i'm from chinatown. i'm happy through these programs i also get to light rain english, also known the resource for training for the families, and we hope that you can save the resources for families, for children, for all of us here today. thank you. >> hi. my name is mimi. my son's been going to the asian human resource center for a couple of years. the family workshop is very important for all the families, whether it's for the kids, nutritional, or talk about what the discipline. so i want the city to consider to extend the budget for us. thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is gloria. i represent the asian resources center. i'm here to speak of two priorities. one would be the importance of preserving affordable housing. the past two months i've had the challenging project of trying to relocate 23 of my women to find a relocation units in chinatown because of upcoming construction in our building. and it's been one challenging project of trying to find clean, affordable and safe housing in chinatown

chinatown community development center is a 34 year old organization that has served chinatown in numerous capacities. we build affordable housing and we engage and work with neighborhoods and residence, and we have been deeply involved with the community planning aspect of chinatown. we were instrumental in 1986 along with a number of other people in getting the chinatown area master plan through. we believe that this hospital and the rebuilding in the uses of the hospital are actually consistent with this area plan. i want to jump back for a moment and say, i have been an attorney for a long time, about five years at the asian law caucus, before i was at the community development center. in one instance, i remembered that we were dealing with the eviction of the building of 53 columbus street. we were asking the people why they would not just take the movement -- the movement agreement. the answer, one of the strongest dancers they gave was that they wanted to be close to chinese hospital. you have to be close because for the seniors living in chinatown, they need to be within walking di

my office is in chinatown and has been for over 15 years. i am currently the president of the chinese committee health care organization, representing over 180 physicians in san francisco. most of us use chinese hospital as a place to care for our patients. most of them are seniors who are poorly educated. we have witnessed the care provided by the hospital. many years ago, i also benefited from the generosity of a hospital. i was a student at berkeley, and i was able to get immunization, and these other things that were needed for medical school registration. and after i graduated from georgetown, i immediately decided i want to come back to the city, to serve my community. with the newly constructed hospital, will be able to continue these traditions, with new technology and also the care will be much more effective and efficient with very limited health care dollars. the physicians fully support this hospital rebuilding project and hopefully we will be able to win your support also. thank you. [spealinking foreign language] >> i am trying

thank you for your presence in chinatown, district 3. the thing i want to say definitely it's about concentrating on the youth inávd district 3, because many youth in district 3 are monolingual speakers, and don't have places to hang out. there's the parks and rec in chinatown, but because it's under construction, they have limited space to go to. in the evening time, they have limited space to go to, so the park they go to, they have improper lighting. so it creates a dangerous situation. there's a lack of staffing from the rec and park into creating those programs for the youth hanging out on the street, you know, creating an issue, because they do have to deal with gang affiliation issues, alcohol abuse and marijuana. we've experienced that in a lot in the past two or three years, an increase in our community. i've been working with captain cashman on how to create more programs, collaborations with our people to make sure the police officer are out walking in the area, just hold them accountable. i think that's great, but we definit

people come back to work and serve and protect their community in chinatown. it is not just patients, it is not just the staff, they are giving to the staff and the lyal oyal doctors. i am supportive of this. i hope that by other commissioners can go down there and give this their support. commissioner antonini: this is very encouraging, and not just the increase in square footage, but they are going to allow the concentration of care in an area and have more types of care that are available for the citizens. that is extremely important. i am encouraged by the number of hospitals we have completed. one rebuild is complete. another is under construction. this hospital along with another are completely rebuilt hospitals. they are going to completely increase the quality of care we are able to render in san francisco. this is extremely important. we have already read the statistics that many of us are reaching in age. they are becoming a bigger and bigger portion of the population. they are going to require more care. all of the beds will be single beds. that is

thank you, first of all, to all our friends in chinatown for welcoming us back. my first sunday streets started out back here. was it three years ago? it is amazing it has been that long and we have grown so much. i want to echo and really recognize what mayor lee said. this really is about connecting our neighborhoods. when do we see folks from neighborhoods across the city coming out on their bicycles, their skateboards, their strollers, on their two feet, and walking, enjoying linking neighborhood to neighborhood. i love to come here and sample some of the amazing food, to go to fisherman's wharf and the they're not as a tourist, but as a local, go to the mission and check out the flavor of 24th street, to connect to ocean beach at golden gate park. this event is about displaying the best of san francisco, for those of us who live here. it is not only healthy and great for the environment. not only a great way to give the family activity at a low cost, but it is a great way to increased -- to appreciate our city, and that is what i love. i want to share also t

to breen to n chinatown. if our add-back is cut in chinatown, for example, we will be completely unable to do any programming here. we work year-round with literally hundreds of children, have planted trees and gardens, dug up as fought and concrete. not only are we creating a cost effective program for -- and delivering it, a very powerful educational program for children and youth, but we're also improving the neighborhood of chinatown. it's also a very modest budget. so i urge you to put money back in to the add-back, however you're going to do it, so we can continue. i urge also you to support the other youth programs, because it's absolutely needed. it's our past, present, and certainly our future. thank you. >> thank you very much. next speaker. >> i just want say hello to my san francisco chinese family. i want to say i have a lot of respect for the chinese community in chinatown, because i feel it's a beacon of where the communities in san francisco need to go to become communities that are self suffi

we call the richmond district the new chinatown in the 1980's at that time. just being around the tremendous unique neighborhood, and discovering san francisco in the 1980's as i grew up, but i also have been very active as a community organizer. i worked in chinatown, and some first jobs also at the mental health center in the richmond area multi services in the 1980's, and i was also a staff are at the chinatown youth center -- i was also a staffer. a lot of my work has been supporting community empowerment, especially in an immigrant and people of color communities. most recently, i have been teaching at san francisco state. i ran the immigrant rights coalition in the city in the 1990's for several years. i'm also an immigration attorney, and a lot of my passion is supporting in power met for immigrant communities in the city as well. >> why did you choose to live in san francisco? supervisor mar: a lot of people bring this up, but is one of the most exciting, culturally diverse places in the world. learning about new cultures and people from different par

we will have a large aging population in chinatown that are living on a limited income. one of the population institution served our people that are 87% under the care of medicare and medical. i think that we need more institutions like this in more neighborhoods. it is impossible not to support an institution like this. during one of the conversations regarding another institution, the issue of beds have been raised. more seigneury reduction so that you will be adding 22. that is something that is critical. it is important to have an institution that is culturally and linguistically competent. i have worked on this project of distributing questionnaires for seniors who live in hotels. the need is great for many people that live regardless of the circumstances, what is important to air lot of these aging seniors, many of which are monolingual, that they remain within their community. it is important that we have the facilities in place to care for this population. it is going to serve more than just seniors. it is an issue that is more critical than we realize. i want to

they fight for tenants in chinatown and in the broader san francisco community. our unreal today -- honoree has served caught with them. he is summoned retired as the postmaster at the telecommunications bureau after 33 years of service and moved to san francisco in 1992 to be with this family. from 1992 to 2002, he worked as a garment factory worker in san francisco while living at 152 jasper place with his wife, a building that holds many elderly, monolingual and long- term residents, and there were even action notices sent. this is for the chinatown community development center, and after months of rallying and committed to organizing, the landlord rescinded this, and the tenants were able to remain in their homes. i should note that the case at jasper place was one of the parts of what i passed last year to place restrictions on the development of garages that replaced tenants and units. so with that, the board of supervisors, we want to extend our highest commendation and gratitude to you for leading these rights for them and all sit franciscans. congratulat

we have the fire at the edge of chinatown and north beach. which, by the way, and generated transports. we had a surge of calls. when we examine the data for those calls and went back and reviewed a sample that every paramedic completes, 70% of them are alcohol-related. comments from the commanders on the scene that night, it was anecdotally that they had just never seen so many young people in their 20s, mostly women, that were drunk. it goes to two kinds of permits, you get to do the facility like hospitals and the home. your response to the scene of 911 calls. you can come and transport non life-threatening cases to the hospital. it would not appear to be life- threatening. at 2:30 in the morning, we had 33 code three calls. that is red light siren and potentially life-threatening. most of them turned out not to be, but we have no way of knowing until we get there. there of the 450 calls for medical care. we called our brothers and sisters and for the first time that we know of, activated a mutual aid system. they sent us a strike team. th

i want to say chinatown is like the fillmore, like the mission, these places in the city that make up the city. that's pretty much all i have to say. god bless you all. >> thank you. we're going to answer a few of the questions before andy gets up. the gentleman from c.p.a. in terms of the revenue ideas, there's a debate as to what's progressive revenue, what's not. but anyway, having said that, we have been studying ways in which we could potentially raise revenue in the city, ways with which we can reach agreement with the board of supervisors and potentially the public. what's been the most challenging is that most of the ideas that we've had so far will require a two-thirds vote of the members of the public. and in doing that, there is very slim chances for a lot of the ideas to go forward when you acquire those two-thirds vote, because that's what the state law requires at this time. having said that, too, we have idea that might be on the border of progressive. the governor has proposed they pass taxes at the state level to extend, but there seems to be a viewpoint that perhaps

we wanted to tell everybody about the families in chinatown. currently we're in contact with over 400 families in chinatown who live in a s.r. room with children under 18 years old. there are about 550 children 17 and younger in s.r.o.'s. 95% of our families cannot qualify for applying to affordable housing because of the income limitation of the there's no affordable family housing. couldn't even apply to public housing. only very few families can apply for a rental subsidy programs in the city, because their monthly income is around $1,000, and that's how much it takes to rent a one-bedroom apartment in the city. so we're asking the city to support real affordable housing for families in the city of san francisco. thank you. >> so why don't ask our next speaker to please step up. >> good afternoon. my name is michael stager, a representative of a political action committee. though i sympathizize with everyone here at the panel, i've found the meetings over the last couple of years in san francisco and other places totally depressing. the budg

beginnings of his time as a youth in san francisco, while learning how to swim, while playing in the chinatown ymca, and growing as a child and through his youth and adults could of nurturing that relationship with ymca. ymca, as we all know, makes quite a bit of difference in helping of our community and providing access to the kind of services and the kind of opportunity and the kind of recreation that many communities that are underserved and are disadvantaged do not always get. i have to confess -- i have a bit of a warm spot for ymca because my father was a director of a ymca in chicago, so we grew up with the same level of exposure that i know rodney like to apply as the executive director of our ymca in the began an area of the western addition. it is not the largest ymca in san francisco, but it has served thousands and thousands of people, and how it is well used is a real testament to the incredible administration by rodney and his staff, who was able to serve a community that is incredibly diverse. it exists right off very facing japan town out webster, and it exists in what is know

in the community planning manager at chinatown cdc -- i am the community planning manager. i think the whole spectrum of transit improvements, also including recent advocacy for the central subway -- i really want to talk today about how we support jolt -- joel as a transportation justice advocate at how our communities of color are really the ones writing transit. in chinatown, over 80% of families do not own cars, not necessarily by choice, but by necessity that they need the transit system to get to work, to get to doctors of what it's come to see their family that lived in other neighborhoods, and really commend the mayor and sfmta to give these communities a chance to speak for themselves, to make decisions about what kind of transit they have access to, what their neighborhoods look like in terms of crosswalks, traffic lights, all of that, and to really have time for there to be really dedicated outreach to these communities. i think a little bit of need for creative thinking about how to do it and appreciate, hopefully, working with him in the future on these issues.

to reiterate, this is not an issue just about chinatown. this is an issue that affects working neighborhoods and working families all over our city, and i again want to thank the broad coalition, including the progress of workers alliance, workers united, cpa, and others working diligently on this. the last thing i will say is part of what we are trying to do is to educate everyone about the issue of wage theft, particularly those who may have language barriers and for whom english may not be their first language. i want to thank the media that is here. this is something that we all need to do a better job of alerting folks as to the fact of wage theft, the fact that we have a lot of good businesses, and the fact that there are many businesses in violation of the law that need to be dealt with. i also want to thank our city's olsc for the work you're doing. i know we are going to have a discussion about the tools and resources we can provide to your agency, and i think that it's a worthwhile and a good conversation. supervisor campos: thank

in my experience, i worked in senior agencies in chinatown, seel

we found out this restaurant, located in chinatown -- we found out this restaurant is a repeated violator. only three years prior, the olsc caught this employer and made them pay the workers. after a month of collective action with the workers, we are going to meet up with cpa and members of the board of supervisors. we finally put pressure on the employer, who paid back with the workers were promised, $5 an hour. we encourage the workers to continue with minimum wage claims of the can get $9.79 per hour. however, most of the workers were afraid of continuing the claim. for those who did consider continuing the claim, they were retaliated against. earlier this year, the employer went to the workers' current jobs and also called the workers at 1:00 at night, telling them they needed to withdraw their minimum wage claims. this also affects the housing situation for the workers. one of the workers can only afford to live in the garage of one of her relatives. it looks like, "you are bringing trouble home. i am going to could do -- kick you out of my house." they are still looking for housing

that includes chinatown, fisherman's wharf, and part of the russian hill neighborhood. he was elected to the board in november of 2008 and has served as board president since january of 2009. we will get to know him and talk about the toughest issues facing them. thank you for joining us today. tell us about your background. >> my parents immigrated to the united states in the 1960's. i was the first kid born in the u.s. my parents sacrificed everything so that their kids could have the opportunities that they wanted when they came here. i grew up in the boston area and lived in different parts of boston. i went to catholic price school in dorchester, a section of boston. -- i went to catholic high school in dorchester, a section of boston. because of my parents, my brothers and i were all blessed to go to harvard university. that is where i went to school. it was intense. i stayed there for law school and have a master's in public policy from there. those are subjects i decided to study because i was interested in public service and public policy issues and government.

surae chinn joins us now from metro's chinatown station in northwest washington with more information. >> reporter: j.c., we witnessed a heightened sense of security here. what you'll find are more uniformed officers and what you'll also see and what they'll tell you is that they are more vigilant whenever and wherever throughout the transit systems. a robbery suspect was hiding out at metro brought additional police coming against traffic within seconds. canine and extra officers on high alert throughout the transit system. and customers appreciate it. >> i totally expect it. after something like that happens, there's definitely going to be heightened security. >> reporter: folks are reacting follow the attack that killed terrorist leader and the mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks, osama bin laden. >> they finally got him. >> i don't think that it is right to be joyous over the death of someone. >> we're waiting for this moment. that's the best way to say it. >> i think it is a great accomplishment for the american forces. >> metro says there is enhanced security both seen and unseen

today, it is my pleasure to honor gordon chen, the executive director of the chinatown community development center, one of district 8's most distinguished residents. slightly more distinguished than another distinguished district 8 president, ccdc's deputy director. gordon, as you know, is the founding executive director of ccdc. founded almost 35 years ago. it brings together community organizing, affordable housing, development, property management, and neighborhood planning, all under one roof. during gordon's tenure, which will -- i do not want to say come to an end, but will transition to a different days later this year, ccdc has built or rehabilitated over 2300 units of affordable housing. this is one of the most important and successful community organizations in that city. many of us know gordon's amazing work, but his roots go much deeper. born in san francisco, board and attended oakland public schools , junior college in the area, received a master's in social welfare from san francisco state. he entered with the late congressman phil burton in the 1970's. he has been very activ

it encompasses north beach and chinatown. we have the city's famous hills. we have for the world comes to work, the financial district's, where the world comes to shop in union square, where the tourists spend time on fisherman's wharf , and the wonderful polk street neighborhoods. my district encompasses the ethnic and economic diversity that exists throughout the city. i think my district is emblematic of the entire city. you can find every political perspective you can possibly want in district 3. oftentimes, the interests of my district and the city are aligned. i do not have to think about those differences quite as often as some of my colleagues may have to. >> let's talk about the budget situation. we have been faced with some tough budget decisions again, including where to make cuts and whether or not to increase taxes. how will you approached these hard choices? >> our budget is one of the very top challenges facing city government right now. over each of the years i have served, we have had to balance budget deficits that were around $500 million.