants. Good afternoon, directors. My names emily cohen. Im the policy manager for the department of homelessness and effective housing. Thank you for holding this hearing today. I think this is an important subject we are all grappling with. Several months ago, several agencies formed a working group as andy alluded to earlier to discuss potential Pilot Programs or alternatives to the current situation. We know there are far too many People Living in their cars, on our streets, and we know that our homeless system are over burdened, and we do not have the capacity that we need to address the issue, so we are looking forward on developing something, and i look forward to coming back in a few months when we have some concrete propositions. We want to lead with social services, and we want to work with folks living in their vehicles and with social Service Providers to ensure that were able to get people connects to the resources and services needed to move them into housing and you know forward in their lives. So i appreciate you guys bringing up this issue and grappling with it, and i look forward to having the conversation and come forward with an announcement when we have more from our working group. Chairman brinkman thank y you. Next speaker, please. Jennifer sergeant. Hi. Im a Third Generation san franciscan, and i cant afford to live here anymore. I work in the city. I commute every day, 40 miles up to santa clara to San Francisco. I have to park in the bayview district. Its just kind of forgotten. Its district ten. Its the last district on the list, and they forget about it. A lot of oversize buildings are vehicles have been moved from other districts, and we call 311 and the police. We have a lot of r. V. s, cars, Homeless People. Its not safe, its not hygienic. I have to give myself an extra ten minutes from where i park to where i work. There cou there were trying to figure out the best way to make it safe for us to go to work and for them to be helped. I think its a great idea to use the social services, give them a fee of 1 a week so they feel human again and not feel like theyre homeless and being spit on. Chairman brinkman thank you, miss sergeant. Is there anyone else . Yes. I see one more. Hi. My name is nick. Im just here to just follow up on what my colleagues from the coalition fore homelessness are saying. I guess that people walk to work, and the view from their home is important, however we definitely feel the livelihood of People Living in those vehicles is more important. We do have suggestions for what the mta can do. I understand youre not tasked with addressing social services and all that. Thats not what were asking. Were asking the oversize code, the 72hour code, even though people are not issued citations, they are harassed by the police. Even though we may not be seeing tickets, we know from what we hear that those laws are being enforced and they certainly are affecting People Living in their streets and in their cars. We think that the auto return contract needs to be reviewed. We also see that, again, like food stamps and things like that, not everyone is eligible for that. We issue a certificate of homelessness fr