>> chair ronen: the meeting will come to order. this is the june 8, 2022 --

sorry. there's an echo. try to get rid of that. thank you. testing. testing. good. thank you. this is the june 8, 2022 budget and finance committee meeting. i'm supervisor hillary ronen, chair of the committee. i'm joined by committee member gordon mar and will be joined shortly by vice chair supervisor ahsha safai. our clerk is brent jalipa, and i'd like to thank matthew baltazar at sfgovtv. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes. just a reminder to please

silence all phones and electronic devices. ed board realizes -- the board realizes that public comment is essential, and we will be taking public comment on ear item on the agenda. for those watching channels 28, 76, or 99, the public call-in number is streaming across the screen. that's 415-655-0001. enter meeting i.d. 2481-542-4313, then press pound and pound again. press star, three or raise your

hand to lineup to speak. we will take public comment from those attending in person first and then move to remote public comment. alternatively, you may submit your comments in writing at b-r-e-n-t-j-a-l-i-p-a@sf.gov. and finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervisors agenda on june 14 unless otherwise stated. madam chair? >> chair ronen: yes. can you please read item 1?

>> clerk: item 1 is a resolution authorizing the executive director of the port of san francisco to execute a mutual termination agreement for port leases between the port of san francisco and alioto fish company ltd. for the restaurant premised located at 2829 taylor street and the associated warehouse premises located at 360 jefferson street, and to authority the executive director of the port of san francisco to enter into amendments or modifications to the mutual termination

agreement. >> thank you so much, chair ronen and supervisor mar. here to talk to you about the proposed mutual termination agreement with alioto fish company. i don't think i need to introduce alioto's fish company or restaurant. this has been an operation since 1925. they have been in this structure location since 1970, a key part of our portfolio and really something that's synonymous with fisherman's wharf and the great attraction that we have there. unfortunately, at the outset of the pandemic, they suspended operations. the port staff and alioto's staff had conversations since then to see if there was a way

for the restaurant to reopen, and even though the port was offering base rent on whatever they could sell, the family and staff decided to seek a termination of the lease for their restaurant nearby as well as fish company on jefferson street. we made inspection to ensure the condition of the facilities and brought an agreement to the port commission this past april, which the port commission approved. next slide, please. to summarize the agreement terms, alioto's would surrender the security deposits on both facilities and pay a termination fee. they'll cooperate to ensure all permits are transferred with the building and not with the specific restaurant that's in

there. they complied with its s.b.a. covid relief loan. alioto's provides broad release of claims. next slide, please. in closing, i think this is a really bittersweet day. it's really hard to see the aliotos name come out of this facility. they negotiated in good faith, and we hope that they leave with a feeling of something that benefited the city and the report. the facility, while needing repair, the facility is very serviceable. our hope is to get it back so that we can relet it and generate sort of a new operation there that would bring people down to

fisherman's wharf and enjoy some opportunities there. we hope the committee forwards this to the board, and i'm happy to answer any questions. >> chair ronen: thank you, and i believe we have a b.l.a. report before we go to questions. >> thank you, chair. nick menard from the b.l.a. this is a mutual termination agreement between port and the fish company. the agreement would forgive approximately $861,000 in rent through june of this year, and the fish company forfeits its payment of $25,000. as we describe on page four of this report, this agreement is

relatively more generous than the previous one approved by the board of supervisors in 2021 by approximately $338,000. according to the port, this is -- and as was just stated, the port has been interest in gaining control of this site more quickly than the site of the ferry building, and that sort of weighed on their decision, though we do consider the policy matter to be a matter for the board. >> chair ronen: thank you, nick. any questions or comments? i just want to say that it's a perfect day to consider this because this is a sad day for san francisco. this is a rough loss. a legacy business that's so iconic that's one of the sites of pride of being a san franciscan and being on the port. it's just -- it's heartbreaking

to lose this institution, but, you know, thank you to the alioto family for running this incredible restaurant for so many years, and thank you for entering into a rent agreement with the port, and thank you to the port for this. you would think that this restaurant would have money in the bank to sustain this

through the crisis, but it is with a very, very heavy heart that i would like to make a motion to send this item to the full board with positive recommendation. >> supervisor safai: may i say something? i know i talk too much. when people think of the wharf, they think of alioto's. i don't want to put all the blame in any way, shape, or form on the restaurant, but i think we as a city need to do more to think about how we're going to revitalize and reenergyize and reset. we were in a hearing yesterday that talked about how a certain percentage of every single

penny when you put into paying when you sleep or rent a hotel room is set aside for recharge or refresh. there is moneys dedicated to think about how you're going to refresh hotels consistently, and we have rode on the success of fisherman's wharf for a really long time, but the city needs to be thinking about and working with a partner on refresh. i don't want to be putting it on in any way, shape, or form, on the restaurant. we're going to send this to the full board with a heavy heart, and hopefully, there's some way for alioto's to come back and partner with the city again. >> chair ronen: thank you. can we take a roll call? >> clerk: madam chair, we

should take public comment on this. >> chair ronen: we should. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. members of the public wishing to make public comment should call 415-655-0001, meeting i.d. 2481-542-4313. press pound and pound again, then star, line to lineup to begin your comments. we have no speakers in the room. mr. atkins, do we have any callers in the queue? >> operator: there clerk, there are no callers in the queue. >> chair ronen: thank you. public comment is closed. can we now have a roll call vote. [roll call] >> clerk: we have three ayes. >> chair ronen: the motion passes unanimously. thank you so much.

mr. clerk, can you please call item 2. >> clerk: yes. item 2 is a hearing to consider the priorities of the long-term care coordinating council to provide needed services for seniors, persons with disabilities, and all residents who require long-term care, and requesting the human services agency, department of disability and aging services, and long-term care coordinating council to report. . >> chair ronen: supervisor safai, did you want to make any comments? >> supervisor safai: we know this has been sometime in the making, and we want to hear

about the long time research about the long-term care coordinating council we distributed personal protective equipment, ensured real-time testing was available to avoid the kinds of outbreaks and deaths that affected other parts of the state and other parts of the country and world. yet these actions that we took

had some unintended consequences. worsening social isolation and creating in many cases a tale of two cities where some members of the city could keep in touch with loved ones, but lower income families struggled to stay connected. under the incredible leadership from miss susie smith from h.s.a., who joined us, and laura liseman, san francisco conducted research and formed a response. you'll hear from the community that the community is doing work to respond, and i'm

honored to represent the excelsior in district 11, home to the best example of long-term care in the nation. our san francisco campus for jewish living, also known as the jewish home. we'll hear from rebecca holtzman to hear about their efforts to keep connected. [please stand by]

stakeholders repeatedly mentioned the lack of challenges around social engagement and activities. they were talking about basic social attention. there was also a lot of focus on lack of communal meals. so that was one thing just isolation. a second theme stemming from that increased level of

depression. the third thing was boredom. they literally could not leave their rooms. the destruction in dietary and the appropriate food that family members would bring. once people were allowed to resume social activities, people had been isolated for so long, they were afraid of coming out. this theme was the decline, and i alluded to this earlier that there was a decline in cognitive abilities and loss of function. finally, we really uncovered both some of the challenges, but more importantly, the

opportunities that digital connection could provide and so we'll talk about that in more detail. so the things in mind for the rest of my time with you here, i'm just going to read some quotes from the study. three people on my unit have died because of lack of visitors. a screen just isn't the same. i couldn't see the important people and they died earlier than they had to. one man told me that he might as well not live because he hasn't seen his family in so long. depression and despair seem to be increasing significantly. they want us to [ indiscernible ] our roots. it drives me nuts. it's just the same old stuff

every day. we opened up the dining room and no one wants to return. right now, only one person is eating in the dining room by themselves. people are resistant. that kind of isolation becomes a habit. people don't -- another quote. people don't get over this. a year of isolation just like that. they now have a new normal. wifi needs to be upgraded. it can be a pretty bad connection and then people get frustrated and discouraged.

we have a short supply of ipads. we have two total. i'm now honored to turn the mic over to rebecca holtsman at the center -- sorry, campus for jewish living and she's going to talk about her role in the behavioral health group, but more importantly, her direct experience at jewish home during this time of the pandemic, thank you. >> thank you, susie and everyone for your time this morning. so about five years ago, we officially changed our name from the san francisco jewish home to the san francisco campus for jewish living, but that memo did not get out to the community because most everyone knows us as the san francisco jewish home or the

jewish home. so i'm just going to go with that this morning. we're located in district 11 right on mission and silver street. and, we were part of the l.t.c.c.c. behavioral health work group. although we are a jewish organization, we have a very diverse resident and staff population. 30% of residents and 86% of staff self-identify as bipoc. it was a bustling hub of robust programming, community activities, spiritual life, and family visits. each month, residents and staff boarded one of our shuttles as we took residents on

educational outings to places like the jewish museum and the sf mona. our life enrichment department provided an array of stimulating programs including the popular morning creative arts class which brought together residents for many different units. residents would chat and get to know 1 another while engaging in a variety of creative processes. we had a full evening program each week. we're visiting pianists, violinists and they came to the residence and entertained residents. volunteers from the community served as dealers, and residents wagered up to $0.10 on their hands. we even hosted a visit from a therapeutic cammal back in 2019 which residents and staff are still talking about today.

my position between bay area youth and jewish home residents, patients, and staff. in 2019, we launched a youth leadership council as well as the partnership with the brandized school of san francisco and independent jewish school near lake merced. they brought all of their eighth grade students to visit with our residents twice a month. it was a pleasure to watch meaningful relationships blossom between the students and residents as the so-called age divide flipped away. but why does any of this matter? it matters because all of these programs and partnerships helped residents stay engaged and connected with each other

and the world around them. these programs and partnerships prevented social isolation, depression, and loneliness. of course, the pandemic changed everything for everyone around the world, but maybe no more deeply and painfully than for people living in skilled nursing facilities. everything came to a stand still as programs, outings, and essential services like physical and occupational therapy were canceled. families could no longer visit their loved ones. residents were sequestered to their rooms and faces were hidden behind masks and other ppe. i specifically remember going up to one of our units in the early days of the pandemic and seeing wheelchairs lined up and

down the hallway as each person ate their dinner alone in the hallway outside of the room. it was a stark and devastating scene some residents who were particularly ill with covid were taken to the hospital and never came back. many of our residents lost their lives to covid-19. fear took over at the jewish community home. our community was deeply impacted by covid and i just want to take a moment to remember all of the elders of the jewish home who lost their lives to this virus. we are very grateful to the city and to san francisco department of public health for protecting our physical health throughout the pandemic and we

know that the death toll would have been even higher. but the balance was a little off. there was too much focus on physical health and not enough on mental health and social well being. while the pandemic is over for many people, we haven't moved on. we are still socially distancing. while family visitation has resumed, we are nowhere near our pre-pandemic programming. right now as we're here today, two of our seven nursing units are on quarantine because of positive covid cases and residents can't leave their floor. now, residents and staff are asking each other, how can we, how do we move on from the isolation, the loneliness and

the lack of connection of the past two years? how do we address the mental health needs of our long-term care residents. when i found out the lpccc was forming a behavioral health group, i was excited to learn about their work and findings. i felt hopeful that maybe we could use the group's recommendations to begin the healing process. i'm going to turn it back over to laura who's going to talk about the group's recommendations. >> thank you, rebecca. i just want to acknowledge the rate of the loss and the sadness for the residents and the staff and the families and loved ones impacted by this pandemic. this is a highly emotional

issue. >> i was just going to say the same thing. i think that all of us with senior parents and members and friends and family, we've seen this, even if they were not in a skilled nursing facility, we've seen the impact that this has had on so many different families and lives. so i really appreciated the moment of silence for anyone that was lost during this time. but i appreciate you acknowledging how emotional this is and how important this is. so i know that this has been hard for all of you and everyone that's been involved. so i really want to honor the work that you've done over the past couple of years and continue to do because this is not easy work. it's not easy to see people suffer when we know we can try to do more. >> and, unfortunately, this experience is not unique to the jewish home. right.

this is pervasive across all of our skilled nursing facilities. disproportionately impacting low-income seniors and adults with disabilities who don't have access to technology. and that's what brings us to our recommendations. we need to ensure teleconnectivity at a minimum to all residents who can benefit. we also need to implement evidence-based therapeutic practices. so i'd like to share a little bit more about what that looks like for us in our findings from the report. many of the server results indicated that reliable internet is a primary barrier. we live in the tech capital. why are we struggling with an issue like reliable internet. we don't have sufficient devices. at one facility, they have two devices and we need to allocate resources and time for staff and volunteers and others to train and reliably teach people how to use tablets and other

devices. so, we're excited about the potential for future partnerships. we also believe in evidence-based therapeutic practices. we know moving forward involves individual and group activities to address the mental health needs of our community. we've outlined a few of them here today. telephonic outreach is something institute on aging has provided through the friendship line. it operate its 24 hours a day. it receives inbound call to support isolated individuals around the country, not just in san francisco. one of the interesting opportunities we had during the behavioral health work was to identify life review groups and for those unfamiliar, i'd like to turn it back over to rebecca who's going to share a little bit about a pilot project that will restore hope in how we can move forward in skilled nursing facilities.

>> i'm going to talk a little bit about life review. the department of aging services connected the jewish home to meta fund and we're very grateful that meta fund has provided the jewish home with a generous grant to plan and implement a life review pilot program. i've shared some of the details about the pilot here on these slides, but what we're actually really excited about is the opportunity for residents and staff to process life stages and events including the trauma caused by the pandemic. we are doing the life review pilot program in partnership with falton institute who are providing their staff and expertise to implement the program. one of the goals of the program is to directly address the loneliness and isolation that were a result of the pandemic.

the seed money for meta fund is allowing us to build capacity to implement future iterations of the life review program. we've already discussed future groups to include a chinese language group, a russian language group and a group to residents our hope is to weave life review into the fabric of our social programming. i'm going to hand it back over to laura. >> thank you, rebecca. so that's an example of something under way that we think we could replicate in other skilled nursing facilities. we request $250,000 a year for a three-year pilot for a site-based therapeutic interventions like the life review. we're also looking for $250,000 for a three-year pilot to

increase teleconnectivity including tablets and training of residents. at a higher level, we really want to incorporate the recommendations of the behavioral health work groups into our state's master plan for aging and local play book. we'd be happy to answer any questions and we appreciate your time and attention. >> thank you so much for your presentation. i'm sorry, my father passed at the end of last year in a nursing home and so i'm having a really hard time with this hearing. but um, did you already fill out the form in our add back request -- >> we did not. >> supervisor ronen: you need to do that today. i will have santiago from my office send this to you. and did h.s.a. make that request of the mayor in your

budget? >> supervisor safai: can you pull the slide back up for the request. i just had to run to the restroom for a moment. >> so this is coming from the community. i'm serving as a duel role. >> supervisor safai: and they've been working with our office. but we'll work with your office. >> supervisor ronen: okay. make sure, yes, to get those. thank you, you've made an incredibly compelling case and i'm just really happy that you're doing this work at the jewish home and we definitely would like this work to be done more broadly at skilled nursing facilities across san francisco. so this will definitely be a priority for my office. thank you. >> and, thank you for sharing your personal loss. we offer our condolences and i think the impact of this is just devastating.

>> supervisor safai: can you pull that slide back up when you get a moment. >> i'm sorry, are you able to see it? >> supervisor safai: the one that was budget related. >> yes. >> supervisor safai: i think supervisor mar has -- i know you were. supervisor mar. >> clerk: we're currently showing end of slide. >> okay. >> supervisor safai: supervisor mar, do you want to ask your question? >> supervisor mar: sure. did you have some questions? >> supervisor safai: i do have questions, but go right ahead. >> supervisor mar: well, thank you so much for the presentation and all of your work on this. really looking at the behavioral health needs of residents in our city during the pandemic. i mean like supervisor ronen, i lost a parent during the pandemic and my mom was in not

skilled nursing, but an assisted living memory care facility, so all the issues that you highlighted about the really extreme challenges that the residents and their families faced over the last few years resinate very much with me. so thank you. and i really appreciate the recommendations that you came up with and really excited to hear about the review pilot. that sounds wonderful. you know, i guess i just had some questions that are more about the broader, not so much around the findings and the recommendations because i think that's very clear and compelling to me as, you know, as well. but, sort of the broader need

in so you mentioned the scope and i was just curious, with the crisis at laguna honda hospital and it's looking at the worst case scenario, you know, 700 residents there needing to transfer -- i guess i just had questions more about the overall whether we have enough skilled nursing facilities and beds in our city even without the laguna honda crisis. >> no. i mean, we don't have enough skilled nursing facilities. we don't have enough assisted living facilities. there are many kind of mom and pop smaller six-bed or fewer facilities that are leaving the city because they can't afford to stay. and we have a different actually the same long-term care coordinating council group did a study on assisted living

facilities, supervisor mar, a couple years ago that was recently updated and we don't have enough. and it's important that we try to do all we can to keep those assisted living facilities and skilled nursing facilities in the city and particularly for people who don't have means to be able to pay. right. so there's not enough. we have data in that report that we can share with you as a followup. and it's challenging for affordability crisis hits, you know, every stage of life. and we don't have enough. >> and, if i may, i'd just like to respond to the crisis for the laguna honda residence. we are going to see displacement throughout the state. we're going to be sending people out of the county and

likely be on the bay area in order to meet their needs. again, as susie mentioned, we have a comprehensive study showing the bed shortage there as well. and some opportunities that i'd be happy to share with your office. >> supervisor mar: that would be great. i know the board has a hearing on the crisis next week, so do you have available beds in your facilities currently? >> i don't know particular numbers, but just anecdotedly,

the moment a bed becomes available, it gets filled quickly. >> supervisor mar: i called for a hearing and we had a hearing a few months ago on sort of how the city is not adequately planning to meet the support needs and that hearing kind of looked at the full range of housing and care needs to skilled nursing and everything in between. so the budget and legislative analyst office has been doing some research and about to release a report on looking at the gaps and how we can better plan. so i think that's sort of the bigger picture issue that i've been wanting to work on and this is really helpful just to have the ltccc's work on

affordable assisted living and on behavioral health needs of assisted residents happening. so thank you. >> i'd be morn happy to follow up with your office as well so we can identify any other research needs for the continuum of care in san francisco. it's a high priority for us. and condolences to you and what a reflection of our community that two of three of you have suffered significant loss throughout the pandemic. i'm deeply sorry. >> supervisor mar: thank you. >> supervisor safai: thanks, supervisor. before we do any more questions and public comment, we also have marie jovlin from the dignity coalition. it would be helpful for her to go through her presentation and if we have additional comments in public comment, we can do

that. marie. >> good morning supervisors. it's really a pleasure to be able to stand up here with you all and i first want to say the long-term care council supports which i'm representing today the recommendations that are coming from the long-term care council and i just wanted to acknowledge how the impacts of isolation and loneliness have been made vivid in this presentation this morning. i wanted to just provide a little more context on the issue of technology. i want to start with the city's own words. you have a digital equity plan and it says that all residents have full and equitable access to digital technology and its benefits, so all communities can thrive regardless of demographic. so we're talking about people in skilled nursing facilities, people in independent living, and everybody in between. you know, there was a recent study called the empower san francisco technology assessment that puts a fine point on needs of seniors with disabilities in

the city, but it's one of only many studies that's been done that put emphasis to close the digital divide for people in san francisco. you have a paper version of this so you can read the details. i think it also puts attention on the issue of assistive technology. as people have vision loss and other kinds of disabilities, i think it's important to recognize it's not just giving somebody an ipad and saying go do it, but to really make sure they have the kinds of assistive devices that will allow them regardless of their disability to be online and, you know, the needs for assistive technology echo the needs of the people that have been described here already. older adults, low income, s.r.o. residents, black, latinx, and a.p.i. communities and spanish, chinese, and

beyond. so one way to look at this. you have the slide thing up there? okay. you have to catch up with me. so i'm already at the point where we're talking about this is a continuum of learning so community based access to internet devices, training, assistive technology and technical support help individuals learn the basics and stay connected whether they remain in the community, whether they move to skilled nursing. and, as has been mentioned before, isolation and loneliness are associated with higher rates of chronic health conditions including heart disease, weakened immune system. depression. admission to nursing homes or the use of emergency services and death. the impact of social isolation

of seniors is presenting well beyond how when the pandemic restrictions have been lifted. according to various studies leading to increased problems of dementia, depression, suicide risk and disruptive care. so i just want to say that, you know, as you know, the digital divide is real, the needs are clear, the solutions are available have been documented in study after study and we have a great one that's been presented here today in terms of the impact and the need and just remember that the lack of progress really impacts older adults and people with disabilities in our city who make up 25% of the city's residents. so, we also have an ask and it's a bolder one maybe, but we understand how important it is for people to be able to have what they need to be able to learn these skills and stay connected across the continuum and so we're hoping that you

all will be able to provide some support for this as well. if you look at the last page of this, there are a number of seniors serving in other organizations that have shown their support for this effort partly because they're struggling with how do they become hybrid like you all are struggling with that. how do they continue to provide services and support for people in their homes. at the same time not willing to come back into the centers or never could come into the centers before because of their disability and people just itching to get back with their colleagues and service providers out of site. you know, the funding that we're looking for really is the bridge to allow people to do both and to allow for hybrid programming across the board. so that's what i'd like to say from the long term care council in support of the from the dignity fund coalition and support of the long-term care council and hope that you'll consider both in your budget

considerations. any questions? >> just so i understand, you gave us a $3.5 million ask. were you hoping that money would come from the dignity fund? >> so the dignity fund did have $3 million every year to be allocated for new needs and issues. unfortunately, because of policies around the cost of doing business, they're significantly less each year to do that, but the committee has made the recommendations and with what's left, they are recommending $350,000 for the one piece of the services and then another $75,000 for hybrid services. you know, it's not final yet just like all the other budget things are final, but it is recommended at that level. >> supervisor safai: so that's in the mayor's budget? >> it is in the department's recommendations. >> supervisor safai: right. exactly. so $350,000 plus another

$75,000. and the $350,000 is for? >> it's sort of a range. there have been a number of proposals that have been submitted to them. how it breaks down. >> supervisor safai: so $350 plus another $75, and how does that blend with the request, this additional request? >> i'm sorry, you mean the rest of that large ask? >> supervisor safai: no. the one from the previous presentation. it was $350,000 -- $250,000 for a three-year pilot support increase teleconnectivity and sniffs. it sounds like there's some overlap. >> i think so. here's the thing, you're kind of reaching the budget mash-up point where you're looking at all the areas. pilots is one of the things that's on the dignity fund coalition ask, for example.

pilots. various kinds -- so this could be one of those. we have a number that are under way in adult health centers and other community centers. you know, we're all in this together. we're trying to serve the same people on a continuum. and we hope you considering how many of you are in the city and all getting older and developing disabilities and many of us are really isolated that you kind of be bold. >> supervisor safai: i understand, and that's why i just wanted to clarify. as i said, we've received this. some of this is in the departmental budget. there's some additional line items here. i know this conflict with cost of doing business. we will work with the chair to put this in the larger queue budget ofs and. mayor's budget office is here. i think they can confirm just through the chair. can you talk and just confirm

what was said on the record in terms of the amount of money that was allocated for would be in this budget. >> yes, supervisor safai. this is the deputy budget director. so the dignity fund grows by about $3 million every year and that's a general fund transfer and i believe what she was referencing was that that additional $3,000,000 can be allocateed as determined by the dignity fund, by community groups and others. so she's suggesting within that additional allocation, this could be one of the uses. however, the dignity fund in the past has often used their growth to match the cost of doing business provided to general fund nonprofits to dignity fund providers. so if they use a certain amount of that $3 million towards b, she's saying that will leave less funding for additional new programming. >> right. >> supervisor safai: so after you factor in all the costs of

doing business, there's about $425,000 left over? >> no. i don't have that number in front of me. >> supervisor safai: well you said $350,000 plus $75,000. >> that's the amount being recommended here. the way we look at it as the cost of doing business comes off the top for the dignity fund and over time has decreased in the amounts available. so in a couple of years. >> supervisor safai: i get it. i understand the concept. just if i can have a clear answer. >> if i may, we're happy to work with the department and determine how much it would cost. >> supervisor safai: is anyone here? susie, is there your -- >> yeah. so i know that we have $350,000 for tech projects in the d.a.s. budget, this is obviously a much larger ask. >> supervisor safai: i understand. i'm just trying to get an idea.

>> yep. so we have $350,000 in the d.a.s. for technology work. that will be our fee. and then, the long-term care coordinating council, that recommendation was specific to the sniffs because there's obviously needs within the community and there's needs within sniffs and dignity fund supports community needs primarily. >> supervisor ronen: is there a list of what the dignity fund set aside is funding? >> absolutely. so we just recently now i'm wearing the d.a.s.h.s.a. hat, we just had our needs assessment and allocation plan submitted for the next rounds of dignity funding. so we can share that with you. >> supervisor safai: we will follow up, my office will follow up on this and we'll provide more clarity. i understand that there's a

push and pull between the dignity fund allocation that's a budget set aside going up and then there's the funds request for there to be an adjustment for costs doing business, but then there's also this additional need there's always this constant pool and all of the enrichment related supplemental supports. that's why we're putting a very significant rail guards around. you can't use it for that and it vane yeah. one of the biggest issues i had

is the fact that the mayor did not include a cost of living increase in this budget and that to me was the most glaring, you know, thing that was left out of her budget. >> yeah. speaking from a community perspective. what we get is that the cost of doing business has already been decided to come out of the dignity allocation this year. that didn't happen before we had the dignity fund. so, now, the amount of money that's now going for not just dignity fund but services in the department, that could more than fund what they're asking for here plus many other requests that would serve seniors and people with disabilities. >> supervisor safai: so when h.s.a. comes, we'll have that conversation in advance. it's coming next week. i think we're going to have to have an honest conversation about a certain amount of money that comes out of their budget for cost of doing business and

addressing some of these additional needs. >> and just to clarify, the dignity fund is set aside. for next fiscal year, we have the d.a.s. gets $3 million in new dignity fund allocation and $1.7 of that is for cost of doing business increased. it's a separate set aside that was approved by the voters that a certain amount we get next year is $3 million. >> supervisor safai: that $1.3. >> $1.7 is for cost of doing business. >> supervisor safai: so the balance is left. >> anything else. there's a certain amount we automatically set aside. >> s year it sounds like there's only $425,000 that's left. >> well, that's just for technology. we're talking about technology. that was the allocation. >> supervisor safai: so there is more things that came out of

the -- that are not related. how much of the cost -- how much of the dignity fund growth is set aside for cost of doing business? >> i don't have the percentage. maybe you do there, but -- >> supervisor safai: does the mayor's deputy director have that? >> less than half of the fund is available for allocation this year beyond the cost of doing business and at the current rate, it will be maybe two or three years before the total ability to do any kind of allocation new will disappear. >> supervisor safai: she just clearly said. i just want to reiterate what i just heard. sounds like there's far more than $300,000 that are out of the fund not related for cost of doing business. i understand in future years you're concerned. but this year sounds like there's a little bit less than half of that that's related -- that's not related for cost of

doing business. how that gets spread out is related to technology so we will follow up that makes me feel better. that's just quite a bit more. >> i just want to be sure that those funds have also been recommended for case management and a number of other services. you know, i think we can provide you what the dignity fund has done overtime including the recommendations for this year so that you just know. >> supervisor safai: that's fine. thank you. >> and the dignity fund has a comprehensive needs assessment. to just get a broad understanding. >> supervisor safai: got it. okay. i want to ask laura and susie a question. just to come back to the long-term coordinating council's undergoing some restructuring. can you discuss how members of the community can be involved going forward.

>> as our current co-chair, our meetings are open to the public. they're posted on our website which i will share for the record and can be distributed to anyone who's interested. san francisco long-term care coordinating council is the group that individuals can participate in work groups as members of the public. they can also attend and make public comment during our open meetings. >> supervisor safai: right. any other questions? >> supervisor safai: no. that was the main thing. i don't know if susie wanted to add to that. >> we welcome expertise and participation as laura said and all of the work of the council and the public, we want people to be engaged. this behavioral health work group was a good example. we sort of form work groups to address specific problems and we bring in the right expertise

and those are open to the public. i think the restructuring focuses on long term care and making sure we have actionable recommendations like we have today. >> supervisor safai: great. unless there's any other questions from colleagues? oh, you do. supervisor mar. >> supervisor safai: public comment after you're done. >> supervisor mar: i know we're going to get into the d.a.s. budget in this up coming hearing. i did have a question since we already started questioning around the dignity fund allocation of those. i guess my question is whether the dignity fund or any other part of the d.a.s. budget or city budget is investing in

creating new preserving and expanding the care beds that we need, you know, whether that's affordable assisted living, affordable r.c.f.e., you know the chinese hospital is moving ahead with trying to create skilled nursing, but i believe they're going to need some subsidy for that. i was wondering just in the dignity fund budget, is there any investments in sort of preserving or expanding. >> my understanding i don't believe the dignity fund can go to any specific housing. i don't believe they're allowed to use any of the funding for

they can provide the patch funding and most people and this again is in that assisted living facility report which we'll share. housing construction. >> it prohibits housing prevents housing construction costs. >> supervisor mar: but it can provide subsidies like affordable assisted living? >> yeah. >> supervisor mar: got it. >> one of the recommendations of the assisted living work group was to leverage some state dollars through the assisted living waiver. the reality is that's an under utilized waiver in san francisco. so the same rate that applies to san bernardino applies to

san francisco. it's difficult to leverage those when the facilities see they're doing the cost of business is much higher than san bernardino. i think the specific d.a.s. budget and dignity fund is also something we can follow up on with the dignity fund, it provides a small amount. it's not the systems level. it's not getting at the systems level that you're talking about, supervisor mar. and we appreciate that you have brought that issue in the housing report to look comprehensively at what our city needs to do to age in place and stay in the city. >> supervisor mar: yeah. thank you. i just wanted to note for my colleagues there was a proposal that was submitted from the community for an affordable pilot project residential care facility for the elderly. it's like affordable board and care home project and it included $1.7 million for an

acquisition and then, yeah, it looks like $450,000 for an operating subsidy for the first two years, so one project could consume a huge portion of the budget. >> i just wanted to add, we need to be able to provide clearly what the dignity fund can and can't do and in looking back what that really has meant is not a lot of money and it's not just the responsibility of the department of disability and aging to serve older adults and people with disabilities

you know, how did that all come together. thank you, chair ronen. >> chairman: thank you so much. >> supervisor safai: i think we should go to public comment. >> clerk: members of the public who wish to speak on this item and joining us in person should line up now to speak. for those listening remotely call (415) 655-0001. the meeting id 24815424313. press pound and pound again. you will need to press star three to enter the speaker line. and please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted. that will begin your cue to begin your comments. mr. atkins, can you kindly unmute our first caller. >> caller: supervisors, my name is francisco de costa and

i've been involved with long-term care more for the seniors for over 40 years. i do not think the way this presentation is done begging for taxpayers' money. it smacks our behalf. and you supervisors are [ indiscernible ] a segment of the population. by thousands of people of color who cannot come to city hall and give you the true

circumstantial facts. if you go to chinatown and see the number of seniors in a small cubicles dying of covid while the children and the others are there because they cannot yesterday i asked the board of supervisors. you supervisors have to represent the entire community

-- >> clerk: speaker's time has elapsed. apologies for cutting anybody off. we are timing each speaker at two minutes today. mr. atkins, next speaker, please. >> caller: hello, supervisors. this is jessica layman, executive director of senior disability action. i also have served on the long-term care coordinating council and advisory committee. thank you so much for holding this hearing today on all the many issues addressing isolation among seniors and people with disabilities and we want to urge you to follow the recommendations that have come before you regarding behavioral health as well as the connected programs and i will add that unfortunately there is very little money there to put to keep us connected and i also

want to urge you to think of isolation among our communities broadly. it also means funding all the kinds of housing subsidies to people can stay in their homes and communities they know. it's also thinking about remote participation for continuing this for people like myself who are high risk and can't come to city hall and still participate in life and making that easy and continuing to have meetings where people can participate remotely. we have the answers, we have a lot of good ideas in front of us as far as how to address isolation and we hope you'll

take action. thank you. >> clerk: thank you, jessica layman for your comments. mr. atkins, next speaker, please. >> caller: good afternoon. member of the dignity coalition. so wearing a lot of hats today. i want to say that on the long-term care i would like to keep us connected and specifically highlight the importance of training for the staff because as we know, as we get devices for seniors, very

intensive training sometimes to be able to access their device independently. so when we're being called in staffing in addition to staffing we know the demands in our isn't going to be cheap. so i do want to stress the importance of the staffing and costs that are associated with it. out of the cost of doing business, i do want to stress that the dignity fund coalition and really all of our coalitions support the cost of doing business but as was stated by the dignity coalition

coach, wanted to come as the costs of increased [ indiscernible ] community as that really was the promise of the fund itself. >> clerk: speaker's time has elapsed. i apologize for cutting you off. good to hear from you and thank you for your comments. mr. atkins, next speaker, please. >> caller: hi, can you hear me? >> clerk: yes, we can. >> caller: yeah. my name is dr. teresa palmer and i'm a geritrician and i have a problem with the whole idea of digital access in long-term care and residential care and nursing homes, the big

problem now is families are still being locked out due to covid and there are no therapyists available and if you're in a nursing home for a good reason, you may have cognitive visual and hearing problems as so this whole mental health is kind of like putting lipstick on a pig. there may be an to give

medications overused in the absence of person contact. i have grave concerns about this. thank you. >> clerk: thank you dr. teresa palmer for your comments. mr. atkins, do we have anymore speakers in the queue? >> chairman: public comment is now closed. supervisor safai, thank you so much for calling this hearing. it was really important and really informative and instructive. and i just want to send a message to h.s.a. that during the department's budget presentation, we do want a whole section and deep dive on d.a.s.'s budget as well so that we can understand, you

thank you so much for fighting for our seniors and the elder community. it's very much noted and appreciated. supervisor safai. >> supervisor safai: thank you. i'm happy that this hearing happened today. i really appreciated working with all of you collectively and respectively. we will continue the conversation. i think that as i've said in my opening statements having i think one of the premier senior living facilities in our district gives us a lot to learn from. a group to work with and a model for the rest of the city as evidenced by some of the problems going on in our public facility, we can all work together to ensure that we have a strong and robust senior plan

for those living in supportive and skilling nursing facilities. so, we will follow up. we'll work with you all respectively. thank you to the community living campaign and those that have been involved in creating the dignity fund. because it just goes to show how much foresight you all had in working on this and ensuring that we had this and who could have ever imagined that we would be where we are. we want to ensure we're using the best practices from this study to support our seniors and ensure that they can live out their years with dignity and respect. so we will look at it as chair ronen said, we will work with your office department. please work with my office as we approach the budget hearings this week and glad we got a better understanding about the split, about the cost of living versus how much is there to

provide service about $1.3 million. so we will continue to work on this and i really appreciate all the heart felt testimony today, the research, and how it will contribute to our ability to have better care in the city. thank you everyone. thank you, madam chair. >> chairman: thank you so much. mr. clerk, do we have any other items on the agenda today? oh, do you want to file this hearing. >> supervisor safai: yes. make a motion to file this hearing please. >> chairman: roll call vote. >> clerk: on that motion that this hearing be heard and filed. [roll call] we have three ayes. >> chairman: the motion passes unanimously. now, mr. clerk, do we have any other items on the agenda today. >> clerk: that concludes our business, madam chair. >> chairman: okay. this meeting is adjourned.

>> everything we do in the tenderloin, we urban outfit. here, this gives us an opportunity to collaborate with other agencies and we become familiar with how other agencies operate and allow us to be more flexible and get better at what we depo in the line of work in this task. >> sometimes you go down and it's hard to get up. so we see ourselves as providing an opportunity for the unhoused to get up. and so i really believe that when they come here and they've said it, this right here is absolutely needed. you can't ask for nothing better. >> the tenderloin is the stuff that ain't on the list of remedies, liked the spiritual connection to recovery and why would i? why would i recover? what have i got to live for? things like that. and sharing the stories. like i was homeless and just the team. and some people need that extra

connection on why they can change their life or how they could. >> we have a lot of guests that will come in and say i would like -- you know, i need help with shelter, food, and primary care doctor. and so here, that's three rooms down the hall. so if you book them, they get all of their needs taken care of in one go. this is an opportunity for us here in the tenderloin to come together, try out these ideas to see if we can put -- get -- connect people to services in a

. >> hello everyone, i'm san francisco mayor london breed and i am so excited to be here today announced the budget for the city and county ofsan francisco . [applause] i see all the department heads clapping. they're really excited about thesenew budget numbers . when i think about the challenges that have existed in

the city i can't help think about all the things that we have tried to do for the past couple of years especially during this pandemic. and when people have made a number of requests for additional services or additional support or additional assistance, it's not just about the dollars and the policy. it's about the people who actuallydo the work . the people who work for both the city and county of san francisco and the people who work for various nonprofit agencies in san francisco though as we unveiled this 13.95 billion dollar budget for the city and county of san francisco, it's important to take a deep dive into what we need to do as we come out of the global pandemic. we need to focus on the people.

we need to focus on our workforce we need to focus on our economic recovery . we need to focus on the challenges that exist with public safety. we need to focus onhelping our most vulnerable and homeless populations and improve our transportationnetwork . so many things to do but i've got to tell you on this beautiful sunny day in union square i am hopeful . i am optimistic aboutthe future of our city more than i have ever been because i am confident about the investments that we are making . [applause] so let's start off with our economic recovery. any of us remember last november where we saw mass looting that happened in union square . and allof a sudden , people put us on the map virally like they never have before. so what they didn't show was our response to what happened

here in union square. not only more of a police presence but also more of our incredible humidity ambassadors who showed up time and time again. the beautifulice-skating rink , tree lighting and all the othe activities . so much so that many of the retail businesses said itwas one of the best years they've ever had . think about that san francisco and our downtown and our economy, not just our retail spaces but ourworkers . this downtown economy of tourists, this downtown economy of conventions and business visitors generate anywhere close to 30 million people visit a year which creates about $10 billion for our economy. $10 billion. that's not only as it relates to taxes but supported many of the people who work down here. many of the people who work at our hotel rooms and many of the

folks who work at our retail establishments and many of our programs and supportive services. so it's important we focus on our economic recovery because it doesn't fall short, it doesn't fall on me that many of our storefronts are empty and we need to do something about our economic recovery. we need to invest in our businesses and so we're going to be making a significant investment of $50 million for various small businesses to helpwith grants , to help with loans and help with our economic recovery. money that will help support thiscommunity . we're investing almost 20 million additional dollars to help clean our streets. to help improve the conditions of the streets. to make sure the garbage is empty. that the streets are power

washed. that we keep san franciscoclean and green . make sure the investment goes towards our community ambassadors who are friendly faces that when people come and visit our beautiful city they have a lot of folks who are native san franciscans who know the right restaurants to go to and the places to visit and the best place to jumpon the cable car without waiting in a long line . we're going to invest in our economic recovery by making sure conventions are coming back and providing subsidies and otherincentives to make sure san francisco is their firstchoice . when i traveled to promote san francisco , people talk about the city and how much they love it and how they want to come here but what they also talked about is their concerns about safety and there was recently a survey done about publicsafety in san francisco . you want to know what over 1000 10 franciscans said in the survey aboutwhat they want to see ? over 80 percent wanted police

officers walking the beach. [applause] we made that happen in union square and we didn't see those mass looting situations occur since then. we have consistently tried to make it happen even though the tenderloin is geographically a larger footprint, we have tried to make it happen inthe tenderloin community and wewill continue to doso but let's be honest . it's been tough . it's been tough for law enforcement . and we have seen over 400 officers leave our force andwe anticipate more to retire . so in this budget not only are we proposing academy classes, we are increasing the starting pay of police officers. we are adding incentives bonuses for those who choose to stay in san francisco longer and we're going to make a commitment to do everything we can to not only for our police

force in san francisco but to also do the reforms necessary to make sure we are leading the way aroundpolice reforms in san francisco . we don't have to choose between having a diverse, incredible, active and engaged law enforcement agency and doing the reforms necessary to increase public safety for all communities. that is what we're going to continue to do and in fact we have invested significant resources into our street crisis response team. into our street wellness needs, into our street overdosing and by the end of this year when those 911 calls come in for people who struggle with behavioral health, those street wellness teams will be the first responders. those alternatives to policing will be the first responders so that our officers can focus on the crimes they need to focus

on and not some of the behavior and challenges that continue t persist not only in san francisco but all over this country . we will also make significant investments in making our streets cleaner and safer and we will also not only support the ambassadors of downtown but the ambassadors and other resources throughout our city. art streets crisis response teams, our street violence improvement program that supports cross cultural and engaging with the community and dealing with the challenges throughout san francisco will be an important part of the work we do .now i want to talk about homelessness the little bit because we always make significant investments in homelessness but finally this year we are seeing that investment pay off .

since 2019 the on sheltered homeless population dropped by 15 percent. and it's taking off since 2018 we've been able to get 6500 people off the streets so while other counties saw an increase in there on sheltered homeless population san francisco finally saw a decline and we should be proudof that . [applause] but we know there is more work to do.we will invest in our various cabin communities, continue to invest in our various shoulders and many of the hotels that we acquired during the pandemic when funding ran out we are investing the funding to keep those hotels in our portfolio so we can keep people housed. other key investments include making sure that we support our families . $50 million of children and family recovery providing

additional support for child care for various families throughout san francisco and a new partnership around mental health . between some of our nonprofit agencies and the university of california san francisco because if what has happened in these school shootings and other challenges in our school system, if this has taught us nothing else it should teach us that we need to address the crisis that our children are struggling with before they crossed the line. before things get out of control before they take a life or lose their lives themselves . so mental health be a key part of thisbudget in helping our children . in helping our workforce and in helping the people in the city and county of san francisco. there are so many investments. i can't get into every last investment today and this budget but as i said, he

focuses include definitely our economic recovery. people that includes children and families. he focuses of this budget include public safety and homelessness. and addressing many of the challenges that we face as the city and i want to also be clear that many of these investments came about because of what the people of the city and county of san francisco said they wanted. people in communities not just here downtown but folks in the avenues. people on the west side oftown. people in the bayview hunters point. for from all over the community . they want us to make sure they are not forgotten and this budget is not only supporting the economic engine of the city but it's supporting our entire city from every corner of this

city is touched in some capacity with additional resources that will truly make their neighborhoods better and ultimately make ourcity better . let me just finally say before i turn it over to some of the amazing people who serve san francisco. i started off talking about services, funding and policy but what makes services, funding and policy possible are the workforce of the city and when i say workforce of the city it's not just the people who work for the city andcounty . it'speople who work for various nonprofit agencies . many people despite this pandemic still had to show up to clean the streets. to clean the buses, to get people to and from the hospital and many people had to show up to work during this pandemic to this budget wardellworkforce , providing a significant raise over the next two years to ensure they know how valuable

they are to continue to see the city work and thrive. but the extension of that is also our nonprofit workforce. we've heard from so many of the nonprofit agencies including those who work in prominently supported housing .they too struggle that they love the work they do but it is hard work and they commute here. as far as lodi and stockton and other places it is expensive so we are also providing additional support for that workforce, for the nonprofit workforce as well that we can see increases in wages that can hopefully help make life a little bit better for the people who serve and workin the city and county of san francisco . lots of work to do, folks. but let me tell you something. there are people who tried to

count san francisco. there are people who have tried to only focus on the negative and takethose various viral videos , put them all over the map. but here's the good news. we know what our city is. we know we are thephoenix. we noticed by earthquakes , aides, pandemics when we were left on our own and previous pandemics heard that when faced with a challenge like the phoenix vr we rise to the occasion and we make the investments and we provide the support and we come together as a city like we did during this global pandemic even though you are one of the preeminent cities in the country. we were an example and we saw one of the lowest death rates of any major city in this country and we should be proud of everything that we've done

during the pandemic . [applause] so now it's time for a newday . it's time for a new day filled with happiness, filled with joy. filledwith optimism . wesurvived a global pandemic . to tell the story. part of that story is our economic recovery. part of that story is making life better for the people of this city. part of that story is making theinvestment and seeing those investments get put to work every single day throughout this entire city . i know what is possible in san francisco. we've been through challenging times before. and because of these investments and because of the work that we all are going to doincluding the many men and women who stand here with me today , we're going to see san francisco shine andsee san francisco thrive. i want to thank you all for

being here today . we will release the details of that budget so we can start diving in to the specifics but ultimately i'm excited. i'm excited to be to see downtown come alive again. to be welcoming, to be thrivin , for folks to be spending money in all the stores and our restaurants. i'm excited to hear the bell ring for those cable cars. i'm excited to see people feel safe about going to their homes in the tenderloin. i'm excited to see streets clean and for people to say you know what? san francisco is better than it ever has before and we're going to continue to make sure we not only make thathappen but make sure it continues to happen so people know why this is one of the most incredible beautiful cities anywhere in the world. thank you all so much . [applause] >>with that like to introduce

the captain of central station , captain julian ames. [applause] >> good morningeverybody and thank you mayor breed . i want to thank mayor breed, of course chief scott and the entireconnect staff . mayor breed talked about longer than six months ago the mass looting's in union square. we acted swiftly because of the support from the city. we were ever to get officers down here and now you see the officers by me making a differencein public safety . i look over and i see been over there. as i look at you right there and looking back the six months at the hard work we've done including all ofour partners behind me , to make union square better and safer. i think about the budget that

mayor breed just talked about and how important it is. i'll give you one example. one example thismorning in:00 there was a retail store just about 100 yards from here . 8:00 in the morning there's a worker that came to open the door and foundsomebody inside the store . and their thinking oh my god, there'sa trespasser . luckily we had officers around the corner and she walked forward to find an officer but the officer responded with her and saw an individual and called a couple more officers over.it ends up theindividual comes out, he's not a trespasser, he's a burglar . they came up with four bags of merchandise and had a cop at the front door. this is what i mean. thank you. this is why it's so important to have the officers out there

making a difference. we recovered about $4700 in merchandise that would otherwise be gone. it's very important. i was born and raised in san francisco . and worked there for the last 23 years as apolice officer . probably the best profession i couldhave chosen . the best thing i can hear every day and from you all the community thanking the officers aroundhere , they are the backbone. they are the boots on the ground. they are the ones workinghard and long hours every day to keep our city safe . but union square is the last six months the rest of the city needed as well. the rest of the city deserves it. so i thinkthat's exactly what this budget is going to do so i thank you very much mayor breed . >>. [applause]

>> thank you and today we also have one of our wonderful ... i get so manyemails about our community ambassadors . both are always talking about the work that they do. urban out to me, the ambassadors of union square and today we have paul fields with the san franciscowelcome ambassador program . [applause] >> thank you mayor breed. my name is sue. since i've been a san francisco welcome ambassador i had the honor ofworking with local community partners, business owners and the police department . as part of this team witnessed the value we bring to tourists, natives and san francisco providing insight on restaurants, offering direct i

, giving hospitality escorts to destinations. or just a few examples of how we enrich the experience here. when visitors come from all over the world we make them feel at home. our california welcomes outshines southern hospitality. so thank you so much everyone. it's great to be here. thanks to myteam members. i couldn't do it without them . >> thank you so much, sue. and i want to also introduce someone who is working in the tenderloin every single day. i know that we hear a lot of complaints but i'm going to tell you right now it wasn't for the department of public works and the various agencies

that wework with to help keep the streets clean it would be a lot worse . and one of those persons is supervisor for public parks green team is nicole delagarza . >> thank you mayor for the opportunity to speak. the hard-working men and women at public works. the power washed, pick up meals. cleaning the debris left on the sidewalks and work together on a daily basis to help maintain the city clean. my name is nicole de la garza. i'm grateful to behere. this is my home city . i'm a native occurrence residents of the city and we're grateful for the age increase

the mayor has given usfor all our hard work. for the men and women who are boots on the ground every day . the essential workers are out here during the pandemic and 24 hours a day to keep the city safe and clean. thank you to our partners that work with us every day. to help clean and to be a presence in the city. i'm so grateful for the efforts of everyone. thank you to jade and to carla. they are great leaders and i appreciate all they do for me and for the city . and thank you guys so much. >> last but not least i have one of the owners of schroeder's bar andrestaurant , andy chung. [applause]

>> thank you mayor breed. when the pandemic started is no secret hospitality was hit particularly hard. as the rest of the city recovered of the restaurants along the city recovered as well unfortunately the story downtown has been significantly different . workers have been slow to return back and retail has been slow to recover along with the tourists we count on. a lot of times we feel alone as a hospitality or business owner and you kind of feellike your forgotten . i was really excited to hear about the mayor and city's commitment to revitalize the downtown core this budget goes a long way inproviding that first step . our hope is at the downtown economic core transitions to whatever it becomesin the world of hybrid work , that's the businesses that have made san francisco unique and i know

it's been around since 1893. down the street they been even longer than us and our businesses represent the history of our city. so as we transition to the next generation of what downtown becomes we love to see hospitality become a big part of it the mayor has allocated quite a bit of funds to help the arts, restaurants, bars, music and wehope to use those funds to activate the streets and make downtown an attractive place to come and visit . as she's made a commitment to clean the streets i think our heart is to enjoy those streets. to come back to downtown and support the thing that we all want which is therevitalized new san francisco we canall be proud of . you . >> this is not as traditional

as what we've done in the past in terms of announcinga city budget . because the fact is it's so important to me that when we talk about these budget numbers and we talk about these things that we need to do that we definitely understand the people that make those things happen yes, as mayor i take all the credit for all the good stuff . i take credit for the badstuff too but at the end of the day , the reason why many of the great things that you hear about happening in san francisco, they happen because of so many of the people attending with me here today. the department heads, various these services,nonprofit agencies . the restaurants, the businesse . it's all of us. we really are in this together and as we come out of this globalpandemic went try to

remember that . we're here to helpwith this city. we're here to focus on the positive . we are here to develop our own narratives, our own about what san francisco truly is and what it means to us and what it can mean to a visitor when they have a wonderful experience what it can mean to the kids whose walking downtown on their way home from school and feels safe in their community. it's what we need to do to change the city for the better as i know about being a native san franciscan, i know without a doubt that we cannot only persevere, we can thrive and that's exactly what this budget is going to help us do. it's going to help us thrive as the city and i hope all of you will join me inhelping san francisco bride. let's open the door and get

back to work and get back to having fun and having a good time.thank you all so much . >> >> chinatown battleground is something i have always wanted to do because we have never had the chinese americans in the military. our history goes back all the way to 1861 to afghanistan. the exhibition is two-parts. one is a visual history which is told through the banners. then basically what i wanted to

do was make sure that people understood that every one of these objects tell a story. for example, my uncle was one of two chinese american pilots during world war ii. they come planed they were giving baggy men's coveralls to wear. we have a veteran of the war. now what is notable is that he is the first and only chinese american prisoner of war. we have the met kit. that was the only thing he has for water, rice and soup. he carried for over four and a half years in captivity as

prisoner of war. this exhibition is a first base undertaking. also important and i want to take away the big picture that the chinese americans have been involved in united states military since the civil war, over 150 years. we have given service to the country, blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice for a long time. our story of chinese americans are part of the mainstream. chinese american history is american history that is the take away i want to come off with, especially the younger generation.

>> there's a new holiday shopping tradition, and shop and dine in the 49 is inviting everyone to join and buy black friday. now more than ever, ever dollar that you spend locally supports small businesses and helps entrepreneurs and the community to thrive. this holiday season and year-round, make your dollar matter and buy black.

>> how i really started my advocacy was through my own personal experiences with discrimination as a trans person. and when i came out as trans, you know, i experienced discrimination in the workplace. they refused to let me use the women's bathroom and fired me. there were so many barriers that other trans folks had in the workplace. and so when i finished college, i moved out to san francisco in the hopes of finding a safer community. >> and also, i want to recognize our amazing trans advisory committee who advises

our office as well as the mayor, so our transadvisory community members, if they could raise their hands and you could give a little love to them. [applause] >> thank you so much for your help. my leadership here at the office is engaging the mayor and leadership with our lgbt community. we also get to support, like, local policy and make sure that that is implemented, from all-gender bathrooms to making sure that there's lgbt data collection across the city. get to do a lot of great events in trans awareness month. >> transgender people really

need representation in politics of all kinds, and i'm so grateful for clair farley because she represents us so intelligently. >> i would like to take a moment of silence to honor all those folks that nicky mentioned that we've lost this year. >> i came out when i was 18 as trans and grew up as gay in missoula, montana. so as you can imagine, it wasn't the safest environment for lgbt folks. i had a pretty supportive family. i have an identical twin, and so we really were able to support each other. once i moved away from home and started college, i was really able to recognize my own value and what i had to offer, and i think that for me was one of the biggest challenges is kind of facing so many barriers,

even with all the privilege and access that i had. it was how can i make sure that i transform those challenges into really helping other people. we're celebrating transgender awareness month, and within that, we recognize transgender day of remembrance, which is a memorial of those that we have lost due to transgender violence, which within the last year, 2019, we've lost 22 transgender folks. think all but one are transgender women of color who have been murdered across the country. i think it's important because we get to lift up their stories, and bring attention to the attacks and violence that are still taking place. we push back against washington.

that kind of impact is starting to impact trans black folks, so it's important for our office to advocate and recognize, and come together and really remember our strength and resilience. as the only acting director of a city department in the country, i feel like there's a lot of pressure, but working through my own challenges and barriers and even my own self-doubt, i think i've been try to remember that the action is about helping our community, whether that's making sure the community is housed, making sure they have access to health care, and using kind of my access and privilege to make change. >> i would like to say something about clair farley. she has really inspired me. i was a nurse and became disabled.

before i transitioned and after i transitioned, i didn't know what i wanted to do. i'm back at college, and clair farley has really impressed on me to have a voice and to have agency, you have to have an education. >> mayor breed has led this effort. she made a $2.3 million investment into trans homes, and she spear headed this effort in partnership with my office and tony, and we're so proud to have a mayor who continues to commit and really make sure that everyone in this city can thrive. >> our community has the most resources, and i'm very happy to be here and to have a place finally to call home. thank you. [applause] >> one, two, three. [applause] >> even in those moments when i do feel kind of alone or unseen or doubt myself, i take a look

at the community and the power of the supportive allies that are at the table that really help me to push past that. being yourself, it's the word of wisdom i would give anyone. surely be patient with yourself and your dream. knowing that love, you may not always feel that from your family around you, but you can - >> shop & dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges resident to do their showing up and dining within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services within the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so where will you shop & dine in the 49 san francisco owes must of the

charm to the unique characterization of each corridor has a distinction permanent our neighbors are the economic engine of the city. >> if we could a afford the lot by these we'll not to have the kind of store in the future the kids will eat from some restaurants chinatown has phobia one of the best the most unique neighborhood shopping areas of san francisco. >> chinatown is one of the oldest chinatown in the state we need to be able allergies the people and that's the reason chinatown is showing more of the people will the traditional thepg. >> north beach is i know one

of the last little italian community. >> one of the last neighborhood that hadn't changed a whole lot and san francisco community so strong and the sense of partnership with businesses as well and i just love north beach community old school italian comfort and love that is what italians are all about we need people to come here and shop here so we can keep this going not only us but, of course, everything else in the community i think local businesses the small ones and coffee shops are unique in their own way that is the characteristic of the neighborhood i peace officer prefer it is local character you

have to support them. >> really notice the port this community we really need to kind of really shop locally and support the communityly live in it is more economic for people to survive here. >> i came down to treasure island to look for a we've got a long ways to go. ring i just got married and didn't want something on line i've met artists and local business owners they need money to go out and shop this is important to short them i think you get better things. >> definitely supporting the local community always good is it interesting to find things i

never knew existed or see that that way. >> i think that is really great that san francisco seize the vails of small business and creates the shop & dine in the 49 to support businesses make people all the residents and visitors realize had cool things are made and produced in san

a city like no other, san francisco has been a beacon of hope, and an ally towards lgbtq equal rights. [♪♪] >> known as the gay capital of america, san francisco has been at the forefront fighting gay civil rights for decades becoming a bedrock for the

historical firsts. the first city with the first openly gay bar. the first pride parade. the first city to legalize gay marriage. the first place of the iconic gay pride flag. established to help cancel policy, programses, and initiatives to support trans and lgbtq communities in san francisco. >> we've created an opportunity to have a seat at the table. where trans can be part of city government and create more civic engagement through our trans advisory committee which advises our office and the mayor's office. we've also worked to really address where there's gaps across services to see where we can address things like housing and homelessness, low income,

access to small businesses and employment and education. so we really worked across the board as well as meeting overall policies. >> among the priorities, the office of transgender initiatives also works locally to track lgbtq across the country. >> especially our young trans kids and students. so we do a lot of work to make sure we're addressing and naming those anti-trans policies and doing what we can to combat them. >> trans communities often have not been included at the policy levels at really any level whether that's local government, state government. we've always had to fend for ourselves and figure out how to care for our own communities. so an office like this can really show and become a model for the country on how to really help make sure that our

entire community is served by the city and that we all get opportunities to participate because, in the end, our entire community is stronger. >> the pandemic underscored many of the inequities they experienced on a daily basis. nonetheless, this health crisis also highlighted the strength in the lgbtq and trans community. >> several of our team members were deployed as part of the work at the covid command center and they did incredit able work there both in terms of navigation and shelter-in-place hotels to other team members who led equity and lgbtq inclusion work to make sure we had pop-up testing and information sites across the city as well as making sure that data collection was happening. we had statewide legislation that required that we collected

information on sexual orientation and our team worked so closely with d.p.h. to make sure those questions were included at testing site but also throughout the whole network of care. part of the work i've had a privilege to be apart of was to work with o.t.i. and a community organization to work together to create a coalition that met monthly to make sure we worked together and coordinated as much as we could to lgbtq communities in the city. >> partnering with community organizations is key to the success of this office ensuring lgbtq and gender nonconforming people have access to a wide range of services and places to go where they will be respected. o.t.i.'s trans advisory committee is committed to being that voice. >> the transgender advisory counsel is a group of amazing community leaders here in san francisco. i think we all come from all

walks of life, very diverse, different backgrounds, different expertises, and i think it's just an amazing group of people that have a vision to make san francisco a true liberated city for transgender folks. >> being apart of the grou allows us to provide more information on the ground. we're allowed to get. and prior to the pandemic, there's always been an issue around language barriers and education access and workforce development. now, of course, the city has been more invested in to make sure our community is thriving and making sure we are mobilizing.

>> all of the supervisors along with mayor london breed know that there's still a lot to be done and like i said before, i'm just so happy to live in a city where they see trans folks and recognize us of human beings and know that we deserve to live with dignity and respect just like everybody else. >> being part of the trans initiative has been just a great privilege for me and i feel so lucky to have been able to serve for it for so far over three years. it's the only office of its kind and i think it's a big opportunity for us to show the country or the world about things we can do when we really put a focus on transgender issues and transgender communities. and when you put transgender people in leadership positions. >> thank you, claire. and i just want to say to claire farly who is the leader of the office of transgender initiatives, she has really taken that role to a whole

other level and is currently a grand marshal for this year's s.f. prize. so congratulations, claire. >> my dream is to really look at where we want san francisco to be in the future. how can we have a place where we have transliberation, quality, and inclusion, and equity across san francisco? and so when i look five years from now, ten years from now, i want us to make sure that we're continuing to lead the country in being the best that we can be. not only are we working to make sure we have jobs and equal opportunity and pathways to education, employment, and advancement, but we're making sure we're taking care of our most impacted communities, our trans communities of color, trans women of color, and black trans women. and we're making sure we're addressing the barriers of the access to health care and mental health services and we're supporting our seniors

who've done the work and really be able to age in place and have access to the services and resources they deserve. so there's so much more work to do, but we're really proud of the work that we've done so far. [♪♪]