Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. Welcome to the 05/19/2026 regular meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll.

Thank you, Mr. President. Supervisor Chan? Present. Chan present. Supervisor Chen? Chen present. Supervisor Dorsey? Present. Dorsey present. Supervisor Fielder? Fielder not present? Supervisor Mahmoud? Mahmoud present? Supervisor Mandelman?

Present.

Mandelman present. Supervisor Melgar? Melgar present. Supervisor Sauter? Present. Sauter present. Supervisor Cheryl? Cheryl present. Supervisor Walton. Present. Walton present. And Supervisor Wong. Wong present. Mr. President, you have a quorum.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. San Francisco Board of Supervisors acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramatush Ohlone, who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula. As the indigenous stewards of this land, and in accordance with their traditions, the Ramatush Ohlone have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory. As guests, we recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the ancestors, elders, and relatives of the Rama Tushaloni community, and by affirming their sovereign rights as first peoples.

Colleagues, will you join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance? On behalf of the board, I want to acknowledge the staff at SFGov TV today. That is particularly Sue Zenos. They record each of our meetings and make the transcripts available to the public online. Madam Clerk, do you have any communications?

Yes. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors welcomes your attendance in person here in the board's legislative chamber. And when you're not able to be here, the proceedings are airing live on SFGOV TV's channel 26, or you can view the livestream at SFGOVTV dot org. If you'd like to submit public comment in writing, you can send an email to BOSSFgov dot org, or use the Postal Service, just address the envelope. To the San Francisco Board of Supervisors the number one Doctor.

Carlton B. Goodlett Place City Hall Room 244 San Francisco California 94102. If you need to make a reasonable accommodation for a future meeting under the americans with disability act or to request language assistance contact the clerk' office at least two business days in advance by calling (415) 554-5184. And, finally, in line with Supervisor Jackie Fielder's April 7 memo requesting to be excused from this meeting until June 30, a motion would be in order to consider the request for today's meeting. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Can I have a motion to excuse Supervisor Fielder from today's meeting? Moved by Chen, seconded by Walton. Colleagues, I think we can take that without objection. Without objection, Supervisor Fielder is excused. Madam Clerk, let's go to our approval of meeting minutes.

Yes, approval of the 04/14/2026 board meeting minutes.

Can I have a motion to approve the minutes as presented? Moved by Chen, seconded by Dorsey. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll.

On the minutes as presented, Supervisor Chan. Chan, I. Supervisor Chen. Chan, I. Supervisor Dorsey? Dorsey, I. Supervisor Mahmoud? Mahmoud, I. Supervisor Mandelman?

I.

Mandelman, I. Supervisor Melgar? Melgar, I. Supervisor Soder? Soder, I. Supervisor Cheryl? Aye. Cheryl, I. Supervisor Walton? Aye. Walton, I. And, Supervisor Wong? Wong, I. There are 10 ayes.

Without objection, the minutes will be approved after public comment as presented. Madam clerk let's go to unfinished business please call item one.

Item one this is an ordinance to appropriate approximately 1,200,000 of ambulance billings and approximately 426,000 of fire overtime service fees revenues in the fire department to de appropriate permanent salaries of 500,000 in the department of emergency management permanent salaries of approximately 6,000,000 and dependent coverage of approximately 990,000 in the fire department and permanent salaries of 1,250,000 in the public utilities commission and to appropriate 500,000 to overtime in the department of emergency management approximately 8,700,000 to overtime in the fire department and 1,250,000 in overtime in the public utilities commission. To support the department' projected increases in overtime this ordinance requires a two thirds vote of all members of the board for approval of the fire departments appropriation of approximately 8,000,000.

Please call the roll.

On item one supervisor chan.

Chan I supervisor chen chen I supervisor dorsey Dorsey I, supervisor Mahmoud, Mahmoud, I, supervisor Mandelman, supervisor Melgar,

supervisor Sauter, Sauter, I, supervisor Cheryl, Cheryl, I, supervisor Walton, aye. Walton aye and supervisor wang aye there are 10 ayes.

Without objection the ordinance is finally passed. Madam clerk please call item two.

Item two this is an ordinance to appropriate 2,500,000 of open space acquisition funding and appropriating 2,500,000 in the recreation and park department for a loan to the san francisco zoological society in fiscal year 2025 through 2026.

Let's take this item same house same call without objection the ordinance is finally passed. Madam clerk please call item number three.

Item three this is an ordinance to amend the administrative business and tax regulations campaign and governmental conduct environment health labor and employment municipal elections park planning police public works and transportation codes this pertains to various boards, commissions, and advisory bodies. Please call the roll. On item three, Supervisor Chan. Chan, no. Supervisor Chen. Chan, no. Supervisor Dorsey. Dorsey, I. Supervisor Mahmoud? Mahmoud, I. Supervisor Mandelman? I. Mandelman, I. Supervisor Melgar? No.

Melgar, no. Supervisor Sauter? Aye. Sauter, I. Supervisor Cheryl? Cheryl. Aye. Supervisor Walton. No. Walton no. Supervisor Wong. Aye. There are six ayes and four nos with Supervisors Chan Chen Melgar and Walton voting no.

The ordinance is finally passed. Madam clerk please call item number four.

Item four this is an ordinance to amend the administrative code to create the downtown hospitality zone and to make the appropriate findings.

Please call the roll.

On item four, supervisor Chan. Chan, I. Supervisor Chen? Aye. Chen, I. Supervisor Dorsey? Aye. Dorsey, I. Supervisor Mahmoud? Mahmoud, I. Supervisor Mandelman?

Aye.

Mandelman, I. Supervisor Melgar? Aye. Melgar, I. Supervisor Sauter? Aye. Schauter, I. Supervisor Cheryl? Aye. Cheryl, I. Supervisor Walton? Walton I. And supervisor Wong. Wong I. There are 10 ayes.

Without objection the ordinance is finally passed. Madam clerk please call items five and six together.

Items five and six together item five is a resolution to designate the outreach community based weekly and advertising and outreach neighborhood based monthly advertising for the following newspapers. For the outreach community based weekly newspaper, the Bay Area Reporter for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The Wind newspaper for the Chinese community. For the outreach neighborhood based monthly newspapers, the Clint Riley Communications doing business as, the San Francisco Examiner, for the Eureka Valley, Excelsior, the Financial District, the Forest Hill, Haight Ashbury, Marina, Mission, North Beach, Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights, the Richmond, Russian Hill, South Of Market, Sunset, and the Tenderloin neighborhoods. El Tecolote for the Excelsior, Mission, and Potrero Hill neighborhoods.

The Henry Society Journal for the Bayview, Hunters Point, Visitation Valley, and Western Edition neighborhoods. The Noe Valley Voice for the Diamond Heights and Noe Valley neighborhoods. The Portoro View for the Dogpatch, Eastern South Of Market Mission Bay and Portoro Hill neighborhoods. San Francisco Bay Times for the Castro Dubois Triangle, Mission in the Noe Valley neighborhoods. The San Francisco chronicle serving the entire city.

The world journal serving Chinatown, Anglicide, Mission, Richmond, and Sunset neighborhoods. The sing dao daily for the Chinatown Richmond sunset Portola Valley, Excelsior, Outer Mission, Tenderloin, Ocean View, Ingleside, and the Merced Heights neighborhoods and the El Reportero for The Mission, Bernal Heights, Bayview, and Excelsior neighborhoods for fiscal year 2026 through 'twenty seven. And for item six, this resolution designates the Clinton Riley communications doing business as the San Francisco examiner to be the official newspaper of the city and county of San Francisco for all official advertising for fiscal year 2026 through 2027.

Let' take these items same house same call without objection the resolutions are adopted. Madam clerk please call item number seven.

Item seven this resolution authorizes the recreation and park department to enter into an agreement to loan up to 8,500,000 to the san francisco zoological society to support the operation and long term financial sustainability of the san francisco zoo effective upon approval of this resolution to be repaid over ten years in the form of deductions from the san francisco zoos management fee to allow the city to terminate the lease and management agreement in the event the loan is not timely repaid or if the conditions in the loan agreement are otherwise not met.

Again same house same call without objection the resolution is adopted. Madam clerk please call item number eight.

Item eight this is a resolution to authorize and approve an agreement with the successor agency to the redevelopment agency acting in its capacity as the legislative body of community facilities district number eight the hunders point shipyard maintenance district the city to receive funding for its operation and maintenance of the Hunter's Point Shipyard Phase 1 Parks And Open Space.

Same house same call without objection the resolution is adopted. Madam clerk please call item number nine.

Item nine this resolution approves the 2023 lease and use agreement between the city and the airport commission and arizetaco limited to conduct flight operations for a term commencing on the first of the calendar month immediately following the receipt of full city approvals of the lease through 06/30/2033 and to make the appropriate findings.

Same house same call without objection the resolution is adopted. Madam clerk please call item number 10.

Item 10 this is a resolution to authorize a six month waiver of the city's behested payments ordinance for the mayor members of the mayor's office and the executive director of the office of economic and workforce development in each of their direct reports to solicit donations from nonprofits, private organizations, grantmakers, foundations, and other persons and entities for the purpose of supporting the continued economic revitalization of San Francisco.

Supervisor Chan.

Just requesting for roll call. Okay.

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

On item 10, Supervisor Chan. No. Chan, no. Supervisor Chan? Yes. Chen, I. Supervisor Dorsey? Dorsey I supervisor Mahmoud Mahmoud I supervisor Mandelman I supervisor Melgar Melgar I supervisor Sauter Sauter aye. Supervisor Cheryl? Aye. Cheryl aye. Supervisor Walton? Aye. Walton aye. And supervisor Wong? Aye. Wong aye. There are nine ayes and one no with supervisor Chan voting no.

The resolution is adopted. Madam clerk please call item 11.

Item 11 this is a resolution to approve the list of projects to be funded by fiscal year twenty twenty six through 2027 the road maintenance and rehabilitation account funds for the local streets and roads program as established by California senate bill one the road repair and 2017 accountability act.

Please call the roll.

On item 11 supervisor chan. Aye. Chan aye supervisor chan. Chen aye supervisor dorsey aye supervisor mcmud Mahmoud I. Supervisor Mandelman.

Aye.

Mandelman I. Supervisor Melgar I. Supervisor Sauter. Aye. Sauter I. Supervisor Cheryl. Aye. Cheryl I. Supervisor Walton. Walton I. Supervisor Wong. Aye. Wong I. There are 10 ayes.

Without objection the resolution is adopted. Madam clerk please call item 12.

Item 12 this is a resolution to declare the intention of the board of supervisors to renew and expand the property based business improvement district known as the downtown community benefit district to approve the management district plan and engineers report and to and proposed boundaries map to order and set the time in place for the board of supervisors to convene a committee of the whole which will be 07/21/2026 at three p. M. To approve the form of the notice of public hearing and assessment ballot proceeding and assessment ballots to direct environmental findings and to direct the clerk of the board to provide notice of the public hearing and balloting.

Same house same call without objection the resolution is adopted. Madam clerk please call item number 13.

Item 13 this is an ordinance to amend the administrative code to establish the San Francisco hate crime reward funds.

Supervisor Dorsey.

Thank you president mandelman colleagues as this legislation creating a hate crime reward fund comes before us today on first reading, I think it's appropriate that we remember three victims who lost their lives yesterday in a senseless attack at a San Diego mosque. And to express our condolences to their family members and loved ones, as well as to the communities understandably shaken by this tragedy. This horrific crime by two perpetrators who appear to have taken their own lives is being investigated by authorities as a hate crime. And as the New York Times reported this morning, the attack has called further attention to concerns about increasing Islamophobia in The United States. Hate crimes are uniquely corrosive to a free society in as much as they intend harm not solely to individual victims but to instill pervasive fear in vulnerable communities.

That is why cities that cherish the blessings of diversity and pluralism like San Francisco and like San Diego for that matter, must do everything we can to help our diverse communities feel safe regardless of religion, race, sexual orientations, gender, identities or the backgrounds they reflect. This legislation is modeled on the updated homicide reward fund we unanimously enacted a year ago. It's about supporting victims, protecting targeted communities, strengthening accountability, and encouraging members of the public to come forward with information if it can help ensure that justice is done. I wanna thank my co sponsors, Supervisors Wong, Sauter, and Cheryl, and I hope it'll have your support.

Thank you, Supervisor Dorsey. Let's take this item, same house, same call. Without objection, the ordinance is passed on first reading. Madam clerk, please call item number 14.

Item 14 this is a motion to approve the mayor's nomination for reappointment of Jeanette Howard to the treasure island development authority board of directors for a term ending 02/26/2029.

And we'll take that same house, same call. Without objection, the motion is approved. Madam Clerk, let's go to roll call.

Supervisor Chan, you're first up to introduce new business.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Today, colleagues, I have two in memoriams. First, with great sadness, I would like to adjourn today's meeting in the memory of Mr. Kenneth Leung. Kenneth Kenny, or Mr.

Leung, passed away on May 1 at a wonderful age of 96. He lived a long, full life, especially in his later years, where he enjoyed every moment connecting with the community through music and playing his favorite instruments at his store on Jackson Street in Chinatown. Kenny and his wife, Louise, were proud owners of Ellie and Eva Company, a reputable neighborhood music store in Chinatown, first founded in 1970. He was extremely proud of his achievements when Ellie and Eva became a San Francisco legacy business in 2023. The recognition gave his store a second life when his shop was propelled into the international musician scene.

He found himself in his retirement years giving interviews to media outlets from Hong Kong, China, and Singapore, and greeting reputable musicians from across The Pacific. In 2023, his shot was selected to be a part of the APAC Conference in San Francisco, where every attendee had a chance to take home something from his shop. And second in memoriam today, colleagues, I would like to offer is to Mr. Gerald Warren Johnson. Born 01/28/1925, Gerald was a proud son of New Orleans whose life embodied courage, resilience, and steadfast commitment to justice and opportunity.

Raised during segregation, he moved to San Francisco in 1946 and became an early advocate for civil rights, bravely challenging discrimination long before the movement gained national attention. In 1984, alongside with his wife, Valerie, Gerald co founded the Small Business Exchange Newspapers, creating opportunities for minority and women owned businesses across the country. Through his leadership and vision, he helped open doors for countless underserved entrepreneurs and became a champion for economic inclusion and community empowerment. He was a devoted father to Sarah Domingo and Kimberly Johnson, as well as grandchildren Sarah and Daniel. Gerald's legacy was rooted not only in his public accomplishments, but also in the love, guidance, and strength he shared with his family in the Bay Area and New Orleans.

Through his influence, which far beyond New Orleans, Gerald carried the spirit and values of his hometown throughout his life. He championed legendary contribution to the San Francisco community through organizing and advocating for social justice and equal employment opportunities. He is remembered for his strength, unwavering integrity, and dedication to uplifting others. His legacy continues to inspire future generations to pursue fairness, equality, and opportunity for all. And the rest, I submit. Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Chan. Supervisor Chan.

Thank you, Madam Kerr. I have one charter amendment introduction, one resolution, and one hearing. Colleagues, over the last few weeks, my office has been busy preparing a charter amendment for a new municipal finance corporation and public bank. San Francisco has been grappling to advance large scale solution that can address our housing affordability challenges, assist small business to thrive and to survive, and finance the investment needed to achieve climate system sustainability. We need and deserve both solution to address our most pressing challenges, and we must use every tool we can to keep San Francisco affordable, to sustain our local communities, and lead toward a more just economic recovery for all.

A municipal finance corporation and public bank has tried it and tested solution that has proven its impact on local communities. The Bank of North Dakota, which has a population the size of San Francisco, has consistently delivered profits, supporting economic development, and keeping the local economy stable even during the twenty two thousand and eight financial crisis and COVID pandemic. Public banks magnify magnify the power of their investments by reinvesting all profits back into lending for the community. Around the world, more than a quarter of the world's assets are held in public banks. The California public bank act which was authorized by city attorney David Chu provides a pathway for San Francisco to take this step.

This charter amendment codifies the mission, principles, and business plans that were developed by local experts in collaboration with national consultants and accepted by the board of supervisors. It establishes good governance structures appointed by an oversight body selected by the treasurer, controller, city attorney, mayor, and board of supervisors, which significantly safeguard oversight and checks and balances to protect the public interest. It ensures that municipal finance corporation and public bank will be run by skewed banking professionals, bankers who will uphold financial industry best practices and rigorous financial management. The finance of the municipal finance corporation and public bank will not commingle with the city and county and have no impact on the general fund. The municipal financial corporation will partner with local credit unions and community development financial institutions to develop specialized lending products based on the gaps and needs analysis identified in the business plan.

This lending can serve a wide range of San Francisco's needs from acquisitions of multifamily housing under the city's small sites program, community land trust projects, building electrification projects, supporting small business owners to expand, and even helping to enable the transition of legacy business to workers' ownership, and to name a few. I want to really acknowledge my legislative aide in the office for his stewardship of this charter amendment, Charlie Smonds. And I'm also very grateful for the critical leadership of the San Francisco Public Coalition's Public Bank Coalition, and the San Francisco Reinvestment Working Group. I also want to appreciate Carly Samori of the Local Agency Formation Commission, Wiki Wong, and Mo Jamal with the city attorney, and Amanda Free of the treasurer's office for their partnership. I want to thank all my early cosponsors, supervisor Futer, Walton Melga, and Matt Moov.

Today, I'm also introducing a resolution to declare 08/28/2026 as June Jordan School for Equity Day in San Francisco in recognitions of its outstanding contribution to educational equity, youth leadership, education, and community empowerment. June Jordan opened in 2003 and was intentionally designed to be a small public school specializing in social justice, restorative practices, youth voice, and academic success. The school carries on the legacy of acclaimed black feminist poet, educators, and activist June Jordan in its steadfast commitment to social justice and liberation. Serving predominantly students from working class and low income community of color from the Southeast Side of the city, June Jordan strives to improve access to education and narrow the achievement gap with private school quality education, attentive support, and studies unpacking oppressions. Teachers, educators, counselors, and staff work tirelessly every day to nurture students to become leaders and agents of positive changes in the community.

Students build key competences and graduate with strong and thoughtful post secondary plans. They live in power, learning about accountability, the force of marginalization, immunity, integrity, courageous, respect, and community impact. In the face of today's challenging landscape, June Jordan remains a vital community anchor, deeply rooted in dignity, belonging, cultural affirmation, collective responsibility, and equity for youth. Thank you, colleagues, and for your support in uplifting June Jordan School for Equity and for their outstanding contribution to educational equity and community empowerment. Lastly, colleagues, today I'm also introducing a hearing request on the $4,700,000 contract that was awarded to a single organization without competitive bid by the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

In the months after the award, there were questions about how the organization receiving the award was chosen and what the goal was, criteria, expected outcome of the contract included. Those questions are still left unanswered. This contract directs new resources to opening new offices in communities where existing similar services are being cut. Given the budget forecast, we owe our community, especially those relying on those services, a transparency from the department about how these decisions are being made. I'm requesting that the mayor's office, mayor's office of housing and community development, and the department on homelessness and supportive housing report.

And the rest, I submit. Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Chen. We'll return to roll call for introductions. Mr. President.

Madam Clerk, let's go to our 02:30 p. M. Special order.

Yes, it's now time for the recognition of commendations for meritorious service to the city and county of San Francisco.

We will start with District 3, Supervisor Sauter.

Thank you president mantleman. Colleagues today I have the honor of welcoming Chinatown Tripp to our chambers for a special recognition tripp would you all please come on up and join us. As we celebrate AAPI month, we have a big milestone to mark. Chinatown trip is 50 years old. Trip stands for transportation research and improvement project.

And for five decades, this project has turned into a legacy of fighting for better public transit and improved pedestrian safety in Chinatown. Trip was born out of the strike of nineteen seventy six which left San Francisco without bus, trolley, or cable car service for a very long six weeks. A group of Chinese American bus drivers, including Phil Chin, Landy Dong, Mike Yep, and Terry Chow, sprung into action after they realized how the strike was leaving thousands of Chinatown seniors stranded. The drivers teamed up with none other than Annie Chung from Self Help for the Elderly to start an impromptu transit service for seniors. They took turns driving their cars, manning dispatch radios, and helping seniors get to groceries, medical appointments, and to see friends.

This ad hoc service was established three years before SFMTA had their own paratransit service, and it would help inspire today's much used senior escort program at Self Help for the Elderly. After the strike ended, the organizers shift their focus to improving bus service to better serve Chinatown. Their early fights still shape the lines we know and love today. For example, Chinatown trip was instrumental in allowing the number 55 Sacramento to evolve into the number one California, bringing service from the Financial District to Chinatown and further into the Richmond. And this very morning, I waited to get on the one for twenty five minutes, four packed buses, got on the fifth one at Polk And Clay, and so it's time that we get back together and improve the one once again.

Another early campaign resulted in a new bus line, the number 83 Pacific, which we now know as the number 12 Pacific. After higher ups at MTA balked at a bus route running along Pacific Avenue because it was deemed too narrow, Mike and Landy made an impromptu decision to divert another route and drive along Pacific Avenue to prove that it would work out, and today, and to this day, it does work out. Chinatown trip would soon link up with other grassroots groups focused on their own issues, from parks to housing, and combined efforts into a new organization, Chinatown Resource Center. That group evolved into what we now know today as Chinatown Community Development Center, or CCDC. Five decades ago, public transit was at a breaking point, with our city ground to a halt from a strike.

Today, the reason may be different, but we are yet again at a pivotal point for the future of public transit. I want to recognize, I saw her here earlier, the director of SFCTA, Tilly Chang, is in the chambers as well. Hi, Tilly. Thank you for joining us. Chinatown trip, I'm very, very grateful for the legacy you have built over these past five decades. I cannot imagine District 3 or Chinatown without your advocacy. Thank you for your past fifty years. Thank you for committing to another fifty years which we so badly need together. And the floor is yours if you want to offer a few remarks.

My name is Landy Dong, and I'm here to thank Supervisor Danny Salter for the recognition of Chinatown Trip's fiftieth year of existence. And let me tell you, back then, I never realized that I would be up here still doing this. It's incredible. And we came together as community members to create a grassroots We came together as a community grassroots group. We were concerned with poor quality transit and transportation issues affecting our growing community.

Over the five decades, along with our partner CCDC, we've developed cooperative relationships with various city's agencies, most notably with the MTA, in accomplishing our goals. Our initial success was the improvement of the scheduling of the number 30 Stockton bus and even car note the chronicle Sunday columnist writes about the 30 Stockton. In other words for advocating a traffic light at Powell And Pacific due to a pedestrian fatality and back then they said no way. Why? It cost $10,000 per corner, total 40,000.

And, nowadays, how much does it cost? About 1,000,001 half just to install a simple signal light. So, over time, we have truly become enduring civic partners. Thank you very much.

Thank you and we have probably the coolest swag I've seen. We have some muni swag for you all, so I'll come around, we'll do a we'll get you your swag and we'll do a picture. Thanks.

Alright. Thank you.

District four, supervisor Wong.

Good afternoon, colleagues. Today, I'm proud to recognize National Emergency Medical Services Week. I'd like to invite our guests to join us up on the podium.

Hey.

I'm proud to recognize National Emergency Medical Services Week and commend the extraordinary professionals and community partners who make who makes San Francisco's emergency medical response system. I also want to thank Assistant Deputy Chief Malloy, Chief Brannan, Chief Rabbit, Captain Tom, NERT Program Coordinator, prevention officer, all the representatives from the San Francisco Fire Department and our broader emergency response community. And to those who are not here because they are out there doing the work right now Serving San Franciscans in real time, we thank you as well. National EMS Week is a moment for communities across the country to recognize the people who stand on the front lines of emergency care. That recognition feels especially meaningful this week, as just yesterday, our city honored outstanding individuals across the full spectrum of San Francisco's EMS system, from emergency communications and first response to field operations, hospital based emergency care, disaster preparedness, community partnership leadership, and the expanding field of community paramedicine.

I'm

proud

to be a NERT trained volunteer myself and have worked for the American Red Cross. Public safety is a promise we make to every San Franciscan, and that promise depends on the professionals who answer the call often on someone's most difficult day, bringing not only technical expertise and decisive action, but calm, compassion, and reassurance when it matters most. What makes a strong EMS system is not just individual excellence, but coordination, trust, and shared purpose. It is the dispatcher calmly guiding a caller through crisis, the EMTs and paramedics making split second decisions in the field, the hospital teams delivering lifesaving care, the community partners helping extend the support beyond the emergency itself. Together, these professionals work around the clock, often under immense pressure, to protect and improve the lives of San Franciscans.

Their service reflects the very best of the city, professionalism, resilience, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to others. On behalf of the residents of San Francisco and especially our District 4 communities, thank you for your leadership, dedication, and extraordinary service. With that, it's my honor to be able to honor and commend these extraordinary EMS professionals and emergency response partners whose service helps keep San Franciscans safe every single day. And I'd like to invite Assistant Deputy Chief Malloy to say a few words.

Good afternoon, and thank you for the recognition during EMS Week. I'm truly honored to accept it on behalf of the entire emergency medical services community. I want to acknowledge the extraordinary dedication of all our EMS providers, paramedics, community paramedics, EMTs, firefighters, along with dispatchers, nurses, law enforcement partners, and the many support staff who keep the system running every hour of every day. Their commitment, skill, and compassion are what make our emergency response system strong. They show up in people's hardest moments, and they do it with professionalism, empathy, and courage.

Again, once again, I'd like to humbly thank you and accept on their behalf.

And before you take your photo, I missed Supervisor Chen in the queue. Supervisor Chen.

Thank you, Board President and Management. I just want to echo and express my deep gratitude and appreciation for the entire team. And thank you so much for keeping our community safe, especially we just had our NERD training in District 11, keeping our neighborhoods safe. I really truly appreciate the dedication, the professionalism that you are providing and keeping everyone safe in San Francisco. Thank you.

Supervisor Dorsey, you've got two today.

I do. Thank you President Madelman. Colleagues, I have the pleasure of recognizing a valued member of San Francisco's Irish community and an outstanding public servant The Republic Of Ireland's consul general to the Western United States mihal smith

Michal, do have a question?

Welcome. And, what makes this recognition especially timely is that consul general smith will be departing San Francisco later this month following a distinguished tenure representing Ireland here on the West Coast Of The United States. Consul general smith hails from the village Of Com Law in County Armagh Northern Ireland, a beautiful community nestled near the Ring Of Gullion and known for its deep history, strong sense of identity, and breathtaking landscape. From those roots, he's built an extraordinary international career dedicated to strengthening Ireland's global presence and deepening relationships around the world. Before coming to San Francisco, Consul General Smith served as director of Global Ireland in Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs where he helped lead major efforts and expand Ireland's international engagement, promote Ireland as place to live, work, invest and study, and strengthen connections between Ireland and communicate communities across the globe.

Over the course of his career, he has served in leadership roles across Asia, The Middle East and The United States including helping establish IDA Ireland's first South East Asian office in Singapore and leading economic development efforts that strengthen ties between Ireland and major international companies. His work has helped expand Ireland's economic, cultural, and diplomatic influence worldwide. Here in San Francisco, Consul General Smith has continued that tradition of leadership while strengthening the deep and historic ties between Ireland and the Bay Area. As someone with Irish roots on both sides of my own family, the Dorsey's of Galway and the Carney's of Roscommon, I am especially appreciative for the important connections and the role that Ireland's diplomatic community plays in keeping them vibrant for future generations. For the past two years, I've also had the pleasure of hosting the Irish consulate Saint Patrick's Day social gathering in my office here in City Hall.

That has been a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Irish heritage, friendship and community alongside Consul General Smith and members of San Francisco's Irish community. Beyond that, all of us in San Francisco's l g b t q plus community are also grateful to consul general Smith for his leadership to honor Roger Casement whose bronze plaque was added last year to the Castro's rainbow Honor Walk. Roger Casement was an Irish patriot and diplomat who exposed human rights abuses in Africa and South America and fought for Ireland's independence. Casement's identity as a gay man was cruelly weaponized against those who pushed for his clemency and he was executed for treason in 1916. Thanks to many supporters including the consul general's office, this intersection of Irish and LGBTQ plus history will forever endure at Castro's 18th And Castro Street.

Beyond Michal's impressive professional and diplomatic accomplishments he is also someone deeply grounded in family and community. Together with his wife Claire and their four children he has brought warmth energy and a strong sense of Irish culture and tradition to our city. On behalf of the city and county of San Francisco, Consul General Smith, I wanna thank you for your leadership, your friendship, and your service, and for strengthening the enduring bond between Ireland and San Francisco. And before inviting you to say a few words, I believe I have several call a couple colleagues who want to express their appreciation and gratitude for your friendship and service to our city. So thank you. Consul General Smith.

Supervisor Malgar.

So my birthday is on March 17. As the consul knows, that makes me eligible for Irish citizenship. Supervisor. I have to say, I have so enjoyed getting to know you, hanging out with your family. You are also wonderful.

You have been a stellar representative of your government here in our fair city with the Irish community, especially on the West Side. But you also have been so thoughtful and kind and inclusive and collaborative. And I am going to miss you dearly. I know you're going on to bigger and better things on the world stage. But we have been so, so lucky that you have been the one to represent your country here with us.

And also that you shared your wonderful family with us, and your kids went to school here. And I know that they will always have that in their hearts as they go on with their lives. Thank you for having shared yourself and your family with San Francisco. We have so enjoyed having you.

Supervisor Wong.

Good afternoon, everyone. First, I want to thank supervisor Dorsey for leading this recognition and bringing us together to honor counsel general Smith and his family before their departure from San Francisco. Counsel general, thank you for your service and for your partnership you've built here in San Francisco. The ties between our city and Ireland are deeply meaningful, shaped not only by history, but by the Irish community that continues to play such an important role in the life of the city. As a supervisor representing the Sunset and as someone working to establish San Francisco's Irish Cultural District, I especially want to thank you for your engagement of the Irish community here in San Francisco and for helping build the connections that will continue well beyond this moment.

And to your family, thank you as well. Public service is never done alone, and we know these chapters are shared by the loved ones who support us every step of the way. I'm genuinely excited for the work that will continue ahead and look forward to continuing to collaborate closely with the Irish community as we move forward with establishing the cultural district and deepening those ties even further. Thank you for your leadership and your service to our city. We wish you and your family nothing but the very best in your next chapter.

Thank you very much. Mr. Consul General, my colleagues have said anything that I would think about saying already and said it better, but I just want to say for myself that it has been a true honor and privilege to be able to get to know you and work with you on some things, and you've been great. San Francisco loves you. We're going to miss you a lot, and thank you, Supervisor Dorsey, for bringing the Consul General in here to get a little recognition.

Thank you.

Now the floor is yours.

Gurham Ogath, it's thank you in in Irish to see the the Irish flags around today. It does my heart proud to to receive this. Thank you, supervisor Dorsey. Thank you, president Mandelman. Thank you, all the members of the board, and thank you for the the kind words to receive this today and in the city and county of San Francisco, a city that has meant so much and means so much to my family and I is deeply humbling.

Claire, my daughter Sophie, Senan, Conan, and Oshin have thoroughly enjoyed this place. We've built lifelong friendships. This will always be in our hearts. A city with enormous beauty, diversity, it has a creativity, it has resilience, it has a compassion, and it's constantly changing. I've seen how it's changed over the last four years, but changed and reinventing itself, but also still looking after its community and its people.

And we have, as you've mentioned several times, a proud Irish community here with an impactful history. But what makes San Francisco so special and what makes that community so special is that the Irish story has been woven into the richness of every other community here. And the and make that's what makes this city remarkable. We're proud I'm proud, the Irish community is proud to be part of that interconnectedness. And you see that incredible interconnectedness with the work of the United Irish Cultural Center and its vision for the sunset, the support that the Irish Immigration and Pastoral Center provides, the work of the United Irish societies, and the Saint Patrick's Day parade that comes from that, the vibrant San Francisco Cork sister city relationship.

On Treasure Island, we have the home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Gaelic games, I think it's the best stadium, best land and the vista in in in The United States. We have the Glen soccer team play with with peep diversity of communities, 90 different communities playing football soccer, sorry, across across the the city. San Francisco has been shaped profoundly by the Irish. If you turn on your water tap in the kitchen today, it's because of a Limerick man, Michael O'Shaughnessy, who engineered and designed that. If if you I think so.

If you if you look look women's rights, women's pay, Kate Kennedy back in the mid eighteen hundreds fought for that at a time when very few people did and was successful. We look at the men and women in uniform that we have right across the city serving and the Irish connections that are there that are there does my heart proud and does the the is proud of by the Irish government. And today, we build on those connections. We see that the Famine Memorial is has been agreed and has been planned for the for Lincoln Park. Supervisor Dorsey, you talked about the Roger Casement plaque, which was a huge honor and a huge very proud to to be there that day when it was unveiled in the Rainbow Honor Walk.

And we have the the rainbow the original rainbow flag making its way to Cork over the summer for the first time ever. We have the the laurel tie commemoration by the Irish to the Chinese railway workers during as to honor them in in their construction of the transcontinental railway and many others, many into culture, into economic, and technology. These initiatives will continue. So supervisors, this city, San Francisco is the greatest city in the world. It is.

Outside Ireland. It truly is. It will it will always have a deep place in our hearts, and I wanna thank you. I wanna thank the mayor, and I wanna thank the people of this city for making this such an impactful part of my life. Thank you so much.

Supervisor Dorsey, shall we shall I bring the consul general into the well? Yeah. Round two.

Next colleagues I beg your indulgence for a rare instance of commendatory double dipping but as you'll soon hear it's for a truly extraordinary community member Sister Marguerite Bartling. Sister. You would approach the lectern. Sister Bartling's compassion faith and leadership have transformed countless lives in San Francisco through her work at good shepherd grace center. For the past seventeen years Sister margaret has dedicated herself to helping women without resources overcome alcohol and drug addiction and build hopeful healthy futures.

Under her leadership grace center has provided not only recovery services but also dignity stability compassion and a true sense of community for women working to rebuild their lives. As many of you know recovery is an issue that is deeply personal to me I know firsthand how transformative recovery from addiction and alcoholism can be and I also know that no one succeeds alone. Recovery depends on people who are willing to show compassion provide support and believe in someone even when they may struggle to believe in themselves. That is exactly the kind of leadership sister Marguerite has provided for nearly two decades at Grey Center. Through her faith, kindness and tireless commitment she has helped countless women overcome addiction and move toward healthier, stable, more stable futures.

She has also strengthened Gray Center itself by expanding resources, building community partnerships and helping ensure the organization can continue its miss mission for years to come. The work of recovery is often quiet, difficult and deeply human, but it changes lives, families and communities every single day. Sister Marguerite has truly led with what her colleagues describe as the heart of a shepherd and San Francisco is stronger because of your service, sister. As she prepares her next assignment for the Sisters of Good Shepherd, I want to thank her on behalf of a grateful city and county of San Francisco for her extraordinary leadership, compassion and last lasting impact. Sister Marguerite, congratulations on this well deserved commendation.

And thank you for everything you have done for our city and for the women you have helped along the way, and to infer, to affirm the enduring promise of recovery. Thank you so much.

I'd like to say thank you very much for this combination, for the supervisors, and I accept it on behalf of the Good Shepherd Sisters who have served here in San Francisco for ninety four years, helping young women and people. Yes. But we don't do it alone. We have our Good Shepherd Guild. We have our board. We have our staff, our volunteers, and especially the brave women who take those steps for recovery and for helping their families and strengthening their communities. Thank you very much for everything.

Next up district five supervisor mahmed.

Colleagues today is my honor in celebration of aapi heritage month to recognize Steven Nicajo. Steve, can you come upstairs? Steve is a dedicated community leader, nonprofit executive and public servant whose decades of work have helped strengthen San Francisco's japanese american community. Steve has spent more than fifty years serving the city through leadership rooted in care and a deep commitment to community well-being. Steve I first remember when I first met you years before I even ran for office and you were quite stern and made sure that I knew who you were who was boss.

And Steve, as people know, is wholeheartedly the godfather of Japan Town. And there's a reason for that. His work has spanned decades in the community. Since 1971, he served as co founder and executive director of kimochi creating a time when there was very few culturally responsive services for japanese american seniors in San Francisco. And, what started as a grassroots effort grew under his leadership into a nationally recognized senior services organization.

Over more than four decades, Steve has helped build Kimochi into a trusted institution providing housing support nutrition programs transportation and social services for seniors across the city. His work has ensured that generations of seniors could age with dignity and culturally grounded care And in a neighborhood which over 20% of the neighborhood is over the age of 80, a service like kimochi is a public treasure. Steve also co founded the Nihonmachi street fair during the Asian American movement and helping create a space where Japanese American and broader Asian American communities could gather through art, music, and performance. That tradition continues today as one of San Francisco's most enduring cultural celebrations as well as one of my favorite personal favorite events in the city. Not least of which is because, chief chief Crispin and I cook burgers almost every year, alongside, Steve, at the fair.

Steve has served San Francisco in public safety governance as well. For nearly three decades, he has served on the San Francisco Fire Commission, and I want to acknowledge all of those who are here from our fire department as well in recognition. Steve was first appointed in 1996, and he has served continuously through multiple mayoral administrations, including reappointments by mayor Gavin Newsom, mayor Ed Lee, and mayor London Breed. He's not retiring if anyone was worried. But he has held that leadership roles as both president and vice president of the commission across multiple terms, including service as recently as the present, reflecting a longstanding role in overseeing the city's key public safety institutions.

Steve's civic engagement continues today through active roles focused on Japantown. He's currently a member of the reimagine japantown community, a member of the japantown community benefit district, the steering committee, and serves as producer of the j town consulate, continues to support cultural programming and community events. As grace harikiri executive director of the japantown community benefits district shared, Steve is not only a community leader but a big brother to many of us who grew up in J Town. He has continually helped us J Town kids become leaders of our community. In his earlier leadership as executive director of the japantown task force and Japantown Cultural District from 2017 to 2021, Steve helped guide major community initiatives, strengthen organizational structure, and support longtime cultural and economic planning for the neighborhood.

During that time, he also helped produce and support a range of Japantown cultural programming, including Peace Plaza events and festivals. More recently, he has continued producing and supporting Japantown cultural events, including the Nihonmachi Merchants Association programming, the J Town Jazz and Taiko Festival, Peace Plaza programming, and J Town Taiko and jazz events. Across all these efforts his focus has remained on sustaining community space and intergenerational connection and celebration. His contributions have been recognized widely, including the KGO profile and excellence, the KQED Asian American Heritage Award, the spur award, the foreign minister's commendation from Japan in 2016, and the order of the rising sun, gold and silver rays. Steve, thank you so much for your decades of service to San Francisco.

We think you have a couple more decades left that we'll get out of you as well. And your continued leadership in Japantown and your lifelong commitment to strengthen communities for future generations. And before you speak, we'd like to have some of the members of the fire department speak as well.

Mister president, members of the board of supervisors, dean Crispin, fire chief, I would just like to paint a picture for you that I think is one of the more beautiful scenes that I've seen in San Francisco. And as supervisor Mahmoud alluded to, it comes at the end of the cherry blossom parade, and it's at the booth where the Asian firefighters association conducts a sale of teriyaki burgers. And it really is the beauty of it is the breath of ages that participates in this event. You have children. You have aspiring firefighters. You have firefighters. You have EMTs. You have paramedics. You have retired firefighters. You have retired firefighters.

Friends. You have this amazing group of people all working to serve the community. And, really, I attribute this to commissioner Steven Nicajo. And when you watch him witness this and participate, you can see the pride and the happiness in his eyes to see this whole group of people committed to community service. Now none of us will ever meet the commitment that commissioner Nacagio has has fully invested in San Francisco, but this group effort is really led by him.

And his stability, stabilizing force on the commission has been an amazing help to us as a new command staff, starting last year, and his wisdom and intelligence on the commission has been incredibly helpful to us. So, really, thank you, supervisor Mahmoud, for honoring him, and thank you to the remainder of the board for participating and supporting him. He's a real gift to San Francisco. We are so lucky to have him, a lifetime of community service. We are very lucky to have you. Thank you.

Thank you, supervisors. Thank you for letting me speak. My name is Sayumi Brannan. I'm deputy chief of administration for the San Francisco fire department. And I just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to commissioner Nakajo.

Not only has he been an inspiring leader in just not just Japantown, but the entire city, but he actually has been a mentor and an aspiration for me. When I first and was still new in the fire department, he did find me, recognize that I was Japanese American, and pointed it out that I need to really take that into heart. Something that not very many people said to me growing up and for someone to recognize my culture and my heritage. And he was shocked to find that I did speak Japanese. That resonated with me. And think I and I have him to thank for where I am today. So Commissioner Nakajo Domo, arigato gizaimasu.

And Commissioner Nicajo, before you speak, Supervisor Cheryl has some remarks.

Commissioner Nicagio,

the first time well, the second time we met, but the first time we really met was at Japantown. It was my first significant visit to Japantown, and you laid out an expansive view of the history of the community. And your ability to provide the wisdom of the history of San Francisco, so many parts of that combined with your incisive insight into what our city needs today, is incredibly unique. And your service to Japantown, combined with your service to the entire city of San Francisco, is unique. So I want to thank you for combining the micro and the macro like so few are able to do and for your continued leadership. Thank you.

I will add my own congratulations and thanks Commissioner Nakajo. I think soon after I joined this Board of Supervisors, you helped reintroduce me to Japantown, and you have been a happy presence to see in all of our civic events, and your stewardship of our fire department, something for which we are all incredibly grateful. So, thank you, Commissioner Nicajo, and thank you, Supervisor Mahmoud, for honoring our commissioner.

Thank you very much. As a Japanese American, in terms of all of the cultural traits we inherit from our grandparents and our community. Being humble is part of that attribute, and service is the other part of that attribute. Supervisor Mahmoud, thank you so much for this recognition, particularly because you're a district five supervisor, but also with the diversity of District 5, Japantown is part of that as well. So we thank you for that, but we also thank you for the advocacy and the work.

I have to be marked how important this event is, not just for myself as an Asian American Pacific Islander, but the fact that we're in San Francisco. When I taught at San Francisco State in Asian American's thirties, I used to talk about San Francisco being the Asian American capital of The United States. And I know my friends in New York and Los Angeles maybe weren't particularly keen on that, but if you do the research, you forget you you you find out that the historical basis all came from here. Part of that is Japantown. I have to tell you that once upon a time back when Asian American Heritage was a coin phrase and when it was first implemented here in San Francisco, I vaguely remember being under that dome with about six of us.

And it was the proclamation of Asian American Heritage Month, and then governor Mayor Newsom was presiding, and I was hanging out with a couple of my colleagues, the late Sula Palaga. There was also Ted Fang, and many of us. And as this proclamation occurred, I looked at Sula and Ted Fang, and I basically said, we gotta do better than this. And part of that was that we come from San Francisco, which again, has such rich history. All of these accolades and discussions in terms of San Francisco points to what we have best, our culture, our community, and all of our pioneers who made San Francisco what it is today.

That's something that we should never lose sight of. And with the changing dynamics of San Francisco, with the buildings, with all of the discussion, don't devalue the biggest commodity, the biggest treasure that we have, which is our members, our community. And this Asian American Heritage Award is just not for myself. It's for everybody else that's in the room, all of them in the past and in the future. And that's what's really important, talking about the future.

If you talk about Japantown, supervisor, as you know, we always lament and talk about the history of Japantown. Believe it or not, San Franciscans used to be 44 blocks before the war. During '46, 1946, 1947, we know where we were, we Japanese American. A 120,000 Japanese Americans in 10 different concentration camps. Call it what you want.

No due process, no reimbursement, no reparation, but we, our community, our pioneers adapted to that. How do you think folks felt in camp trying to figure out a future for San Francisco and the Japanese American community, and then to come back and rebuild our ISA generation, our Nisei generation, and then to have the city and county in this chamber emulate and execute eminent domain. Eminent domain for us in the Fillmore Japantown area means the total destruction of everything that we grew up with. And part of that is to try to maintain that in today's standards. That's really, really important.

We talk about four blocks of Japantown but we know it goes beyond that. It takes a village to do the work that I have and brothers and sisters and supervisors respectfully the village is here in this chamber representing our community. And something that we should never forget as well. Those sins of our forefathers still affect us today. We're trying to still maintain a community that has residents that have changed with their dynamics.

We're dealing with issues like certificate of preference. What the heck was that? These were certificates given to members of our community, the Fillmore Japanese community, that guaranteed you a place back in our community. And after sixty years, that still hasn't been quite implemented, but the work is being done now. So talk about those effects and where we are now.

I'm glad you talked about Japanese Community Benefit District. The village is part of all of the nonprofits that are here as well. And, part of that village for myself and the love of San Francisco and Japantown is the love and honor of being a member of the San Francisco Fire Department. This department, in terms of the love of community, helped me define for myself the love of San Francisco, that a young man from J Town can come out of the Western edition Fillmore, participate within public services, and begin to understand fully the beauty of San Francisco. Members of the board, Supervisor Mahu, thank you so much for everything that you've done. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Next up district ten supervisor walton.

Thank you so much president mantleman colleagues today it is my honor to rise this american asian pacific islander heritage month to recognize a young leader whose life and work embodies service, culture, and community, Augustino Tino Feliz. Born and raised in San Francisco, roots in this city run deep, and his commitment to uplifting our communities has already left a lasting impact on countless lives. For nearly two decades, has dedicated himself to serving through the Samoan Community Development Center, where he has become a trusted mentor, advocate, and bridge builder. From youth services and family programming to supporting transitional age youth, Tino has consistently created pathways for young people and families to thrive. His work is not simply about programs, it is about relationships, trust, and making every person feel seen, valued, and empowered.

What makes Tino especially remarkable is the pride and love he carries for his culture. At a time when so many young people are searching for identity and belonging, Tino stands tall in who he is and encourages the next generation to do the same. Through his work across Pacifica community, every connection he builds strengthens the fabric of our city. As he continues his studies in social work at San Francisco State University and carries forward his service to the people of San Francisco, Tino reminds us all leadership rooted in humility, culture, and love what it truly looks like. Today, we thank Tino Feliz for his unwavering commitment to the Pacifica community, to the youth and families of San Francisco, and to building a future grounded in culture, dignity, and collective care.

Congratulations, Tino, and thank you for all that you do.

Sorry. You know when you call one of us, call the whole Village. So thank you again. Again, to the president, supervisors, departments and community members gathered here today. First and foremost, I give all the honor and glory to God for granting me the strength, faith and the purpose to continue to show up for my community.

I always say you may be smarter than me, you may be stronger than me, or you might speak more eloquently than me, but you're not gonna out serve me for my community and my God. Sorry, I didn't This is the fire that keeps me going and the motivation I carry with me each and every day, you know, when waking up. And again, thank you, Supervisor Walton and and D Ten and also your office for your continued support, your partnership, just the love that you showed to our Pasquika community within San Francisco. I wanna give honor to our ancestors who paved the way, my grandparents, parents, Nate, who paved the way to sacrifice and who carried us to this moment. To our elders, thank you for your continued guidance, wisdom and love.

I would not be standing here without you and especially the ones that are watching over us, Queen Aisha Anna, Auntie Nani, sorry, and Auntie Yasuwiva. So, SCDC family back there, thank you for always showing up, for supporting me, and for doing this work alongside me to uplift community. I know it's not easy. I know, you know, we but we make it happen and we make it fun though. So, again, thank you SCDC family.

So our SVI teams, everybody that's here today, even DCYS, DCYF Director Charisse and all her team and know, IFR, YCD, CYC, SCDC, UCSF Wraparound and Taylor Made. And if I miss you, I apologize. Y'all could get me after I leave here. But just wanted to say thank you guys for just a continued commitment, to continue to show up every single day. This recognition belongs to all of us, all of you.

I simply I'm just simply honored and accepted on behalf of a community that is being recognized today. That is not just about this is not just about me, this is about all of us and what and the work we continue to build together for the next generations to come. To our future and emerging leaders in our Pasquale community, keep pushing forward, keep finding your purpose, keep building in every space you enter. As I stand here today, our executive director, Doctor. Patsy Tito, is speaking to 12 NHPI graduates at USF today.

So that, you know, again, this is who we are. We show up wherever our Pacifica people are and we want them to know that there are no limits. Someone brown like me can do this, you can do this too. Let's continue to encourage the next generation to dream without boundaries and to always keep God first. To my family, that's always here too, my village, community village as well, Thank you for being my backbone.

I know there are moments I miss, but know that the spirit is always my spirit is always with you. To my my son, Tiamalu, you are my purpose every early morning, every long night is who drives me to go out and serve. Having my son, you know, by my side during program at work is the greatest blessing to me of my life. Thank you for giving me the grace, thank you for giving me the time, and thank you for believing in this work as much as I do. And, I'd like to leave you guys with a Samoan proverb, The pathway to leadership is through service.

This proverb is something that we live by at SCDC. It is the foundation we stand on and is the heartbeat behind everything we do. We are committed to continue to serve our Pacifica community and our broader community with the same passion, dedication and love for our people that has always carried us forward. This is for our community, this is for our future. Thank you.

We're going to

recess for about five minutes and try to drum up some supervisors. We will be in recess until 03:30.

SFGov TV, San Francisco government television,

Alright. We are back in session. If you are standing, find yourself a seat or leave. District eleven supervisor Chen.

Thank you board president mantleman. May I have Noel come to the podium?

Woo hoo.

Happy API heritage month. I'm so proud to honor Noel O'Rario, executive director of the Excelsior Awards. For a decade, Excelsior Awards has been a vital district eleven institution. It began as a community driven effort to provide workforce development and equitable employment pathways for the neighborhood

Supervisor Chen? Should I Oh, hold on. Okay. Take it away, supervisor Chen.

For API Heritage Month, I am very proud to honor Noel Orario, executive director of ExcelsiorWorks. For a decade, ExcelsiorWorks has been a vital District 11 institution. It began as a community driven effort to provide workforce development and equitable employment pathways for the neighborhood's historically immigrant and working class population. During the pandemic, the center pivot to serve as the crucial hub distributing groceries, helping residents navigating unemployment benefits, and cofounding the Excelsior Strong Collaborative to coordinate public health outreach and vaccination sites. Post pandemic, ExcelsiorWorks returned to its workforce development routes, offering intensive employment coaching, case management, and workforce and workshops in English, Spanish, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

True to its origin, the center also served as a vibrant community hub and coworking space for key partners, including the Chinese Progressive Association, PODER, the Filipino Community Center, and UCSF Konica Martin Barrow. Noel has led Excelsior work with a commitment to long term community resilience with over a decade of nonprofit managements, spending from public benefit assets, food security, and health and health advocacy. As the executive director, Noel has stirred the organization's back to its core workforce development missions, building a network of community partnerships and coalitions, and has committed to building a sustainable foundation to ensure Excelsior Works remains a permanent resources for the community. Thank you, Noel, for your outstanding work of serving our immigrant community. Thank you.

Supervisor Chen and members of the board, my name is Noel Herario. I'm the executive director of ExcelsiorWorks. And on behalf of our team, our community members, and our organizational partners at our beloved five ks Mission Office, I want to extend our deepest gratitude to Supervisor Chen for this commendation. Since its founding, Excelsior Works has been a sanctuary and a stepping stone for the immigrant and working class families of District 11. Most of our clients, they come to us through word-of-mouth, seeking the comfort of navigating complex systems in their own language.

At Excelsior Works, cultural competency is the very fabric of our success. We reduce isolation by being the trusted faces our community turns to first for accurate information. At our office, those friendly faces belong to Linda, Sergio, and Pedro. They are the essential guides and a formal part of supporting our neighbors to build their lives here in San Francisco. But our office is more than just a service center.

It is a center for gathering. It's where a neighborhood comes together for Know Your Rights workshops, community action teams, healing clinics, legal support, and art builds. It's a place of joy where our annual Lunar New Year gatherings bring together a full house to celebrate our Asian community. And it is a place of frontline solidarity, most recently demonstrated when we opened our doors to host the Hummingbird Farm and Filipino Community Center community schools during the educator strike earlier this year. Receiving this honor during AAPI Heritage Month is incredibly meaningful.

It serves as a powerful reminder of our deep intercultural solidarity. True community resilience isn't built in isolation. It lives in the partnership shared between our Asian, Latino, and diverse immigrant communities who show up for one another. And while we celebrate this collective strength, we know that true resilience thrives when it is backed by proactive and systemic investment. So thank you again, Supervisor Chen, for meeting this moment, for partnering with us, and for championing the vision to build a foundation where all working class and immigrant families in District 11 can thrive.

Alright district two supervisor Cheryl. Colleagues, today, it is my honor to recognize Jacques Grillo. Jacques, would you please come up to the front? Today, I get to recognize Jacques, the executive director and a teacher at the Lone Mountain Children's Center, for his forty nine years of dedication to the families of San Francisco. Over the last five decades, Jacques has become synonymous not only with Lone Mountain, but with independent early childhood education.

Today, we honor an icon, a staunch advocate for education, and a cherished leader. Jacques is originally from the North Shore Of Boston. He holds a bachelor's in human development with a specialty in early childhood from the University of Massachusetts, a master's in counseling psychology from John F. Kennedy University. And his very first teaching job was in a laboratory preschool at Harvard.

But Jacques has called San Francisco home since 1977, the same year he joined Lone Mountain as a teacher. Founded in 1974, Lone Mountain Children's Center is an independent, nonprofit, nondenominational preschool located in the Presidio in District 2. Now, Jacques is a unicorn because he is also a licensed marriage and family therapist. And for over twenty five years, he maintained a private counseling and psychotherapy practice alongside his work at Lone Mountain. So of course, the question really is whether parents choose Lone Mountain for the children, or do they really choose it for themselves?

Now for the past thirty years as executive director of Lone Mountain, you have shaped the school into the beloved institution it is today. You have helped rear well over 2,000 preschoolers, shaping not just young children, but the persons they may become. You built a cherished community where childhood is honored, joy is prioritized, and long tenured, devoted teachers I see some of you back here build meaningful relationships with every child they teach. And those teachers are a testament to Joc's leadership. The extraordinary educators he recruited and trained over the years didn't end up at Lone Mountain by accident.

They were drawn by his vision. And they stayed because of the culture he built. Your retirement is a perfect example of your leadership. Now, Jacques is at the height of his powers. Yet, he chose proactively to step down in order to ensure the school's future and to support his successor through the transition. That takes foresight. That takes sacrifice. Now, today is an honor for me because Sarah and I, like all the other parents, know that the students who learn the most from you are not the children. They are us, the parents. And I'll admit, and I know I'm not alone in this, that when I first met you, my reaction was one of intimidation.

But it worked. Your quiet confidence, your innate leadership gave us the clearest message. I know what I'm doing. I'm very good at this. And by the way, do you see how much fun the children are having? Now, I'm going to steal for Lauren Gross here, because she said it best. We trusted you with the most sacred slice of ourselves, our kids. Year after year, you enjoyed and loved each of them, even when perhaps you felt less compelled by their adult counterparts. We came to you, some as first time parents or experienced parents, definitely worried parents, and sometimes less than graceful parents. You always menace in your direct, poignant way.

You never shied from the truth, ever blunt, often humorous, rarely incorrect. Because Jockey Baby, and yes, that is what the kids call him, the fact that he wears that nickname with pride tells you everything you need to know about the man. Jockey Baby knows that kids with Type A San Francisco parents sometimes need a dose of humbling. Take one boy's drawing, for instance. Do you like it, Jacques? I think it needs a little work. Or the lovely young lady who asked if he liked her dress. It's not my favorite. You are a straight shooter. And the children love you. They love you. Joc, you always said that kids find the fun. And they always find you. And you well, with teaching, you found your calling. And thank God you did.

In April, you shared a poem by Father Pedro Arrupe with us. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love. Stay in love.

And it will decide everything. Joc, your last wish for us was to fall in love. But, Joc, we are already in love with you. You inspire me. You show that love and firmness go hand in hand, that there is right and there is wrong, that expectations are good because we are capable, that you can take your work incredibly seriously without taking yourself too seriously, and that humor belongs in everything.

Because at the end of the day, if we're not having fun, what's the point? Your retirement in just a few weeks will bring a close to an extraordinary forty nine year teaching career. And to those of you in the audience who joined us to honor Joc today, thank you so much for being here. Joc, nearly 100 people RSVP'd to come here for you today. And that's a drop in the bucket of the lives that you've touched.

So please look behind you. Look at the children, the parents, the alums. On behalf of the Board of Supervisors of the city of the County of San Francisco, but more importantly, me, from Sarah, from all the families here, Thank you for your love, for your warmth, for your wisdom, and for being you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hold on. Supervisor Mahmoud.

Jacques, JACQUES I don't know you. But I know you through Supervisor Cheryl and heard so many good things. But I wouldn't let up this opportunity to ask a question, which is in service of all these kids. It is amazing the profound impact, clearly, that you've had on generations of San Franciscans. And they're going to remember you for years and decades to come. But I always like to tease my colleague. So what grade would you give Supervisor Cheryl as one of the parents that come to your facility?

Oh, as a parent? Yeah. B plus, but improving.

Keep them on their toes.

Wait.

The floor is yours.

I was only told about ten minutes ago that I'd have an opportunity to talk here today and was told that I had two minutes. So those of you who know me, so many here in this room, know that once I get in front of a microphone, it's a little hard for me to limit myself to two minutes. So I'll ask your indulgence before I even begin. Thank you so much to the Board of Supervisors, especially to Supervisor Cheryl and his wife Sarah for this honor. I am deeply, deeply touched by the presence of all of you who are here today.

What can I say? It's I arrived from Boston to San Francisco in the 1977 and very quickly felt that I was at home. And I felt welcomed and embraced and a deep sense of being at home in this beautiful city. And I was fortunate just a few weeks after arriving to come to Lone Mountain Children's Center and very quickly felt this was home as well. So home is where your heart is.

Home is what you invest in. Home is where you love and are loved. And all of you represent home to me. And it's hard to leave home. So I'm not leaving.

I carry all of you with me in my heart. Thank you so much for the privilege of associating with you over these forty nine years. Thank you for sharing that which is most beloved to you with me. It's those children and my experience of being with them each day over these last forty nine years that I'm going to miss the most. Because truly, that's where I touch into my heart.

So again, thank you for this wonderful honor. Thank you, Stephen. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you to the entire board. Thank you to all of you who are here today. And let's stay in touch. Thank you.

Supervisor Cheryl is encouraging folks to go outside for a photograph. If anyone wants to sit down, we do have seats, and we are nowhere near general public comment. I would like to invite Dennis and Annie Wong, and their kids, Bianca and Candace, to come up. All right, we got the Wong family. Today, for this and thank you for your patience for this twenty twenty six AAPI Heritage Month, it is my great privilege to present a special commendation to Les Ole and the Wong family.

For more than three decades since Dennis and Annie opened it, Le Soleil has been a fixture in San Francisco's food scene, serving San Franciscans the flavors Dennis carried with him from Vietnam. Dennis was 19 when the Vietnamese government seized his family's noodle business in Ho Chi Minh City. Their livelihood disappeared overnight. He and his brother bribed officials, boarded a boat, and fled. Pirates ambushed them in open water and took everything, including the gold bars that his mother had pressed into his hands as he escaped.

He spent two years in a refugee camp in Malaysia before arriving in San Francisco in 1981. Here, he took English classes by day and washed dishes at night, sending what money he could back to Vietnam for his parents, whom he would not see again for more than a decade. Eventually, he was promoted to line cook and developed his culinary skills. In 1993, he and Annie, a Hong Kong native and former interior design student, opened Le Soleil at 133 Clement Street. There, Dennis ran the kitchen while Annie designed the space and managed the front of the house.

Their daughters, Bianca and Candice, grew up at the restaurant. And although they did initially go their own ways, Bianca to professional kitchens and Candice to art and design, they would return when the family opened a second location. Congratulations, Supervisor Melgar, at Stonestown Galleria last summer to a full house with Mayor Lurie there as well. At Stonestown, Annie was able to realize a more expansive creative vision, 88 seats with a space featuring live trees and flowers. Bianca worked with Dennis to create new menu items, blending classics with contemporary dishes, including a pho risotto that became one of the restaurant's most popular items.

Candice, drawing on the Chinese brush painting she practiced growing up, designed the menus and uniforms. And together, the Stone Stone location reflects the whole family. But, Le Soleil's reach extends beyond San Francisco. In 2007, representatives of a Hong Kong real estate developer dined at La Soleil, and were so impressed they asked Dennis to license the concept for a restaurant in Hong Kong. Dennis agreed, and the Hong Kong location is now celebrating nineteen years of success.

And then on June 25, a second international location is scheduled to open in China's Yunnan Province. It was my great privilege traveling with Supervisor Chen back in November to actually see the site where, well, the resort that's being built that this restaurant is going to be part of. And I'm so excited for that to happen for you all, and for all the future successes. So, and other supervisors are going to want to speak. But Dennis, Annie, Bianca, and Candace, and to the whole Le Soleil team, on behalf of the Board of Supervisors and the City and County of San Francisco, I want to extend many, many congratulations on all your successes and best wishes for many, many more.

And now, Supervisor Chen.

Thank you, board president Mendelman. I I think I just wanna uplift that Dennis and Annie's journey is truly an American stories. Learning from from Dennis, from learning how to cook to working tirelessly day and night to eventually building a restaurant of their own. Their journey was filled with struggles, uncertainties, and countless sacrifices that many may never seen. At the same time, they were right they were raising three beautiful kids, building not just a business in San Francisco, but a family and a future.

Through hard work, perseverance, perseverance, and a commitment to excellence, La Soleil grew from beloved San Francisco restaurant into an international presence, expanding from San Francisco to Hong Kong and now in Mingnan, Kwamein, Yunnan, China. That is something that our entire community can be very proud of. And your story reminds us that immigrant stories are not small stories, and they help shape our cities, our culture, and our future generations. And congratulations, Leslie. Congratulations, Annie and Dennis. And may your story continue to inspire generation to come. Congratulation, Candace and Bianca.

Thank you. Thank And

now, the floor is yours.

I'm nervous, and I speak in public. Okay. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for having us. First of all, thank you so much to President Mendelman and the Board of Supervisors for this incredible honor.

Receiving these commendations means a lot to us. Our restaurants has been serviced by community for thirty three years. Which is in restaurants probably means about one hundred years. Somehow, we survived changing labor who's rising prices, long hours, and customers who still ask, why does food takes time to cook? But honestly, we would not still be here without our amazing staff.

Loyal customers, fans, and families. The recognitions then belongs to all of them, too. Over the past thirty three years, we have watched families grow up, kids become adults, and some customers practically become part of our own family. That is the most rewarding part of what we do. One of the best is hard work but being able to serve this community has always made it worthwhile.

We are deeply grateful for all the support, kindness, and love we received throughout the years. Thank you again for this recognition, and thank you, everyone, for continuing to support small local business us. And of course, please keep coming back hungry. Thank you very much.

Thank

you. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay.

Madam Clerk, let's go to our 3PM special order. Please call items fifteen and sixteen.

Items fifteen and sixteen are come comprise of a public hearing and resolution to consider objections to a report contained in item 16 delinquent charges for code enforcement cases with delinquent assessment of costs and fees submitted by the director of the department of building inspection for services rendered. This special order was scheduled pursuant to a motion approved on 04/07/2026.

Thank you madam clerk. Colleagues we're now sitting as a committee of the whole to hold a hearing on the report of assessment costs for building code enforcement violations and the hearing is now open and we're going to start with the department of building inspection.

Welcome. Thank you president mandelman and members of the board good afternoon my name is matt luton I'm a senior housing inspector this is the twenty ninth year the department of building inspection is before this board requesting the imposition of special assessment liens. So this is the twenty ninth year the Department of Building Inspection is before this Board requesting the imposition of special assessment liens on properties for code enforcement cases. Previously transmitted to you is the report of delinquent charges dated 04/20/2026. Prior to today's hearing, DBI has noticed the listed property owners on two separate occasions and held two in house hearings for owners to discuss their outstanding fees.

The department appreciates your support in approving the report of delinquent charges, as this is a very important and effective tool for cost recovery for time spent. Additionally, I'd like to thank the clerk of the board's office for your assistance. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. We're now going to open this up to public comment. If you're a member of the public who would like to speak on items fifteen and sixteen, the lean matter, you can come up to the podium or line up over to your right, our left, my left. If you're here today for these items, but you do not want to provide public testimony, you will have the opportunity to speak with DBI staff outside the chamber to resolve your issue. Public comment is now open. All speakers are going be allotted two minutes to provide their comments. Madam Clerk, will you please call the first speaker.

Let's welcome our first speaker. Please come on up to the podium.

I'm Mahal Emberton. I own 201 Ashton Avenue. In 2017, we repaired our dilapidated fence. We added safety lighting to enhance nighttime pedestrian safety along the sidewalk. The style of the fence was chosen to prevent nuisance, vegetable matter, grass, weeds, and vegetation overgrowth from impinging the sidewalk.

And the increased visibility and safety of the repaired fence also protects the Ingleside Terrace's landmark pillars. During the final stages of the fence repair while we were staining the fence, a neighbor filed a three one one complaint. Quote, the resident at this address has been consistently doing construction and playing loud music from 10AM to six to 7PM most days of the week. I would like to request the music volume be lowered or turned off. I can hear it in my apartment all day.

DBI used this music complaint to conduct an unconstitutional search of our property and filed a notice of violation requiring a permit to repair the fence. We submitted the mandated fence repair permit but a variance was then mandated to allow the four foot height of the historically four foot fence. After the variance was approved DBI and planning approved the permit But DPW placed a hold on the permit claiming our public utility easement was instead an unpaved city sidewalk in order to mandate one, a minor sidewalk encroachment permit. Two, a building plumbing and excavation permit to remove the permitted fire table. And three, an excavation permit to remove our arbor.

While building code requires unsafe property to justify a notice of violation, DBI filed a notice of violation for safe property and then issued an order of abatement for DPW's illegal hold on the fence repair permit based on DPW's claim of a

non Your existent time's concluded. And to the members, the Department of Building Inspection has reported to us that address has been removed from the list. Welcome to our next speaker.

Thank you my name is noel carasco I'm the property owner of 330 Can

you lift that the microphone and just speak into it clearly? Thank you. My

property is 336 Street 38 Parnassus Avenue. I'm here because my case, I believe there is a clear violation of due process. I have been assessed fees for something that is not on my property. I have provided surveyors report to the city. I have a signed motion by a judge saying that it's not on my property.

And still, after four years, I'm still getting assessment fees. I always say I always get from the building department, they say, it's in the property line, despite me showing them a surveillance report and despite of me having a judge ruling that it's not on my property. It's been four years. I don't know what to make of this. There's no evidence that can convince anybody.

And I'm here to know why am I here. If not, I shouldn't be here to defend my innocence. The assessment fees should be given when there is enough evidence to assess them. Otherwise, we might as well just I mean, don't want to think of a scenario where that doesn't happen. If I didn't commit a violation on my property, I cannot abate it. I cannot ask for a permit for a violation that is not on my property because it's not on my property. It's really getting a little bit repetitive, but that has been my situation for the last four years. Thank you.

Sir, can you just tell us your address on the record one more time? Was that Hyde Street?

336 and 338 Parnassus Avenue.

Parnassus. Okay. Thank you. And so, sir, you're welcome to go into the hallway and speak with the building inspector as they will address your issues there. Welcome to our next speaker.

Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Darren Winkie. I'm here on behalf of my mother, Shelly Winkie, the property owner of 2920 24th Avenue. She is unable to attend today due to a medical appointment outside the country. I have her written authorization to represent her. My mother respectfully requests waiver or suspension of the assessment costs. The circumstances leading to the violations are outside her control. She was medically incapacitated during the compliance period undergoing multiple eye surgeries. The downstairs tenant obstructed access, demanded payment for entry, and filed false complaints which DBI later confirmed were unfounded.

The management company terminated its contract after a false PG and E accusation leaving her without representation while she was incapacitated. All tenants have now vacated and she is pursuing legal possession of the property to complete corrective work. Given these circumstances, we ask that the board waive or suspend the assessment and confirm that no lien will be recorded until lawful possession is restored and repairs can be completed. My mother is committed to bringing the property into full compliance once access is available. Yeah, thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comments. Okay. Welcome to the next speaker.

Hi, my name is Gene Catania. I'm here on behalf of Gerard Goats. He's the owner of 883 Sutter Street. I'm here to to kind of protest the way this the notice of violations and the whole dealing with the building department has transpired. I have documentation where there was there was a notice of violations for plumbing the work without a permit which was done by another contractor.

And it was done in the notice of violations go back to December, prior to December 2024. So, in in an attempt to rectify this problem that the owner hired me which I I attempted to to pull permits. I have documentation that I tried since December 2024 to pull permits. However, when I went through the whole process of every station at the building department and I get toward time to pay for the the permit, I was told that the usage was not correct. It was in the computer from the building department as a residential, but when I got to pay they says, no, usage is for office retail.

So, I had to go back and and have the have an architect change the plans, come back, which takes time. And, there was a total of five times where I had to have an architect change plans because of errors within the computers in the building department. They assessed these penalties, which I feel that are not fair because there there was proactive, we were proactive in trying to rectify this problem. However, because of errors within the computer of the building department, it just prolonged everything to where the assessments are now, we have like there's three different assessments, notable violations. One's for plumbing, one's Up for

to 10,000

Yeah, up to $10,000

Just find the owner.

Is for plumbing without a permit electrical without a permit, and

then Thank you, sir. Thank you both for your comments today. You're welcome to go out into the hallway and speak to the building inspector, Matt Luton.

Okay.

MARK Welcome to the next speaker.

MATT Yes. Good afternoon. My name is Dimitri Rogopoulos, and I'm here on behalf of Salvatoria Luton, owner of 1700 Lombard Street. There were some permit violations which have been corrected for the most part. We got sign offs on all of them minus health, which has been corrected, they're coming back on Thursday to sign off on that, and we'll have completion. So I just wanted to bring that to the attention.

Okay. Thank you for your comments.

Thank you.

Welcome to the next speakers.

My name is Louis Vaughn. I'm here on behalf of San Tan Dock. It's regarding file number 260331. Mr. Tanner owns a property in San Francisco.

There was an issue regarding the legality of a ADU unit in this property. This started I believe about a year and a half or two years ago regarding the need to either demolish unit or to make it legal. This is Kennecott has been working with the building department since that time. Originally he is understanding that the unit is supposed to be demolished and he has applied for a permit to get the property demolished and he has got the permit. Now they are saying that it should be not demolished and saying they should legalize the unit and they are assessing penalties and fees and costs.

Cause he's not able to comply with that. So, I believe he received this latest letter saying that they can put a lien on this property, but I believe that he himself did not receive or prior to notice of what this these costs are why how they generate these costs. I would like, if possible, continues, maybe sixty days to work with the bill department, see whether we can resolve this lien issue. And, hopefully, whether either get it amended, or vacated, or paid off.

Can you

tell us the address, sir?

930 Brussels.

930. Into the microphone, please.

930 Brussels Street, San Francisco, 94134.

Great. Thank you. And if you can go out into the hallway and speak to the building inspector, Matt Luton.

Thank you. Should we come back, or after we talk?

Matt will return. The building inspector will return with a report that the board will consider.

Thank you.

Thank you. Welcome to the next speakers.

Hello. My name is Abdul Jabal Mehdar. I'm here on behalf of your 26th And 28th 6th Street. I'm the business owner for the place. And I'm here for the inspection. They wanna lay in the building. And I believe so very fast, the old tunnel, he started working, and then he shut down the business, and then I get the business. When I start, I did everything perfect, everything with permit. I have everything done, but I just received the violation, and I hope they just take it away.

Apologies, sir. Can you give us that address again?

It's 26th And 28th Street 6th Street. So, it's two address spots, one building.

Thank you, sir. We're going to come to you and try to get a little clarity on that address. So we'll speak to you at the

Oh, okay.

Here she comes right now. Hi there welcome.

I'm Fredrik Cardenas I'm here representing bell properties. We have to we have quite a bit of fees and fines on some properties that there was no ptos permits to operate but we do have the permits to operate so let's see if we can get those fees reduced also there's a second property saying there was no demo permit also fees and fines but we do have the demo permits there on file.

Can you give us the address?

Yeah, one of them is 1949 Sunnydale Avenue. Second one is 1250 Buchanan Street.

Thank you so much. Welcome to the next speaker.

Hello, good afternoon. My name is Willie Sanchez representing Maria Beltran for property 426 Edinburgh Street. I'm here to see if we can go ahead and waive the assessment. We've been going through this whole thing with our contractors. First time for experience our house being burnt down.

I want to make sure that we get everything under control. I've been going through a lot of loopholes, failures, and finally I got somebody and contractor to help us out based on our family recommendations. So I would like to see if we can proceed with that and get our assessment waived at the moment. Know we've been going through this for months but I think at this point we're at the right point to keep going now. Like I said I would like to go ahead and hopefully we can get that waived out.

Thank you. Thank you for your comments. All right. Welcome to the next speaker. Welcome.

My name is Owen Smith and this is regards to my mother Lorraine Smith. The address is 966 Key Avenue San Francisco California 94124. We had a meeting at 49 South Van S. There was some work done by a plumber, but the inspector didn't, you know, get a chance to look at it. I had the concrete opened up. The inspector came out and inspected it. At the time, I had diabetes. I wasn't there. But the inspector was there and the plumber, the work was actually done. But I still have an assessment fee of $4,900

And you said $9.66?

It was excuse me, this was at 970 Key Avenue. I'm sorry.

Okay.

970 Key Avenue, San Francisco, California. 9400124. And the work is completed, and the inspector was there last week, last Tuesday.

Okay. Great. Thank you. We have your address. And so, if you'll go into the hallway and speak to the inspectors there.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. Welcome to the next speaker.

Good afternoon. My name is Kwang Lee. I'm the owner of Chu Chu Nai Lee Avenue. The reason I come is they access me with the 6,700 for the property but I went there to try to fix it they won't let me in and then the last six months six years I didn't collect any rent The tenants keep staying there, and they don't pay any rent, and I could not get them out. And then they finally left about a year and a half ago, and they still leave the dock and all the car in front of my house. And then, finally, I got them out about four months ago. So, I would appreciate it if you guys can help me to redo the assessment of the cost. Thank you.

Sir, you indicated Hundred 2090?

No, 229 Lee Avenue.

229?

Lee Avenue, yes.

Thank you. And we have your address, if you can go into the hallway and speak to the gentleman out there. Thank you. Welcome, sir.

Good afternoon. My name is Armand Pantalion, and I'm here with regards to 525 O'Farrell. And this is a request to waive penalties that we incurred. Just to explain, way back in October we were working with the state to get an operator operating permit for our elevator. And during that time, the state shut down our lone elevator.

And but it was working before. It's just for safety reason. They've asked us to stop using it until we conduct the necessary test. We which we did by November. But there was an inspector from DBI that showed up sometime in December through I think through a complaint submitted by one of our tenants.

But he didn't test the elevator. The elevator was working was already working during that time. And I think it's just the communication thing that yeah, I until now, like, I'm still waiting up for a response to the email request I've sent like more than five weeks ago.

Okay. Well, thank you for coming down today. Can you go into the hallway work with the Thank inspector you. You're welcome. Are there any other members of the public who'd like to address the department of building inspection delinquent charges for code enforcement violations or any associated fees? Mr. President.

Thank you madam clerk public comment is now closed and item number 15 has been heard and is now filed. So if there are people who wish to speak with DBI staff regarding the assessment on their property, I'd ask you to go out into the hallway now, and staff is there to speak with you. And we will come back to item number 16 later in the meeting. And Madam clerk I think we go back to roll call and supervisor dorsey.

Yes Mr. President excuse me supervisor dorsey.

Thank you madam clerk colleagues I have an in memoriam today for Jack Davis. Jack was many things to many people in this city, feared, admired, loathed, loved, sometimes all four in the same person, sometimes all four in the same week. He arrived in San Francisco in 1972 the way many of us do, with not much money, a complicated family story, and the sense that this was one city in the world where he could become exactly who he was. His car was stolen his first night here outside of the stud on Folsom Street. He stayed anyway, and that perhaps tells you something.

He came to the city as a gay rights activist and an idealist, and he never fully shed either of those things even as he became something much harder to categorize. A legendary bare knuckled political brawler, he worked for conservatives and liberals, for landlords and labor, for Frank Jordan and Willie Brown, sometimes sequentially, always strategically. Some people called that opportunism, Jack called it understanding how the city actually works and he did understand it better than almost anyone. He was also by all accounts a handful. He knew it, he said so, he named his boat election night, that's night with a k.

And as he said in 2000 to San Francisco Chronicle reporter Susan Swart, those were the words he'd put on his tombstone, not because he was modest, because he was honest. Winning was the thing and he wanted credit for it. I met Jack Davis only on a few occasions during my own early years in San Francisco politics and I had a lot more familiarity with his reputation than I did with him personally. But what consistently emerges from the remembrances I heard of him is that Jack Davis always showed up. He showed up for Willie Brown when it was a risk, he showed up for Gavin Newsom when the math didn't look good.

He showed up for causes he believed in, in the anti discrimination fight in Florida, in the stadium campaigns, in the early coalitions that helped to make San Francisco a city where a man like Jack Davis could live openly and build something remarkable. He was not a saint and he would have been the first to tell you that probably with some relish but he was ours, a genuine San Francisco original, a kind our city doesn't seem to produce many of these days and perhaps that's not an entirely bad thing. When he passed away last week, Jack Davis had just turned 79 years old. He spent the majority of those years shaping our city directly or indirectly and however one may feel about his methods, the results of his political efforts are written indelibly in the streets, neighborhoods, and skyline of the city we love. Rest in peace election night and may your memory be a blessing.

And the rest I submit.

Thank you, Supervisor Dorsey. Please hold your applause. We do have a board rule that when we're conducting routine business, we do not applause. That only happens during commendations. Thank you. Supervisor Mahmoud.

Colleagues, across the country, we are watching politicians turn health care, identity, and self expression into grounds for punishment. In at least 13 states, abortion is now banned entirely and enforced with criminal penalties. Across the country, people are being investigated, prosecuted, and criminalized for seeking reproductive health care, experiencing miscarriage, or simply helping someone access care. At the same time, more than 28 anti trans bills have already been passed in 2026 alone, targeting gender affirming care, drag performance, and LGBTQIA plus expression. And when people are criminalized under these discriminatory laws, those convictions can follow them long after they leave those states.

They can follow someone into a job interview, into an affordable housing application, into every attempt to rebuild their life safely and with dignity. San Francisco has long been a refuge for people seeking freedom, safety, and opportunity. And we must ensure that discriminatory laws from other states do not continue harming people once they arrive here. That's why today, I'm introducing legislation to strengthen and expand San Francisco's Fair Chance Ordinance. The current Fair Chance Ordinance limits how employers employers and affordable housing providers can use criminal history in employment and housing decisions.

This legislation updates that framework to respond to the changing legal landscape that we see across the country. Specifically, this legislation makes clear that employers and affordable housing providers in San Francisco cannot use out of state convictions related to reproductive health care, gender affirming care, drag performance, or gender expression as a basis to deny someone employment or affordable housing when that conduct is lawful in California. This legislation strengthens due process protections for applicants, clarifies timelines for reconsideration when background checks are inaccurate or improperly used, and strengthens penalties for violations. And, it should be noted that we are already seeing more transgender people, LGBTQIA plus people, and women relocate to cities like San Francisco because of escalating attacks on their rights in other states. A recent national survey estimated that more than 400,000 transgender Americans have relocated since the twenty twenty four election due to anti trans laws and policies in their home states.

Thus, that discrimination should not follow people here. At its core, this legislation is about dignity. It is about making sure that people are not permanently punished for who they are, how they identify, or the health care they gave or sought, or the way they expressed themselves. This legislation was developed in close partnership with the Human Rights Commission and the Office of Transgender Initiatives. I want to especially thank Honey Mahogany for her leadership and advocacy and continued work fighting for transgender San Franciscans and the broader LGBTQIA plus community during this incredibly difficult moment nationally.

I also want to thank Ma'uli and the Human Rights Commission for their collaboration in shaping this legislation and for their continued commitment to advancing civil rights protections in San Francisco, as well as our drafting attorney, Deputy City Attorney, Brianna Voss. A very special thank you to Jude Diebold for being the primary drafter of this legislation and for tremendous amount of legal and policy work that they dedicated leading up to today for several years. Thank you, as well, to our community partners and advocates who helped inform this effort, including Planned Parenthood, legal services for prisoners with children, the Trans Law Center, and the Transgender District. I also want to acknowledge the Department on the Status of Woman, and all of the organizers, advocates, legal experts, and impacted community members who have pushed the city to modernize and strengthen the Fair Chance Ordinance. And I want to recognize former supervisor Jane Kim and her office for their leadership in helping establish the original Fair Chance Ordinance framework years ago.

Thank you to my colleague, Supervisor Dorsey, for your early cosponsorship. And I want to thank my staff, Will McPhee and Cassandra Mater, from my office for their work on this legislation. Because San Francisco should be a place where people can rebuild their lives with dignity and opportunity, not continue to face discrimination because of extremist laws somewhere else in the country. Colleagues, I urge your support, not just for this legislation, but to ensure that San Francisco remains a city where everyone can live openly, safely, and free from discrimination. Second, I want to turn to housing.

Because here in San Francisco, unfortunately, seems we often like to do things a little bit different. We took normal bread and made it sour. We used mile long cables to drag cars over the hills. And over the weekend, we even turned a normal road race across the city into a mobile costume party. And we couldn't just implement, unfortunately, the CEQA Act as it was written.

No, we had to put our own San Francisco flourish onto it. While the state says projects have to be, have a hearing for final environmental impact reports, San Francisco said that draft reports should need a hearing too. In San Francisco, mailings and online postings apparently are not enough notification. The city needs to run ads in the newspaper every time the planning department determines that a project needs to file an EIR. And the state says that shadows aren't part of the environment, but here in San Francisco, projects have to treat the shade a building creates just like we would have to treat toxic soil, or any other serious environmental hazard, and those who wish to slow or stop a project have legitimate grounds for appeal if they're not sufficiently addressed.

These special rules and procedures make San Francisco stand out in all the wrong ways and contribute to a building environment that is allergic to new housing. The Slashing Housing Appeals and Delays Everywhere Act, or SHADE Act for short, brings appeal timelines, hearing frequency, and notification requirements in line with state law. Projects can take a few steps out of their approval timelines while not sacrificing the bedrock principles that underline CEQA. Perhaps most importantly, it also takes shade out of the environmental review process, thus reducing the efficacy, and therefore likelihood, of lengthy appeals. Since 2017, sequel appeals involving shadow analysis have led to delaying or stalling 2,195 units of housing citywide over a dozen projects.

When projects have to navigate these extra layers of process and are invited to be appealed over how much shade they create, we lose as a city. Housing that can help tackle our affordability crisis gets stopped or faces costly delays. What's more is that when we contribute to making San Francisco a harder city to build in, we're pushing development onto the unspoiled California green space that CEQA was designed to protect. Our own housing element and guidance from the California Department of Housing and Community Development agree. It's time to peel back the layers of local process and our local implementation of CEQA.

I want to thank Lisa Gibson and the rest of the environmental planning team, and Lisa Gluckstein from the government affairs at the Planning Department, as well as our drafting attorney, Deputy City Attorney Andrea Ruiz Escuida. I also want to thank Raynal Cooper from my office for his work on this, and Supervisors Dorsey and Sauter for their early cosponsorship. Colleagues, I ask for your support in helping San Francisco get over the fear of its own shadow and process. The rest I submit.

Thank you, Supervisor Mahmoud, Supervisor of Mandelman.

Thank you, Madam Clerk and colleagues today, along with co sponsors. Well, actually, before I do that, I would like to be added, if Supervisor Dorsey does not mind, to his in memoriam for Jack Davis. But also, today, along with cosponsors Bilal Mahmoud and Mirna Melgar, I'm introducing a charter amendment to make approximately 110 discrete technical and practical reforms to our city charter. Some of these changes came directly from the city departments, which, after all, are made up of the people who do the work of diluting for our public every day and know better than anyone where the charter is creating friction and where it can be changed for better operations. Some recommendations came from the Proposition E Commission Streamlining Task Force, which, as you know, spent a lot of time and concentrated effort evaluating the city's boards and commissions and making recommendations about which of them belong in the charter, which belong in the administrative code, and which should be eliminated altogether.

We did not accept all of their recommendations, but we are grateful for their work. I want to thank Supervisors Mahmoud and Chen for their participation in the Charter Reform Working Group, which brought together stakeholders from across the city to consider a number of challenges in our charter and possible responses to those challenges, and that work has also informed the measure we're introducing today. I want to recognize Supervisor Mahmoud, in particular, for his partnership in thinking through some of the possibilities for departmental reform we've evaluated through this process, and I want to thank Supervisor Melgar, in particular, for her leadership around a set of changes focused on how departments and commissions serving children and youth can do so better. The measure is better for their work and their team's work on it. The changes we are proposing fall into three broader broad categories.

The first, I would say, is modernization and cleanup. These amendments are truly cleanup, updating the charter to reflect current conditions, incorrect references, and many out of date provisions. Here's an example. The charter currently includes a section that mandates that there be a bookbinder position in the law library. That does not make sense in 2026, and although it does make sense perhaps, to have language for something more evergreen, like a technical services manager.

So that's what we've done. A second category of changes addresses department specific pain points. And as I said, these are based on feedback from departments on their specific sections in the charter. We have worked with them to determine where we could make some operational improvements requested that they'd requested to better enable service delivery. And that could in one example, looks like updating muni's charter mandated service standards to reflect how modern transit agencies measure performance.

The current on time performance metric in the charter has been increasingly recognized as an incomplete measure of rider experience. The amendment included in this charter reform measure allows MTA to adopt other standards, such as weight assessments, which measure how long riders wait between vehicles, providing a more accurate picture of service quality. Third, and finally, we did draw from the work of the commission streamlining task force, which as I said, spent months conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the structure performance and effectiveness of the city's board boards and commissions. And in this category, as examples, are the elimination of the Streets and Sanitation Commission, the Public Works Commission. We're also proposing moving bodies like the Public Utilities Commission Citizen Advisory Committee, and the Parks and Recreation Open Space Advisory Committee out of the charter and into the administrative code where they could be updated and changed by the Board of Supervisors through the legislative process in the future, instead of having to go back to the voters every time you want to make a change, even a small change, to any of these bodies.

Many operational rules, procedures, and commissions are embedded in the charter, not because they have to be there, but because they, that's where they ended up as a relic of previous voter approved charter amendments. And I think it is worth remembering that the administrative code exists for a reason, and provisions that live there can be updated to the normal legislative process as conditions change and as priorities evolve. That flexibility is not possible when these procedures are locked into the charter. So, where we can, where there's a consensus that it may make sense, I do strongly support moving them out of the charter and believe that that does not, you know, certainly does not eliminate them, but does enable elected officials to adapt them over time. There are lots of people to thank for the contributions they've made to the charter measure I'm introducing today.

That includes the members of the Charter Reform Working Group, the members of the Commission Streamlining Task Force, Chair Ed Harrington, and members Sophie Hayward, Andre Bruss, Natasha Mihal, Sofia Kittler, and Jean Fraser, the excellent city staff who supported these efforts and our work over the past year, and that includes, course, our controller, Greg Wagner, Henry O'Connell, Joanna Bell, Janice Levy in his office, our city administrator, Carmen Chew, Sophie Hayward, and Rachel Alonso in her office. I want to thank the mayor's team. That's especially Alicia Jean Baptiste and Amr Bardwaj for their partnership. And then, we've given our attorneys a ton of work, not just Brad Roussey, but in particular, Andrea Brass, Sarah Crowley, Heather Goodman, and John Givner has been there throughout offering wise counsel and help. They have been very patient with us through a process that I know has, at times, been frustrating.

And I do want to thank the many stakeholders who've cared enough over this last year to make themselves heard, often loudly, but, and persistently, we've heard them, and I think this measure reflects a lot of that feedback. Finally, want to thank Melanie Mathewson, formerly of my office, Maeve Skelly, currently of my office, for all of their work on this, as well. Secondly, colleagues, I'm asking that we adjourn today's meeting in memory of Rita Semmel, a longtime civic leader, described the San Francisco Interfaith Council as the matriarch of interfaith relationships, who died on 05/13/2026, at the age of 104. Rita was born 11/15/1921, into a secular Jewish family in New York City. She attended Barnard College, majoring in political science.

In 1941, following the outbreak of World War II, she and her husband, Max Semmel, relocated to a military base in Mississippi, where her husband was serving as an army officer. While living in Mississippi, Rita witnessed the evils of segregation firsthand, experiences that helped inspire her lifelong pursuit of social justice, but it was also during this time that Rita recalled experiencing one of her earliest moments of interfaith connection. While searching for housing in Mississippi, she met with a Methodist minister who had a room available to rent. When she cautiously told him that she and her husband were Jewish, he replied, I'm so glad. I see enough Methodists on Sunday.

When her husband went overseas to fight in the war, Rita landed a job at the San Francisco Chronicle as what was then called a copy boy. She later became associate editor for the Jewish Community Bulletin and began doing public relations work for the San Francisco based Jewish Community Federation. After taking time off to care for her two young daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, Rita dove right back into her work. In 1964, she helped organize the San Francisco Conference on Religion and Race. Out of that conference came a new interfaith task force, the San Francisco Council on Religion and Race, and represented the Jewish community on the council.

That same year, she became associate director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, which represents synagogues, Jewish organizations, and Jewish individuals, and families across the Bay Area combating anti Semitism and advocating on issues of concern to the Jewish community. In 1987, she became the executive director of JCRC, and she served in that role for two years. After the nineteen eighty nine Loma Prieta earthquake, the relief agency Church World Service formed an interfaith committee to aid those affected. She was a member of that committee and saw the potential in a permanent interfaith organization that could address issues of shared concern and expanded scope. So, she helped found the San Francisco Interfaith Council, and the work of the Interfaith Council, especially its expansive network of homeless shelters, would become one of her proudest achievements.

Among her many other accomplishments, Rita chaired the Global Council for the United Religions Initiative and served on the boards of Catholic Charities, Family Services America, Friends of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, Jewish Family and Children's Services, San Francisco Children's Rights Coalition, the Interfaith Center at the Presidio, and the San Francisco Homelessness Board. In 1995, she served as a delegate to the fourth UN World Conference on Women in China. Rita earned well deserved recognition of her work, including the Judith Chapman Award from the San Francisco based Jewish Community Federation Women's Alliance, a woman of the year award from the California State Assembly, and the Rosa Parks Award for Women in Community Service. In 2008, the Islamic Society of San Francisco and United Muslims of America honored Rita as an interfaith pioneer. Rita told Jay Weekly, the successor to the Jewish bulletin she once edited, that she believed there's no such thing as retirement.

In 2009, a mass shooting in Texas by a Muslim American sparked widespread backlash, widespread fear of backlash against Muslim communities. The next day, Rita, nearly 90 years old, drove out to a Bay Area United Muslims of America meeting in Fremont, and read aloud a statement of support for the Muslim community signed by the Northern California Board of Rabbis and other religious leaders. Rita's death is a loss for the world. She was truly an extraordinary woman. Rest in peace and power. Rita Semmel, may your memory be a blessing. And the rest I submit.

Thank you, Mr. President. Next is Supervisor Malgar.

Thank you. I'd like to be added to reassemble the memoriam also, please. Thank you. Colleagues, we are in the May, which is affordable housing month. So I am excited to introduce today a charter amendment along with supervisors Walton, Sauter, Cheryl, Dorsey, and Wong to extend and to renew the housing trust fund.

The affordable housing trust fund was originally passed in 2012 to support creating, acquiring, preserving, and rehabilitating housing, affordable housing, and promoting affordable homeownership programs. The last several years have been difficult for everyone, from the pandemic to the ailing economy to the slashing of federal and state funds for housing, and the consequences are dire. At the same time, as we're seeing funds dry out, rents are only rising, and evictions right now are at an all time high. We are in an affordable housing crisis, and that will only get worse as there is a known cliff. By 2029, there will be no funding left to fulfill any of the production of units in the pipeline right now.

We all know how important it is for someone to have a dry place, to lay their head down at night. We know that nothing else works if people have no housing. We have always needed a lifeline, a dedicated, stable source of funding for affordable housing that is not dependent on the whims of the market, that is stable, that doesn't fluctuate. It is also a stark reality that the Inclusionary Housing Technical Advisory Committee unanimously supported a recommendation to update the inclusionary rates because market rate housing is also at a standstill. No housing is being produced and no fees are being paid.

They have also recommended the need for a separate source of funding for affordable housing. I'm cosponsoring the introduction of the mayor's ordinance today to support those recommendations. Today, we are energized more than ever to meet the moment. Over the course of the last few months, we converged a diverse coalition of affordable housing organizations, nonprofit organizations, housing finance experts, labor, along with the mayor's office, to craft this charter amendment that will gradually expand the Housing Trust Fund over the course of the time to reach 125,000,000 annually. There will also be the opportunity to issue revenue bonds to maximize these funds to unlock thousands of new affordable housing units, preserve existing sites, and support programs for the first time for first time homebuyers.

We also included new possible uses of this fund for supporting limited equity co ops and social housing. We designed this charter amendment so that the housing trust fund grows by allocating a portion of future property tax growth every year. Last year, we just rezoned a lot of the West Side and north of the city. This is a value capture that invests back into much needed affordable housing. We also make sure that we are expanding the Housing Trust Fund into a fiscally responsible way.

The gradual growth of the fund will not start until 2029, and we included fiscal safeguards to freeze the growth of the fund during a budget deficit and to decrease the baseline funding during a recession. I want to thank, along with the co sponsors, Mayor Lurie for his support and his team, Ned Siegel, Ali Bondi, Ben White, Lee Litenski, and Jacob Bindliff, Director Dan Adams, Controller Greg Wagner and his team at the Controller's Office for the late nights and number crunching, Accessory Corporal Joaquin Torres and his team, Victoria Wong and the city attorney's team, and of course, all of our community partners. The Council of Community Housing Organizations, Quentin Mecky, Caroline Feng, the Community Land Trust, Saki Bailey, Kyle Smeely, Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California, especially the incomparable Bill Barnes, Housing Accelerator Fund, Rebecca Foster and Kate Hartley, the Mission Economic Development Agency, Chinatown Community Development Center, Malcolm Young especially, and so many others. I look forward to further discussion on getting your support to send this to the voters for approval in November. Today, I'm also proud to introduce a resolution commemorating the San Francisco Youth Commission for its thirty years of service to the youth of the city and county of San Francisco.

Thirty years ago, the voters of San Francisco approved a charter amendment established a commission to advise the mayor and the Board of Supervisors on issues that primarily affected children and youth. And since then, hundreds of youth commissioners have dedicated their time and provided important feedback on city issues. The Youth Commission has advocated for the expansion of funding and programming for SFUSD Wellness Center across the city, led on the creation of a Youth Lifeline Pass and Current Free Muni for All Youth programs. And they have collaborated with community organizations across San Francisco to ensure community representation in City Hall, and to align collective youth advocacy efforts. Also, it has provided a wonderful leadership opportunity for generations of youth who have gone on to do bigger and better things and been leaders in our community.

They take their role as allies seriously and never turn away the opportunity to support youth leadership and also lend support to the creation of local district youth councils, like our District seven Youth Council. I want to acknowledge current Youth Commission Interim Director Joy Zahn and Community Partnership Specialist Joshua Ochoa I see them back there for their tireless dedication in mentoring and nurturing the professional development of our youth commissioners. And I also want to thank my early co sponsor on this resolution, Supervisors Dorsey, Chen, Walton, Mahmoud, and Sauter. Congratulations, youth commission. The rest I submit.

Thank you, Supervisor Melgar. Supervisor Sauter, submit. Thank you. Supervisor Cheryl.

Colleagues, today there has been significant housing legislation introduced at this meeting, especially from Supervisor Melgar and the mayoral administration. I'm very proud to be an early cosponsor of these significant reforms to address our housing crisis by lowering construction costs and truly delivering funding for needed affordable housing. San Franciscans continue to be clear. The cost of living is too high for our working class, our young families, our seniors, and our youth to thrive here. Today, the cost of a home is 12.4 times the median income here in San Francisco.

That is stupidly and insanely and ridiculously out of whack. And while as a board, we've taken big strides to expand housing opportunities citywide, it's clear that more needs to be done to get shovels in the ground and that we need to be more ambitious in order to effectively build more homes. That's why I'm also introducing legislation that will further bring down city related costs on housing construction, specifically for housing projects on corner lots that use the family zoning plan passed by the board last December. This board passed the family zoning plan because we needed a road map for the future, a future of housing that is built the San Francisco way. But zoning alone is not the solution.

If we're going to build any type of housing market rate or below market rate housing, we need to do all that we can to bring down the construction cost per unit, making housing production financially feasible to get done if we do not re risk all of our work being a mere paper exercise. I'm committed to ensuring we are being ambitious to meet our housing goals because when we build more housing, we make it easier for all San Franciscans to stay here, grow here, age here, and thrive here. This legislation will take us another step forward toward building this needed housing, and I hope to earn your support as this ordinance works its way through the legislative process. Thank you, colleagues, and the rest, I submit.

Thank you, supervisor Cheryl, supervisor Wong supervisor Walton.

Thank you, madam clerk. Colleagues, today, I have an in memoriam for Magnus Mark Marthall, a San Francisco native, a dedicated public servant, and a man who gave more than three decades of his life to the young people of this city. Mark was born on 12/13/1953 right here in San Francisco. He passed away on 05/03/2026 at the age of 72. In January 1977, Mark walked through the doors of the San Francisco juvenile probation department as a counselor.

And from that first day, he was exactly where he was meant to be. Over the years, he grew into every role he took on. He served as a boys ranch counselor, then as a deputy probation officer, a senior deputy probation officer, and finally, beginning in May 1998, as a supervising probation officer. He retired on 12/31/2011 after more than thirty four years of service. But the titles don't tell the real story.

What set Mark apart was he did beyond the job description. He invested in people, youth, families, interns, colleagues, not just during business hours but on his own time because that's who he was. He believed in his youth before they would believe in themselves. And for countless young San Franciscans, that belief changed everything. Mark leaves behind a legacy that will ripple through generations and the lives he touched. The careers he shaped and the community he served with such quiet, steady dedication. He is survived by his partner Leticia, his brother John, his sisters Mary, Barbara and Lynn, and by many beloved nieces and nephews. The rest I submit.

Thank you, Supervisor Walton. Supervisor Wong.

Colleagues, San Francisco has banned the private discharge of fireworks since 1938. For nearly ninety years, that ban has carried no enforcement mechanism. Section twelve ninety of the police code tells people they cannot discharge fireworks, then says nothing about what happens if they do. An ordinance that I'm working on changes that. Right now, when an officer responds to a fireworks call, there is no citation to write.

State law covers very dangerous fireworks, does not touch lesser but still dangerous fireworks, which are legal in San Francisco. The fire department can issue administrative violations, but that tool is not available to police officers on patrol. That's that's why I've worked with SFPD to draft this proposal. The penalties here are proportionate. The first offense carries a fine comparable to a parking ticket.

The second offense escalates to misdemeanor, capped well below what state law already imposes for more dangerous fireworks. Tens of thousands of San Francisco households have a pet affected by fireworks. Thousands of residents with autism, dementia, and PTSD are impacted every year. The twenty twenty three-twenty twenty four civil grand jury investigated this issue and said it plainly, San Francisco is not a place where anyone should be able to discharge fireworks without consequence. They recommended additional legal tools for law enforcement and better tracking of citations and fines.

This ordinance delivers both. I ask for your support. Secondly, I'm introducing two ordinances to repeal three provisions from San Francisco's municipal code that have outlived any purpose they once served. The first ordinance amends health code to repeal two provisions. The first prohibits transporting bread, cakes, or pastry through city streets in open baskets or exposed containers, a plague era public health measure that modern state and federal food safety standards have long since superseded.

The second requires that rags furnished to industrial workers be sterilized by boiling in caustic soda solution. Cal OSHA and federal occupational health standards now govern this area comprehensively. The second ordinance amends the police code to repeal the city's circulating library law, which requires any for profit book rental business to obtain written parental consent signed in person before a librarian before lending a book to anyone under the age of 21. Circulating libraries ceased to exist in 1950s. The law has no living subjects for seventy years.

None of these repeals necessarily create an enforcement gap. Each was enacted in response to a genuine problem. Each outlived the problem it was designed to address. They remain in the code simply because removing obsolete laws require that we seek to act. This is the first series out of a larger series of absolutely outdated and unnecessary laws that my office is seeking to repeal. The rest, I submit.

Thank you, Supervisor Wong. And, Supervisor Chan, you asked to be re referred?

Indeed. Just wanted to be added to the memoriam to Jack Davis. Thank you.

Noted. Thank you. Mr. President seeing no names on the roster that concludes the introduction of new business.

All right

then I think we''ll go to public comment.

Okay at this time the board welcomes your general public comment you can line up on your right hand side of the chamber along the curtains and you may speak to the minutes as presented items 19 through 25 on the adoption without committee reference calendar and other general matters that are not on the agenda today. This is not an opportunity to discuss the the liens. That hearing will come up after general public comment. We're setting the timer for two minutes. Welcome to our first speaker.

Name is Sallahakwia Chandler, abolitionist and a social justice fighter for my people, for my nation, for almost over thirty eight years. I have metamorphosed into my position. I am known as Salahakwiyah, warrior queen, Queen Caliphia, named after the black Amazon Hebrew queen that California was named after. I constantly hear that we as a black nation have no culture. Well, I am carrying the staff of Judah to symbolize The staff of Judah would not be taken from my feet.

The royal lineage. We are here according to the Transatlantic slave trade. And as Moses said in Yahweh Elohim, the ancient Hebrew creator, Tetragrammaton, show them my staff and tell them who sent you. I am that I am. Yahweh Elohim has sent a woman this time when you wasn't expecting a male.

A woman is the carrier of life, and we have noticed all of the decades and generation that our black children, Hebrew boys, have been murdered, and no one has called in for a state of emergency. I am introducing the staff to you today. The enforcer of justice.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

I'm debra murphy and I'm the president of the coalition for san francisco neighborhoods and I'm here to speak about auxiliary water supply system for all San Francisco neighborhoods. San Francisco has to make some tough financial choices about our future We're in this mess because previous elected officials and policymakers have made poor decisions in the past. Our only hope is for our current and future leaders to start making smart fiscal choices for our city. When he was mayor, Gavin Newsom removed control of the funds from our fire department to the Public Utilities Commission. In 2010, 2014, and 2020, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission promised San Francisco voters that the PUC would expand the awss, the high pressure emergency firefighting water system that has protected the East Side Of San Francisco since 1913.

Voters approved these bonds and were told that the 15 neighborhoods on the western and southern sides, which is two thirds of San Francisco would get the same awss protection. The awss hydrants in the East Side have an unlimited supply of salt water from the Civic Ocean and the entire city needs the same protection. Over the last sixteen years, the PUC has asked San Franciscans for three Easter bonds, received and spent $1,440,000,000 and promised us they would spend $312,000,000 to expand the AWSS emergency firefighting water system. However the p u c has placed zero high pressure aws s hydrants and zero miles of water pipe anywhere in the city and they cannot tell us where our $312,000,000 met went to this day the p u c still does not have an emergency firefighting water plan to protect the western and southern sides of the city. Former supervisor Quentin Cobb wrote an article about this issue stating, in August 2021, Frank Blackburn and 61 other retired chiefs signed an open letter to the mayor and board of supervisors stating that the city's unlimited and ready available supply of salt water was the only viable solution to firefighting for post earthquake conflagrations.

Mayor lurie has said public safety is his number one priority. This meets AWSS for the entire

Thank you for your comments. Apologies if we're cutting anyone off. We're setting the timer for two minutes. If you look at the tall podium there, we do have a clock. And you can see that the soft bell will occur when there's thirty seconds left. He'll wrap up your statement, and then the final bell will ring after two minutes. Welcome.

Chair and Supervisors, I'm Heather Davies. I'm going to speak on the same topic. 67 former fire chiefs and captains have bravely stand together opposed to the proposed West Side potable emergency firefighting system. It's not the resilient and timing timely solution we need to address the critical lack of firefighting response capacity in the Sunset and Richmond districts. These seasoned leaders know that the auxiliary water supply system, the system that saved the marina in 1989, is the only solution we can afford to build in time to address the outbreak of fires associated with the seven point eight earthquake that the USGS has forecasted will hit us in the next thirty years.

The proposed project is an unhappy marriage between two distinctly different utility projects. One is a large volume, low pressure drinking water pipe upgrade that would increase the volume of low pressure water distributed throughout the neighborhoods. The second is a decades long delayed critical fire response system that requires high pressure capacity. And combining these two purposes, project requires costly technology to flip between high and low pressure in the event of a major fire, adding complexity, reducing resilience, and reliability in the firefighting function. This dual purpose project will cost $5,000,000,000, first cost.

And the pump stations are not scheduled to be built until the end. If we can only bond $250,000,000 every three years, as can the combined NSR and SFPUC money would allow, it will take us 20 more Esser bonds or years to complete this project. And only then we will have fire

Thank you for your comments. Welcome, Eileen Boakin.

SFGov TV, I'll be using the overhead. Eileen Boakin with SPEAK, Sunset Parkside Education and Action Committee. Even though it's been more than one hundred years since the nineteen oh six earthquake we still live in its shadow. What did the survivors of the nineteen oh six earthquake learn about saving lives protecting property and persuading the insurance companies not to abandon the San Francisco market and we still remember those lessons or have we abandoned those lessons of 1906 in order to chase the shiny new toys so that a city department can grasp at the title of being the utility of the future. An official report recently stated that the city is at an inflection this begs the question will the city continue to abandon the painful lessons of 1906 for marketing strategy and bragging rights instead of sound science and tested engineering If so will San Francisco be the next Pacific Palisades where over oceanfront homes burned to the ground because the Los Angeles fire department didn't have the infrastructure to use ocean water to fight catastrophic fires.

On the overhead is the aftermath. Thank you.

Thank you, Eileen Boakin, for your comments. Welcome to the next speaker.

Good afternoon, folks. I'm abbreviated by my comments to fit within the two minutes, but I have submitted my complete comments to be included in the meeting minutes, as well as a special copy for Supervisor Chan in her role as chair of the, of the subject budget and appropriations committee. My name is John Allwin, and I'm a member of the HIV Advocacy Network. I'm here to speak about the disease prevention. I must say that I'm very angry and a bit frustrated about how the our HIV programs are being gutted in the mayor's proposed budget.

I've given public comments at several health commission meetings, along with many of my colleagues who are here today, but most of the time I felt like I was sweeping into a void. Here's an example of why I'm so frustrated. In the current proposed budget, HIV prevention programs have been completely gutted, which means that no funding will be made available for San Francisco's AIDS Foundation's PrEP and heart reduction programs, nor the automatic opt out HIV testing at emergency rooms. If you let these programs lapse for even a short period of time, then the cost to the city will be much, much greater down the road. These programs have been proven very successful and have been have succeeded in preventing, detecting, and treating HIV cases in newly infected people.

This is the stage of the disease where new cases can be treated with the greatest success. To quote candidate Laurie's campaign promise one of his campaign promises, quote, access to culturally competent healthcare is a fundamental right. This includes robust funding for HIV AIDS prevention and treatment. As as mayor, I will continue to backfill any federal budget cuts. Any federal budget cuts.

To reuse acknowledgement of the health commission meeting, I'm sure that mayor Lori gets his regular prostate exams and colonoscopies to avoid getting cancer and does not wait till he's diagnosed before going through treatments. In conclusion, I wish PrEP was available before I was diagnosed with HIV twenty five years ago. Having HIV has caused me to have many HIV related health issues and has caused me to make major un change undesired changes in my lifestyle. We must end this epidemic of radioactivity cases in San Francisco from exploding in the coming years all because prevention programs are being eliminated. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. All right. Welcome, Mr. Cambro.

Lady speaking. I've been here a long time ago, and I come to find out I'm living District 6, and Dorsey is my the supervisor over my district. Just a couple of days ago, I came into Dorsey's office to discuss something with him. It was very important. I live in, Bringers Corner.

They cut my impression of business off. And when they cut my business off, I came in to give Dottie, him some paperwork. And instead of he acknowledged what I was trying to say to him about my injuries and asked him why could he go and have a conversation about my services, and they violated me on three different occasions. And, he got in the city inside of HESH, and they're ready to put me out of the program. Now, I remind you now, I have a head injury where these people are trying to put needles in the back of my head.

And when I went to the supervisor in my district, instead he's tried to help me, he called the sheriff department to come to the office. I come in here today to find out. Are you planning to interfere with this investigation? Are you trying to

address the board as a whole, please.

Are you trying to destroy me? Because the last time I was in here, this is what you ignored on the last time I was here. Y'all see this? This is what he ignored on me the last time. This was done by a city employee. I let that go. But right now, I'm getting ready to get meters on my head. I want you to tell the people

No, mister Gambrell. I'll address your comments to the board as a whole.

Okay. I just want to make sure that you want to get a document. And furthermore, your your employee was standing behind me when I caught her and she was doing that. I want to know what that was all about.

Mr. Gambrell, address your comments to the board as a whole.

The board I I want to direct him in front of the board.

This is not a meeting between you and one supervisor.

I'll be back next speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Gambrell. Welcome to the next speaker.

Good evening, board. My name is Michael White, and I am here in support of Booker T's stabilization of Ella Hill Hutch Community Center. I worked at Ella Hill where I was a cohort leader for the third, fourth, fifth grade for seven years. We are asking the board of supervisors to stand in solidarity with us in securing this facility as a dedicated youth development center, a safe a safe structured environment designed to keep young people engaged, protected, and empowered. This space will provide after school programming, mentorship, mental health support, tutoring, career readiness, music and arts development, leadership training, conflict resolution resources, and recreational activities for youth who need positive outlets and guidance.

My verbal outreach is imperative in a time where many young people face increasing violence, isolation, instability, and lack of opportunity. Please allow Ella Hill Community Center to remain a cornerstone for prevention. Healing and growth rather than allowing another community space to disappear. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Good evening supervisors my name is Jada Kyrie and I am here in support of Booker T. I was in third grade when my mom signed me up to attend Ella Hill and for years this space was all I knew. Some of my most important memories were made in that center. It gave me and my peers the safe excuse me place to learn, grow, and build relationships within our community. I did not fully understand the impact this space had on me until I've had the privilege to work in the same in the same building that once served me as an adolescent.

I'm 24 now, by the way. Not every young person has access to stability, mentorship, or safe environments outside of school and home. Communities like ours need more investment, more support, and more safe spaces for young people, not fewer. And I am a living testimony as to why Ella Hill was and still is important. As I close out, I ask that you guys consider this notion with an open mind because it's not about any of us. It's solely about furthering this establishment for the sake of the children of our community. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Good afternoon, Board of Supervisors. I'm also here in support of Booker T stabilizing Ella Hill Community Center. My name is Kenneth Kerrigan. I worked at Ella Hill Community Center as a middle school lead for four years. In those four years, I've seen the students flourish into amazing students, athletes and upstanding members of the community. They've explored colleges and different career opportunities and learned about themselves and each other in fun and engaging ways. And this all happened because the doors at Alley Hill were open and they need to stay open. Last summer I told my students, I'll see you next summer. I don't want to break my promise and leave them. It'll break their heart when they found out that their summer has been taken away.

I want to see my students again. Programs like Booker T can change lives by keeping the doors at Ella Hill we can continue supporting youth and inspire them to be the best versions of themselves. Ella Hitch Community Center isn't just a building it's a beacon of hope and safety to the community. We need programs at ella hilt to keep the spirit of ella hilt hutch alive. Please allow Booker T Washington to activate the space and continue programming at ella hutch community center. You.

Thank you for your comments welcome to our next speaker.

Hi my name is Jessica. Don't start my time yet can we please here we go let me start it when I upload this.

Jessica, our IT employee is coming around to assist you.

Okay, perfect. Thank you.

Thank you, Billy.

Thank you, Billy.

This is the one, right?

Yeah. Yes, please. All

right. I'm starting your time now, Jessica.

Oh, great. Hi. My name is Jessica Pesico. Here are my credentials. Last time, we talked about fixing overlapping bus routes to guarantee direct one seat rides to essential places, including San Francisco General Hospital clinics, and major community events. Public health and sanitation. By implementing measures such as securing lids to all public garbage cans, we'll be able to prevent littering and pests. We also want to expand restroom access. For example, on Larkin And Grove, the restroom is only open till 7AM until 7PM. That's pretty limited hours of operation.

We also want to expand health care off services. We know that mental health care crisis can help at any time of the day past our business hours. We want to ensure insurance flexibility. We know that Silver Avenue Health Care Clinic and SF General only accepts medical insurance. By accepting more types of insurance, we'll be able to get more funding.

We also want to talk next about lowering the cost of health care services and improving our vision care, which we'll get into next time. Housing stability. One important ways to ensure this is by having our housing stability oversight committee still meet. Right now, it's canceled. We also wanna advertise different events and options for affordable housing, such as the one you see here to con to ensure competition.

Next week, we'll talk about or next time, we'll talk about opposing the SF drug free housing mandate, strengthening consumer protections, lowering the cost for small businesses, reducing red tape, and investing in District 10 infrastructure, like Jackson Playground Park, securing a $5,000,000 investment for pools like Martin Luther King Junior, and creating a sound barrier wall on 18th And Vermont and more. Thank you.

Thank you, Jessica. Welcome to our next speaker.

Hello. My name is Lakisha Howard. I am the CEO of Keish Cares nonprofit. I am based in San Francisco, so I go to all districts. I am urging you to support Booker T Community Service Center, center's thirteen month lease to the hysterical Ella Hill Hutch Community Center opened.

More than 150 vulnerable families, youth, and teens who are relying on services to start on time on June 15. Without an approved lease, or if the process is even more delayed, Ella Hill Hutch's services will end without a clear path for continuity. That will leave families and seniors without essential support and put others, historically black community institutions, at risk. We know that when the doors of black institutions, businesses, and organizations in the Fillmore close, they rarely reopen. We can't let that happen again.

Booker t has served Fillmore and Western Edition for more than a hundred and seven years. I support this transition because I worked at Booker t for nineteen, twenty years. I was a youth at Booker t, and I did every job that you can name. I grew there, and I became a good citizen and a leader. And my mission is to give a little hope and help to those that may need it in the community. So I go to different events, and I table, and I give away essential things and items and information that is essential to the residents. And without Booker T's help, guidance, and support, I would not be here today. Please give them that lease. Thank you.

Thank you, Lakisha Howard, for your comments. Welcome to our next speaker.

Good evening supervisors. My name is Sasha Earl and I'm here in support of Booker T strengthening Ella Hill Hutch Community Center. I'm from the neighborhood and I also worked at Ella Hill for three years as a K-two teacher. Ella Hill is more than a program to us, it's a village for myself and our children. Growing up and being a product of Ella Hill, Ella Hill has been there for my family.

Ella Hill has put myself and my siblings in internships, they placed us in housings, they provided food, and they provided supplies. Ella Hill has partnered with many programs throughout San Francisco, helping connect students and families to resources, mentoring ships, and opportunities to enter the workforce starting at the age of 13 years old. Many families depend on these resources and looking forward to the new opportunities. Ella Hill gives children a sense of belonging, confidence, friendship, and a safe place to express themselves. Ella Hill is a safety net for a lot of people that do not have that access.

Take a look around, not every child grows up with stability or safety at home. Excuse me. In places like Ellie Hill helps fill that gap. Losing this program would deeply impact children and families who depend on it, and without and without spaces like this, many youth can become misguided or disconnected from positive role models, support systems, opportunities that help them grow. We need programs like LEO to protect our black children and our black families. Thank you.

Thank you, Sasha Earl, for your comments. Welcome to our next speaker.

Good evening, Board of Supervisors. My name is Marva Austin. I'm support here at Booker T's backing of LA Hill Community Center. I'm asking to keep LA Hill open. We need programs like this, in the Fillmore District.

My children have been attending Booker T for several years, and they love it every time they go. Between after school programs, summer camp programs, I honestly don't know what to do without Booker T or LA Hill Community Center. These programs help my children feel more confident in schools with their reading and math, which encourage them to succeed throughout their educational journey. Booker T. And LA Hill have been a huge part of the community by helping families, seniors, residents, and most of all, Families depend on these centers for support, food resources, mental health services, supportive housing services, guidance for children and youth, and most of all, a safe place for children.

Booker T's leader with Booker T's great leadership, I believe LA Hill can just be as successful as Booker Teague and continue to make in making a positive impact in our black communities. Please keep L. A. Hill open. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comments. Welcome to our next speaker.

Hello. I am Gladys Huang, a proud Chinese with family, friends of different racial backgrounds. It is a Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander month. The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to The United States on 05/07/1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on 05/10/1869. The majority of the workers who laid those tracks were Chinese immigrants.

My mother's grandfather worked on the railroad. I walked the last 10 miles at the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary. My mother at Angel Island called it a prison. Auntie Mary Sugimoto wrote, We the People, a story of the American internment, Steve Nicotl said, concentration camps. The Japanese were patriotic, loyal citizens, wrongly accused.

The U. S. Government did apologize giving reparations, but racism still exists. I have been here twenty plus years in beautiful San Francisco, which I love. I am also a good citizen, having done nothing wrong, but I am tracked, intimidated, harassed. My mission home has been broken into many times. Invasion of privacy. Keys, cars, papers, phone give information, access to my private property accounts, whereabouts. The city has damaged my property yet to be repaired. The Americans of all ages, classes have different values, priorities, futures.

San Francisco is also very tough. I need help. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors. I'm Jonathan Froxweig with San Francisco AIDS Foundation. I'm testifying regarding item 19, the resolution recognizing HIV long term survivors awareness day. I'd like to thank Supervisor Chan and the other sponsors of this resolution for bringing much appreciated attention to the needs of long term HIV survivors and other older adults living with HIV. At the same time, I would be remiss if I didn't highlight that those needs are not currently being met by San Francisco's aging agency.

As the resolution states, the Department of Disability and Aging Services has actually never dedicated funding toward programs that are specifically tailored to people aging with HIV. The department has declined requests from advocates to allocate new funding for HIV and Aging Services, to set aside existing funding for these services, to identify long term HIV survivors as a priority population, or even to collect data on how many long term HIV survivors they serve. Again, we are truly grateful for your recognition of HIV Long Term Survivors Awareness Day. And we encourage the board to follow-up on this wonderful recognition by supporting advocates' request for DOS to fund the programs caring for San Francisco's HIV elders. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. We welcome the next speaker.

Good evening, supervisors. I don't want to repeat everything the last speaker said, so I'll just make this personal. My name is Vince Crisostomo. I've been living with HIV since 1986. And part of the reason why I am alive today is because I got treatment. I got the services. I got everything that I needed. And most of that I got in San Francisco. Wherever I went in the world, San Francisco provided me a home. And I want to thank Supervisor Chan for this resolution.

We are over eleven thousand five hundred people living with HIV in this city. And there are about fifteen thousand. We have many friends, loved ones. We are a voting block. And I want to just thank Supervisor Chen and all the supervisors who are endorsing this, who have come forward to support this initiative, because it's important.

Last year, I lost 25 friends to HIV. People will say it's old age, but, you know, I was told I wouldn't live to see 30. I turned 65 in February, and now I'm looking toward retirement. And San Francisco made that possible. So, I want to thank you again. Long term survivor HIV Long Term Survivor Awareness Day is important to us as a community. I also want to say that, while it's great that I get all these services, the most important thing about HIV is preventing people from getting it. So, as you know, there is a budget coming up, so I hope you will think about that, because it's much more expensive to treat HIV than it is to prevent it. Thank you.

Thank you, Vince Crisostomo, for your comments. Welcome to the next speaker.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Matt Forman. I'm Executive Director of AIDS Legal Referral Panel. We provide free legal services to people living with HIV and AIDS, and we've handled 100,000 cases since our founding forty three years ago. I'm here to speak in support of the resolution concerning longtime survivors. I really want to appreciate all of you for being here tonight, and during these meetings, and for supporting this resolution. This is something we never thought would happen, that we would see people living with HIV, into their 60s, 70s, and beyond. That was unimaginable thirty years ago. Back then, of course, HIV was a death sentence.

The people we are talking about with this recognition resolution are people that largely contracted the virus before there were effective antivirals. That meant HIV wreaked havoc on their bodies. They watched their friends and entire social networks die around them. Many lost their ability to work. Many fell into poverty.

Many fell into lifelong depression. I don't want to say however these people are victims. They are incredibly resilient and that's what this resolution would lift up. And contrary to what a lot of people think, this population is not going away anytime soon. In fact, it is rapidly increasing. This chart I have here shows that over the next ten years, the number of people living with HIV over 70 is going to double in San Francisco. And the city, as it has stated earlier, is just not ready for it. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Matt Foreman, for your comments. We welcome the next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is Justice Tumlala with the HIV Advocacy Network. Huge shout out to Calvin and Supervisor Chan's office for supporting this resolution. I'm here in support of item 19, the long term honoring long term survivors. It is important to honor those who have been living with HIV in every conceivable way.

The fight for living for those living with HIV and at risk for HIV and AIDS is not only embedded into the fabric of this city, but in this country and the world. Advocates in this room and beyond have greatly improved not only our own systems of care, but systems of care across the world. I stand before you as somebody living with HIV for eight years, and I am so unbelievably grateful for the work for those that have come before me so that I can healthily live in this beautiful city. And part of honoring this work is also continuing to speak truth to the unmet needs that this community has. The proposed budget cuts aim to take away money from HIV prevention and harm reduction and it is an affront to the legacy of these long term survivors.

I hope that along with your support for this resolution, we can count on your advocacy in the city budget process to also honor these long term survivors by fully funding HIV prevention, harm reduction, and LGBTQ services or at the very least prevent these cuts from happening by the June. Not only are these services important for our community but also to be dedicated specifically to people of color and black and brown communities who have often been left out of this conversation. Once again thank you all supervisors for your time and I look forward to working with you throughout the rest of the city budget process and in support of this resolution. Thank you.

Thank you justice for your comments. Welcome to the next speaker.

Hello. Good evening, Board of Supervisors. My name is Joel Ogrin. I'm 69 years old. I'm a retired registered nurse from St. Mary's Hospital. I worked there for forty years. I'm also a public health nurse. In 1985, when I graduated from USF with my Bachelor's of Nursing Science, I found out I was HIV positive. I am a long term survivor of HIV disease.

I urge you to consider the budget cuts to HIV services. To what end will you be making those cuts? So thank you so much for all of your recognition for the HIV people out here in San Francisco. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. We welcome to the next speaker.

Hello, Board. My name is Trey Turner. I'm here because I stand on the shoulders of the brave elders who came before me, who fought, bled, and suffered, so that I could have the ability to stand here today as a proud, healthy, black, gay man in the city. I'm able to do the work that I do as a manager of clinical assistance at San Francisco AIDS Foundation because of the gay, lesbian, trans, and genderqueer people who paved the way, who created the HIV infrastructure program services and institutions that shaped the health care and public health landscape in San Francisco as it exists today. I'm currently HIV negative.

I've never lost a friend or loved one to HIV and AIDS, and I attribute that directly to the sacrifices and efforts of our long term survivors and HIV advocates. I would be remiss if I didn't fight for the older generations that were knocked down and got back up time and time again so that those of us in this room could dream of any kind of future as LGBT people. I know that I would not be where I am without my LGBT elders, mentors, friends, all of whom who have persevered, many are now gone, and many themselves have lost dearly. To every person in this room, it is no understatement to say that we owe a great debt to those long term survivors. Now in their latter years, to suggest that we pull vital HIV resources and public health funding away from them, as outlined in mayor lurie's proposed budget is a disgrace.

Many need that funding now more than ever. The city owes a tremendous debt to our long term survivors and I implore the board to reverse its cuts to HIV funding that directly and indirectly impact our LGB elders and long term survivors of HIV and AIDS. Also, out to Booker T. Please save that as well. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Welcome to the next speaker.

Good afternoon, President Mettleman, members of the board. My name is Paul Aguilar. I am a long term survivor of AIDS having been diagnosed in 1988. I want to thank you for recognizing long term survivors awareness day it happens to fall in the anniversary of those first reports from the CDC from 06/05/1981 which also happened to be two weeks before my eighteenth birthday, but commemorative resolutions ring hollow when our actual lifelines are being severed. On 05/17/2022, every single person on this board made a unanimous promise to the people of San Francisco.

You voted to honor the San Francisco principles 2020 and protect our HIV safety net. But now, the SFDPH and the mayor are proposing a $37,000,000 in cuts and contract reductions, cutting 2,200,000 from HIV community based organizations and slashing funding for black, Latino, and trans led health access points. It is a direct violation of that 2022 commitment. We didn't survive decades of this epidemic just to be abandoned to balance a short term deficit. Moving forward with these cuts willfully dismantles the framework that you swore to uphold.

We aren't asking for a new priority we're asking for you to keep the exact promises that you made to us. Do what you can to prevent these cuts. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Welcome to the next speaker.

Good evening. My name is Jerry Cuffey. And, first of I want to thank the board for the resolution 19. I'm a 74 year old, thirty eight year long term survivor. I've lived more than half my life as an HIV survivor.

I don't know how I got here, to be honest with you. But without the help of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and other services in San Francisco, I'd be dead. Fortunately, I didn't go I didn't go that route. I went through Stonewall Stonewall re rehabilitation program. I went through the clinical assistance internship program, which Trey just spoke of, and became a health educator with the Samson Gates Foundation.

And that is that is my purpose. Pardon me. Sorry about that. That is my purpose, to help folks like me who have survived this this amount of time. There are comorbidities that we have to deal with, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis that occur in us much worse than it occurs in someone who is not HIV positive.

I urge the board and the mayor to uphold the San Francisco principles that were established in September 2020. You told us you would have our back. You told us that you would help keep us alive. Honor that promise. It's a moral contract.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Welcome to the next speaker.

Hi. Good afternoon, President Medelman and members of the board. My name is Michael Ruppe. I'm a co author of the San Francisco Principles, a Long Term Survivor, and district nine president. I want to thank supervisor Chan and the sponsors of the board for introducing item 19 and recognizing June 5 as HIV long term survivors awareness day.

But let's be entirely clear here. A resolution of appreciation means nothing if the city guts the actual infrastructure keeping those same survivors alive. By the numbers alone, this executive budget directly threatens our aging populations with deep rollbacks. $150,000 cut to slashes community health access points by 6.6 and strips clinical resources from strut, hitting the exact generation that built our safety net. 1,500,000 cut to harm reduction, defund substance abuse, substance use navigators, and vital NARCAN distribution when lives are on the line.

Millions more threatens the lifelines like Lion Martin, Lyric, and care for homeless youth queer youth. In May 2020, this board officially adopted our principles, binding this city to a commitment of meaningful community involvement and stakeholder led public health safety policy. Nearly seventy five percent of San Franciscans living with HIV are 50. We survived the worst of the epidemic. Our community explicitly demands that you protect the vulnerable, not balance the budget on our backs. Thank you for the Awareness Day, and please vote yes on Item 19, but hold the line on your own commitments. Reject these budget cuts, and fully restore the funding. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Welcome. Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors, and thank you, Supervisor Chan, for introducing this resolution, and to all the other co sponsors who are co sponsoring this resolution, recognizing our long term survivor community and the needs of those aging with HIV. As an epicenter when the HIV crisis first started emerging, San Francisco has always led on serving our community. Many long term survivors face complex PTSD, increased isolation, complex comorbidities that require specialized care. As the community continues to age, it's more critical than ever that we ensure that these specialized services are protected. We must continue to listen to long term survivors, ensure that they have the support that they need.

We are deeply indebted to the work this generation has accomplished in transforming public health and how it's delivered. We are within striking distance of ending HIV transmissions in San Francisco. And this is one of the most incredible legacies of our long term survivor community and the public health system that they helped bring into being here in San Francisco. We have learned sexual health is a human right, not a line item to be cut. The mayor's budget cuts to HIV prevention risk critical infrastructure that prop up a crown jewel in our public health system.

We are looking to this board for leadership and pushing back against these cuts. We must honor the legacy of public health our long term survivors have fought for and continue that fight by ensuring that the prevention systems they've brought into existence continue, that HIV transmission rates drop, and that we ensure that they, as our long term survivor community, get the services and support they need to age with dignity here in the city they love and call home. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Welcome to the next speaker.

Good evening, supervisors. Thanks for hearing all of us out. I'm Rahil Borjes. I'm a physician at San Francisco General Hospital, and I'm here to provide public comments on item number 23. I'm not speaking on behalf of UCSF but rather as an individual and also on behalf of the Health For All Coalition.

I'm here to ask for your support for item 23, which is the resolution supporting California State Senate Bill fourteen twenty two on Medi Cal eligibility. Thank you, Supervisor Mahmoud, for sponsoring this bill or this resolution, and supervisor Sauter, Chen, and Walton for being cosponsors. Sorry if I'm missing anyone else. We really appreciate all of your support. Currently, because of the h r one and state Medi Cal cuts, San Francisco could potentially see thousands of residents lose access to full scope Medi Cal.

In January 2025, a Medi Cal enrollment freeze was imposed such that adults 19 with unsatisfactory immigration status could no longer enroll in Medi Cal. We are already seeing patients fall through the cracks. Recently, I tried to follow-up with a patient with liver disease after his hospital discharge. He couldn't come to clinic because his coverage had lapsed. And as an undocumented adult, he could not re enroll.

My team helped him apply for Healthy San Francisco, but his care was delayed. And delays like this increased the risk that patients end up back in the hospital sicker. Unfortunately, Governor Newsom's May budget revision continues to advance cuts to health care for our state's most vulnerable immigrant communities. In contrast, SB fourteen twenty two would sunset the enrollment restrictions, and it has passed the Senate Appropriations Committee, but we've been told that county level support could really help push this through. So, in order to preserve preventative health care for all San Franciscans and in order to not overburden our Healthy San Francisco plan, I hope that you will support this resolution. Thanks so much.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Evening supervisors. My name is Brett Martinez. I am both a District 5 resident of twenty years and the senior wellness broker manager at Booker T Washington. Ensuring our older adults have a place to come that is culturally responsive keeps them out of social isolation and most importantly offers an intergenerational space especially for those without family in San Francisco. We need the board of supervisors to schedule the lease agreement for Ellahill Hutch on time and stop the delay our community wants and depends on these important summer programs for youth to start on time your delay and decision will cost vulnerable working families to lose their child care and force more than 60 teens to lose their summer jobs as well as the educators who support them all.

History has shown that when the doors of black led institutions and local bills businesses in the film are closed they do not return we simply cannot allow that pattern to repeat itself please this please support this agreement not only does the community need it our city does too. I would also like to add that I' supportive of all the programs here advocating against facing against and facing the mayor' proposed budget cuts including our own senior wellness program thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you for your comments next speaker.

Good evening my name is genie haggler and I'm here in support of booker t stabilization of Ella Hill Hutch Community Center. I'm asking you to keep Ella Hill open. We need all services to continue to support the community for the families, a place where the kids can get summer jobs as well as learning center needs, provide structure in their lives, and learning important skills to help further their education. Again, I ask that we keep Elli Hill Community Center open. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Elaine Samuels. I'm from District 5. I'm a retired public health nurse at the for the County and City of San Francisco, and I'm here in representing Booker T. Washington.

Booker T. Washington provide us with a human connection, it bonds community together, it has an integration story to tell to our community to keep our community together, forming a relationship, shared human experience, and unification. I am in agreement to keep Booker T. Washington in connection with the Ella Hill Hutch program because that program provide me stability, it provided me with connection, and I'm also in the senior wellness program. I'm 74 years old and I am alive and well and going to my next journey through Booker T.

Washington. So please help us and make that happen. Thank you.