For your patience, for your diligence for keeping us on our toes to make sure that we provided you a home that had your thoughts, your amenities, and what you thought would make a great home for you. I also want to thank the western Edition Community that welcomed Community Housing partnership into its arms. We have a property at frederick were roderick and scott that we have been operating for over nine minutes nine years. We are so happy to add this to our portfolio. Want to thank a couple of other people before we get the program started. I want to thank all the staff at Community Housing partnership who worked on this, the mayors housing of Community Development , the Housing Authority, bank of america who underwrote this poke program, the design partners, fine line construction, who worked very hard to mitigate construction, armando, i also want to thank david and amy, former staff of Community Housing partnership for all of their work. [applause] i will be speaking a little later about why today is also important for other reasons, but it is my great privilege and honor to introduce someone who everyone in this room knows, and i believe loves and two understands what the value of a safe and stable home can do for your life. It is my honor to introduce the honorable mayor london breed. [cheers and applause] thank you. Im so excited to be here today and im excited because we are doing exactly what our late mayor talked about, fulfilling all promises made to members of our community for so many years. I grew up just down the street in plaza east. Many of you knew i grew up in Public Housing under some of the most challenging of circumstances, but also some of the most terrible conditions. Reverend brown, you remember, plaza east, reverend davis who baptized me, and reverend townsend from when you both were at First Union Baptist church. Many of the people that i grew up with went to your churches in the community, where we were dealing with not just just worship services, boulevard too many funerals. From lives lost, from hopelessness, from frustration, from despair, so my lifes work of working with the community for so many years had everything to do with changing what was normal for us, and opening the doors to opportunity. So when i had an opportunity to serve on the board of supervisors, and i met with mayor ed lee, and we talked about what my priorities would be as a supervisor, i said to him, he said what is your top three . And i said Public Housing, Public Housing, Public Housing. As we move the city forward in so many people enjoy the prosperity of what has developed over the years with the Tech Industry and all of these great things that San Francisco has to offer, we cant continue to leave our residence behind. The conditions that have existed since i lived there, the mould, the busted pipes, the messed up bathroom, the roaches, when you have had to live like that for over 20 years of your life, there is nothing that will be more important to you then changing the conditions of people who still, unfortunately, have to live like that. I want to thank the mayor ed lee for supporting what i cared about, for helping to work with the Mayors Office of Housing Housing at the time, under his direction and now under the direction of of kate harley to bring r. A. D. To the community. We all know it was not easy. We had many meetings in this exact room where people were not necessarily comfortable, and that is why i and supervisor vallie brown showed up to those meetings to talk to the community and to hear the concerns, and to make sure that you knew your rent would not be impacted. We temporarily had to do rehabilitation and you may be moved here or there, but ultimately, what happened to us in plaza east where they tore down 300 units and only built 200, there was no way we were going to let that happen to any other resident in San Francisco, not as long as i had the ability to work in a leadership role, and to make that a reality. So i am so happy to be here today. Ninetyseven units completely rehabilitated. [applause] thanks do not just working with the residence and working with Community Housing partnership in working with the San Francisco Housing Authority and working with the Mayors Office of housing, it was working with the entire western Edition Community because i wanted to make sure that they were actively engaged, whether they lived in Public Housing or not to, and people were actively engaged in this process. So we could protect one another, and we did just that. I cant even believe how great this room looks right now compared to what it looks like before. And im so happy about the courtyard and the chairs and the paint on the walls and this bookshelf thing over here. It is absolutely amazing. Part of what we also have to do is support our community, especially our senior community. We have to make sure they have what they need in terms of services and support, so this partnership with r. A. D. Is just amazing, and im so grateful for all of those involved, including bank of america for underwriting the expenses associated with this major undertaking. But also this was community, and it involved someone from the community who was just a blessing to our community. This building is dedicated in honor of the late Rachel Townsend, a community advocate, the daughter of reverend Arnold Townsend who is also an Amazing Community advocate, someone who worked her butt off for this community. I mean the june festival would not have even happens happened all of those years ago. [applause] all of those years, had it not been for Rachel Townsend. The work that she did to not only support the community, but when her father was sick, she was right there helping to care for him, and looking out for him and others in the community. She was one of the sweetest people you would ever want to meet, and the only problem was, she never said no to anybody. She never said no. Can you do this, rachel . Yes. Can you do this, rachel . What time is it . She was there for so many of us in this community and it is such an honor to choose to name such an amazing place that represents fulfilling a promise to this community. It really means a lot to reverend townsend back to all of us here in the western Edition Community. Especially many of us who have grown up here and worked here, to dedicate this building in her honor. So with that, i would like to say thank you to everyone involved. Thank you to so many amazing people. Thank you to the residents for your patience through this process, and for trusting us to do what we needed to do to make sure that your lives are better for it. This is an Amazing Community, and im honored that i had an opportunity to participate in a small part of making this possible. Thank you everyone for being here. [applause] another speaker i would like to welcome is a district five supervisor, vallie brown. Supervisor brown has a long history advocating for residents in Affordable Housing in San Francisco. We are thrilled she could join us today and celebrate the rehabilitation in a building in her backyard. Thank you. [applause] thank you, and thank you mayor breed. It reminds me when we met over 15 years ago what really made us bond was housing security, with how she groped us grew up and what happened to her family when they rebuilt plaza east, and people didnt have a place to come back to. And my experience of never really having a stable home growing up and being evicted and living in all kinds of alternatives, that you really think about stable housing, and stable housing for your loved ones, and your community, and i was here 11 years ago in a neighborhood and a resident meeting. People were talking about the things that they would like to see and their issues. I remember going into one of the units and there was some issues, but then i also when we came back with mayor breed, supervisor breed at the time, and talking to residents about what they would like to see, and they were very honest with us and sometimes brutally honest with us. Which i personally love. And now to come back and see it like this back and talk to people like robert who had, if you dont mind, he was homeless for 25 years before you came in here. I mean, this is why we do this work. This is why we get up in the morning. We get beat up all the time for the things that we do. But we want to make sure that we have places for people like robert and others to come to and to live and to be stable. When you are a senior, you are disabled to, this city is cruel, and it is hard. And so we need places like this and other Affordable Housing, and i am dedicated to make sure that we have Affordable Housing, and preserve Affordable Housing so people can stay in place, and people like robert have a place. It is so important. I definitely want to talk about Rachel Townsend. 1212 words to describe rachel. Both of them start with a. C. Cowgirl, and community. Those two words. If anyone knew rachel, she loved horses. She loved the community, and sometimes she was able to put those together. Like when we had the black cowboys. It was amazing. And she would teach kids how to ride to. She would teach kids, city kids that had never been around a horse their whole life that they didnt have to be afraid. That these magnificent beasts could actually be their friend, and she was pretty amazing. I had worked with her for years, and believe me, ripped rachel and i would sometimes go out. Yes, she always said yes, but she always stood her ground. Because thats who she was. She knew herself. She knew her community, and i always respected her for that. The last conversation i had with rachel we were talking about housing. Rachel this was her community but guess what . She didnt live here. She was pushed out of San Francisco because she couldnt afford it. We talked about her getting into the Affordable Housing pipeline and how to do that. She did not make it cost you have to make, as a single person, 47,600 a year to qualify for our Affordable Housing. She worried about that because she worked all kinds of jobs to support herself. I remember having the biggest fight with her and saying, you need to apply, just applied. We will figure it out. And now that there is actually a place, a home named after her, it is kind of ironic that she didnt have a home here. Yes. So today, in memory of Rachel Townsend his, im happy that we are dedicating this beautiful building for everybody else who is vulnerable just like rachel, and i want to thank dale gilman who came up and really said, hey , we have an idea. Reverend townsend saying yes, i love your idea, and rachels mother and her newfound sister that she never knew. Thank you, everyone, for making this happen, and thank you for the community that would come here and take time out of your day. Rachel would be so happy to look around and see all of you and that you came here. I know a lot of you came here today for what she stood for. She stood for community, and that was her number 1 thing. So thank you everyone. I will give it back to gail. [applause] good afternoon, everyone and thank you for being here today. My name is Daniel Potter and im the project manager and i have been working on this building for the last year and a half. One of my favorite parts of my job is working with incredible funders who came together to make this project possible. And now i have the great pleasure of introducing heidi with bank of america kirk bank of america has been an incredible funding partner and we could not have done it without them. Please welcome heidi. [applause] hello. Good afternoon everyone. A tremendous thank you to all of our distinguished guests. Mayor breed, supervisor brown, and the four most all of the residents of 1750 mcallister. I am honored to be here representing over 4,000 teammates in San Francisco and the east bay and it means so much to us because this is where we started as a little pipsqueak bank, called bank of italy and founded by italian immigrants, and it really was about making sure we helped banks help bank the underserved. The minorities, the women, those who were not part of the mainstream. Over 100 years, we have been with the city through good and bad. When we had a mayor and a supervisor who were this passionate about Public Housing, and came to us with this radical idea, and the bank stepped up big time because it was a passion project. It wasnt just about making the numbers work. It was about truly investing in the community. What im so proud to share with all of you is everybody here knows that west coast is the best coast and San Francisco is its crown jewel. But for us a bank of america, investing in our Community Development banking. 4. 5 billion across the country. But wait, 2. 2 billion here in San Francisco. So i am proud to share that. With all of you. But those are ultimately just numbers and it is really about the people here at 1750 mcallister, at over 29 Properties Across the state across the city through s. F. R. A. D. And what it means to us to be part of the community in partnership with the mayor touch office of housing and Community Development, all of our partners , but ultimately we are proud of who we are and who we had the opportunity to be in partnership with the city and the county of San Francisco. Thank you and congratulations. I got to hear from several of the residence. One complaint about noise, too many dogs, too many music that i said you know what . That is a great problem to have when it is in urine new community. Congratulations to everybody and thank you for being allowing us to be part of it today. [applause] okay. One of my other favorite parts of working on this project has been building relationships with the amazing residents in this building, and today we are lucky lucky enough to have one of those residents with us. Robert matheson has been in the building for the last 11 years, and i have really enjoyed getting to work with him and the other residents. They have really taught me so much. I would like to welcome up robert to say a few words about the transformation the building has undergone. [applause] mayor breed, and other honored guests, welcome to our newly renovated home. I cant speak for other residents of 1750 mcallister, however, i can articulate the importance of a clean, safe living environment. As a disabled man who pulled himself out of the gutter of over 25 years of chronic homelessness, i can say that Community Housing partnership proved to me that if you have hope, you are never a lost cause Community Housing partnership, and in particular, the staff of 1750 mcallister, replaced fear of the San Francisco Housing Authority with respecting respect and kindness that everyone deserves no matter how low our society on societys totem pole you are. I have come from the dangerous halls of new york citys seltzer shelter system where predators roam, to a home that uplifted my formerly low self selfesteem to a new beginning where i can strive to achieve a High School Diploma as a student at the adult wording Editorial Centre on Community College of cisco. [cheers and applause] thank you Community Housing partnership for letting me know i was never a lost cause because you gave me hope for a Brighter Future in my wonderfully renovated home on the tenth floor of 1750 mcallister. [applause] thank you. [applause] [cheers and applause] so we have one speaker left who i have the honor to introduce. Before i do that, i want to actually, the community has been spoken about a lot today. We are all interconnected. Where i was born and lived the first ten years of my life, in the bronx, i played at the same part that robert walked his dog. That to me is interconnectedness. As most of you know, i grew up in Affordable Housing in new york city and finding stable places to live, and even when i moved here in 1994 give me the opportunity to go to college and go to school and have this incredible honor to lead this organization that is changing the lives of so many people. One person to change my life when i first got here, and who ive known over a decade was reverend Arnold Townsend. I am yes. [applause] i am actually deeply embarrassed to say that i actually never met rachel. My own interaction was through facebook posts from reverend townsend to, our lunches spoke of her, so i never had the honor by reverend townsend helps Community Housing partnership gain Community Acceptance for the first 100 Supportive Housing ever to be cited. We now call hayes vallie. Dr raine and Julian Richardson of apartments which opened in 2011. He helped us with rents when we decided to bid on that project and he rallied the Western Addition Community Around this little nonprofit that was known to only mostly working in the tenderloin and building housing for formerly Homeless Individuals and families. He made me always come out to the fillmore street to see him and we would have lunch. Im so deeply honored that i have the ability, the foresight, and have this opportunity to dedicate this building after reverend Arnold Townsends daughter, Rachel Townsend. I am so honored that this man is in my life. Lets welcome reverend townsend. [cheers and applause] thank you first of all, let me apologize. I thought i would be better and look tougher today, and would not be shutting so many tears. Dont misunderstand, im still tough. [laughter] dont be trying to take liberties when we get out of here. But this is just overwhelming. It is amazing to me. Let me do this right first of all. To our honorable and esteemed manner, i dont think i need to do for her going into what i feel about her, number 1 is a person, and as my friend. Let me tell you, if you dont know, everything she says about caring for people, she absolutely means. Im sorry. Let me put it this way. When our former mayor, willie brown received a metal, i was in san antonio. One of the high points of my year every year is i go to the naacp convention, and i would recommend everyone in this room, no matter what color you are a, religion or anything else, you ought to see one of those conventions before you die. If you do if you havent seen much like it here thousands of africanamerican folk are there and it is a working convention. They get things done. And prepare for the work in the coming years. Please think about that. But i was there in san antonio when he got the award. Former president clinton introduced him, and then the mayor spoke as he does. After he got through, and he delivered was the entertainment, and in his performance, he said i know it is hard for me, i will try to make it quick as possible , because you are last on the program, i know that all of you really want me to do is hurry up. So i will try my best to hurry up. So eddie does his set of his music, and as he was getting ready to go into that, he explained how both of his sons passed within 18 months of each other, and he said something that helped me process of verbally what you are feeling in a situation with the loss of a child. He said, every time it comes up, whether it just comes in your mind, or people bring it up, and people can bring it up you can bring her up to me anytime you want to, i understand, we are all processing. But he said, every time it comes up, the wound reopens, and every time the wound opens, it bleeds. And that is the perfect description of what so many of us in this room are feeling. Let me just make some real quick introductions. If i dont get to everybody, i know you were important to rachel, and you know you were. Like i said, they want me to hurry up. The first of all, let me introduce rachels mom. She is here. Susan hayes smith. [applause] whatever i did to help make rachel who she was, she did more , because she put up with her every day, and when she wasnt with me. And mark, her oldest brother, mark hayes sitting next to his mom. [applause] he laughed because he knows what rachel was like. She wouldnt ask all of you all. [laughter] the rest of us in the family, i told a young man once he said he was interested in my daughter , i said well thats all i will tell you. If you are going to holler at rachel, i can tell you what they tell the boxers when the fight starts. Protect yourself at all times. I love her, but i wouldnt date her. [laughter] thats just who she was. And then let me say, dell was here somewhere. Another brother and there are others that couldnt make it today. Some of rachels dear friends, her pastor, reverend davis is here. Our pastor is here. Also, vallie brown already started it, let me introduce again rachels sister that she never met, natalie douglas. [applause] whenever you are in new york or anywhere, checked the entertainment book or go on her page. She is quite a singer. She is professionally a jazz singer, but we found out on sunday she dont do bad with gospel either. [laughter] she sang at our church on sunday before our priest. My dear friend, in one of my best friends in the world, Brenda Jackson is here. [applause] billy joel, natalies husband , wave your hand. I have a new son out of the process as well as a doctor. One of rachels other brothers, Corey Jackson is also here. He has got my new grandbaby, emma rose in his hands. And nadia is down there on the floor. She is the big girl. And so many of you others who are here. I see friends go back. I saw tim and bill, thurman white, our friend thurman had to watch what boys. Rachel was in between them age wise. They used to play together when they were little. Theres just some wonderful associations here. I wish i had time to oh, i have to introduce a k. Raise your hands. There used to be three girls when they were in oakland, they handled it. And it was rachel, a. K. A. , and masako. She could not make it today because she could not get off work. Those three have been together since the second grade, and they all calmly pops. They have all left me in taking care of me right after rachel passed. They picked me up and took me to dinner and just loved on me for a while. And the really exciting thing is when they were starting in second grade until the fifth, i was a designated field trip parent, if you can imagine that. Everyone entrusted their kids with me, and i did grab a little boy by the neck one day and thought i was ready to get prosecuted but im old school. Anyway, let me just do this real quick. When we did a Summer Program for london, we were supposed to have 35 children and we ended up with 150. That meant me and reverend davis had to be there every day. That was not how he planned to spend our summer. When they would asked me what i was teaching in the program, i would say, i teach boy, girl, sit down and hash 101. [laughter] let me say this. If you cant do it, find somebody who can, because children are children and they still need to be taught that. There is a time for them to sit down and hush, and learn something. You are not being mean, you are loving them. You love them enough to care, whether they dont like you are not for the moment. Anyway, i am at the chinatown dinner with my good friend, it is a dinner with my good friend norman fong and his boys, and im at the dinner and i walking across the floor and going to the washroom, because when you are my age you go a lot, and gail gilman, who i enjoy as a human being, they are just amazing. I called them to see if somebody could give a tour. They did not build it like they were building housing for the chronically homeless, they built it like they were building for human beings to live in, thrive, prosper and grow. [cheers and applause] just because people are poor when you do something for them, you dont have to make them feel like it. Just do it. And so im walking across the floor and dale grabs my hand. She says, reverent, can we talk for a minute . I want to ask you something. We just fifth finished 1750, and we want to name it for somebody in the community in the fillmore, not thinking about what gentrification means, it is still the fillmore. And she said, we want to name it after and we thought you could help us figure it out. I said sure. Lets get together and next week and i will talk to a few other folks and we will come up with something no problem. She said really, we would like to know, if we can name it after your daughter. And i did then what im doing now. I was so honored, and so touched that it was hard for me to respond. I said that is wonderful, but i do, i will make the call. I said i have to talk to her mom and the rest of the folks. I called mark and james. One of her nephews, another grandson, if you are ever in fresno, eat lunch or dinner at khakis, is a wonderful place. I have to put the plugin or else he might have to borrow some money from me to help them out. Help all of them out. Help all of them out. And so everybody thought it was a great idea and we did it. And that someone would be so carrying and so concerned, and believe so much in understanding the community they are working in, they dont just come plan a building and now theyre gone and they get the rents off of it and build their company, but they stay with you once the construction is over. They are as involved, if not more involved day today as they were when they were building it. And those are the kinds of people that we need, and i will just tell this real quick, when they came to us, i was the president of this c. A. C. During the redevelopment process at that time. When they were going to build that, we kind of went back and forth a little bit. We said no because we didnt the director of the time brought it to us and we liked it, but they didnt bring it back to us for final approval before she put it on the agenda. The names will go unmentioned, but if you count back, those of you in the city can figure out who it was. So we went off and mare breed was on the commission at the time. We went off, and you can see that the commission was already leaning in our direction, but the director kept fighting to try and get it through. And jeff who was there at the time said, mr rosen, thank you for supporting us, but we are not that kind of organization. We dont impose ourselves and peoples communities. If the community doesnt want us and they arent ready for us, we dont want to go forward until theyre comfortable. People dont do that when they are looking at multimillion dollar opportunity. But they said no, we will wait. Put it back out to bid. And then he turned around and said, reverend, we will be added again. I just want you to know that. He and i went to lunch and we talked, and then when they got ready to go again, they brought in their staff, much of their staff, and their staff had to be seven or 70 or 80 black folk folk. There son worked on the project. And a couple of other people that we knew from the neighborhoods. I told jeff or you, i dont know who, why are you doing this why didnt you do this in the first place and we didnt have to go through all of this . We didnt know. We knew exactly what kind of organization they were. We built it. They did a magnificent job. C. H. P. , Community Housing partnership, not the highway patrol. [laughter] remember them. Get a load of jeff buckley. One of the mirrors persons who does housing. Doctor brown who has already been mentioned, who is a friend, a brother, and mentor, my president. He is president of the naacp. I have a privilege of serving as his vice president. Which was probably not the smartest decision i ever made. [laughter] if you work with amos, the operative uppity word is work amen. And one of the most insightful human beings i have ever known in my life. We will be in a meeting, you know im telling the truth, the meeting is going well, we finish the meeting, everybody is in agreement, we are ready to go, and dr brown says, weighed a minute. Everyone says oh, no,. And amos says very simply, and this is mississippi stuff, reverent davis, you might know about this, if everybody in the room agrees, somebody aint thinking. We have to sit down and go over it again, and by the time to get through it, he was right. There was some things left undone. So it has been a privilege and the fact that he is here shows the kind of support that he gives. The greens who run the africanamerican art and culture complex do such a wonderful job. I see you all. You all do such a good job. I was always amazed at how many of my friends that rachel was friends with that i didnt know. They did not meet through me but they became friends on their own so we are grateful. Our family thanks you so much and c. H. P. , since you are in this for the duration, i just want you to know that this family is in this thing for the duration. Our human rights head, cheryl davis, i just saw her, she is here somewhere. So many of you that i know and love so dearly, you are once again expressing your love for me and my family, and i cannot thank you enough for the kindness that has been shown to us through this process. I love you all so much. Thank you. Danielle, thank you so much. They worked together, ran together, and did all kinds of stuff together. I thank you all so much. God bless you. Thank you. [cheers and applause] Community Housing partnership wants to present this. This is what we will be hanging here at the property. This is for you reverend townsend. I dont know anything, my staff knows absolutely everything. How wonderful. Thank you so much. [applause] do you want to come up while okay. In memory of Rachel Townsend to herb for devotion and to provide a voice to the voiceless , we dedicate the Rachel Townsend apartments in her honor on december 19th, 2018. [cheers and applause] let me say one other thing. I did not quite say enough, and Somebody Just said really . [laughter] i want to do another real quick thank you to susan, rachel s mother. Not only did we share in this wonderful and amazing daughter, i was always amazed at the kind of stuff that she could do, and a lot of it was absolutely must be from her mothers side or my parents because it skipped me. One of the most organized individuals ive ever known. Rachel used to work with us in the naacp gala every year, and we had 600 people there, and somebody could walk up, if it is somebody you know and that she knew, that was different. But somebody she didnt know walked up and gave them her name they wanted to know where they were sitting in the other people would look on the thing. And they would walk up and look at their name and they was a kate hartley, at your table 26. Somebody said, how did she do that . How the hell am i supposed to know, i cant do it. She could do it. Not only did she help put a major part in raising a wonderful daughter, but she also shared her entire large family with me. To all of her kids, i am pops back to all of the grandkids, i am pops or grandpa, and it has been absolutely fulfilling, and has helped create so much purpose in our lives, and i just want to thank you again, and make sure that it is said publicly again, thank you so much, susan, i love you. [cheers and applause] i have been living in San Francisco since 1957. I live in this area for 42 years. My name is shirley jackson, and i am a retirement teacher for San Francisco unified school district, and i work with Early Childhood education and after school programs. I have light upstairs and down stairs. Its been remodelled and i like it. Some of my floors upstairs was there from the time i built the place, so they were very horrible and dark. But weve got lighting. The room seems lighter. They painted the place, they cemented my back yard, so i wont be worried about landscaping too much. We have central heating, and i like the new countertops they put in. Up to date oh, and we have venetian blinds. We never had venetian blinds before, and its just cozy for me. It meant a lot to me because i didnt drive, and i wanted to be in the area where i can do my shopping, go to work, take the kids to school. I like the way they introduced the movein. I went to quite a bit of the meetings. They showed us blueprints of the materials that they were going to use in here, and they gave us the opportunity to choose where we would like to stay while they was renovating. It means a lot. Its just that ive been here so long. Most people that enjoyed their life would love to always retain that life and keep that lifestyle, so it was a peaceful neighborhood. The park was always peaceful, and i dont know. I just loved it. I wanted to be here, and i stayed. Manufacturing in cities creates this perfect platform for people to earn livelihoods and for people to create more economic prosperity. Im kate sosa. Im cofounder and ceo of sf made. Sf made is a Public Private partnership in the city of San Francisco to help manufacturers start, grow, and stay right here in San Francisco. Sf made really provides wraparound resources for manufacturers that sets us apart from other Small Business support organizations who provide more generalized support. Everything we do has really been developed over time by listening and thinking about what manufacturer needs grow. For example, it would be traditional things like helping them find capital, provide assistance loans, help to provide Small Business owners with education. We have had some great experience doing what you might call pop ups or temporary selling events, and maybe the most recent example was one that we did as part of sf made week in partnership with the city Seas Partnership with Small Business, creating a 100 Company Selling day right here at city hall, in partnership with mayor lee and the board of supervisors, and it was just a wonderful opportunity for many of our smaller manufacturers who may be one or twoperson shop, and who dont have the wherewithal to have their own dedicated retail store to show their products and it comes back to how do we help Companies Set more money into arthur businesses and develop more customers and their relationships, so that they can continue to grow and continue to stay here in San Francisco. Im amy kascel, and im the owner of amy kaschel San Francisco. We started our line with wedding gowns, and about a year ago, we launched a ready to wear collection. San franciscos a great place to do business in terms of clientele. We have wonderful brides from all walks of life and doing really interesting things architects, doctors, lawyers, teachers, artists, other like minded entrepreneurs, so really fantastic women to work with. I think its important for them to know where their clothes are made and how theyre made. My name is jefferson mccarly, and im the general manager of the Mission Bicycle company. We sell bikes made here for people that ride here. Essentially, we sell city bikes made for riding in urban environments. Our core business really is to build bikes specifically for each individual. We care a lot about craftsmanship, we care a lot about quality, we care about good design, and people like that. When people come in, we spend a lot of time going to the design wall, and we can talk about handle bars, we can see the riding position, and we take notes all over the wall. Its a pretty fun shopping experience. Paragraph. For me as a designer, i love the control. I can see whats going on, talk to my cutter, my pattern maker, looking at the designs. Going through the suing room, im looking at it, everyone on the team is kind of getting involved, is this what that drape look . Is this what shes expecting, maybe if weve made a customization to a dress, which we can do because were making everything here locally. Over the last few years, weve been more technical. Its a great place to be, but you know, you have to concentrate and focus on where things are going and what the right decisions are as a Small Business owner. Sometimes its appropriate to bring in an expert to offer suggestions and guidance in coaching and counseling, and other times, we just need to talk to each other. We need to talk to other manufacturers that are facing similar problems, other people that are in the trenches, just like us, so that i can share with them a solution that we came up with to manage our inventory, and they can share with me an idea that they had about how to overcome another problem. Moving forward, where we see ourselves down the road, maybe five and ten years, is really looking at a business from a little bit more of a ready to wear perspective and making things that are really thoughtful and mindful, mindful of the end user, how theyre going to use it, whether its the end piece or a he hwedding gown, are they going to use it again, and incorporating that into the end collection, and so thats the direction i hear at this point. The reason we are so enamored with the work we do is we really do see it as a platform for changing and making the city something that it has always been and making sure that were sharing the opportunities that weve been blessed with economically and socially as possible, broadening thit. Shop dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges resident to do their shop dine in the 49 within the 49 square miles of San Francisco by supporting local services in the neighborhood we help San Francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so were will you shop dine in the 49 chinatown has to be one the best unique shopping areas in San Francisco that is color fulfill and safe each vegetation and seafood and find everything in chinatown the walk shop in chinatown welcome to jason dessert im the fifth generation of candy in San Francisco still that serves 2000 district in the chinatown in the past it was the tradition and my family was the royal chef in the pot pals thats why we learned this stuff and moved from here to have dragon candy i want people to know that is art we will explain a walk and they cant walk in and out it is different techniques from stir frying to smoking to steaming and they do show of. Beer a royalty for the age berry up to now not people know that especially the toughest they think this is i really appreciate they love this art. From the cantonese to the hypomania and we have hot pots we have all of the cuisines of china in our chinatown you dont have to go far. Small business is important to our neighborhood because if we really make a lot of people lives better more people get a job here not just a big firm. You dont have to go anywhere else we have pocketed of great neighborhoods haul have all have their own uniqueness. San francisco has to all good morning. Welcome to the San Francisco county Transportation Authority for today, tuesday, december th. Our last meeting of the calendar year. Mr clerk up can you please call the roll . [roll call]