think people would be interested in this. i am so lucky to live here. i am so grateful to my parents who decided to move to the city. i am so grateful they did. good afternoon. welcome to the january 19, 2021 special meeting of the san francisco board of supervisors. would you please call the roll. >> supervisor chan. >> present. >> supervisor haney. >> present. >> supervisor mandelman. >> present. >> supervisor mar. >> present. >> supervisor melgar. >> might be muted.

to my staff if you could check to see if she is on. >> supervisor peskin. >> present. >> supervisor preston. >> present. >> supervisor ronen. >> present. >> supervisor safai. >> present. >> supervisor stefani. >> present. >> supervisor walton. >> present. >> i will -- circle back to melgar. not present. you have a quorum. >> thank you, madam clerk. the san francisco board of supervisors acknowledges that we are on the unseated and homeland of the original inhabitants of san francisco pepninsula.

as the indigenous of this land they have never forgotten the responsibilities of the care takers of the people as well as all people. our guests we recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. we wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the ancestors, elders of the community and by affirming their rights as first peoples. colleagues, please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

>> thank you, colleagues. on behalf of the board i would like to acknowledge the staff at sfgovtv, jason who records each meeting and makes the transcripts available to the public online. i would like to start off by saying to the clerk's office this has been a year of crisis and many long meetings. we appreciate your hard work and commitment to ensuring we handle the business of the city. you all do it with professionalism. i know it keeps you away from family. we appreciate you. to my colleagues, thank you for being here today as we address a very important issue to provide support for a community that has been devastated by the negative

economic impacts of the covid-19 pandemic for a long period of time. my goal for this meeting is to be efficient and get the work of the board done today in a timely manner. are there any communications? >> thank you, mr. president. we very much appreciate your words and we do appreciate continuing to serve the board and the city. thank you. the board of supervisors recognizes that public access to city services remains essential during the health emergency. the department makes the follow options available for the public to communicate with the board or access this meeting and participate remotely. you may send your written correspondence when received we will make it part of the file. if you are using u.s. mail send to the san francisco board of

supervisors 1 city hall room 244 san francisco california 94102. if you are using e-mail, that is bos at sfgov.orange. you can watch on your computer. go to channel 26. however, due to the signal delay you must turndown your television and listen from your phone if up intend to provide public comment. it is through your touch phone you will be able to be in live singh to listen to the proceedings without the delay. the telephone number is on the screen. 415-655-0001. when you hear the prompt enter the meeting id. press pound twice and join the meeting.

only when you are ready to provide the public comment should you press star three listen for the prompt that you have been unmuted. you may begin speaking your comments. i will say a few words about the agenda content eligible for public comment. there are two opportunities today. the president intends to call items one and two together. one is the opportunity to comment solely on item two which is the contingency reserve appropriation for the restaurant and food service businesses in chinatown. afterwards the board will vote on item 2. there after the members will introduce new business. immediately there after item 4 will be called. that is general public comment where you may speak on the items that are not on today's agenda within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board. not to leave anyone out of the

proceedings with the office of civic engagement we have three interpreters who will assist with language needs. please introduce yourselves for chinese, spanish and filipino.

>> thank you, madam clerk. >> thank you all for being with us today. your continued support in attending these board meetings. for persons experiencing connection issues we have a live person to assist you. call (115)554-5184. pursuant to title two of

american with disabilities. we have an individual who requested to make public comment early. >> thank you, madam clerk. before we get started. a friendly reminder to colleagues. please be sure to mute your microphones when not speaking. we will open public comment at this time for the individual requiring special accommodations. >> thank you, mr. president. operations. can you please unmute the first caller. >> i am zack. disability advocate in san francisco. last week a member spoke of corruption in san francisco in a largely stance on the topic. i agree with mr. preston's request for whistleblower

protection there. is so much corruption locally i don't know where to begin there. was a scandal for the mayor london breed ordered the homeless directly despite denials. there is corruption with d.p.w. and muhammad who was arrested by the fbi for charges of corruption. i have a recording of on tube of vice president honda of the board of appeals bragging about his close personal friendship during an appeals hearing for doing something that the city found illegal. that was allowed by ethics. it was not exchange of money. it is permissible. it is ridiculous. when could individual happened in march the mayor blocked

access to public records and deplayed the sunshine ordinance. in 2016, police chief resigned under charges of racist attacks in our city and that was in may of 2016. i believe we still have a big problem with white supremacy and right wing extremist views in the police department. today two national guardsmen were pulled from the inauguration because of extremist views. we have a problem in the country. i ask the city do something about this while supporting the officers that do their job diligently. >> thank you for your public comment. mr. president that concludes the title two early public comment. >> thank you so much for arranging this accommodation.

madam clerk please now call items one and two together. >> as this is a special meeting of the board of supervisors the special agenda is laid out differently. for all special meetings the board affords the right of public comment to be discussed at the meeting even if that item had already received public comment at board committee. this is due to the brown act case. item 1. the hearing of the board of supervisors sitting as committee of the whole january 19. 2021 to hold that public hearing to consider the ordinance which is the subject matter of item 2. appropriates $1.9 million from the covid reserve in the human services agency to provide assistance to chinatown in fiscal year 20-21 to reduce

appropriations and return funds to the covid reserve to the extent state and/or federal funds are available for reimbursement. >> thank you so much, colleagues. we will convene as a committee of the whole to consider the ordinance appropriating $1.9 million from the covid contingency reserve in the human services agency to provide assistance to restaurants and service businesses in chinatown. seeing we do not have any presenters without objection we will proceed as follows. two minutes each for those who wish to provide public comment on the ordinance. we will then consider the ordinance on first reading after the hearing is held. supervisor peskin, would you like to make any opening remarks? i see your name on the roster. please proceed.

>> thank you, president walton. thank you colleagues. this item today and convening a rare special meeting of the board. thank you, president walton not only for scheduling the meeting but for your cosponsorship. we are starting 2021 exactly as we ended 2020 with a bunch of extra meetings. that is quite appropriate given everything that has been going on for the last 11 months. i really want to thank my original cosponsors president yee and sandra fewer. safai was there at the beginning, mar, haney and our newest member of the board supervisor chan.

everything that needs to be said was said last week in the finance committee meeting. i want to appreciate mcspaed den for support and early actions to address not only the impacts to chinatown businesses but more particularly to the seniors that have been disproportionately impacted by covid in that put. i want to mention mayor breed as well for her support. it is rare supplemental appropriations are offered and rare that i offer one. this is truly an extra ordinary situation in an otherwise extraordinary circumstance. i spoke to that in committee. i will briefly reiterate here. then i would like to offer after

public comment -- i will speak before public comment a non substantive amendment and i will speak to that in just a second. by way of background and we have seen this in local and national press detailing the very real threat of losing not only one of the last in chinatowns in the united states but i would argue the greatest chinatown outside of china in the world. this is a neighborhood we all know, all 11 of us know it not as tourists but proud residents of san francisco. one of us was partially raised there, and that would be our newest colleague, supervisor chan. the neighborhood that has been jumping off point for new

immigrants, has an extremely large population of seniors, many the vast majority of whom live in very crowded single resident hotels and whose workers are like everybody struggling to make ends meet but in this community it is particularly true. the statistics are startling. before the pandemic 97% of the families were working and gainfully employed. after shelter-in-place, half of them, 45% have lost all of their income. the pandemic hit this community earlier because it was exacerbated by the subway delays and by late access to the city's shared spaces, cancellations of

the chinese new years parade. i am trying to make an argument this neighborhood is particularly hard-hit. it is also an ecosystem that is very unique in the neighborhoods where it not only offers employment but food to the very same community. >> everybody is crying for help hopefully tomorrow when joe biden and kamala harris are sworn it assistance will be forthcoming. we don't have time to wait. every neighborhood and every corridor is hurting, but keeping chain new town intact is a universal priority and having said that the non substantive amendment i would like to make

to item 2 on today's special board meeting is one that would increase the city's flexibility relative to reducing the amount of this supplemental appropriation given the potential for reimbursement. as we discuss in committee, at least $230,000 of this $1.9 million appropriation should be reimbursable by fema. there may be other sources of funds, federal cares act money that may be forthcoming, and to that end i would like to add at section 3 on page 3 beginning line 16, just a very simple non substantive addition to add the words for the program or appropriated by the boards permit other local funds

reprogrammed. it would read the controller shall reduce appropriations in return for covid reserves to the extent that state and/or federal funds are available for reimbursement insert for the program or are appropriated by the board to permit other local funds to bereprogrammed for this purpose. i also want to really thank the community represented by a large set of organizations and individuals that don't always get along and are not always on the same page but 100% on the same page in this instance represented by the chinese chamber of commerce, chinatown, chinatown development center, tenants, sr families, merchants, api council, sf new deal, rose

pak democratic club. i am sure i neglected others. i want to thank the chinatown development center for putting up $100,000 and thank ms. mcspaed den for half a million dollars for $2.5 million relief package that hopefully will get us to the point where these restaurants and other food serving businesses can get on their feet. i rant to -- want to thank for looking for more dollars to carry this program forward. i commend the chinatown restaurant support and food security to all of you. thank you to those cosponsored it and i am available to answer any questions. after public comment would like to move the amendment. thank you, mr. president.

>> thank you, supervisor peskin. it looks like we have supervisor preston on the roster. >> thank you, president walton. thank you supervisor peskin for your leadership i would like to be added as cosponsor. >> supervisor safai. >> thank you, mr. president. i will be brief. i want to reiterate my desire for early support in this matter. if you recall back when all of us began to hear about what covid might be and the hatred by the soon to be former president as of today. chinatown, chinese seniors, tenants, small business owners have been hit hardest and

earliest in the pandemic. for us to be able to give money to a program that is a win-win for seniors, tenants, win-win small businesses. thank you for the wisdom to expand beyond restaurants. there are other limited use restaurants, cafes that also benefit from this which are extremely important to the vibrancy of chinatown. i am proud to be a cosponsor. thank you, supervisor peskin for leadership and thank you to the community for bringing this forward and demanding a just bailout in the appropriate time to help this community survive. it is the cultural importance for san francisco. thank you. >> thank you. supervisor mandelman. >> thank you. please add me as cosponsor.

>> thank you. supervisor ronen. >> please add me as cosponsor. i want to echo supervisor peskin's words about the importance that the historic neighborhoods in the city are to our city. our city isn't san francisco without chinatown, and as the main proponent of the cultural districts in the city, i really belief that it is the neighborhoods that often center around certain ethnic groups in our city. they may being it such a special and unique place. you can't find neighborhoods like this anywhere else in the world. this is to me incredibly appropriate use of funds, and i know that everywhere suffering

but i understand why you are bringing this forward, supervisor peskin. i appreciate it and love to join in. thanks. >> thank you. [please stand by]

and you know, these funds are an important step toward equitable recovery, because this is really like our colleagues mentioned, it's a win-win strategy that also supports our chinatown business and restaurants definitely in need at this time. so i just want to thank supervisor peskin for legislating this supplemental. and really appreciate president walton for calling this special meeting. and of course, all of my colleagues on the board for really willing to come together for this hearing today.

thank you. >> thank you, supervisor chan. supervisor melgar. >> thank you. i would like to cosponsor. and thanks to supervisor peskin for the legislation and for supporting cultural communities and for recognizing the diverse ecosystem as that exists with businesses. thank you. >> thank you so much. supervisor melgar, i want to say how important it was for us to meet today and show unity and solidarity in support of chinatown and really just as a show of a form of unity against the bigotry pushed by the current resident of the white house. and we need to do this together as we overcome all of this targeting that's been happening for a lot of our communities due to this current leadership.

so thank you all for being here today. and coming to this special meeting. with that said, supervisor peskin, would you like to move for amendments and we can come back to them after roll-call? >> so moved. >> and is there a second? >> second. >> thank you so much. we will take up this motion after public comment. excuse me. and, madam clerk, are there members of the public who wish to speak on the appropriation ordinance? each speaker would have two minutes to speak. >> clerk: thank you, mr. president. operations, do we have speakers in the queue, please? >> yes, madam clerk, we have six callers in the queue. >> clerk: great. let's unmute the first caller. as the president said, you'll

have two minutes. welcome, caller. >> good afternoon. my name is malcolm young with chinatown community development center. i'm calling in to state my overwhelmed level of support that the city family has shown for chinatown in this dire moment. as a community we reached out for help. as a city, you have responded. supervisor peskin, incredible thanks and gratitude to your advocacy on introducing this legislation. president walton, for scheduling the special meeting. and the overwhelming number of cosponsors. i need to read their names. i just feel so grateful. super vicar safai, mar, mandelman, melgar, preston, ronen, haney. thank you so much. thank you mayor breed for

activating. and so early after our call for help. just amazing. and of course for administering the program. we've spoken about the outcome this is going to hit public health by keeping residents out of kitchen, food security, employment and economic development. but i want to add one last note that people may not know. the chinese new year period is usually whenever our businesses generate 30% of their income in a one-month period. this is coming up in february. this couldn't come at a more timely moment, especially the impact last year during chinese new year's. this is going to keep us afloat and keep chinatown a gateway. thank you so much. >> thank you for your public comment. operations, let's hear from the next caller, please. >> good afternoon, members of the board, supervisors, i'm the

executive director of the chinese progressive association in chinatown. i want to echo the gratitude and the appreciation. honestly, the awe of seeing our board of supervisors come together in unity and support. led by somebody, our wonderful supervisor, aaron peskin. he recognized the moment of critical urgent need for chinatown residents. p.t.a. provides services to chinatown families and residents. our partner organizations in chinatown. and we have seen just the devastation of, you know, over 1,000 workers being assisted with unemployment benefits. we had 4,000 requests. we were only able to fill 80 of them for cash assistance to families.

we also helped support the establishment of un-docu funds and other federal organizations to support undocumented immigrants. who do live in chinatown, who have no other safety net to fall back on. we've seen how our members and folks who are living are hit so hard with job loss, with unsafe living conditions, food insecurity, and trying every day to either risk their lives to ga go to work or stay at home with little for their income. the past week, there's been a surge in the bay area and san francisco and chinatown. so the fear is quite great. i want to make one final point about the importance of this resource. it's about an investment in the long-term future of chinatown. we need our restaurants and businesses to survive, not only to survive, but thrive as businesses, as communities and

employers. this cries circumstances we have to view as an opportunity to support those employers who are doing everything they can to do right by their workers. and ensure businesses and staff have the education and resources... >> thank you for your comments. apologize to cutting anyone off. we're giving two minutes to the members of the public to make their comments. thank you. sorry about that. operations, let's hear from the next caller, please. welcome, caller. you have up to two minutes. >> hello. my name is max. i'm a 29 year-old san francisco native and resident of district 6. last week was the first attempt at speaking. this week, i'm addressing the fact san francisco is not a safe place anymore, especially for the disabled and low-income community members. i'm asking what is going to be done to make san francisco safe as a city that it used to be? i wasn't able to finish last week. after having my friend -- right

in front of -- i believe i was targeted, because i was recognized from the methadone clinics -- >> the public comment is for a specific item at this point. >> clerk: i will, mr. president. the caller, can you hold your comments, sir. apologies. this is not general public comment. this is public comment specifically -- >> i'm sorry if i did it early. >> clerk: no problem. go back into the queue. we have to hear what you have to say. right now, we're taking public comment in the committee of the whole for the contingency reserve for authorizing covid funds to go towards a reserve appropriation to chinatown to assist restaurants and food services agencies. okay. operations, let's hear from the next caller, please.

please continue. >> hello. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes. >> hello supervisors, my name is gayle, a district 3 resident. for identification purposes, a board member of northeast citizens. i'm here to thank supervisor peskin for introducing this legislation and for president walton for holding the committee of the whole. when you have a thriving chinatown we have a thriving district 3. and many of our residents overlap. many of residents of north beach are touched by the program. and our chinatown brothers and sisters make our community thrive as well. i'm overwhelmed by the board of supervisors.

i'm calling to thank the board for taking action that folks will see. seniors and families, who cannot survive. and also to keep our thriving businesses of chinatown alive. we come out of this recovery together as a community, as one district 3. i want to thank you for your support. >> clerk: thank you, commissioner for your comments. we have in the queue, three members in the public. there are 14 listening. if you like to comment on the contingency only, press star 3 now. operations, let's hear from the next caller, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i'm a community member in chinatown. i grew up in chinatown myself. i just want to reiterate the importance of the $1.5 million funding coming to our community

for local restaurants. thank you, supervisor peskin for advocating for this. this under funding cannot come soon enough this time of the year. one of our members previously mentioned, malcolm, chinese new year's coming up, and it's celebrated with food. it helps the local restaurants survive temporarily and helping the families living in the r.s.o. if they don't -- so we can provide some happiness to them and celebrate the holiday safely. i want to remind that this is just only a temporary band-aid for this whole thing. we need to find support for this community. this is how we can all thrive as a community together and honor those who work so hard.

so for the future leaders of a future generation, thank you very much for the funding. >> clerk: thank you for your comments, sir. operations, let's hear from the next caller, please. >> hello. i'm from the chinatown merchants' association. i'd like to thank supervisor peskin and president walton for holding the special meeting and all of you supervisors coming together to support the legislative opportunity for funding for chinatown. i've been in a chinatown for a long time, since i was a young girl. i grew up in chinatown. it's very close to my heart. and to see what is happening to it now, really is devastating. chinatown is, you know, the --

this relief funding comes as definitely a lifeline. this restaurant -- we could see when we started shared spaces program for outdoor dining, the restaurants people did come around. the outdoor dining it to be banned for now. i can tell you restaurants do create jobs for the immigrants, with limited skills. it helps make the communities thrive. we appreciate this measure to help chinatown during the most historic and largest chinatowns in the united states. thank you so much. to all the speakers before me and also for our support. because this really does mean a lot. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your

comments. next caller, please. >> hi. my name is larry. at this time, i'd like to thank president walton for holding the special board meeting. and a special thanks to our supervisor, aaron peskin in district 3. and all the other supervisors who joined in support of this. this is much-needed funding for our chinatown community. we're in dire need as i talk to merchants and residents in chinatown. and it's important that it stay alive. it's one of the oldest chinatowns in the united states. it's historic. it's a destination stop for many ports coming back to san francisco, or looking forward to

them. many of the workers live in s.r.o.s. and also, they live in your district. they come to chinatown to work and they go home in your district. we ask that you continue to do the funding, your covid funding. and also the c.a.r.e.s. act and heros act that will be rolling out. we look forward to the new president coming out. it's much needed in the community. i thank you again. and we're looking forward to seeing the funds roll out as soon as possible. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. we have nine callers listening. and no left in the queue. can we have the last caller. >> hello, i'm holly, the curator at the chinese culture center. we're a nonprofits arts

organization in chinatown. we have deep gratitude for the relief package to chinatown. it's the backbone to our economy and tied to the neighborhood. i feel this relief package is such a strong statement in expressing that we care about this neighborhood. this neighborhood is incredibly important to us all. without the support, we would not only lose our small businesses, but chinatown itself, one of the last intact gateway immigrant neighborhoods in the country, homes to so many, we thank you to the board of supervisors for our leadership and the support of the relief fund. thank you so much. >> clerk: thank you to the caller for your comments. if you are one of the nine listening and you would like to make comments now, you should press star 3. otherwise, operations, do we have other callers in the queue? >> madam clerk, that completes the queue. >> clerk: okay. mr. president, there are no

further callers. >> president walton: thank you so much. seeing no other speakers, public comment is now closed. [gavel] >> president walton: colleagues, are there other comments on the hearing? i do not see anyone in the roster. and so being that hearing has been heard and is now considered filed. madam clerk, can you please call roll-call on the amendments made by supervisor peskin and seconded by supervisor mandelman. >> clerk: on the amendments, supervisor mandelman. >> [roll-call]

>> clerk: there are 11 ayes. >> president walton: thank you, madam clerk. roll call on item two. >> clerk: item two is amended. supervisor mandelman. >> thank you, madam clerk. i have two in memoriam and resolutions. >> clerk: we're taking vote on item 2 as amended. >> yes, sorry. [roll-call]

>> clerk: there are 11 ayes. >> president walton: without objection, the ordinance is passed on first reading unanimously. [gavel] >> president walton: madam clerk, can we go to roll-call for introductions? >> clerk: yes, supervisor mandelman, as you were saying. >> thank you, madam clerk. let's try that again.

i have two in memoriam today and resolution. so first, i'd like that we adjourn today's meeting in memory of ken jones, who died of bladder cancer on january 13th at the age of 70. ken was an lgbtq and hiv activist who diversified the white male centric queer rights movement in san francisco. ken was an extraordinary man. he made his mark. he was kind and we'll miss him terribly. ken grew up in new jersey and came to san francisco. he became involved in the city's burgeoning lgbtq's movement when he attended a pride parade committee meeting after seeing a flyer for the event that featured only white men. he left that first meeting as cochair of the outreach community to elevate the voices of the marginalized members of the community. ken did that.

in 1985, became the first black chair of the lgbtq pride celebration committee board. in the early 1980s, ken began to volunteer at the foundation, today known as the san francisco aids foundation. he became the director of volunteer services and management. and formed a third-world aids advisory committee. ken was the northern california cochair of the california life aids lobby in sacramento for four years. where he actively lobbied for pro-lgbtq legislation. he chaired the campaign and fight back against racist opposition within the lgbtq community to the candidacy of a black lesbian. in 2009, ken was appointed to the citizen review board to the police department after the murder of officer grant. ken's lifetime of activism was

memorialized in the 2017 series on the lgbtq rights movement "when we rise". years prior to the pandemic, ken led regular walking tours that took visitors on a trek through san francisco's lgbtq history from the perspective of a person who helped make it. in the words of his long-time friend and collaborator, ken jones was a hero. he survived many struggles. he loved his family and community. and to dedicated his life to the movement of peace and justice. rest in power, ken jones. secondly, margot st. james. colleagues margot st. james was legendary in every sense of the word. monday, january 11th, this world lost this feminist revolutionary, proud prostitute

and pioneer of the sex worker movement. i'm requesting that we adjourn today's meeting as the board of supervisors in her honor. i'm introducing a resolution declaring february 14th, 2021 margot st. james day in the city and county of san francisco. thank you to supervisors peskin and ronen for cosponsorering the resolution and joining me in requesting we adjourn in margot's memory. margot was born on december 12th, 1937. raised on her father's dairy farm, margot was an aspiring painter in high school with hopes of pursuing life as an artist when she married her classmate dan and gave birth to their son, don, jr., around the time she graduated. in 1958, margot left her life in washington for san francisco. later, joining the beat nick scene in north beach, where she lived above jazz institutionel

mat door on broadway. in 1962, margot was arrested on false charges of prostitution and convicted. as she once put it "for the crime of knowing too much to be a nice girl". tommy the dyke, opened the first open bar in san francisco. when she got word, she ran to margot's place to find out what was going on. tommy bailed margot out of jail. her invices inspired margot to enroll in law school. her studied helped her successfully appeal her conviction. that led her to become a sex worker, she says. margot's 647-b's conviction made it hard to find regular work. she later became one of california's first woman private detectives. margot held ties with the san francisco defense bar, quickly growing her network of powerful

contacts and decades-long relationships that would help her propel the movement forward. in the early '70s, margot became a founding member of citizens for justice along with harvey milk. she created the sex worker caucus. 1973, margot founded coyote, call off your old tired ethics. for decades, coyote offered legal assistance to sex workers, successfully thought to overturn city policies requiring nonconsensual s.t.d. testing and quarantine for sex workers and condoms as criminal evidence. and led a movement to decriminalize sex work making visible the victimization of sex workers. coyote published "coyote howls", which featured news on sex work,

firsthand accounts of abuses. and feminist theory and research on poetry. coyote solicited artwork from a cartoonist and tina robins. the hookers' ball was a trademark margot event, remembered by many as one of those only san francisco occasions where lines of limousines and rolls royces lined up pimps, politicians and everyone in between. it grossed $200,000 to fund staff to carry out coyote's mission. margot made her entrance that year on the back of an elephant.

margot brought coyote across the country, attending major women's conferences in the movement for decriminalization of the world's oldest profession. and fearlessly pushed for decriminalization onto the political agenda. in 1982 with margot contemplating plans to take the movement international, she met dale peterson. soon after, the two moved to europe, where they would live ten years, first in the netherlands and then southern france. together with the coyote network, margot and gayle formed the prostitution rights, first world whores congress and second world whores congress in brussels in 1986. at the height of the aids epidemic when sex workers were desperate to protect themselves and livelihood. sex workers from 18 countries attended the congresss and world charter for prostitutes' rights

were written there. in 1990s, paul avery declared they get marry so margot could access paul's insurance. and margot returned to the states for good in november 1993. in 1994, margot was appointed to the san francisco task force on prostitution. there, margot met carol stewart. then an aid to the legislator. carol urged margot to run for public office to build support for the movement. 1996, margot ran for one of six open seats on the board of supervisors with carol as her campaign manager running on her slogan, the lady is a... champ. margot came in seventh and endorsements from mayor brown. among others. in 1999, margot and her closest

comrades, set out to create the world's first health clinic for sex workers based on priscilla alexander's model for a pure health-based initiative. in 1999, st. james's infirmary opened its doors with a pop-up clinic providing free primary care, testing, free food, acupuncture and massage therapy to sex worker clients. st. james remains the only nation's only clinic for sex workers. margot moved to washington with her ailing husband. she lived after paul's passing after her declining health. there's more that could be said about margot and the countless ways she touched lives. she devoted her lives to exposing hypocrisy and

stigmaization of women who defy the standards of the "good girl". she was a relentless organizers for legal rights, financial and health security and dignity of sex workers. she built alliances for women in societal divisions. she's remembered as a field nurse, abortionist, midwife and proud unionist, never management. as she'd like to say. her long-time friend susan bright said she was the sex workary joan of arc. it was founded up well, "good girls go to heaven. good girls go everywhere." i want to thank carroll and johanna making sure margot gets the recognition she deserves. rest in power, margot, may your memory be a blessing. the rest i submit.

>> clerk: thank you supervisor mandelman. supervisor peskin, do you wish to speak to the in memoriam. >> thank you, madam clerk. let me take a step back. supervisor -- >> president walton: why don't we do this. since you reminded us at protocol at a meeting awhile ago, why don't we wait until you're called on the roster and you would proceed. >> happy to do so. would like to be added as cosponsor and would suggest that this come from the entire board of supervisors as for mr. jones and miss st. james. >> clerk: mr. president, if you could declare it as such for both and i'll make a note and announce it at the end of the meeting. >> president walton: we declare it as such and allow supervisor peskin to make the statement at the appropriate time as reminded to us before. >> clerk: okay. thank you, mr. president. next is supervisor mar.

>> thank you, madam clerk. colleagues, i left monday the controller's office issued their fourth public integrity report as part of their ongoing investigation into instances of public corruption. this report focuses on ethical standards for contract award processes with the airport commission and other city commissions and boards. and identified several gaps in city law as contributing factors to actual and potential unethical practices in the contract award processes. closing these loopholes is one small critical step we must take to rebuild trust in local government that's been deeply shaken by the crisis. i'm submitting a letter requesting an ordinance be crafted to codify the recommendations contained in the report. including, but not limited to, amending city law to codify city officials and employees shall

not knowingly provide selective assistance to individuals or entities that advantage for a city contract, codifying the roles of commission and board members, including limitations in the contract award process. and requiring city departments to obtain key information about contract proposers, affiliates and subcontractors. i've also requested a hearing date at g.a.o. and spoken to chair preston to discuss the report. as we have throughout the investigation into public corruption. i'm grateful to the controller's office for their careful and critical work on these investigations and recommendations. colleagues, today, i'm introducing a further reenactment of public health emergency leave, our emergency ordinance that provides extended paid leave to hundreds of thousands of san francisco workers at large employers. the federal government regrettably let the expanded

paid leave requirement in the first coronavirus response act expire at the end of last year. though, there's new hope on the horizon for expanded relief and paid leave nationwide with the incoming biden administration. we will not wait locally to ensure access to this critical safety net in san francisco. for economic security and public health. the rest i submit. >> clerk: thank you, supervisor mar. supervisor melgar. >> thank you, madam clerk. >> clerk: thank you. supervisor peskin. >> thank you, madam clerk. as previously stated, i would like to suggest or even make a motion that the two in memorium be from the entire board of supervisors. i would add growing up in the east bay, margot st. james was the thing of legend. i had no idea that i would end

up meeting her in north beach and getting to hang out and be friends with her and carol stewart. and she was just a ball of fun. and i think supervisor mandelman said all of the more important bona fideties. she was great to hang out with. i would like adjourn today's board meeting in the memory of my neighbor sally, who was also a ball of fun. and i'm sure margot st. james and she passed away -- she fell and went to rehab, where there was a covid outbreak. and she passed away from covid a few days ago. so i would like adjourn the board meeting in the memory of late-great sally gould who was highly entertaining and thank her neighbor sean for taking

care of her. >> clerk: sorry for your loss, supervisor peskin. thank you for your introductions. supervisor preston. >> thank you, madam clerk. colleagues, today, i'm introducing an emergency ordinance to stop evictions for nonpayment of rent that becomes due starting february 1st, 2021. this board has taken very strong action throughout the pandemic to stop evictions. the ordinance to ban covid-related nonpayment evictions passed the board 10-1. it was challenged in court and upheld, which was a major victory for our city and strategy for preventing evictions in san francisco. assembly member chu created state protections that are set to expire on january 31st, 2021. and that law took the crucial step of extending eviction

protections statewide. but with respect to san francisco, it purported to restrict our ability to adopt new laws to stop eviction for covid-related rent. so there is current an effort in san francisco. folks are working hard to adopt a new bill and assembly member chu is at the helm of the efforts to extend tenant protections along ab-38, 88. and the negotiations are ongoing. at this point, we don't know what the state will pass. we don't know when they will pass it. and we don't know to what extent it will restrict our ability to act locally once it goes into effect. there is too much at stake for us to wait to find out the parameters of the state law that's not yet been finalized. nationwide, more than 14 million people are behind on rent according to a report on the center on budget and policy

priorities. locally, our budget and legislative analyst reported san franciscoans saved $32 million per rent in unpaid covid back rent. the emergency ordinance i'm introducing would prohibit evictions for rent that's becoming due starting february 1st. for the period of the emergency ordinance. if the tenant's inability to pay is covid-related. the substance of this ordinance is that is the same as the previous ordinance that protected tenants from eviction for rent that came due april through september. as with the previous ordinance, this emergency ordinance does not relieve tenants of ultimately be liable for the unpaid rent. but it prevents evictions for that rent. the ordinance also, as our previous one did, would bar landlords from collecting a late fee for rent that is delayed for the reasons stated in the ordinance.

i want to thank my legislative aid and deputy city attorney for very fast turn around in getting this essential emergency ordinance ready for introduction today. colleagues, i ask you support this critical effort in help ensure that this passes without delay so we can make sure we have strong local protections against evictions. the rest i submit. >> clerk: thank you, supervisor preston. supervisor ronen. >> thank you. i just wanted to add a few words for the in memoriam for margot st. james. i wasn't lucky enough to have met or hung out with her. but i am a huge fan. and i had the pleasure of supporting her -- in summary for many years when it was in

district 9. i'm honored to be able to cosponsor along with all of you the resolution declaring february 14th as margot st. james day in the city and county of san francisco. as supervisor mandelman so beautifully said, margot was a freedom fighter and unparalleled civil rights leader who propelled the sex worker movement not just here in the united states but across the globe. her advocacy at the local, state, federal and international level helped expose systemic abuses against sex workers and decriminalize sex work and empower sex workers everywhere. margot st. james is behind a remarkable, inspiring legacy of defending not only the civil libertiys of sex workers. it's a legacy all san franciscoans should be proud of.

rest in power, margot st. james. i'm introducing for a resolution for in support of the caravan of children to heal. [foreign language] >> this is a caravan that will be safely distanced, but planned for tomorrow during the inauguration. that would bring attention to the local and national demands to support justice as welcome new leadership in washington. the treatment of immigrants and refugees by the soon-depending federal administration has been nothing short of brutal. in fact, the i.c.e. is separating a haitian child who is 9 years old from his family today in san francisco. and has sent this child down south alone and where he's going to be sleeping in isolation in a

single room on his own for the first time in his life. it's just awful. in 2018, the department of justice instituted what they called the zero tolerance policy, intended to deter migrants from coming to the united states to seek refuge and pursue a better life. a major component on the policy was separation of children from their parents at the u.s.-mexico border. children and infants were ripped from their parents' arms and placed in detention facilities that resembled cages for livestock. we saw the heartbreaking images of scared and traumatized children. it's reported 5,468 children and infants were separated from their parents by the trump administration. two months ago, 666 children were still in federal custody. as their parents could not be traced. thankfully, as we know, tomorrow is the end of this administration. good riddance.

and we can focus on the transition to new leadership and new possibilities. the caravan for children is organized by the central american resource center. [foreign language] >> latin x racial community project to hold the new biden-harris administration accountable to the promises they made during their campaign. the coalitions are two-pronged. first, seeking immediate executive action to reverse the draconian and cruel policies that instilled terror and hardship on our immigrant communities. and second, the coalition demands congress gets to work on overdue comprehensive immigration reform. we can no longer accept excuses that relegate reform to the back of the line. and ensure nothing like child separation ever occurs again. san francisco should be proud of

our sanctuary law and the financial support we've put toward immigrant legal aid and vital resources that help newcomers transition and navigate to their new homes. the tireless work of the advocates and community organizing, san francisco is a model how a local government can engage immigrant communities. tomorrow's caravan is another example of san francisco's leadership and vision of how the immigrant community should be uplifted. colleagues i ask for our support and i rest submitted. >> clerk: thank you, supervisor ronen. supervisor safai. >> thank you. please add me as a cosponsor to your caravan resolution. i think there could be no greater message sent immediately than to begin to reunify children with their parents and families and caregivers. it's one of the most atrocious

practices this administration has partaken in. so please add me. second, colleagues, today, i am urging this body to support state senator scott wiener's sb-110 bill. better known as recovery incentives act. sb-110 would legalize substance abuse disorder treatment known as contingency management. an incentive-based program that gives those struggling with substance abuse disorder financial award if, and only if they enter substance abuse treatment programs. it would require for med cal cover the program. colleagues, we must recognize last year in 2020, we lost one shy of 700 individuals to

accidental overdoses. no community is immune from the state opioid addiction and methamphetamine addiction. we know meth addiction is disproportionately impacting the lgbtq community and black community. with our support, we would be added to a list of -- a strong list of porers. the sb-10 is sponsored by san francisco aids foundation, apa health. equality california. mayor breed voiced her concern and california association of alcohol and drug program executives. so hopefully, we can look for my colleagues' support on that. in furthering the conversation and some of the hearings that supervisor haney had back not too long ago just december of last year regarding drug overdoses. secondly, colleagues, last week i introduced a resolution 210039

urging completion of the 2016 government of justice recommendations and compliance measures. i wanted to let you all know that my office will be amendmenting the resolution in efforts to put stronger language in the substitute resolution. i want to thank miss jones, founder, alerting my office that my resolution needed stronger language. my office reached out to welcome disparities in the black community to further strengthen the language. i will be reaching out to you, if i haven't, colleagues, to create a collaborative process and resolution that encompasses the spirit of how this board wants to move forward making our police department more accountable. and to accelerate police reform. i want to thank those of you that have already reached out to me on how to strengthen this language for this resolution. in particular, president walton,

thank you. supervisor melgar, supervisor mandelman and supervisor haney. their substitute resolution will be submitted to the government oversight committee. the rest i submit. >> clerk: thank you, supervisor safai. supervisor stefani. >> thank you, madam clerk. i'm asking the city attorney's office to drop legislation for district 2 pilot program that would remove the parklets for an additional two years after the additional covid-19 declaration of emergency. as we're painfully aware, small businesses in each of our neighborhoods closed or had their operations severely limited in order to stop the spread of covid-19 in san francisco. the precautions we have taken have saved lives. we know the measures required to slow the spread and minimize the loss of life throughout california have resulted in

severe economic consequences for our small businesses. and our restaurants in particular. restaurants in san francisco employ 60,000 workers, and have been among the hardest hit the course of the past year. we cannot let up in our advocacy and have to advocate for their survival. allowing them to keep the parklets outside of their businesses, especially when many invested thousands of dollars to install them, and they can't use them now, is another small step to soften the blow. that's why i want to give businesses in district 2 -- that they will have these parklets for an additional two years. we must do everything possible to provide as much relief as we can to these absolutely essential parts of our economy and our community. i look forward to continuing this certification as i work with the city attorney to draft this resolution and the rest i submit.

>> clerk: thank you, supervisor stefani. supervisor walton. >> president walton: thank you, madam clerk, submit. >> clerk: thank you, mr. president. supervisor chan. >> thank you, madam clerk. i want to thank supervisor dean preston on his leadership for the emergency ordinances, the eviction moratorium and i would like to add myself as a cosponsor for that legislation. and the rest i will submit. >> clerk: thank you, supervisor. supervisor haney. >> thank you, madam clerk. i just quickly want to thank supervisor mandelman for his words in powerful statement in memoriam. i'm grateful we're going to be adding our names for both of those extraordinary individuals. i just want to add a word. as the supervisor who represents st. james recovery now, just how

essential that clinic is for sex workers, for people in our community. and margot st. james leaves behind a tremendous legacy on half of the district 6 residents who benefit from that legacy. i want to say thank you. the rest i submit. >> clerk: thank you, supervisor haney. seeing no names on the roster, that concludes the introduction of new business. >> president walton: thank you so much, madam clerk. let's go to public comment. >> clerk: okay. at this time, the board of supervisors is taking general public comment. if you're watching channel 26, there's a signal delay. when you're ready to provide public comment, you must turn down your television. and press star 3 at the time. the telephone number and the meeting i.d. is streaming across the television. as the president indicated at the beginning of the meeting, you have up to two minutes to provide your testimony.

we do have interpreters standing-by, who are ready to jump in and assist if there are members of the public with their public comments. we have six listeners, and four members of the public in the queue. we're going to take the first caller. but if you are one of the six listening, please press star 3 if you would like to make public comment. operations, let's hear from the first caller, please. >> good afternoon, today, i saw the cops that killed george floyd while being presented as a saint. this has been on instagram. and before it was taken down, there's a picture of police officers belt saying st. derrick chauvin. it's believed this was posted by the police.

deeply concerning. also, i called this morning because i've been told by shamann walton's office, you can call 311 to get an alternative to the police. i talked to the woman at 311. she went through every suggestion about the stress, mental health issues, homelessness. and every single one of them said call 911 for the police. they directed me to the police. i talked to a police officer. i asked is there anybody that can be sent through 311 that is not police? and they said, we've had postal workers and people that help with mental health. i said do police always come with them? he said absolutely. so what's going on here? because you know what -- give to people so that stop calling the police. and we stop losing, especially

black, brown and homeless people i'd really like there to be an option how the service is supposed to be created is going to happen. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. operations, let's hear from the next caller, please. >> yeah, i'd like to raise concerns about safai's proposed resolution regarding sb-110. first of all, i think it's kind of ridiculous that the board of supervisors does all of these resolutions in support of x, y, z. i feel like, you know, instead of worrying about what is happening in sacramento or d.c., board of supervisors should be worrying about what is happening in san francisco. but that being said, you should look into the florida shuffle.

where i'm sure that the people who wrote sb-10 were very well intentioned people. there is a phenomenon where individuals prey on people with substance abuse disorders by enticing them with various gift cards or having their luxury-grade sort of accommodations at substance treatment centers. and then, afterwards, later, giving them drugs and getting them readdicted. and having them go through the cycle over and over again. so there really needs to be some sort of accountability for these

programs. and so i don't know what the situation is like in san francisco, but before we start authorizing medicaid or san francisco health plan to pay for things, we need to make sure they're actually working. and so, yeah, we really need to make sure they're working. because right now, it doesn't seem like they are. and also, are with regards to alternatives to the police, the east cut -- >> clerk: sorry to cut you off. each speaker gets two minutes today. thank you for your comments. operations, is there another caller in the queue, please? >> hello. my name is max. i'll start from the beginning after saying the last caller was on point. i'm a 29 year-old san francisco native and resident of district 6 abandoned and transitional housing. i want to address the fact that

san francisco is not a safe place, especially for the low-income and disabled community members. what is going to be done to make san francisco safe and supportive city? i don't want to speak again after not being able to finish last week. after having my phone stole stolen in daylight, i feel like i need to. this person recognized me from methadone clinics i've been forced into my doctors who try to prescribe opioids. i'm with dangerous characters that choose to abuse drugs and engage in criminal behavior. it forces many to steal. and deny said patient from accessing the support they need as those same workers deny a liability as they cause a direct harm choosing to neglect the patient's needs. many turn to the streets as methadone and suboxone clinics

are not in need and overproductive to the overall goal of substance dependency. many accept regimens because the doctor claims it works rather than act in a patient's best interest. we want nonjudgmental treatment. what will be done to stop opening the drug markets? what will be done to set an example to criminals who focused on shoplifting from retail stores that are now closed? what will be done to make the city is safe place again and maintain the diverse, compassionate and understanding community rather than the current segregated, divided community the city promotes. >> clerk: thank you for your comments, sir. and thank you for sticking around to provide your public comments as this item on the agenda. okay. we have five listeners in the

queue. if you would like to get into the queue, press star 3. we have two members of the public in the queue. and will take this to the end, unless some of the five actually press star 3. operations, let's hear from the last two callers. >> hello. good afternoon. taxi medalian 771. when will we fall in line for vaccinations for covid-19 as we pick up public passengers. we don't want to spread the virus from the public passengers. i talk to elderly and paratransit people all day. i'm asking that you contact and

find out when we're going to fall in line for vaccinations. i feel like the drivers should be aligned appropriately. i want to point out during this time, we're start to go lose more and more -- every day. foreclosing. you need to step in and take care of the situation. thank you. >> clerk: okay. thank you, caller. thank you for your comments. all right. operations, if this is the last caller, let's hear from the last caller. unless one of the five actually pressed star 3 to get into the queue. welcome, caller. setting the timer for two minutes. okay.

operations, i don't think we have an answer on that person. can you try once again? okay. mr. president, doesn't seem as though there's any other callers in the queue. >> president walton: thank you so much, madam clerk. seeing no other speakers, public comment is now closed. [gavel] >> president walton: madam clerk would you announce the in memoriam. >> clerk: tonight's meeting will be adjourned in memory of the following beloved individuals on behalf of supervisor peskin for the late sally gould. a motion made by supervisor mandelman and supervisor peskin on behalf of the entire board of supervisors for the late ken jones and margot st. james. >> president walton: thank you, madam clerk. that brings us to the end of our agenda. is there any further business

for today? >> clerk: that concludes our business for today. >> president walton: thank you so much. colleagues, i want to thank all of you for coming together and meeting today and addressing a major need for a community that was hard hit by this pandemic. i want to thank madam clerk. and as this meeting comes to an end one day after the celebration of dr. martin luther king, jr.'s birthday, i leave you with his words. we have also come to this hallowed spot to remind america of the fierce urgency of now. this is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradually. now is to make time the promises of democracy. dr. martin luther king, jr. march on washington, august 28th, 1963. as there is no further business, we are adjourned.

[gavel] [adjourned]

>> present. >> vice president elias. here. >> president cohen you have a quorum. >> thank you i appreciate that. ladies and gentlemen, will you join me in pledge ago allegiance to the flag. place your right hand over your heart and repeat after me. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. folks, also it's a new day. today is inauguration day. we have a new administration in place and president joe biden has been busy ushering into a flurry