mostly do portraiture and figurative painting. one of the things about this job here is i discovered some great resources for images for my painting. i was looking through these mug shot books that we have here that are from the 1920s. i did a whole series of a mug shot paintings from those books. they are in the san francisco history centre's s.f. police department records. there are so many different things that the library provides for san franciscans that i feel like a lot of people are like, oh, i don't have a library card. i've never been there. they need to come down and check it out and find out what we have. the people who are hiding stuff in their sellers and wondering what to do with these old photos or old junk, whether it is hippie stuff or punk stuff, or stuff from their grandparents, if they bring it here to us, we

can preserve it and archive it and make it available to the public in the future. [♪♪♪] in the future.

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪] [♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[applause]

>> let's give liondanceme a big round of applause. [applause] >> i just learned something amazing about this wonderful group of performers. over the last ten days, they have done 100 performances to ring in the new year. amazing job. >> hello. -- hello, everyone. my name is carmen chu, and i serve as the san francisco city administrator, and i am so glad to see you at city hall.

[applause] >> i hope that you will indulge me as i just give my greetings in chinese. [speaking chinese language] >> i think, as many of you know, we celebrate so many of our wonderful communities in san francisco city hall. the lune or new year holds a very special place for many of us in our communities. it's a time of the year that we all gather with relatives and friends, some who we haven't seen for a whole year, and i think especially as we enter into a new phase, we hope, of this pandemic, it's time for us to come back together, to connect with community, to rejoice, celebrate with one another, and to rebuild, and i think with that, reengaging in

all of the civic celebrations that we're going to see all across san francisco. i want to thank all of our community members, our community partners, who have continued to make sure that our celebration continues to be uplifted. in the year of the tiger, we can't wait to come roaring back into the year with our lunar new year parade that's coming up this saturday, so i hope you all are there and watching and enjoying and visiting all of our wonderful businesses that are out in chinatown. i also want to thank, at this time, of course, supervisor chan and mayor breed, the leadership, and making sure that our portsmouth garage has two hours of free parking, so make no excuse why you're not

coming out to our great parking garages for our celebration. i want to welcome our supervisors and i'd like them to stand. you'll be hearing from them shortly. mayor london breed, sheriff paul miyamoto, supervisor chan, and supervisor mar. supervisor. please stand. [applause] >> and, of course, to the many departments that are here

today, of course, we couldn't do the work that we do in the city without all of you, so let me just name all of you. police bill scott, fire chief jeanine nicholson, linda giroux, our c.i.o., kimberly ellis, eric shaw, patrick o'riordan with d.b.i., mary ellen carroll with the department of emergency management, and all the city departments who make this events possible. thank you all for being here. [applause] >> and, of course, our thanks to our community partners to help make an event like this feasible, possible, and done with such warmth. the a.p.a. heritage foundation, the chinese chamber of commerce, soma pilipinas,

a.p.i. cultural center. thank you so much. and now, of course, i want to introduce to the stage someone who needs of course no introduction, someone who, what i remember when the pandemic first started was clamoring, we've got to get the city open, and we've got to restore the city's economic vitality. mayor london breed, and i want to invite her up to say a few words. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: i don't know about you, but i just can't get enough of these lions. they are just the cutest, and even after the -- look at them. look at them. look at that. even after they were finished performing because i know that it took a lot of strength and

energy, they were looking like they were breathing really hard. did you notice that? it's almost like they're real. but i just wanted to say, to liondanceme, when they perform not just for people in san francisco but all over the bay area, they're an important institution for our city, and it's great to see the next generation that are performing this dance. and it takes a lot of work and practice to do what they do, so let's give them another round of applause. liondanceme. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and i am just so happy to be here. it has been a very, very challenging two years, and san francisco, we have so much to be proud of. we have so much to be proud of because in the face of a lot of the hatred, in a face of a lot

of the criticism, in the face of how people have tried to define our city, we continue to stand proud. we continue to collaborate and come together. we continue to uplift one another, and so many of you who are here today have played an important role in not just dealing with the challenges of this pandemic but helping the city come together to build bridges during what i believe has been a very, very challenging time for our a.p.a. community. i really want to express my appreciation to so many amazing people. people like our deputy chief david lozar and/or commissioner, larry yee and claudine chang, people who worked on dealing with public safety challenges with our a.p.i. community but also building bridges, and when i was sitting here today, i was

thinking about how amazing it is to be here not just to celebrate lunar new year, but also to celebrate black history month. wouldn't it be nice if we can come together and merge the two events and have them together? because our communities are stronger together. our communities are stronger when we build those bridges, when we learn about one other's culture, when we express appreciation for one another. that is something i'm looking forward to do next year, and i was especially inspired by the work of claudine chang, who consistently has been a bridge builder in those efforts.

so lunar new year, for the last two years, with you didn't have that crown of events, and i know down at the pier, we are working at getting those outfits ready, working at getting everything ready so we can show that the lunar new year parade in san francisco is one of the best lunar new year events anywhere in the world. and now more than ever as we celebrate the year of the tiger, which signifies courage, it signifies strength, san francisco is going to exercise its current and its strength in

weekend by showing that we are one of the greatest cities in the world, how despite these challenges, we are coming back bigger, better, and stronger than ever, and all of you are going to be an important part of that. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: i want to thank the chinese chamber of commerce for the work that they have done year after year in making sure that the businesses in chinatown and our chinese and asian businesses all over the community but businesses like this represent san francisco values at their very best. so thank you so much to the chinese chamber for their commitment to this event and the activities during lunar new year. thank you to the consolidated

benevolent association. so many great activities, and finally, we get to do them in person. and i want you all to remember this year more than anything, that we haven't been able to do this, which is why being able to be here today is so much more special than it has ever been. and i am looking forward to that celebration, demonstrating san francisco's courage, our strength, and our resilience. time and time again, people have counted us out and knocked us down, and we emerged stronger than ever before, so this weekend, let's show that strength, let's show that courage, let's show that love, that compassion, all the things that our city is known for, and let's continue to renew our commitment, our fostering our

relationships with some of our sister cities and our consular generals are here to celebrate with us from all over the world. from indonesia, from mongolia, china, singapore, and viet nam. i want to ask our consul generals to please stand as we honor the year of the tiger in san francisco. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you all, and i'll see you all on saturday.

>> if i can ask the consul generals to please stay up on stage for a moment, and we're going to ask all of our elected officials to standup for a photo.

>> thank you, and with a special request for our mayor, our elected heads, please come up for a photo.

>> thank you so much. [applause] >> we have a fantastic slate of performers to celebrate the new year coming up. i want to thank the a.p.a. heritage foundation for sponsoring today's

performances, and i want to introduce our next group. our next group of performers is focused on promoting philippine culture through dance and music. through filipino dance, performances, and songs, they teach people about filipino heritage.

[♪♪♪]

>> good evening. could we give one more hand to the dance company? that was beautiful, and i'm so glad they were here tonight. the event organizers said that if they were not here to perform, that sheriff miyamoto and i would have to perform. my name is david chiu, and i'm so glad to be your city attorney. thank you, mayor breed. and it is so wonderful to be back here in city hall. the last seven years, i spent

time in every asian neighborhood in the state of california, and what i can tell you is that california has a lot of asian communities, but san francisco is the capital of asian america. between chinatown and japantown, little saigon and our filipino heritage district, we envision the asian american community, the asian diaspora in san francisco. we are the center of the culture, of the social community, of the politics, and of the history. and i know, many of us, as the mayor just said, we are thinking how hard it's been between the pandemic and recession and antiasian hate, and the fact that we appear to be recreating the history of antiasian hate here during this time period. we let me just say the

following. last night, i happened to be reading a little bit of the history of chinatown. in 1877, there were three days of rioting where literally hundreds of san franciscos were attacking -- san franciscans were attacking chinese residents in chinatown. and at that time, there were a handful of san franciscans that stood up and stood up for the chinese community, and i just want to say how proud i am of the san francisco community, saying no to the hate. we're at a time, 145 years later, at this asian ceremony, we have our first asian sheriff, sitting next to our first asian public defender, sitting next to asian supervisors, supported by our mayor, our district attorney, our commissioners, and so many of you from the community,

whether you're our commissioners, whether you're from the chamber, whether you're from the six companies or whether you're a nonprofit that's stood with us, i just want to say thank you. and during the year of the tiger, i say thank you as we come roaring back. and with that, it is my pleasure to welcome not just our first asian public defender, but the first asian public defender in the country. >> it's truly an honor to be in this space today. i owe so much to san francisco, san francisco's asian american community. i actually began a lot of my belief and identity about empowerment by teaching a class

for san francisco kids in chinatown, and my first interaction was with the asian law caucus. i'm your first south asian public defender, and i want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and lucky year of the tiger. the tiger is known for being aggressive, tenacious, ambitious, and strong. and just like the tiger, we at the public defender's office believe in skillful advocacy, and we also believe in building supporting, thriving communities. we're particularly excited to be collaborating with community, to challenge systemic issues that impact our a.p.i. community, including our immigration unit that helps immigrants facing deportation.

our clean slate programs that gives formerly incarcerated prisoners a chance. we look forward to collaborating closely with the cities, community partners, and to fight for more just and equitable systems for all communities, including our a.p.i. community. thank you so much. [applause] >> and with that, i want to introduce our first asian american sheriff, sheriff paul miyamoto, who, in addition to being a sheriff is being a real family man. even though we disagree, we still respect each other, and he still takes my calls.

sheriff miyamoto? >> hello, everyone. forgive my accent here, but -- [speaking cantonese language] >> as was mentioned, i'm the first asian american sheriff here in san francisco, and as we mentioned, all of the san franciscos, i hope that will not be the first but just the beginning, and we will move on and become part of the history that david mentioned earlier, the rich history that we have here for not just the a.a.p.i. community but being a community of color and being a community that comes together during times of diversity, during times of challenge, and really shows the best of what it is to be a part of humanity, and, you know, i had some things to stay, and everyone had said some -- pretty much everything i wanted to say, so i'm just going to tell you a little bit about myself because i've been

here for a very long time, and i am so looking forward to the parade because for years, as part of the sfsd lion team, i had the duty of carrying the dragon head. i can't do anything what the kids here tonight did, but i can carry a dragon head about 10 feet. it is an amazing program to support and be a part of. the mayor mentioned, you know, having events and bringing different communities together. our agency is planning on a different event called bridging the communities, where we're bringing together people from the black and a.a.p.i. communities to have discussions about challenging things that

face us now. safety is a paramount thing for us here, especially those in the a.a.p.i. community that feel that they're being targeted, and i want to say, as a member of the public safety team here in san francisco, rest assured that we are here for you, we are there to keep everyone safe, and all of us as a community have to work towards that goal. if you see something, say something. if he observe something that needs to be reported, please do. >> commissioner so: that we can get the assistance that's needed, and we can report out everything. i do want to mention that since david mentioned that we were going to do some [indiscernible] together later, my daughter actually is participating on a team, so i

do have some skills, and i'm more than happy to do so in full uniform with you if they have the bamboo sticks here. thank you very much, and it's my honor at this time to introduce -- well, let me try this one more time, too, by the way. [speaking cantonese language] [applause] >> and at this time, i'd like to introduce supervisor connie chan. [speaking cantonese language] >> supervisor chan: it's great

to be here, and it's honor to be here with you all tonight, celebrating lunar new year. i wanted to say that i wholeheartedly support mayor breed's idea for next year, that we will celebrate black history month and lunar new year together in solidarity. it's also great to be here. when i think about lunar new year, when i was a little girl, i was really excited about it, thinking about the firecracker and the new year. getting rid of the old year and welcoming the new year. it's why i'm also excited to say that it is this year, for me, i got elected last year, took office last year. i didn't have a chance to have

the chinese new year parade that i wanted, so i'm really excited that, this year, i finally got to join the parade as your district one supervisor. [applause] >> supervisor chan: all the more reason is the reason why i hope that we can bring more people to the new year parade and making sure that everyone can come and join us at the parade, so thanks to our partnership with m.t.a. and with the support of my colleague, supervisor aaron peskin, and supervisor dean preston, who is a strong transit advocate that we get to announce free muni for saturday and sunday for this coming weekend so that everyone can ride muni for free to get to chinese new year parade.

let's celebrate chinese new year, but most importantly, let's celebrate it new year. here is my honor to introduce my colleague, the only chinese american supervisor besides myself on the board, supervisor gordon mar. [applause] >> supervisor mar: happy year of the tiger, everyone. [speaking cantonese language] >> supervisor mar: i want to thank mayor breed and my community leaders for thanking you for your compassion and leadership during the pandemic and standing up against the surge of crime against chinese

americans. we ought to be able to come together on this most cherished holidays for our families here at city hall, in chinatown, and in all our neighborhoods throughout the city. in fact, in my district, which is 50% asian american, we had an incredible lunar new year celebration at our outer sunset farmers market and mercantile. in fact, if you missed it, you'll be able to celebrate the great highway lune or celebration on february 26 from 3:00 p.m. to sunset. we're going to have more kite makers and lunar new year activities. thanks, everybody, for coming together in events that bring

so much hope to our city and looking forward to seeing you all at our lunar new year parade next saturday. >> thank you, supervisor mar. supervisor mar is actually my home district supervisor. thank you for your service, i've got to call out david chiu, our city attorney. every year, david comes out and tells us he's going to come out and do some kind of performance -- dancing. this year, david, our challenge to you is actually to carry through on your words and do a performance, so i hope that you will. let's give a round of applause to the upcoming performance of our city attorney, david chiu. i want to also take a pause to introduce a few more elected

officials who did join us today. our district attorney, chesa boudin, and our assessor-recorder who is here with us. our next performer is considered one of the great saxophonists of his generation. please welcome francis wong and his partner, melanie takata, to the stage.

[applause] >> thank you so much, frances and melody. let's give them another round of applause. [applause] >> and next, i'm pleased to invite to the stage two community asian american leaders. we want to bring up robert wong to represents the chinese american benevolent association, and also, mr. dough lu who represents the die knees chamber of commerce and serves -- chinese chamber of commerce and serves as their vice chair. [applause]

>> good evening, ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, honorable mayor london breed, and all the supervisors, elected officials, and appointed officials. happy chinese new year of the tiger. my name's robert wong, and you represent the chinese consolidated benevolent association. first, i would like to introduce some of my colleagues that's here tonight. also, my upper management, president larry yee, also our san francisco police

commissioner. will you stand, please? thank you. president of the [indiscernible] association, and the president, president of the yung wa association. they're all in chinatown. and i'm president of the kyung chao association here in san francisco. also, the executive secretary for the chinese [indiscernible] companies. first, i'd like to say happy new year of the tiger to everyone. everyone should be at the parade this coming saturday. hope everyone have a good time.

[speaking cantonese language] >> wishing everybody here a very happy new year, with safety, healthy, and prosperous new year. thank you very much. mr. liu? >> good evening. happy lunar new year. hello. my name is donald liu, and i'm the president of the chinese chamber of commerce. we want to thank you for supporting our annual chinese new year activities. between the flower fairs, the street fairs, and upcoming

parade, it's going to be televised internationally. we bring people to chinatown at the exact moments when we need it, but in the coming year, we need even more support from the city. while the economic impacts of covid continue, our community serving small businesses are failing due to covid relief programs. while understanding that these programs cannot continue indefinitely, we want to see if we can come up with a

transformative investment in our a.a.p.i. communities to stabilize businesses or we will lose them forever. we are seeing many of our long time community property owners being forced to list their buildings for sale at a pace i've never seen before in 30 years of my time in chinatown. we are approaching or even at a tipping point in chinatown as a true immigrant gateway. i am ringing the bell for chinatown, but i am also hopeful and confident that we can find a way to work together to make sure that the oldest chinatown in the united states remains a community serving place for another 150 years.

thank you. [speaking cantonese language] >> excuse me. i just want to add in chinatown, we need the two hour free parking a lot longer because our businesses are really suffering. i would appreciate it if our supervisors could help us out and give us free parking for longer than the two-hour parking. thank you very much. >> thank you very much for your advocacy on behalf of the chinese american community and chinatown. this is our final performance of the evening. these talented performance highlight the asian american experience through dance and promote cross cultural understanding. please welcome the college of alameda dance group and the

wynn dance company. [♪♪♪]

[applause] >> thank you so much. i want to thank all of you for joining us to celebrate the year of the tiger and to thank all the staff and all the volunteers who made this event possible. as we conclude our event tonight, i want to wish you all of the happiness in this upcoming year of the tiger. please join us in chinatown, support our local businesses, enjoy the parade, enjoy the restaurants, enjoy the local stores, and most importantly, enjoy each others' company. happy new year.

>> if i could have your attention. thank you. the look around the room, it is wonderful to see your faces. it is really a pleasure to see

wisdom, strength, bravery and leadership. all of the great attributes for the year of the tiger. [applause] >> thank you for being here. on behalf of the heritage foundation, thank you so much for coming to this afternoon's lunar celebration. i am the board chair of the foundation. the foundation's mission is to promote awareness of the asian pacific cultural heritage and great opportunities for community collaboration. the main event is a celebration of the apa heritage month in may. you will learn more about that later this afternoon. this seven's event will not be possible without all committee members and volunteers.

we also are thank full to the reception sponsor amazon. let's give them all a warm round of applause. thank you so much. [applause] now to start our program i have the great pleasure to introduce san francisco's city administrator carmen chu. i really don't have to say more than that, right? carmen chu. how much more do i need to say? i have a list. a career in public service. mayor's office of public policy finance. elected to serve as district 4 supervisor for two terms. following which she was elected to serve as city assessor. last february carmen was appointed by may or london breed

to be the san francisco city administrator overseeing 25 city agendas. please welcome carmen chu. [applause] >> good evening everybody. i am carmen chu, san francisco city administrator. as you can tell from the buzz of conversation the happy faces that we have here that we are so excited to be back in person to celebrate the lunar new year. [applause] on behalf of the city and county, on behalf of mayor london breed, board of supervisors and elected officials and department heads today we want to wish all of you a very, very happy year of the tiger. (applause). cheers. come on. [cheers and applause.]

i want to give a shout out and thank you to jj and claudine who have worked tirelessly to organize this event to make sure we start the year of the tiger off right. claudine, please come on up. yes, you. [applause] here is the certificate of honor on behalf of the san francisco city administrator's office. thank you. [applause] >> i saw on your script it was five more minutes. co-chairs, please join me. we need to welcome former mayor. thank you for being here.

let's start with celebrating lunar new year. trying to connect everybody with this celebration. this is february 7th. it is a prize if you can explain why we chose that day and what is special about this date february 7th. anyone? what? i can't hear you. it is right. commissioner louie. in the lunar calendar, the seventh day of the new year as long as everybody's birthday. happy birthday everyone. [applause] lunar new year is about gathering of families. we have all done that. looking around the room a number of you are not asian pacific

americans. today you are because we appreciate you being here to celebrate with us. in the last year or year and a half in the asian communities we have been encouraging each other to speak up, stand up because of anti-asian hate at the san francisco human rights commission. we also have talked a lot about standing together. we shouldn't stand together and support each other, connect this event today. not only as we kickoff the whole year of cultural celebrations in the city, but we want all of you to have an opportunity to connect a number of you just told me earlier this afternoon this was the first time you were in city hall in two years. isn't that great? i want to thank you mayor for allowing us to do this. this afternoon is about

celebrating families, celebrating communities by first communities coming together. we are thinking this is part of every year in may we have the celebration of asian pacific heritage month. we were thinking what is our theme this year. anti-asian hate, standing together. what we need is to continue to create opportunities for more community bonding. i think what we need is keep on having those opportunities that we can meet each other, learn a lot more about each other and be friends. it is true. if you know somebody, we are all different. we all come from different places. we get to spend some time together. get to know each other. that can how we appreciate

differences. the celebration of apa heritage month in may we are going to be talking about community bonds. that is what we are about. that is what this afternoon is about. i want to thank all of you for taking time to be here. i want be to specifically thank former mayor willie brown for being here. he hasn't missed too many occasions in our community. [applause]. we are a small organization but very, very blessed with a large community that consists of representatives of from over 10 to 12 different ethnic groups. at the head of it we have very, very fortunate to have three co-chairs working together.

thomas lee and everyone bringing a lot. [applause]. to make it all work. this is by invitation only. the reason we invited you because we appreciate you and we want to thank you. unfortunately so many have done so much we cannot introduce every one of you. we have special acknowledgments to make. when i say your name, please stand. the president of the board of supervisors. supervisor walton for district 10. district 1 connie chan. district three peskin representing chinatown.

district four gordon mar. district five preston filmore. >> haney soma. melgar. district eight mandelman representing castro. district nine ronen thenition. district 11 supervisor safai. >> thank you. in paddition to the board of supervisors we would like to welcome the city-wide elected officials. no particular order. city attorney david chu. [indiscernable] district attorney, public

defender har. board member lee and city college trustee allen wong. thank you all for joining us this afternoon. >> last but not least i would like to acknowledge the members of the heritage foundation board. different directors today. the foundation is a small nonprofit with individuals from diverse backgrounds. jj laura. [indiscernable] steve wilson. irene riley. [indiscernable] scott adams. in the audience are members of the apa heritage celebration

committee. in the interest of time we cannot introduce all of you. please note we are so very much appreciative of your participation and service on the committee. thank you so much. [applause] >> really we appreciate the support of the city's family. at this time i would like to introduce our mayor. i don't know how many of you were at chinatown when we kicked off a week ago. lunar new year is a new beginning, reset for communities, and we are so proud of being in the city where it is one of the safest cities in the country. the mayor has taken tough

measures to make sure we are safe and healthy. mayor london breed. [applause]. >> mayor breed: thank you. let me say i can't believe that we are all able to get together again like this. it is absolutely amazing. claudine, the people who work in city hall and our elected officials come to the event because we love coming to the event. not just because the food is so amazing. i don't know if we have food this year. i remember the days on the board of supervisors. this was a good meal after a long day's work. we are here to support the apa heritage foundation for all of the work they continue to do. not just during lunar new year but year around. to really highlight the importance of the api community in san francisco.

one of the things claudine mentioned that is really impactful to me is, sadly, when we started to experience a lot of the hate and the deviciveness and the attacks on the community. the heritage foundation started to build bridges with a number of cross cultural events. they have embedded the work around cross-cultural relationships in their programming year around. i want to thank claudine for leadership and work and advocacy of bringing our communities together to understand one another, to learn about one another's culture and uplift and appreciate one another. i remember when i was in high school. we always had all kinds of assemblies about the taiwan or chinese or black community just to understand and see just our

cultures on full display sparked interest and discussion and understanding. it also sparked togetherness. today we are joined by some of our asian countries. council generals. i want you all to stand when i announce the council general from korea, japan, philippines, indonesia, singapore, mongolia and vietnam. .applause. and china. building relationships with not just the communities in san francisco but all over the world is very important to us. we are grateful for the partnership with the various council generals who continue to

work with us every day. today as we unveil this new stand. it is not about a collector's item. will say to our postmaster general in almost every instance they are so beautiful and fascinating you can't help but want to collect them. we know it is about signifying a new day, new opportunity, every lunar new year is about an opportunity for us to reset and to come together and to just really appreciate life as we know it, especially after dealing with a very challenging time during this global pandemic. we are grateful to celebrate the year of the tiger, which signifies courage and strength. i know as a tiger myself where i get it from. [laughter] but the truth is i

couldn't wait until we got to the year of the tiger. i couldn't wait to this year where we could see all that it will entail, the various events, lunches, performances, gatherings, parade in person for the first time in over two years. [applause]. i want to thank each and every one of you for coming to the celebration, helping to uplift our community. all of the things you have done that have been seen and unseen to have an impact. by just being here today it demonstrates your commitment and support for the api community in san francisco and this stamp is really another incredible thing that we are able to really show and support and as a matter of fact in honor of lunar new year,

maybe we can start writing physical letters and using stamps to mail them other than just mailing bills with those stamps. with that i want to thank you all for coming and looking forward to seeing this incredible stamp. we will hear from our postmaster general before we move to the unveiling so we can get on with the festivities. thank you all so much. [applause] >> thank you, mayor breed. before we go into that i want to acknowledge our reception sponsor amazon. i would like to invite sally to say happy new year to everyone. >> thank you. you know what they say never stand before a party when there is stamp unveiling. based on what we learn tonight. thank you for coming to my

birthday celebration. it is all of our birthdays. thank you for the apa heritage foundation for including amazon and inviting us to sponsor this event. over the last two years amazon is investing in san francisco. looking around the room so many partners we have worked with and to be inspired by. thank you for that. i am told the water tiger is a symbol of courage and action. i want to let you know as amazon continues to invest in the city we will serve the needs of the community and celebration. thank you for being here tonight. thank you for allowing amazon to be part of it. thank you. >> every year we have been

unveiling stamps in san francisco since 1992. i was reminded by my good friends this is the 13th anniversary of the historic announcement of the issue of set of stamps honoring chinese and asian-american cultural heritage in december of 1992. this year's unveiling has special meaning. we hope next year that the national birthday of issue will be in san francisco. it is 30 years of history. something we are proud of. it is a very tiny stamp. a stamp is an instrument of communication. it represents so many more people to learn about the lunar calendar, what it means, whether they agree or don't agree, what to do on a particular day. there is a lot of history on the lunar calendar.

we are happy to have the second postmaster with us today. the acting postmaster of san francisco starting in postal service as letter carrier. over the years he has been operational managers and customer service. after that the postmaster of oakland. now we are happy to have you as the acting postmaster of san francisco. we are having stamp sales outside. after the event feel free to go and if you haven't purchased your stamps, please do to so. let's welcome the acting postmaster. [applause]. good evening, everyone. thank you for the kind introduction. i am postmaster of san francisco. i am happy to be here on behalf

of the post office for the year of the tiger stamp. i would like to thank our speakers, mayor breed, commissioner chang. board president walton and customers and leaders for joining us today. i want to take this opportunity to thank the national organization oca and several local organizations for continued support. in china the tradition of celebrating new year's began thousands of years ago. the crops and livestock the villages were on the night before the new year. in some versions of the story the brave old man decided to put up red paper around the village and fireworks.

frightened by the loud noise and red peeper left without eating the crops. i love this. it symbolizes the human experience and fighting spirit in protecting and caring for our families. since that time the lunar year evolved and the customs are loved throughout the world. the celebration is squarely within the cultural traditions. time to prepare for a fresh start while honoring the past. families come together for delicious food an occasion for good luck and prosperity. this year more than 1.5 billion people around the world mark the beginning of the year of the tiger. strong, gave, confident and well liked. we could all benefit from the tiger's qualities in the year ahead. let's work together across the

globe with confidence better days lie ahead. to the stamp. year of the tiger is created by chu after the director. the lunar year stamp. you will agree the result of the coloration and design that captures the beauty and strength of the tiger and fresh. the design is comtemporarily take and. [indiscernable] lion or dragon dances performed during the new year parades. it is symbolic meanings of blue, orange and gray. the tiger's head purple to reflect the chinese zodiac. this is from the third series of new years.

1993-2004 and 2020 to present. this event is for celebrating the 30th anniversary announcement of the stamps honoring the chinese asian contribution to this country. announcement was first made at the national convention in august of 1992. former and vailing of year of the rooster in the same year. add to your collection or mail your new year's greetings. it is our hope it brings you pros pair be, peace, -- prosperity, peace, good luck and much joy. the mayor will join me in unveiling the stamp.

(applause). [ music ]

>> hello and welcome to the february 15, 2022 meeting of the san francisco entertainment commission. members and employees will be participating in the meeting remotely. this precaution is taken pursuant to the various and local state directors, orders, and initiatives. members and commissioners will be participating to the same extent as if they were physically present. opportunities to speak during the public comment are available using meeting i.d. 837-7406-6214 or by calling

669-900-6833 and enter the meeting i.d. alternatively, you may submit a written comment on the chat function using zoom. thank you, sfgovtv and media services for sharing this meeting with the public. we can start with the roll call. [roll call] >> thank you very much. the first order of business is general public comment. is there any public comment for

items not listed on the agenda? >> operator: president bleiman, i am checking to see if there are any comments right now. there are no comments received and no hands raised in the chat box. >> we will move onto the next item. item 2, approval of the meeting minutes of february 1, 2022. do we have a motion and a second to adopt the meeting minutes of february 1, 2022. >> so moved. >> second. >> is there any public comment on this agenda item? >> operator: there's none. >> okay. seeing no public comment, i'll ask the director to take a vote. [roll call] >> meeting minutes have been approved. the next agenda item is number 3, which is a report from

executive director weiland. >> good evening officially, commissioners. hope you all had a good weekend and a happy valentine's day? just wanted to update you on a couple of things this evening. first of all, just take a moment to share some significant items on the health order that will take effect on february 16. in the copy of the report, you'll see a copy of the e-mail blast that dylan sent out last week. starting tomorrow, and in alignment with the state, san francisco and eight other counties will lift mask requirements from most indoor public settings for patrons and staff. in terms of our city, this includes bars, restaurants, and

indoor venue events. masks are still strongly recommended, but restaurants may determine their path going forward and may choose to require masks. individuals over age two are still required to wear masks in all indoor public settings, and masks are still required in public transit, child care settings, as well as congregate settings. showing proof of vaccination or negative covid tests is still required to enter restaurants, bars, gyms or other places where food is served or excessive breathing is concerned. if you have any questions, please take a moment to ask questions, and either myself or deputy director rice will

answer. >> any questions? >> okay. i will move on with your permission, president bleiman, to update you all on a very exciting announcement. as you know, we have been a bit short staffed for quite sometime, and just this last week, we welcomed the board two new teammates to the entertainment commission who you will see on zoom tonight, so we're very excited to have both of them. maile comes to us from film s.f., which is my previous department prior to the entertainment commission, so we were colleagues at that time. may -- i'll let you tell her more about her in just a second. also welcoming aboard andrew, who is our newest [indiscernible] inspector. we're very, very excited because we'll have a robust

enforcement team out in the field. andrew already had his first shift this weekend and has just hit the ground running. very excited to have them both aboard, but i just wanted to take a moment during my director's report to welcome them and for them to just introduce themselves to you. may, do you want to kick us off and tell people a little bit about you. before we get started, i wanted to say this was my last time doing roll call. may will be taking over next meeting. >> thank you so much, maggie, and hello to the commissioners. my name is may, and as maggie mentioned, i am coming to you from the film commission. i actually was the secretary there and have been doing that pretty much my entire tenure of almost eight years, so i do

have a lot of experience doing this but obviously, with each commission, there are new things to learn and also new people to get to meet, so i'm very excited to learn more from you and how to best serve you or your staff in making everything go smoothly. i'll also be doing some of the one-time permits, so dylan has been really amazing in training me on some of those things, so i'll also be taking a look at that, as well. personally, as most of the other staff members are, i'm actually also involved in arts here in the bay area, so i'm actually a freelance threater director, and i'm also the artistic director of an asian american theater company in the area? we mostly focus on theater and playwrights. to move beyond my presentation and tell more inclusive stories

of the asian diaspora, so that is what it is, and it is my passion in life. i really look forward to gaining new nothing and experiencing in my time here, and i thank you in advance for your patients and your guidance as i'm learning how to basically be your new commission secretary and take care of business. >> and let's have andrew tell us a little bit about himself. >> thank you, maggie. my name is andrew, and i'm the new inspector with the entertainment commission. i have a long background in music and entertainment. as a musician myself, i've worked doing production work and event production.

i also have a lot of experience doing photo production here in the city of san francisco. i also have experience that pertains to this position from working in night clubs as security detail? super excited to be a part of this organization. i've had a really good time so far, and really excited to serve this beautiful city of san francisco. it's nice to meet you all. >> as you can see, i am very happy, along with, i think, the rest of the staff, so welcome board, you two. thank you so much, and i'll just hand it back to the commissioners in case you have any questions or comments. >> thank you. i would just say congratulations. you both have amazing resumes. good luck.

we're here to support you if we can. >> yep. >> welcome. >> i'm looking forward to some of your theatric work. i used to be an active part of the asian theater back in the day, but i hope you can restart it. >> i'll talk with you more about that offline. >> to inform you, may is working on a production right now, and there are some shows this weekend, in in case anyone wants to go. >> all right. well, welcome to both of you, what a joy, and i just wanted to thank the existing staff for having stepped up for so long during this time that we have

been understaffed, and that includes deputy azevedo who took some time off to have a baby, but i'm excited to see what we can accomplish now. thank you for joining us and thank you to the existing staffer for your hard work. any other reports from executive director weiland? that's it? >> yep. >> all right. and then, we will open this up to public comment. >> operator: i'm going to flash the slide for a few seconds. all right. i'm checking, and there are no hands raised and no comments in the chat box. >> all right. we'll close public comment. the next agenda item is number 4, which is a report from deputy director azevedo.

>> thank you, president bleiman. good evening, commissioners. very excited about the announcements the new staff and inspector joining the team, and like maggie said, he's already had his first shift in the field. super excited. my report is short this evening. we did receive 30 reports since the last hearing, but many complaints were mitigated on-site or they required follow up by educating a neighbor or bringing a business into compliance by having them apply for a permit. the one update that i have do is about an enforcement visit to amsterdam cafe, and this is located across the street from edinsburgh castle pub. amsterdam employees always maintained that they never had

entertainment, and we were never able to verify if they had entertainment until this past weekend. inspector fiorentino spoke with the neighbor and then visited the business this past weekend. he visited the business at 7:00 p.m., and there was no entertainment, but the bartender did say that they just hired a guitar player for outdoor entertainment. he learned that the owner was sitting outside in the parklet, so he continued the conversation with the owner, and unfortunately it didn't go very well as the owner was pretty dismissive of the information about needing a permit, so i reached out to the owner directly myself today? i was unable to get ahold of

them on the phone, and i did send an e-mail. we will continue to visit and reach out to the visit as they do require both a j.a.m. permit and l.l.p. or p.o.e. for their indoor entertainment. that's all i have, but i'm happy to answer any questions that you may have about the report. >> questions? all right. well, i don't have anything specifically to bring up. i'm sure that a nice conversation between you and the owner of that place will help to set things straight, and i'm sure we'll get them into compliance shortly, and i figure it is sometimes a

learning experience for people who are unaware of our process, so we'll try and give them the benefit of the doubt for the time being. any public comment on this agenda item? >> operator: i am checking, and there is none. >> all right. let's close public comment, and we'll move onto the next agenda item, which is number 5, which is hearing and possible action regarding applications for permits under the jurisdiction of the entertainment commission, and i will ask deputy director azevedo to introduce the item on the consent agenda for the evening. >> thanks, president bleiman. we don't have one item on the consent agenda. it's a limited live performance

permit for community arts stabilization trust. the only added conditions for sfpd are standard, and they are listed below on the memo that i provided. the staff recommendation is for commission to vote to approve the permission per staff agenda and to impose the recommended sfpd conditions. >> any questions about this one? all right. is there any public comment on this agenda item? >> operator: checking, and there are no hands raised, and there are no comments in the chat box. >> okay. then i believe we can entertain motions here. >> i'd like to make a motion to -- to approve the consent agenda with recommendations from the staff and sfpd. >> second. >> thank you.

all right. we can vote. >> clerk: okay. [roll call] >> all right. congratulations. that has been approved, wherever you are, and please follow up with staff at your earliest convenience for next steps. i'll ask staff to introduce the next item which is first on our regular agenda. >> thank you, president bleiman. this is actually going to be presented to you this evening by senior analyst wright. we'll pass the microphone to

him. >> thank you, deputy director azevedo. >> for the record, that did say that in the script. i went off script. i went rogue. >> i was going to say, i thought i wrote that. >> yes, yes. >> so good evening, everyone, and just for the record, i am so thrilled myself and andrew are joining the team. where am i? so tonight, we are hearing from valencia corridor merchants association. this organization is applying for a j.a.m. music permit to allow them to hold outdoor entertainment and amplified event every other saturday starting on february 6 and running until june 5. it's called the valencia street

art corridor and it will be hosted been an emcee. there will be one stage that will be rotating on different blocks each day, but they are requesting the flexibility to add more performance areas along the event footprint if they're able to secure additional sponsorship. they are expecting 400 attendees per day. given this is a first-time event, and given the potential sound impacts this event could have on the surrounding neighborhood, director weiland recommended that this application be reviewed by the seven-member commission. so you'll see in your folder their j.a.m. permit application, their site plan, their proof of neighborhood outreach, which is highlighted in yellow on the site plan.

those were the areas that were targeted, and then, a copy of the m.t.a. street closure permit for valencia street. we did not receive any permission from mission station within the response window, so we assume they have no issues with the permit. here to speak to you is lauro gonzalez, organizer of the event, and the recommendation is standard policy and good neighborhood j.a.m. conditions. a copy of those conditions are also in google folder. so lauro, i'm going to bring you in right now. so lauro, if you can hear me, please unmute yourself right

now. >> hello, everyone. my name is lauro gonzales, and i work with the valencia corridor merchant association managing the street closure and also developing an art program in order to activate the streets and bring [indiscernible] to the businesses during the closure. thank you. >> thank you. >> lauro, can you tell us a little bit more about some of the music you're going to have there, some of the musicians? i think we understand kind of the general idea of it, but i would like to just -- i think we'd all like to hear a little more, so where we're going to

be, what kind of permit is it? >> we'll just be rotating the events on different blocks, and we'll be playing the music 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. talking about the event, it's very modest, to be honest we don't have big sound equipment. we have, like, two speakers, one woofer, one mixer, microphones. we don't have a stage. it's, like, ground level, and

we are featuring bands, but they are not very loud. it's something more chill for communities to enjoy and have a good time. we definitely don't want to pull in a concert or something that brings, like, huge amounts of people, you know, but yeah, that's what we're doing. >> any questions? >> this is your first festival, right? this is the first time you've tried to do this? >> i have done four in the past from october to december? little bit more modest than this one, i would say? couple of artists and musicians, but definitely not

full lineups, not, like, amplified music at these. >> so you're saying that all these performances are going to be acoustic? there's no amplification? >> no, for these ones, we're going to have amplifications, but for the ones in the [indiscernible], they are going to be acoustic or using one speaker that the musician was bringing. >> and so the stages, as well as sound reinforcement, are you using those eon power systems or a p.a. on the stage? >> yeah, we'll have a p.a. system. >> and you're hiring, like, a sound engineer or a company that comes in and sets up sound? >> yeah. we are partnering with a music

collective, and we have a sound engineer devoted to the event. >> and so can you tell me, are they all bands? are they deejays? >> so yeah, i am happy to drop in this chat a little lineup with the musicians if that's something that you would like to see, sir? >> no, just an experience of, like, in japantown, when they have their street fairs or their cherry blossom festivals, and they have a hired stage hand and engineer, but the people a few blocks away can hear them, so i'm wondering what are you doing as far as

controlling? i know we need to set a limit, but is there any way if it gets any loud from contacting the sound engineer or anything -- what is your protocol? >> yes, no, definitely. my engineer will be fully aware of the sound levels because my best interest is for things to stay and for everyone to have a great experience, so i know that i have love for the [indiscernible] so i am locating the stage -- the stage on this particular one in order to not be on the other ones? to be honest, there's couple of musicians that sometimes they show up in valencia street without permits or without anything, so there's things

already happening on this street, i would say, with no j.a.m. permit, but i am always there, making sure that the level of the music is not loud to disturb anyone. >> so you have a way of monitoring the complaints. >> yeah. >> i will be fully responsible for the levels of the music. >> yeah. okay. so other than what the sound inspectors can do as far as giving you a limit or whatever, i guess we'll just have to wait and see. you know, this is the first

time. >> yes. >> okay. no more questions. thanks. >> good evening. i have a couple of questions for you? so i think if i understand correctly, you'll be rotating different blocks within valencia street every week, right? so the first week is going to be between the 18 and 19. the next week will be in a different location, right? so we're just activating one block at a time? >> yeah, exactly. >> and when you go back to that same location, will it be in the same location, the entertainment area? is it going to be in the exact same location? for example, when you go back to 18 and 19 street, will it be in that same location? >> well, i think in that specific case, i think i will,

because in my experience, that location is the best location to do this because it does not bother the other people, and also, like, because, like, around that area, it is, like, there's not that much neighborhood -- sorry, that's not that much residents around that area. there's a parking lot, appliance store that they usually close, so they're not there at that time. they're fully open, but we have a great relationship with the business around, and they are supporting us, but in the case of other blocks, i always say, i propose to have the stage there, but if i have a complaint or something did or something come up from a resident or from a business, i would like to have the option

to change it just in order to satisfy everyone's needs, if that's possible. >> that would be a question to staff. if the j.a.m. permit is a station area, can you pull it? can someone jump in? >> yeah, i'll take that. in a situation where the event is going to move, we would want them to submit an amended request. >> okay. >> so assuming that j.a.m. permit is approved tonight, they would need to come back and request a change to the location of the stage. >> so right now, your permit is for a specific location on that block. if you want to move it, just let the staff know so they can recommend your permit.

>> okay. thank you. >> and i guess it looks like one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine weekends that you're going to be there. are you going to be the project manager for the sound at every event or are you going to have people under you? >> yeah, so i'm the manager of the event and manager of the street closure, so i'm, like, all the one overseeing and putting all of these pieces together. i definitely play a fundamental role. >> okay. but based on my event to being an event organizer, you're going to be pulled in different directions, so you might need to pull people that are in charge of sounds specifically, so they can make sure that it's not going up. i'm not saying you have to

consider that, i'm just saying that you might want to because you're going to be busy the whole day. >> under no circumstances do you let manny control the sound. he'll just turn it up. that's going to be on the permit. he's not allowed to touch the sound. >> yeah, that will be definitely for a sound engineer and also for the music management, so there's going to be two people there, the sound engineer and the manager of the location, so those two people will be definitely in charge of managing the sound level. and me, too. if people are going kasey, i want to be the one on the first block. >> okay. that's all my questions. thank you. >> thank you. >> other questions?

i don't have any specific questions. i'm just so excited about this. i think think -- for years, i've been waiting for things like this, where we permit -- have larger areas, and really, for me, it's about bringing music and musicians and artists back to san francisco, and they were gone before covid. i don't have any major questions. i'm sure it'll be a work in progress. i know we've got your team and our team working on it. i would encourage you, and you guys have done a very good job with this, but just to, you know, defer on the side of working with people who are neighbors and complaints and just trying to find common ground, and you've already done -- shown that you can do that, so that's not a concern of mine, but i'm excited for this. this is really cool. what a great way to employ a lot of musicians and have fun in san francisco.

>> thank you so much for your [indiscernible] and i'm so excited myself, as well. i wanted this to happen so bad, so i'm thrilled for, like, doing that, but also, i do want to do it in the right way in order for these to stay, you know, like -- i know, like, sometimes oh, like, sometimes the city this and the city that, but i feel, like, we always can find ways to work it out, you know? and i make everyone happy as much as we can, you know, but i feel like, i don't know, doing something did for the community and providing healthy entertainment for them, you know, in these times, covid times, so thank you very much, and whatever i can do or whatever i can do to make this happen, i will definitely do it. >> i think mainly the city is

behind you. it's your neighbors that you -- >> yeah. >> -- that you really have to watch out with and work with. >> yeah, i will. >> all right. so i think that's it for questions. is there any public comment on this agenda item? >> operator: i will flash the slide just for a few seconds. i am checking, and there is none. >> all right. we can close public comment, then. if there's any discussion, please, you know, share it now. otherwise, we can maybe entertain motions.

all right. it sounds like no real discussion here. i'm excited about this. >> i'll motion this. i'd like to make a motion to approve the permit with staff recommendation and good neighbor policy. >> second. >> all right. we can vote. >> clerk: all right. [roll call] >> all right. congratulations. it's been approved, so please just follow up with our staff as soon as possible, and you can work with them on next steps. but this is really cool, and it's cool to be a part of approving a permit for a more creative area than in the past. this is really exciting for me,

so thank you. >> thank you so much. >> all right. moving along, somebody is going to introduce the next item, and i haven't checked yet to see who it is, but i'll just pause for a second, and maybe that person will introduce it. >> thank you, president bleiman. i'm happy to introduce the final permit agenda. >> it says you. >> it does. the final permit application on our regular agenda is a place of entertainment for the southeast community center, 1550 evans avenue, which is scheduled to open in may of this year. this is a brand-new city owned and operated building in the bayview that will provide services to the community, including serving as an indoor and outdoor event rental space. the previous company held a p.o.e. permit with our office. last year, director weiland

made a legislative change which eliminated the one-night dance permit from codecode. this community center will be available to rent for events. their indoor entertainment will not go later than midnight, and their outdoor entertainment or amplified sound will not go later than 10:00 p.m. the applicants conducted neighborhood outreach and submitted eight letters to the surrounding businesses and their vicinity. there was no opposition for the permit. we did not receive a response from bayview station for added conditions. here to speak with you this evening is southeast community center director emily pharr.

>> let me bring her in right now. >> thank you for having me this morning. my name is emily rogers pharr, and i'm here with jason, our facilities manager. i don't know if he was let in, as well, but -- >> i will let him in right now. no problem. >> thank you, and thank you for consideration of our p.o.e. permit this morning. i'd like to thank director weiland and deputy director azevedo for guiding us through

this process. the community center is slated to open in early summer, and we are super excited -- facilitate

meaningful programs and services that promote the health, well-being, cultural, political, and financial empowerment of bayview-hunters point residents. the southeast community center has always been an accessible and affordable event venue for the community. we typically host 300 events annually both indoors and out. we also provide a number of community events and festivals throughout the year that provide live entertainment and resource sharing opportunities. as director azevedo mentioned, having a p.o.e. will eliminate the burden and redundancy that our community has had to engage in order to host their events. the one-night dance permit that

was required, so we really appreciate streamlining this process in the p.o.e. we did send out notifications to local businesses in proximity to the new center. the area is mostly industrial, and because the center is set back off the street with offset parking, we don't anticipate any neighborhood disruption or disturbances have our event. we've worked well with the planning department, of course, the fire department and other agencies, including your commission staff, to offer safe and affordable access amenities. again. thank you for your cooperation this evening, and we hope to join the community shortly.

>> it has a sound system in the pavilion, and then, we will be purchasing sound equipment for the outdoor activities or rent. it's pretty standard state of the art stuff that will allow us to magnify or amplify sound. >> and your staff will be trained to use it? >> absolutely.

we'll have dedicated staff to operate it. >> good luck to you. i mean, i had an office on edmonds street, 1357 edmonds, way back in the day. i don't know why i keep saying that. i must be old or something, but it was right across the street from the post office. >> we're right before you get there. >> it's the area -- >> you're no older than the rest of us. >> the area has grown quite a bit, so good luck to you. >> thank you. >> i think commissioner perez has a question? >> absolutely. >> thank you, president bleiman. hello, emily. welcome. thank you for your presentation. i'm so happy to hear that your new community center is ready and completed. i'm really glad to hear that

there's now a dedicated center for the southeast asian community in the bayview? i have a couple of questions. this is very much an industrial area, but i just want to give you an opportunity to catch us up on any kind of community outreach that you might have done with the neighbors even if they are far away? >> are you talking about the permit? >> yes. you're required to do outreach to the community. >> so the intersection of third and evans is essentially a gait away to the community. very busy high-traffic area. on the third street side, we have two filling stations, two gas stations in the area. it's a super wide street with

two lanes in either direction in the area, and then, across the other way is the bayview plaza, the back of bayview plaza, which houses a number of local shops, star bucks and local bampgs, and there used to be a walgreens there, goodwill, and we reached out to the businesses located there because there are parking, and we want to make sure folks know that we're there but also don't park in that space, and that that parking will be safe, and access to their business will be safe. we reached out to them. and then, across the other way, on our side street, there's an industrial park businesses, and we reached out to those businesses in that industrial park, as well. everyone -- the response was overwhelming. the people were really excited about the new center. they see it as bringing

business into the community and business into the space in the neighborhood. >> okay. thank you. my second question is who will be responsible for managing the sound equipment and the performing artists? i know sometimes artists want to go crazy and perform really loud, so who is that person that's going to be in charge of managing the performing artists or sound equipment? >> so the sound equipment will fall to [indiscernible] who's on the line with us. as far as the event sounds that we're presenting, it would still be jason, but he would work with whoever the event manager is or the coordinator is, which is usually larry berry or someone on my team. if it's a rental, we would work

with the reservation or the event coordinator to ensure that they are following all the rules, and we do have [indiscernible]. >> i have to tell you, i have been following your business for a long time. unbelievable. it is gorgeous. i applaud your folks' work.

jason is going to have a lot of work out there. i'm actually with the police department, and we're actually going to be neighbors. we just opened the brand-new facility at evans and toland. it's not open to the public, but it's our new crime lab but just a couple of quick questions. this first one is actually for staff, and i'm just curious. did we get a floor plan with conditions and locations of security? >> no, we did not, but i think it