San Francisco Government SmartTranscripts:

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Good afternoon. Welcome to the 04/22/2025 regular meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, mister president. Supervisor Chan. Chan present, supervisor Chan. Chan present, supervisor Dorsey. Dorsey present, supervisor Engadio. Engadio present, supervisor Fielder. Fielder present, supervisor Mahmoud? Mahmood not present, supervisor Mandleman?

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Present.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Mandleman present, supervisor Melgar Melgar present, supervisor Sautter? Sauter present. Supervisor Sheryl? Present. Cheryl present. And supervisor Walton? Walton present. Mister president, you have a quorum.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Thank you, madam clerk. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush 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 Ramaytush 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 Ramaytush Ohlone community and by affirming their sovereign rights as first peoples. Colleagues, will you join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. On behalf of the board, I would like to acknowledge the staff at SFgovTV today, particularly, Kalina Mendoza, who record each of our meetings and make the transcripts available to the public online. Madam Clerk, do you have any communications?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Yes. Thank you, mister president. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors welcomes you to attend this meeting in person in the board's Legislative chamber within City Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 250. Or if you can't make it to the chamber, you can watch the proceeding on SFGOV TV's channel 26 or view the livestream at www.sfgovtv.org. If you have public comment you'd like to submit in writing, you can submit an email to bos@sfgov.org or send it via the US Postal Service to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the Number 1 Doctor Carlton B Goodlatte Place, City Hall, Room 244, San Francisco, California 94102. If you would like to make a reasonable accommodation request under the Americans with Disability Act or if you need to request language assistance, contact the clerk's office at least two business days in advance by calling (415) 554-5184. Thank you, mister president.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Thank you, madam clerk. Let's go to our approval of our meeting minutes.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Approval of the 03/18/2025 board meeting minutes.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Alright. Colleagues, do we have any changes to these meeting minutes? I don't see anybody on the roster. So may I have a motion to approve the minutes as presented? Moved by Melgar, seconded by Walton. Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: On the minutes, supervisor Chen? Chen, aye. Supervisor Dorsey? Dorsey, I. Supervisor Engadio? I. Engadio, I. Supervisor Fielder? Fielder, I. Supervisor Mahmoud? Mahmoud, I. Supervisor Mandelmann? I. Mandelmann, I. Supervisor Melgar? Aye. Melgar, aye. Supervisor Sautter? Aye. Sautter, aye. Supervisor Sheryl? Aye. Sheryl, aye. Supervisor Walton? Aye. Walton, aye. And supervisor Chan? Aye. Chan, aye. There are 11 ayes.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Without objection, the minutes will be approved after public comment as presented. Madam clerk, let's go to our consent agenda, items one through five.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Items one through five are on consent. These items are considered to be routine, but if a member objects, an item may be removed and considered separately.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: I don't see anyone on the roster. Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: On items one through five, supervisor Chen? Chen, I. Supervisor Dorsey? Aye. Dorsey, I. Supervisor Angadio? Angadio, I. Supervisor Fielder? Fielder, I. Supervisor Mahmoud? Mahmoud, I. Supervisor Mandelmann?

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Aye.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Mandelmann, I. Supervisor Melgar? Aye. Melgar, aye. Supervisor Sautter? Aye. Sautter, aye. Supervisor Sheryl? Aye. Cheryl, aye. Supervisor Walton? Aye. Walton, aye. And supervisor Chan? Aye. Chan, aye. There are 11 ayes.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Without objection, these ordinances are finally passed. Madam clerk, can you please take

[Connie Chan, Supervisor (District 1)]: us to our regular agenda, unfinished business, item number six.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Item six, this is an ordinance to approve and waive competitive solicitation obligations for a port commission park lease and loan for China Basin Park and for a management agreement for adjacent public and open spaces between the port and an affiliate of Seawall Lot three three seven Associates LLC developer of the Mission Rock project, and to approve a port commission license with Mission Rock Utilities Inc, and approve two port commission licensees, and an absolving services agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric Company to facilitate gas services to private property in the project area and electric power service to the Third Street Bridge Pilothouse and to affirm the secret determination, and to make the appropriate findings.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: We can take this item, same house, same call. Without objection, this ordinance is finally passed. Madam Clerk, let's go to new business. Please call items seven and eight together.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Item seven and eight are two resolutions that authorize grants for the recreation and parks department. Item seven authorizes a grant agreement with Wu Yi Children's Services to accept and expend cash or in kind grants from Wu Yi Children's Services valued at approximately 1,125,000.000 for the Tenderloin Recreation Center children's playground improvement projects. And for item eight, this item authorizes a grant agreement with Kaboom and to accept and expend cash and or in kind grants from KaBOOM valued at approximately 5,000,000 to support improvements for up to eight children's play spaces sites.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Let's take these items. Same house, same call. Without objection, these resolutions are adopted. Madam clerk, can you please call item nine?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Item nine. This ordinance was referred without recommendation from the Land Use and Transportation Committee. It amends the planning code to require notice of rezoning intended to comply with housing element law and to affirm the CEQA determination and to make the appropriate findings.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Supervisor Dorsey.

[Matt Dorsey, Supervisor (District 6)]: Thank you, president Mandelmann. Colleagues, I'll confess this was, this item was a close call for me because I do understand and support generally the imperative of public transparency and, democracy. At the end of the day, however, and I think just even in the last hour, I think the noticing requirement marks a departure from precedents I'm aware of, including the upzoning that took place in the Eastern neighborhoods, many of which I represent. So in good conscience, I'm gonna oppose this. Now, in my view, to live in a major American city today, especially in a city like ours that is afflicted with a crisis in housing affordability and access, reflecting an issue that is routinely rated among voters as the issue number one or two. It is to know that we have an obligation to affirmatively fair further fair housing. I think this noticing requirement is potentially needlessly alarming, overly prescriptive, and a departure from past presidents precedent, and that's why I'm not gonna be supporting it. Thanks. Supervisor Melgar.

[Myrna Melgar, Supervisor (District 7)]: Thank you, president Mandelmann. Colleagues, I was gonna explain that this, item left the land use committee, without recommendation so that it could be voted on by the full board. I also will not be supporting it. I think that it sets a problematic precedent. We have never done this kind of notification for any rezoning that we've done in the city, and this is certainly not the first. It's not gonna be the last. And, you know, I fear that it just adds to, a sort of climate and conversation that has been alarming needlessly. When there are legitimate issues that arise from any rezoning, we can solve those issues. And I don't think that that, you know, is done by alarming folks, necessarily. And so I, think that there can be transparency. There can be sharing of information. I think the planning department certainly has done that. But we didn't do this type of notification when we did the Eastern Neighborhoods Plan. We didn't do it with Central SoMa. We didn't do it with the shipyard. We didn't do it when we downzoned all of the Western neighborhoods. And so I don't see a need to do it today. Thank you.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Supervisor Chan.

[Connie Chan, Supervisor (District 1)]: Thank you, president Mandolin. At land use colleagues in land use last week, there was a lot of discussion on why we shouldn't pass this ordinance. But I I wanna say that at the committee, and the committee, really failed to recognize the intent of this legislation, which is to let San Franciscans know about upcoming major changes that would affect our residents, landlords, and business communities across the city. It is according to the planning department that the upcoming rezoning plan could impact at least 13,000 acres of San Francisco land. We're roughly about 30,000 acres. So as you can imagine, and out of which, 4,000 acres is parkland. So more than half of San Francisco will be impacted. So the fact that we didn't have notification in previous redevelopment and urban renewal projects is not a valid reason to stop us from doing what is right today in 2025. In fact, even with government agencies overseeing the previous development and redevelopment projects, We hear from communities time and time again, even today, that they would like to see more information and more outreach. City planning policies are complex concepts that are challenging to even convey in English. So imagine how many families and individuals we're leaving behind in monolingual and vulnerable communities. To that, I say our solution in San Francisco should always be to do more, not less, especially under this federal administration where censorship has already been weaponized to silence and manipulate the masses. Ultimately, the goal of the housing element is to increase affordable housing, which I support. This ordinance does not contradict that mission, and only promotes participation of the housing element, but most importantly, our communities' right to know what is happening and impacting them. And again, this legislation is simply notifying, residents, business, and property owners that, will be impacted by the upcoming rezoning plan. That will impact them within 300 feet of their property, and where they reside, and where they conduct business. So it's a simple, straightforward right to know legislation. I truly do hope to have your support today. Thank you.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Supervisor Chen.

[Chayanne Chen, Supervisor (District 11)]: Hi, colleagues. I also wanna express my strong support, for the goal of ensuring that our city is providing adequate notice to the resident whose, properties will be affected by the rezoning. And I believe a very successful rezoning program comes about with good planning. And that requires the impacted community to receive, sufficient notice, and have the opportunity to also inform the proposals, moving forward. And I also just wanna clarify, in the net in the land use committee, I had hoped that we could move forward to the item, with positive recommendation. And that's why I did not support a motion to advance this legislation without recommendation. And I am a cosponsor of this legislation and con and will continue to vote yes to support this ordinance today. Thank you.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Supervisor Fielder.

[Jackie Fielder, Supervisor (District 9)]: Thank you. I think this is a common sense measure rooted in transparency, equity, and basic democratic principles in our planning processes. It doesn't stop rezoning. It simply says, if we're going to change the rules for entire neighborhoods, the people who live and run small businesses there deserve to know. To me, that's basic responsible governance and community engagement. So I appreciate supervisor Chan for bringing this legislation forward, and I will be supporting it.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Thank you, supervisor Fielder. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: On item nine, supervisor Chen. Chen, I. Supervisor Dorsey? No. Dorsey, no. Supervisor Engadio? Aye. Engadio, aye. Supervisor Fielder? Fielder, aye. Supervisor Mahmoud? No. Mahmood, no. Supervisor Mandelmann? Aye. Mandelmann, aye. Supervisor Melgar?

[Myrna Melgar, Supervisor (District 7)]: No.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Melgar, no. Supervisor Sautter? Aye. Salter, aye. Supervisor Sheryl? Aye. Cheryl, aye. Supervisor Walton? Aye. Walton, aye. And supervisor Chan? Aye. Chan, aye. There are eight ayes and three noes with supervisor Dorsey, Mahmood, and Melgar voting no.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: This ordinance is passed on first reading. Madam clerk, can you please call item 10?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Item 10, this is an ordinance to amend the administrative code to allow city departments to purchase content and data subscriptions without complying with solicitation requirements that would otherwise apply and without adhering to provisions in the municipal code that impose obligations on contracting parties as a condition to agreement with the city and to list conditions required for amendment or modification of such agreements.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Madam clerk, please call the roll.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: On item 10, supervisor Chen. Chen, I. Supervisor Dorsey. Dorsey, I. Supervisor Engadio? Aye. Engadio, I. Supervisor Fielder? Fielder, I. Supervisor Mahmood? Mahmood, I. Supervisor Mandelmann?

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Aye.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Mandelmann, I. Supervisor Melgar? Melgar, aye. Supervisor Sauter? Aye. Sauter, aye. Supervisor Sheryl? Cheryl, aye. Supervisor Walton? Aye. Walton, aye. And supervisor Chan? Aye. Chan, aye. There are 11 ayes.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Without objection, this ordinance is passed on first reading. Madam clerk, let's go to committee reports.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Yes. Committee reports. Items eleven and twelve were considered by the Land Use and Transportation Committee at a regular meeting on Monday, April 21, and were forwarded as committee reports. Item 11, this ordinance was recommended as amended, but with the same title. It amends the planning code and the zoning map to establish the 30 250 19th Avenue Special Sign District to provide signage opportunities commensurate with the size of the parcel and to affirm the CEQA determination and to make the requisite findings.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Alright. Let's take this. Same house, same call. Without objection, the ordinance is passed on first reading. Madam Clerk, please call item 12.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Item 12. This was recommended as a committee report. It's an ordinance to amend the planning code to remove the conditional use authorization for formula retail uses in the residential commercial zoning districts along Van Ness Avenue, For lots fronting Van Ness Avenue and to establish that a change of ownership or operator of a preexisting formula retail use that has not previously received a conditional use auth use authorization is not an intensification of such use that would require conditional use authorization, and to affirm the CEQA determination and to and the requisite findings.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Supervisor Sherrill.

[Stephen Sherrill, Supervisor (District 2)]: Thank you, president Mandelmann. Colleagues, this legislation takes a major step towards reducing barriers to filling commercial vacancies. First, this ordinance principally permits formula retail along Van Ness between Chestnut and Broadway. Van Ness is facing a crisis of persistent commercial vacancies. Planning department surveys found a 53% ground floor commercial vacancy rate on Van Ness. Compared to the rest of the city's 7.7 vacancy rate or even Union Square's shockingly high 22% vacancy rate, the 50% vacancy rates on Van Ness are a crisis. Since taking office, I have heard from many building owners on Van Ness who are replete with stories of tenants deterred potential tenants deterred by the, on average, seven and a half month long permitting timeline. This is bad for Van Ness, and it's bad for the city as a whole. Because with so many road users, this street has an outsized impact on public perception of the city's economic health. We should be helping fill these vacancies, not standing in the way, especially when this change is in line with the history of Van Ness's commercial identity. That history includes large retailers and chain stores on the street. And despite a decline in tenants now in its third decade, our planning code currently requires protective form prospective formula retail stores to navigate multi month long conditional youth processes. If we know these spaces are hard to fill, why are we making it harder? We need to be doing all that we can to make it easier to open stores. We need to increase flexibility with Van Ness, which this ordinance will do, helping activate vacant spaces and breathe new life into this corridor at the heart of the city. Second, and perhaps most importantly, this ordinance will eliminate the requirement for new formula retail operators to obtain a conditional use authorization if the previous, retail operators to obtain a conditional use authorization if the previous formula retail operator at the location did not possess a CUA for formula retail. Well, why is this important? For me, this is important because it will directly impact the former Safeway on Fillmore. Since the Fillmore Safeway opened before formula retail controls were enacted, it never obtained one, meaning any new grocery classified as formula retail must secure conditional use authorization. If we want a grocery store to replace a grocery store, we should probably make it easier to open a grocery store. I'm excited that this streamlining provision will help fill numerous other vacancies left by prior formula retail tenants, And I'm grateful that this legislation is cosponsored by supervisor Sauter, supervisor Mahmoud, and supervisor Melgar. And that it has the support of all of the local small business associations in the surrounding neighborhoods, San Francisco Democratic Party, as well as the residents associations in the neighborhoods. I'm excited for this legislation to take effect, for Van Ness to realize its great potential as a thriving commercial hub, and for a new grocery store to hopefully restore food access to the Fillmore and surrounding communities. Thank you, colleagues, and I hope to have your support.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Thank you, supervisor Sherrill. I think we can take this item, same house, same call. Without objection, the ordinance is passed on first reading. And madam clerk, let's go to roll call.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Going to roll call, first member to introduce new business, supervisor Chen.

[Chayanne Chen, Supervisor (District 11)]: Thank you, person. Thank you, madam clerk. Colleagues, good afternoon again. Today, it is really my honor to introduce a resolution which recognized May 10 as the transcontinental Chinese railroad workers' day for the contribution that Chinese workers make up make to build this country's railroad system under some of the most dangerous and inhumane working conditions. Laborers were required to lay down, rail, lay down on rail bags, tracks, and other infrastructure through difficult terrains in the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. Over a 200 Chinese workers died from the war accidents, avalanches, and explosions. Why the transcontinental railroad is highlighted in history books? The contribution of the Chinese workers are not often acknowledged. Chinese workers make up 80% of the workforce for the central railroad company. Then governor of California, Lee Lin Stanford, testified to Congress that Chinese worker Chinese workers were indispensable, under dangerous working condition, discriminatory immigration policies, and social isolations, Chinese workers were courageously took a stand to organize for fair wages and safer working conditions. After years of hard work on one of America's most marvelous engineering feats, a golden spike, marking the completion of the transcontinental railroad on 05/10/1869. The parliamentary summit, Utah. However, the Chinese American were deliberately excluded from this ceremony, and were not in any of the photographs which commemorated the project's completions. This resolution seeks to honor and recognize the contribution and sacrifices that the Chinese worker made to construct the con the constant the con the Transcontinental Railroad, and the legacy of a vibrant Chinese American community. I want to appreciate the Chinese Railroad Workers History Center in San Francisco, Chinatown for their support for this resolution. The rest I'll submit. Thank you.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, supervisor Chen. Supervisor Dorsey.

[Matt Dorsey, Supervisor (District 6)]: Thank you, madam clerk. Colleagues, I am excited that today, together with mayor Lurie, supervisors Mahmoud and Sauter, we are introducing a resolution of intent to create a commercial to residential downtown revitalization financing district. This local legislation will help to implement bold and much needed state legislation authored by our own former assembly member Phil Ting in a b 2488. At a time when our city is facing historic vacancy rates in downtown, when we're also on the hook to facilitate the production of 82,000 units of housing by the end of our housing element cycle, we have a golden opportunity to make real progress on creating more vibrant mixed use neighborhoods. Commercial to residential conversions can be complicated and expensive, but they also give us a unique opportunity to improve upon many of the bad land use decisions of the twentieth century to create twenty first century mixed use neighborhoods, like many of the neighborhoods I represent, which are blueprints for economic vibrancy. That's why I'm committed to do everything I can as a policymaker to support and incentivize these office to residential, conversion projects. With this legislation, we're adding another tool to the toolbox. It will declare the city's intent to create the Downtown Revitalization and Economic Recovery Financing District, in which property tax increment generated by commercial to residential conversion projects would be dispersed back to those projects for up to thirty years as a financial incentive. We're including the entirety of downtown and Market Street, the whole Market Street corridor, and I'm especially optimistic about the opportunities these projects will hold for the Mid Market neighborhood. Once this legislation passes, we'll get to work on the formation of the required district board that will adopt procedures and regulation regulations for this opt in program. I wanna thank Mayor Lurie for his leadership on this issue, staff at the Office of Economic and Workforce Development for their work, supervisors Mahmoud and Sauter and, their teams, and the down my downtown colleagues, and their and everybody, there for their work and support on this. I look forward to being a part of these efforts to revitalize our downtown core, and the rest I submit.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, supervisor Dorsey, supervisor and Guardio. Submit. Submit. Thank you, supervisor Fielder. Submit. Thank you, supervisor Mahmood. Submit. Thank you, supervisor Mandelmann.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Well, I do have an introduction. Breaking the chain. Sorry, everybody. Today, on this Earth Day, I'm introducing a resolution recognizing April 2025 as Earth Month. The first first Earth Day was celebrated in April 1970, the brainchild of then senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. The first Earth Day saw 20,000,000 Americans take to the streets to demonstrate against climate shave climate change and paved the way for establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and passage of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other significant environmental legislation. Since then, of course, the severity of the climate crisis has only grown. Each year, millions of people around the world are killed, harmed, or displaced by climate emergencies that include wildfires, tropical storms, flash floods, mudslides, and sea level rise. And 2024 was the first year in which global average temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius, the internationally recognized threshold for global warming identified in the 2015 Paris Agreement as the point beyond which more severe and potentially irreversible environmental consequences could be expected. This April, we celebrate Earth Month in recognition of the environmental progress that has been made since the first Earth Day, but also the growing urgency and scale of ongoing environmental harm to the planet. I wanna thank almost all the members of the board for your cosponsorship. I also wanna thank the Department of the Environment, for their, work year round, to focus the city on, on environmental sustainability. And I wanna thank, Calv and particularly, the work they've done they've done around Climate Week. And then I wanna thank, Calvin Ho in my office for his work on the resolution, and the rest I submit.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, mister president. Supervisor Melgar. Submit. Thank you, supervisor Sauter. Submit. Thank you, supervisor Cheryl. Submit. Submit. Thank you, supervisor Walton.

[Shamann Walton, Supervisor (District 10)]: Thank you, madam chair I mean, madam clerk. Colleagues, today, along with supervisors in Gardeo, Fielder, Chan, and Melgar, I'm introducing the entitlement package for the ProLogistix proposal at 749 Tollan Street in Bayview's Market Zone neighborhood, a place that's long powered San Francisco through essential industry and labor, but that has also endured decades of disinvestment. This proposal marks a milestone moment for our district. It includes two new state of the art industrial buildings totaling over 2,000,000 square feet of flexible space to support logistics, local makers, and light manufacturing. Designed with the future in mind, the project features solar power, rainwater reuse, and a strong commitment to achieving zero carbon certification. Prologis is also investing directly into the neighborhood, rebuilding eight blocks of public streets to city standards, a 50,000,000 infrastructure upgrade. On top of that, they're committing $8,000,000 in direct community contributions and 11,000,000 more dollars in market zone improvements, including support for the produce markets reinvestment plan and small business development along 3rd Street. This project will generate nearly 800 construction jobs annually and create close to 2,000 permanent on-site jobs. It also is the first development agreement on a private project in the city to include a micro LBE goal with dedicated opportunities for hyper local Bayview contractors. And it comes with First Source hiring agreement to prioritize local residents for both construction and long term jobs. This is one of the largest private investments in Bayview in decades. But more than that, it is a model for what community driven, equity focused, and environmentally responsible development should look like. The light industrial businesses in this area, like food distribution and water treatment, keep our city running. This project strengthens those systems while uplifting the people who live and work here. We look forward to continued collaboration with ProLogistix and community partners to bring this project to life and to help Bayview lead the way in San Francisco's equitable growth. I wanna thank community members and labor partners who served on the Gateway Advisory Committee. Your input helped shape a package that reflects Bayview's values and priorities. I also would like to thank John Lau, Anne Topier, and Susan Ma from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the team at Prologis, The Market Zone, Rudy Gonzalez in the building trades, and my legislative aide, Percy Birch, for all of their work to get us here today. I also have in a in memoriam for Otis Winfield, affectionately known as Overtime, a beloved son of the Bayview community whose presence brought joy, warmth, and unmistakable energy to all who knew him. Born in Alexandria, Louisiana, and raised in San Francisco from the age of one, Otis made the city his lifelong home, shaping it with his private personality, strong work ethic, and deep love for family. A proud graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School, Otis was known in his youth for his passion for basketball, music, dancing, and his signature love for a good meal. His voice, his smile, and his infectious laughter were a constant source of light and joy. He built a long and respected career in construction and public service, working with AT and T and the Department of Public Works, always known for his reliability and dedication. Otis' faith in God was central to his life, as was his devotion to those he loved. He was a kindhearted, funny, and spirited man whose strength, loyalty, and compassion defined him. His legacy lives on in the lives he touched, the laughter he sparked, and the love he gave so freely. Otis Winfield Junior was called home on 04/08/2025. His memory will forever remain in the heart of San Francisco and in the souls of all who were fortunate enough to share in his journey. The rest, I submit.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, supervisor Walton. And last but not least, supervisor Chan?

[Connie Chan, Supervisor (District 1)]: Submit.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Submit. Thank you very much. Mister president.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Let's go to our 02:30 special order.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: The special order at 02:30 is the recognition of commendations for meritorious service to the city and county of San Francisco.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: We will start with district five supervisor, Mahmoud.

[Bilal Mahmood, Supervisor (District 5)]: Thank you, colleagues. I am supposed to gonna put this on my head because the, person we're honoring, Grace

[David Stoller]: Herkiri,

[Bilal Mahmood, Supervisor (District 5)]: do you wanna come up with your friends? And all the Japantown folks, feel free to come up as well and support. So so colleagues today, I'm happy today to be honoring Grace Horikiri, the executive director of the Japantown Community Benefit District and the Nihanmachi Street Fair. On Sunday, I walked in the Northern California Cherry Blossom Parade, and when I got to Japantown, I saw Grace in her office, and waved. And I think that's a big representation of who Grace is. A lot of what's happened in Japan, kind of, the last couple years has been a result of her efforts. And yet still, she takes a back seat, and works in the background, and never takes the front seat, and takes credit for things. And today, we wanted to honor her for all her work in public. Because she's not only while she wasn't on the official stage, and she was invited to be a guest, she instead, again, speaks to her humility and how humble she is to even not be the star of the show, is what responsible for making Japantown great. Japantown was buzzing with life over the weekend with the festival, because it's a neighborhood that's always buzzing. Sales tax renovations to the Peace Plaza, restaurants and stores are busy. What's the secret sauce to J Town that makes it so successful? It's impossible to tell the story of Japantown's success as a result without talking about Grace. Her work on the CBD, the Hinihan Machi Street Fair, are beyond a part of what makes Japantown not just a global destination, but a neighborhood with a big heart, and a close knit intergenerational fabric. She's not only a leader, but a mentor. In fact, one of her mentees described how deeply meaningful it is to see Grace being recognized, not just for her impact, but for her generosity of spirit. Grace has become well known citywide for her ability to bring people together, artists, merchants, youth, and neighbors, in a way that's rare and deeply rooted in community care. She's an alum of Morning Star School and Washington High School. She's committed to the community and shows that runs deep. She was a day camp participant at JCYC, becoming a counselor as she got older. In 1997, she took over the Nihanmachi Street Fair, an annual event celebrating Japantown's art and culture. It's such an impressive undertaking, coordinating vendors and volunteers to put on an event that draws tens of thousands from across the region. And it's since expanded to a series of pop ups, which I think unique to many of the street fairs across the city. Each pop up has always been sponsored by a nonprofit. So all the money that is generated from these non from these street fairs, to the food goes to nonprofit. I know at the festival on Sunday, I ate the teriyaki burger, from the firefighters, which went to Camochi. And I got some popcorn, that went to Rosa Parks Elementary. So I think, again, it speaks to the character of how you thought, and the communities thought about how even those small businesses should be benefiting the nonprofits that are the heart of the district. Grace has also ensured that Nianmachi's street fair is first and foremost about strengthening and lifting up community, including partnering closely with these non profits and cultural organizations, and focusing on youth mentorship, creating a new generation of graces, to continue to grace our presence with the tradition of the community. And if that wasn't enough, Grace took on the mantle of the executive director of the Japantown CBD shortly after it came into existence in 2017. She hit the ground running, making Japantown CBD an absolute force in supporting businesses in the area. Grace, along with the deputy director Brandon Kwan, and two ambassadors, Al and Yuki, who are behind her as well, help keep the community safe and clean through trash cans and cameras. They also raised over $500,000 to support small businesses in the area during COVID, connecting businesses with grant opportunities, many of which told me how much your work on doing language access for these businesses and helping them access the grants in the city that they otherwise would not have known, was only possible because of you and the CBD's effort in making sure they were able to survive during the pandemic. It's her unique leadership and artistry is seen across Japantown. She has lent her graphic design talent, I didn't know that, to projects like the Japantown History Walk and the Japantown Fan under the Webster Street Bridge. Both are vivid cultural landmarks in our city. She also designed the logos for JCYC and the CBD itself. And beyond the visuals, her cheerful demeanor and can do attitude have strengthened the relationship between businesses, residents, and the city. As a personal anime fan, I appreciate all you do to raise awareness for different anime opportunities. I know you had a person responsible for innovative partnership, like a Lord of the Rings anime partnership with the CBD. And the posters were all over and brought sponsorship and business to the community. So thank you for allowing me to continue to nerd out every time I come to Japantown. I know Supervisor Cheryl and I did a merchant walk earlier this year in Japantown. And even when traveling with electeds, everyone we talked to really just wanted to meet you. Because your boundless energy paired with lifelong community connections has made you the perfect example of what a neighborhood leader should be like. So colleagues, please join me in commending Grace Harakiri on her immense impact in Japantown and San Francisco. And I hope to see all of you this weekend at the pop up at the Nihanmachi Street Fair in August as well.

[Grace Horikiri]: Just beyond grateful. And, of course, our district supervisor, Mahmoud, you know, you're a godsend, so thank you. It's an honor to receive this recognition, but like I always said, it takes a village, and behind me is a village that keeps me moving forward too. So gotta give a hand to all these folks behind me. J Town is my home. J Town, I breathe and live J Town. So I'm gonna keep on doing whatever I can to keep Japantown surviving and thriving. So, again, thank you all so much. I don't know who fed you all this information, but I was thinking, oh my god. But thank you. What an honor. And thank you. From Japantown, thank you very much.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Next up, we have district six supervisor, Matt Dorsey.

[Matt Dorsey, Supervisor (District 6)]: Thank you, president Mandelmann. Colleagues, on the occasion of their transfer to Hawaii, it is my distinct honor to recognize majors Darren and Mary Norton of the Salvation Army. Could you please stand there? And I do so as an expression of gratitude for their extraordinary leadership, compassion, and unwavering service to the people of San Francisco. Now, the Salvation Army offers charitable services worldwide, of course. But their work on the West Coast began this this organization's work on the the West Coast began in 1883 right here in San Francisco. And for many decades up to including today, the South Of Market neighborhood I represent has proudly claimed as its own the Salvation Army's headquarters, and many of its marquee services, including the Harbor Light Drug Treatment Center. Since Majors Darren and Mary Norton arrived here in 2019, they have been at the forefront of addressing some of our city's most pressing challenges homelessness, addiction, and poverty. Through their initiative, The Way Out, they have provided a lifeline to countless individuals, offering immediate access to drug treatment and recovery services, transitional, housing, and long term support. Their holistic approach has transformed lives, including the lives of many I've come to know as friends and fellow members of the recovery community. But even more than that, they've set a standard for compassionate care in our community. Beyond their professional commitments, the Nortons have demonstrated a heartfelt personal dedication to those in need. Whether it's delivering thousands of meals to homebound seniors during the holidays or responding to emergencies and homeless encampments, they embody the true spirit of service. And, in fact, distributing meals from their Selma service center on Thanksgiving morning has become a holiday tradition for me that I'm always grateful to be joined by board president Rafael Mandelmann at. But the Norton's work has provided comfort and hope to many, reinforcing the values of empathy and community that are so foundational to the city of Saint Francis. Majors Darren and Mary Norton, your tireless efforts and compassionate leadership leave an enduring legacy for San Francisco in countless lives that you have helped to change and helped to save. On behalf of the board of supervisors and a grateful city, on behalf of a grateful recovery community and many of the members who are here today, Thank you for your service and please accept our fondest wishes to both of you for your next chapter in Hawaii. Congratulations.

[Major Darren Norton]: Supervisor Dorsey, thank you so much. President Mandelmann, fellow supervisors, we are so honored and grateful to just receive this commendation today. Mary and I gave our lives to God many years ago to serve him wherever he takes us and to be a part of the great work that Salvation Army does. We serve in Jesus' name to serve those without discrimination and help make a difference. And we've just been so thrilled and honored to serve here in San Francisco and help make a difference in the lives of others. And we've shared quite often, Mary and I, that when we arrived in 2018, The Salvation Army seemed to be swimming upstream as it related to offering treatment and recovery. And we've seen in the last five or six years just a tremendous sway of support to come alongside us to offer, expand the solution space for people that need treatment and recovery in a way treatment and recovery and a way out. And so we're so honored to be a part of this effort and to help San Franciscans get off the streets, find hope through recovery, and put them on through a better life. And thank you for all of your support and your terrific words of encouragement today. So thank you so very, very much.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: District seven supervisor, Manor Melgar.

[Myrna Melgar, Supervisor (District 7)]: Thank you, president Mandelmann. If I could please ask, priestesses, Stacy Board, Jennifer Mantle, Katie Ketchum, Catherine Wagner, and pastor Tom Longino to come up, please. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, president Mandelmann and colleagues. Today, I am honoring her church, an emerging, liberating feminist congregation in the Christian Lutheran denomination as they are a vital part of District 7 spiritual community. If you ever have driven down, Portola near Twin Peaks and admired a gloriously purple building that brightens any foggy day, that is the home of her church. I wanna give a warm welcome, to, the staff here. In the midst of this very troubled world, her church is an oasis of joy, comfort, renewal. It is a place where women and people of every gender expression are honored as sacred beings. With music, sacred stories, imagery, and humor, they celebrate the ancient and ever present mother and find renewal in her blessing. They honor the earth and cosmic body that supports us, especially through multiple engagement of the arts, which is especially important today in the times we're living in and on this Earth Day today. Her church's commitment to seeking divinity in the arts and creative expression can be seen right away from its distinctive, colorful, and joyful purple exterior. Through their celebration of diversity, artistic expression, and the divine feminine, her church has deeply enriched the lives of its congregation as a unique spiritual hub. Their embodiment of the values of compassion, creativity, inclusivity has left an everlasting legacy of acceptance and joy throughout our city, in our region, and District 7 in particular. So thank you, her church, for building this community, for making a better world. A happy Earth Day. Happy Earth Day to you all. And now I would like to invite, Priestess Stacy Bord to share a few words.

[Priestess Stacy Bord]: Thank you. On behalf of many, many, many people who have come through our doors, sometimes they don't stay, sometimes they do, we are grateful for your recognition. We wanted to remind you all why we are purple. In 2008, when San Francisco was bold enough to say and bring about the whole state of California to, recognize gay marriages, purple was the color that represented that. Purple is also the color for the ancient goddess that is the mother who has been around for three hundred thousand years traveling with her creatures and, human beings. And also, purple is the color of justice. And we are grateful that we live in San Francisco, and here, we know that it's filled with politicians and lovers of justice of all stripes. And so we are grateful to be a part of this city and a part of your where you are our superintendent. You might not know this, but at our building, if you walk around and try and take some pictures of all our beautiful art, you should come. We have hundreds of pieces of beautiful art there, many done by our community members. But if you're at one part of the building and you take a picture and your phone will say, Forest Hill extension. If you're at another part of the building and you take a picture, it will say Twin Peaks. And in another part of the building, if you take a picture, it will say Mira Loma. So we're almost all of your district, by the way, as well as representatives of people from all over. And so we are grateful, and we brought you a couple little gifts because you need more purple, as a reminder of your great justice work here in San Francisco and and all of you. So thank you very much. Oh, wait. We had oh, we had one more thing. And and and because it's Earth Day, we can't hardly, but let me just you already said this is Tom. He's our our our adjunct pastor, and they all have all kinds of roles. Katie Ketchum is a priestess of music and painting, and Jennifer is our priestess of tactile spirituality and healing arts, and Catherine, you always need a priestess of the treasury, right, as well as hospitality. But it is Earth Day, so we wanted to remind you,

[Speaker 7.0]: The earth is a woman and she will rise. The earth is a woman and she will rise. We will live in her. We will live in her.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Alright. Last but not least, for District 8, I'm gonna invite Franco Stevens, I think, to go to that mic. There we go. I think we're getting set up. Perfect.

[David Stoller]: Okay.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Colleagues, in recognition of Lesbian Visibility Week, it is my great honor to present a special commendation to Franco Stevens. Franco's a Maryland native, but moved to San Francisco when she was 18. And like lots of other young queers arriving in San Francisco in the late eighties and early nineties, she found her way to a Different Light bookstore on Castro Street looking for community. Now, specifically, she was looking to find lesbian focused magazines, but at the time, there just wasn't much. She took a job at Different Light, a thing I didn't know until we started working on this commendation, and in 1990, Franco and a team of volunteers launched De Neuve. At the time, advertisers were not convinced that the lesbian market was viable, so Franco had to fund the magazine with her own savings and winnings from bay betting at the racetrack. Within two years, though, she'd been able to secure advertising from corporations like Budweiser and Warner Brothers. She built her subscriber base by partnering with NIAID Press, the largest feminist publisher in the world, and making TV appearances on CNN and Geraldo Rivera. In 1996, the magazine changed its name to Curve. Franco's journey is chronicled in the 2020 documentary Ahead of the Curve, co directed by her wife, Jan Raynan. The film explores Franco's impact on lesbian media and the ongoing fight for inclusivity and representation in the LGBTQ community and her journey to create the Curve Foundation. She officially launched the foundation in 2021 to empower lesbians, queer women, trans women, and non binary people through intergenerational programming and community building. Franco has served on the boards of GLAAD and the San Francisco LGBT Center. She's received numerous awards and honors, including the GLBT historical sis historical society history makers award, and she's entered the Hall of Fame for the Association of LGBTQ plus Journalists. For the last few years, my office has, been able to work with Franco and City Hall Building Management to light up this building for Lesbian Visibility Day. This year, Franco decided we should go bigger, and it has been a delight for my legislative aide, An and I to work with her and Lex Rosenberg from the Kerr Foundation and Rebecca Rolfe from the LGBT Center who is here, thank you, Rebecca, on that project. This year, San Francisco has been and will continue celebrating Lesbian Visibility Week from April 21 through the twenty seventh. There are events across the city, including a flag raising and reception on the mayor's balcony this Thursday, an to which I hope all of you will come, an unveiling of the lesbian legends mural on Friday in the Castro and the lighting of City Hall for the closing of Lesbian Visibility Week this Sunday evening. Franco, we love you, and the floor is yours.

[Franco Stevens]: Thank you so much. And, president, thank you for all the support you've shown to me and the community over the past however long. I just wanna say that celebrating Lesbian Visibility Week is a privilege. Being able to activate our community to come together with LGBTQ plus women, non binary people, and have them all lifted up together is a dream that 19 year old me coming to San Francisco, not having known another queer person queer woman even existed. I didn't even know the word lesbian. To coming full circle to be recognized with you here today is almost it's surreal. And, through Lesbian Visibility Week, I think we can unite the community in this time where it is dangerous to be a queer person. You know, we need to embrace our trans siblings as part of our community. And part of the reason why Lesbian Visibility Week was started in the first place is because there started to be this connotation that lesbians were not inclusive of trans people, which is completely not the case. There's a few people out there that are not supportive of the trans community. Curve stands very clear in its mission that we are inclusive of the trans community of non binary people, of everyone under the LGBTQ plus women's community. And it's because of our allies like you that we feel seen and supported. When I first started working at that bookstore, I just wanted to meet another lesbian, somebody who identified the same way as I did. There was one other lesbian that worked there, and it was mostly gay men. And I felt like those gay men lifted me up. And it was a time in the early nineties that, you know, we were faced with the AIDS epidemic, and my friends were taking care of all their gay brothers. And I've always felt this very kinship between the whole community and and that we need to stand behind each other and not think of it as like a little piece of the pie that, you know, if gay men get one thing, lesbians can't have another thing. And being recognized today, I didn't do it by myself. Yeah, maybe I had the idea to start a magazine, and I did some crazy things like, oh, betting all my money on a horse race to see if it could come to fruition. But it's the people behind the magazine for all these years and the women in the community that have made my work possible. I'd like to give a hats off to my wife and cofounder of the Curve Foundation, Jen Raynan, to Lex and Sharon who've been along for a ride for a while, and, of course, Rebecca for your partnership in lesbian visibility and taking it to the next level. And to my community, you buoy me. You are the strength that I see and what propels me to do this work. I see you. I want to honor you. It's a privilege. Rafael, you're the bomb. I think you're the greatest. So thank you for for making this possible. And on behalf of all the queer women in this city, let's go.

[Speaker 7.0]: Okay.

[Priestess Stacy Bord]: We can have all

[Franco Stevens]: Everybody. Everybody.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Alright. So I think, madam clerk, that takes us to public comment. Yes? Alright. Let's do it.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: At this time, the board welcomes your public comment. Please line up on your right hand side of the chamber. You may speak to the approval of the meeting minutes, other general matters not on today's agenda, but must be within the board's subject matter jurisdiction. All other content has been reported out to the board by an by a committee where the public comment requirement has occurred. We are setting the timer for two minutes. Please make sure you utilize the full two minutes before you, leave the podium if that is your intention. Let's welcome our first speaker. Welcome. Welcome, sir. I might need to talk to you.

[Henry Agha Janov]: Hello. Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is Henry Agha Janov. I am here on behalf of the Armenian National Committee of America. I'm also a San Francisco native. Almost a hundred ten years ago today, the Ottoman Empire set out to erase the Armenian nation from the face of the earth. 1,500,000 innocent men, women, and children met their end in some of the most brutal ways imaginable. Today, the same pan Turkest ideology that fueled the nineteen fifteen genocide has returned with renewed force. In 2023, the Azerbaijani regime, led by dictator Ilham Aliyev, with Turkish support launched a brutal military assault on the Armenian population of Artsakh. Days before the assault, that dictator Ilham announced, quote, we will drive the Armenians out like dogs. The same dictator who years prior to the assault stated in an address to his youth, the Armenians of the world are our enemies. The genocidal intent in these statements is clear. Statements like these help motivate hate crimes against our community all over the world, including the worst attacks right here in San Francisco. With the complete destruction of the Armenian cultural center and the heinous attacks against the only Armenian school in Northern California, KZV. The perpetrators have yet to be caught, and the community, as of yet, has been unable to rebuild. History has taught us that what happens when such genocidal warnings are ignored or forgotten, an international community not holding them accountable only serves to embolden these regimes to undertake efforts to, quote, finish their grandparents' mission as stated by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. We are very thankful to supervisor Melgar and this entire board of supervisors in the city of San Francisco for voting on the Armenian genocide commemoration day resolution today. On behalf of the Armenian National Committee of America, San Franci

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you thank you for your comments. Welcome, miss Brown. Mister Almond. Mister Almond, no no applause during general public comment. Thank you, sir. Miss Brown.

[Paulette Brown]: I'd like to use the overhead. I'm here to talk about my son as well as as every every time I come here. We talk about unsolved homicides. I come here because my son was murdered 08/14/2006. To this day, his case is unsolved. He was shot with a semiautomatic gun on on saving someone else's life. To this day, I am requesting you know, I bring all the other, homicide victims' pictures with me all the time. My quest is for unsolved homicides. And to this day, I'm just still waiting for other ways to pay tipsters to come forth. There's supposed to be a a resolution coming up, and I'm still waiting for that as a mother who flossed her child. My son's birthday was, April 6 this month. So I am feeling some type of way. I go to the police commission every Wednesday. There's no police commission this Wednesday, so I'm here today. Mayor Gavin Newsom, former mayor Gavin Newsom said, I know who killed her child. The police know who killed her. D and A know who killed her. But no one wants to come forth because of retaliation. I bring this other picture of me standing over my son before the funeral happened. I bring this other picture of what the perpetrators left me, a lifeless body of a beautiful, handsome boy that was murdered. He was my only son, and I want justice. So I'm hoping the board of supervisors pass that resolution on how to pay tipsters some kind of money to solve these cases, these unsolved cases. I need help. We need help as mothers. Thank you.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, missus Brown. Just just for the audience, just sir, please hold your applause. There is a rule approved by the board that there are no audible sounds of support or if you're against an item. If you'd like to make some statement, please just signal as such. Welcome to our next speaker.

[Charlene Brown]: Hi. Thank you. Well, hi, board of supervisors. Good afternoon. My name is Charlene Brown, and I've been a Homebridge care provider for two and a half years. I'm also a member of SEIU twenty fifteen's bargaining team for Homebridge caregivers. I'm here today to speak in support of additional funding for the Homebridge program and tell you about the important services we provide. The work we do, I believe, keeps our community safe. I genuinely believe that caregivers go hand in hand with the city to help bring the city to a better state of of a mind as a better state for the the community. I just truly believe that caregivers go hand in hand with police officers. We go hand in hand with fire departments because we are the first ones on the scene, to make sure that these clients that we're taking all over the city are well. I believe we go hand in hand with taking the care of the mental capacity of the clients and just doing daily living activities, trying to keep these people who are in homes that are like 60, just trying to keep them independent living and also in a healthy environment. Homebridge needs additional funding to keep me and my coworkers safe on the job. I was actually assaulted in the Tenderloin area July 2024. I was assaulted helping taking care of the clients, and we're often working in places that have pests and other health hazards. We go into communities we sometimes aren't familiar with, and that puts us at risk. We need time for the community to we need the funding for the community to basically, like, give us safety more safety classes, more safety training. And as Homebridge providers, we just don't make enough to to have a livable wage. We don't make enough for livable wages. The starting room for a studio right now is 2,200 a month, which is way too much to afford the current wages we have. Our program needs additional funding and workers need a higher wage so we can continue serving our community members and keeping our

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments and for all the service that you provide.

[Charlene Brown]: Thank you. Okay.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Let's hear from our next speaker, please.

[Yen Zheng Guo]: Hi. How are you? Hi. My name is Yen Zheng Guo. I have been Homebridge home care provider for thirteen years. I'm here to speak because I support of the home bridge program and tell you about important service we provide. In thirteen years, we housed hundreds of San Francisco residents who are at risk of not receiving care. Ninety percent of my clients have mental illness. Homebridge care workers bridge gaps in San Francisco's long term care system. We care for the people who do not have access to the other resources. The work we do is not easy. Many of us struggle with certain tasks because there is a lack of the training. New hires often leave after a couple months because of how challenged the job can be. I myself wanted to give up a couple times, but now I still stay because I care about my coworkers, I care about my clients. But without higher wages or better training, caregivers will continue to live in this industry. Most, though, are those most in need, such as people with compressed mental health issue will not get the quality care.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you. Thank you for your comments.

[Yen Zheng Guo]: Sorry. Too late.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Welcome to our next speaker.

[Malik Sinef Roux]: Greetings. My name is Malik Sinef Roux. I'm here on behalf of the Alice Griffith community, And, unfortunately, it is not good news. I first wanna start off by thanking, supervisor Shamann Walton for doing an amazing job on his meeting, April 7, which was my birthday. I could not be there. Normally, I'm always there. But, in this, right, we are back for another one on this one here where we have experienced a really interesting event yesterday, where a ceiling has fell in on an elder. During an event, we had an art exhibition with the youth and, the ceiling fell in on the elder along with a with a water draft from a long time leaking pipe that had never been dealt with. What's happening in Alice Griffith is not an isolated event, And it is really, painstaking to have to come all the way down here to express this because we know that the city knows this. And, right now, we're under the condition of, the great swindle is what I like to call it, in the sense that we are right now in a position of trying to figure out how we're gonna be able to live in a place like this, where, not only are ceilings falling, we have growing, infestations that are developing. And we also have, issues with with, the Elevators. Elevators. I was gonna say evictions. I mean, I mean, it just goes on and on. Sewage, everything. So we have a series of issues that happened. They initially had another development we lived in. It was much better. They have something that looks better, but it is not better. Did you wanna say something you had some information?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: If you could finish your two minutes before the next two minutes.

[Malik Sinef Roux]: So I just wanna make sure that, number one, that the

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, sir. Thank you for your comments. Great. Thank you.

[Nick Frabasilio]: Oh, hey.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Go ahead. There is a timer on the podium. If you could watch that timer next time for

[Malik Sinef Roux]: Gotcha.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: To fit your comments into that time period. Thank you. Welcome to our next speaker.

[Micah Pinkston]: Alright. Okay. My name is Micah Pinkston. I'm a resident, of, Bayview Apartments in Hunters Point. I'm here with the citywide alliance, which is all of us here

[Speaker 7.0]: standing

[Micah Pinkston]: together. We first, we wanna thank supervisor Walton for holding a hearing on April 7 to shine a light on the horrible conditions that our our neighbors at Atlas Griffin are facing right now, here today. I was actually a witness to what took place yesterday, and that was horrible. It actually really scared me half to death. But I was able to stand tall and make sure the senior got the assistance that she needed. What is happening at Alice Griffin is not an isolated incident. Similar issues are happening all across HUD communities in San Francisco. At the related properties in Hunters Point, we've been we're being we've been dealing with low quality renovations that use cheap, substandard materials. Contractors are often nonunion and unqualified, and the work being done doesn't meet the needs of our community. We we deserve better. Security on-site has become abusive. People's cars are being towed without warning. And there's no professionalism, no transparency, and no one no one resident can actually talk to. This is not how you treat a community. We're also deeply concerned about displacement as renovations are taking place and moving forward. Many of us fear being pushed out of our homes without real without any support and able to return. We've seen this happen before in our neighborhoods and we don't want history to repeat itself. Mayor Lurie, we ask. We're asking that you come into the Hunters Point, walk through the community with us, and hear directly from the people living with these conditions. We need leadership that shows up, follows through with accountability and oversight.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Alright. Let's hear from our next speaker. Welcome.

[Dennis Williams]: Welcome. Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is mister Dennis Williams of d five. I'm a micro real estate developer, also a board of supervisor, awarded leader. And, I'm here today as part of the SF Hyperlocal Building Trades Collective. I wanna first thank all the new supervisors. I haven't had the chance to address you guys. I wanna thank, supervisor Fielder, who we worked, during COVID, during our senate, campaign. And it was, excellent. She's very diligent about, all ethnic groups. So I wanna say thank you. First of all, I wanna thank supervisor Shamal Walton for holding this hearing April 7 to shine light on the horrible conditions that our neighbors in Alice Griffin are forced to live with, but is not isolated to Alice Griffin. Right? Plaza East, related properties, Millennium, so forth and so on, are facing similar issues, uninhabitability, West Point, and so forth. I'm here today also to speak on a lack of section three employment opportunities. At Plaza East, Alice Griffith, and even the new developments in the BIPOC communities at large. They've claimed repairs are underway at a lot of these places, but yet no residents have been hired, unfortunately. Recently, they announced a single job at Plaza East, which has over a 160 residents. One job is not a commitment to the community, as you guys know. It's really an insult. And we are skilled laborers in our community, developers, GCs, and others, truckers. We deserve inclusion, not racial discrimination. I demand mayor Lurie to come in a to come and lend his time as he does in Mission Bay and other areas to the BIPOC communities, specifically Alice Griffin, who on the outside, the landscaping is beautiful. But when you open the front doors, you see deplorable conditions. That says something about the general contractors and the management companies as well as the developer McCormick and Baron Salazar. I just wanna thank again supervisor Walton and all of you guys for listening to us and every year because I stand with the

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Welcome to our next speaker.

[Kelvin Sadeen]: Good afternoon. My name is Kelvin Sadeen. I live in Plaza East, and serve on the council on tenant council. I am here with the citywide HUD Alliance. We want to thank supervisors, Shamen Walton for holding a hearing on April 7 the to shine a light on the horrible conditions that our neighbors, Alex Griffin, are forced to live with. What is happening at Alex Griffin is not an solo incident. Similar issues are happening all across HUD communities in San Francisco. Our homes at Plaza East are in bad shape. Many units have mow leaks, broken floors, and rodents. This ain't small issues. They're serious and have gone on for too long. We keep hearing promises, but we don't see results. Repairs are moving too slowly, and families are left waiting. We also need the housing authorities to sign the letter of insurance, the LOA, so that our rights and protections are in in writing. This document comes from us, the residents, and it should be taken serious.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, sir. Thank you for your comments. Welcome to our next speaker.

[Speaker 25.0]: Good afternoon.

[Martha Hollins]: My name is Martha Hollins, and I am the resident council of Plaza East. We are the tenants association. And I'm here today to talk on some of the things that was just said here in Plaza East. I wanna thank you all for having us here today, first of all. And what's happening for over two years, 29 units set vacant in Plaza East. And there are still many, many of our units that are occupied and unoccupied need terrible need repair very badly. Most of them some of them are from our seniors. Our seniors are living in in in their units with mold. There are pestilence. There are all kind of conditions that need to be fixed. Floors are falling in. Why? Okay. Why do we live with floors and roofs falling in? We have had already had, well, McCormick and Baron, to come up from Saint Louis. And this was in 1986 and 1989 to do repairs on the new buildings that had been built. But now, you know, those buildings are falling apart. Okay? And, you know, no one is there to, you know, repair. They do repairs. Yeah. But those repairs are somewhat band aids. You can call them band aids. Because they have been band aids put on those repairs ever since the buildings the new buildings, 193 units have been put up. And we are kinda tired because they're getting ready to do something to it again. I guess refurbish it. Okay? So they're gonna refurbish it.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Welcome to our next speaker.

[Renee Ciprian]: Thank you to the board of supervisors. My name is Renee Ciprian, and I live at the Frederick Douglass Haines Garden Apartments in the Fillmore. I am here with citywide with the citywide HUD allowance. I'm speaking today because our community is in a crisis. You have heard from the speakers of what's going in Bayview Hunters Point, but I'm here to speak on another issue today. I live at Frederick Douglass Haynes. I am a native San Francisco Siskin. I grew up in The Fillmore. And today, I ask you to remember the Fillmore. If you don't know what The Fillmore was like, I ask that you go to your archivist and find out what this what The Fillmore was. It was a black enclave. Currently, I'm seeing that we're facing accelerated displacement of black families who have lived here for generations. The out migration of black residents is not by chance. It's a result of long standing neglect and failed housing policies. Our communities deserve better. The same goes for Bayview Hunters Point. I would also ask you to look in the archives and see the black community in the Bayview Hunters Point. What we are seeing, our neighborhoods are undergoing rapid demographic shifts with no policies in place to protect legacy residents. If you look around, you can see how quickly the makeup of our community is changing, and yet there are no safeguards to ensure that black families who built these neighborhoods can stay. On top of that, there is no pathway for return for the black San Franciscans who wish to return to our beautiful city. This must change. I'm also asking our mayor to confirm his attendance for a walk through in our public

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. If if if any of you would like to submit your comments, we could certainly include them in the minutes. Let's hear from our next speaker. Welcome.

[Dinesha Coleman]: Hi. I'm a little nervous. Sorry. Thanks for having us here. I'm a Huff Fellow. I'm speaking on behalf of Frederick Douglass Haines as a resident. My name is Dinesha Coleman, and I just really want more oversight over the trash in our apartment complex. I literally stay on the 2nd Floor right above the trash can, and it gets packed up daily. We also have someone who trespasses into our apartments, and she goes to the trash, and the security kicks her out. Just the other day, she put her pants down and boo booed, and the kids are playing outside. So we really need oversight over the trash cans.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments.

[Salah Haquea Chandler]: My name is Salah Haquea Chandler, and I'm an abolitionist and a social justice fighter for my people, for my nation. And I'm truly thankful that my people are standing today to deal with these issues because it's been going on for many, many years. The bottom line myself have came here concerning being called in by Hollows and Bayview Hunters Point concerning three arson fires that took place in Bayview. Even though it was a couple of years ago, I went to the f b I of San Francisco and asked them to investigate. I went to the recent d district attorney office and asked them to investigate. The fire inspectors was supposed to investigate. I have witnesses. Three consecutive arsons of mothers and grandmothers and children are in these buildings, and no one till this day has not given us an answer to the three arson fires that took place in Bayview Hunters Point. I think it's very unfortunate that you would think that a riot has to take place to speak in regards. Solution is that the new mayor and also the representative needs to call in for the particular management that manage these units that's given to the city. It needs to be a freeze. They should not be paid. They should not be paid until we deal with the issues that's happening within the disenfranchised community. We hear of all the other cultures being acknowledged for their art, their culture, and their genders. But yet, ours is being destroyed. The purpose is to depower us, you think. But as much as you try to depower us, we're gonna rise and take our position that's rightfully ours. And we're not gonna do it in anger and we're not gonna do it in hostility, but we are going to do it in strength. You can try to beat us, but you won't be able to stop us because we're gonna rise to the people that we are. I need everybody to have an understanding to that.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, miss Haquea Chandler. Let's hear from our next speaker, please. Just a reminder to hold your applause and just signal that you support somebody. Or

[Tonette Lane]: Hi. My name is Tonette Lane, a descendant of doctor Espinola Jackson, And I am here with citywide HUD Alliance, and I have issues with I'm disabled. The elevators are always broke. West Point as well. Hunters View, there are bugs everywhere. Rats, roaches, mice, and and coming out the stove. The Deborah Rock Alice Griffin was red tagged. I don't think everybody knew about that, but it was red tagged. So there's people in there that need help to get up out of there right now. The elevators don't work. The city shut them down in West Point and in Alice Griffiths. And we really do need the mayor to come out and walk with us and see the living conditions that it is. Because I know when the elevator breaks, I stay in the house. Why is that? I live on the 5th Floor. I can't go down upstairs, and then there's feces. There's pee. It's just it's it's it's beyond me. I I wouldn't moan a dog to live like that. You know? So we really need you guys. And I appreciate the supervisors here, Shamon, all of all of you. I appreciate you. And I know you guys are listening. And I'm just waiting to see what's gonna happen next.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank thank you for

[Ace (Leon) Washington]: Thank you.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Alright. Let's hear from our next speaker. Welcome.

[Anona Lee]: Hi. I'm Anona Lee. I'm from Thomas Paine Square. It's atrocious how we live, and nobody wants to help us. I ask either one of y'all to come down there and spend three to six months living there and see. Alright. This should not happen in San Francisco. It should not happen.

[Speaker 25.0]: It should not.

[Anona Lee]: The way we live, roaches, rats, floors Yes. Ceilings falling down. Yes. I blow out. I'm calling on you. You represent our district. We have been calling you.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: I'm gonna pause

[Anona Lee]: your time. Calling you and no return.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: I'm pausing your time again.

[Anona Lee]: Just like you got voted in, you can just

[Nick Frabasilio]: vote in.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: To the board as a whole, not to individual members. Thank you.

[Anona Lee]: We need help. And we're asking you to do what you're supposed to do and hold them accountable.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments.

[Speaker 25.0]: Mister president, my name

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: is Blake. You begin. My apologies. I I don't mean to interrupt you. It's just you are addressing the board as a whole, not individual. This is a meeting of the board of supervisors. So as the previous speaker addressed a supervisor, let's address your comments to the to everyone. Alright. Welcome, ma'am. Thank you.

[Speaker 25.0]: You're welcome. I'm from Thomas Paine Square also. I've been in Thomas Paine for over fifty years.

[Matt Dorsey, Supervisor (District 6)]: Yes.

[Speaker 25.0]: I have been there, seen the managers come and go. They treat us like we are little rats or whatever roaches and stuff we have going through. We have mold in our apartments, and they say it's not mold. They say it's from the cars and stuff. I stay in a three bedroom, and I done seen the mold. In my toilet, I wash it out. I clean my kitchen. It still come back. I can mop the floor. It's still there. I said, what is going on here? And then when I call, I can't get them. I have never seen a management company that stay closed. Every Wednesday, they have training. Why every Wednesday do they have to have training? We need help. And if we don't get it sooner or later, it's gonna be a whole lot of h e l l going on in Thomas Payne. Thank you.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Alright. Let's hear from welcome.

[Pat Cochran]: Hello. Yeah. My name is, Pat Cochran, and I have the pleasure of, organizing with the Thomas Paine tenants for the last three years and with the HUD city line city wide alliance for, I guess, over six months now. And just to follow-up on the two last public comments, everything you could think terrible about Thomas Paine, like, every time I think I've heard the worst thing, I learn something new. We have seniors stuck on 3rd Floor residents who came and walked down the stairs, who've been stuck in their units for four months. Certain supervisors haven't returned calls about that, let's just be real. We have tenant, like, we have, the management's trying to steal rent from folks. Unless you're a resident who has a, you know, a whole series of receipts about your rent, they're trying to take money from these folks. There's people get threatened with gun violence in this complex. There is lead paint. There's asbestos. They had people removing asbestos without even protection. Like, everything you think terrible, you know, this happens at Thomas Paine. There was even one resident who was stuck on the 3rd Floor, who to get downstairs, had to get on her butt and scoot stair by stair down cement and, steel and concrete stairs. That is disgusting. If that was your grandma, you would be up in arms. So I beg this board to please do something about this, because these residents have been dealing with so much stuff. And over the last year or two, it's gotten a lot worse. And unless something happens, it's bad stuff's gonna happen at Thomas Paine. So I please beg you to do something about it. Thank you.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Another speaker? Welcome.

[Janelle Jolly]: Hi. My name is Janelle Jolly. I'm a District 8 resident, and I'm here in solidarity with the citywide HUD Alliance. I first wanna thank supervisor Walton for his leadership in holding the initial hearing on April 7 to shine a light on the deplorable conditions, that many of our neighbors in HUD housing throughout the city are forced to endure. The majority of the residents at Thomas Paine specifically are African American and working class. These are people who labor in this city. These are people who hold our communities together, and they are subject to some of the worst housing abuses that anyone has to endure in this city, and that's unacceptable. In the city of San Francisco, we love to tout how how we love diversity. We love inclusion. We we work toward toward equity. But year after year, these, residents and residents throughout HUD housing, continue to be abused by thuggish management. They are hounded such that they get so frustrated living here that they eventually leave, and that's unacceptable. I'm calling on mayor Daniel Lohrey to show up and see how these people live and do something about it. These residents deserve the same amount of attention and respect as anyone living in the marina, in the dog patch, and then in other gentrifying areas of the city. We're also calling on the supervisors, who represent the districts where there are HUD housing to show up and represent your residents. These people are depending on you to ensure the respect and dignity, of their of their families and of their entire communities. Thank you.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. We have another speaker in your group. Alright. Welcome, mister Washington.

[Ace (Leon) Washington]: Ace on the case, the Fillmore Corridor ambassador. And please put some respect on that name because it's official. I've been doing this for fourteen years. So let's talk about public housing. And I go way, way, way back before RAD Right. With David Gilmore. So I know what's happening and all the different managements that's been going on and all the millions of dollars that's been spent. And these residents keep coming back, keep coming back, generation after generation. Damn it. I'm 70 years old. When I got in the game, I was just barely 40. And the same thing happens. Western Edition. I stayed at Thomas Paine with my family for years. Plaza East. I was there when they tore them down. They wanna build them back up again, but they gotta spend money, $10,000,000. It's too refurbished. Alice Griffin, I was back there in years when they when they tried to put things together. John Stewart, all these rogue billionaires, millionaires. We gonna check them. We gonna check them. You're not getting away. The mayor, I say he was a millionaire, but he's a billionaire. He's got to care. You just got an office, Bella, and we're giving you a chance and the mayor. You got thirty days. You got a few more weeks. They told me, Ace, give us thirty days. We're gonna clean up Fillmore. We're gonna Safeway the addition. Well, the days are ticking down, and I'm coming out with my report. The unfinished agenda, the all these reports that start in the Fillmore and the Bayview. So, city, y'all beware. I call it City Hall, but, you know, I also call it Silly Hall. This is based on the case. I'm on the case, y'all. You ain't getting away with it this time.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Another speaker. Welcome.

[Damien Posey]: Paying homage to all of the speakers that came before me, I want to recognize their courage, their tenacity, their determination, and their commitment, to this beautiful city we call San Francisco. My name is Damien Posey. I'm the executive director and founder of a youth leadership and violence prevention organization called Us For Us, primarily based in the Bayview, but we serve the whole city. We serve the whole Bay. I also have the pleasure of being the chairman of the Southeast Public Utilities Commission over there at 1550 Evans. But first and foremost, I'm a born and raised San Franciscan, you know, primarily in Alice Griffith, Double Rock, one of the housing projects we was talking about today. Then I moved to Fillmore when I was around 10, 11 years old. I lived all over the city. I was born to a young mother. So I've been able to see things all over the city. And being in a, quote, unquote, leadership position over there at Southeast, I wanna implore implore, my fellow community servants because that's what we all are in here as community servants. You know? And I definitely wanted to pay homage, and thank you so much for your leadership, Shamon. I know it's hard, especially being the only brother over there. You know what I'm saying? Standing up for the people. I ask that each and every one of you guys, every one of you supervisors here, excuse me, listen wholeheartedly to these people. If you have a heart, if you care about San Francisco, these things are real. I don't I don't live in AG no more. I work hard. I'm, you know, got some other things going on, but I'm there every day. All the day, I'm there with the people, with the community, those that know us for us, working with the young people. That's right. You see the camaraderie up here. It's not like that with our young people. We got people for Philmore here, Hunters Point, Deborah Rock. The young people can't stand like that together. And part of the issue is the living conditions that they're living in that's upsetting them and that's causing problems, but people don't look at it like that. The beef in the streets come from things like this. If I'm living in a commute

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, mister Posey. Thank you for your comments. Thank you, mister Posey. We're we're setting the timer for two minutes so everyone has equal opportunity to speak. Is there another speaker in your group?

[Speaker 7.0]: Okay. No, sir. Sorry.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Come back next week. Alright. Alright. We'll wait. Come on up, sir. You ready? We're gonna set the timer. Here we go.

[Speaker 36.0]: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm one of the case managers for Bayview Senior Services, and I work directly in Alice Griffith. And I'm writing writing this letter on behalf of the residents of Alice Griffith Alice Griffith to express the concern and frustration over the deteriorating living conditions in our community. Despite repeated efforts to voice these issues, there have been little to no meaning meaningful response from the city leaderships. Are residents, many of whom are seniors, families with children, and excuse me. Family of children, individuals with disabilities are endure enduring unsafe and unacceptable circumstances. The presence of rats and roaches throughout the complex poses serious health risks, and many buildings are visibly collapsing or suffering from structural damage that has been has gone unaddressed for far too long. To make to make matters worse, seniors and disabled residents are unable to use elevators due to unresolved billing disputes, which the city has failed to resolve. The this lack of accessibility is not only an inconvenience, it is discriminatory and places and under burden on our most vulnerable neighbors. To make matters worse, seniors and disabled residents are unable to use the elevators due to unresolved bill oh, excuse me. Yep. Two minutes. Perfect. I'm just saying that Yeah.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Twenty seconds.

[David Stoller]: A a

[Speaker 36.0]: lot of people in the community are, you know, really stressed out. It's very it's making the community restless. We are looking to, you know, to get this whole thing situated. That way, we can, you know, live our lives how we're supposed to. The seniors can be safe, and the community we can be safe. We can prevent black on black crime and, the things that that kills our

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you. Thank you so much for your comments. Is there anyone else in your group? Alright. Welcome, sir.

[Speaker 37.0]: Yes. Thank you. I've been coming before this committee, this supervisor's board, and these these issues have been a part of my dialogue with you and advocating for different communities, different districts, and the Bayview Hunters Point. Mister Walton, I've talked to him about this very same issue when he was running for the board of supervisors. He was at a a a tenant association meeting at Alice Griffin, and I tried to bring his attention to him and not only him, not point my finger to him, but this has been a city collaborated effort to deny and neglect those things that HUD require by law in

[Bilal Mahmood, Supervisor (District 5)]: the

[Speaker 37.0]: it's it's called forty three eighty one revision two, and it's the management agent handbook. And what I'm gonna read from you to read from this handbook from you is this is from HUD. And it's ironic that you you got a HUD alliance and all these things are happening. And they have this type of literature and oversight, policy declaration, and law on their books that they require management of corporations to be on a bias by if they're signatory to that that agreement that they supposed to be, you know,

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: or Sir, can you speak directly into the microphone so we

[Speaker 37.0]: can hear you, miss? To those policies and declarations that's in this the management agent book. I'm a go to PDF number four, and it's called working with residents.

[Nick Frabasilio]: I'm a

[Speaker 37.0]: just gonna read you let's see. This is a general 4.1. I know I don't have time to go through all of this, but everything that you've spoken about up to this point is is can be dealt with through HUD's policy declarations and law that's in this very handbook. So this is nothing new, you know. And the people who are in position of decision and policy that's supposed to be open the city and county of San Francisco

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, sir. Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else in your group?

[Speaker 7.0]: Has, everyone spoken? Alright.

[Damien Posey]: I look for the seniors, man.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Welcome. Let's hear from our next speaker.

[Speaker 38.0]: Greetings. President, our supervisor, Shamal Walton, all the board, as well as reverend Amos Brown, Bishop Birch, and the main ones, all the ones from the community who is coming out to speak and still fighting. We are still fighting, even after mother Espanola is gone. These young ones, these old ones, we are still fighting for our public housing. I'm a third generation for Alice Griffith. But, at the end of the day, Alice Griffith has three elevators that's there. And, I hope all of you guys had a wonderful weekend, and enjoyed your Easter. You know, and if you know the meaning of Easter, I hope you enjoyed it even more. Because in Alice Griffith, two elevators are out. They have five floors, and residents wanted to be with their family. Their family wanted to be with them. But because the elevators were out, been out for one been out three weeks, another one been out for a whole year, they were not able to do that. Not only that, when you're stuck in there and not knowing about you can call the fire department, you know, so they could take them down and bring them back up. You can call your, your, primary care doctor, in case you have a appointment to take you to your appointment I mean, to contact your social worker, so they can have AMR, or have the other EMT come get them and take them to their appointment. You know. But not knowing this, we're just stuck. We don't even get wellness check. What is wellness check? That has not happened. This is not okay. This is not acceptable. We are steady being on our supervisor back. Daniel Laurie, from what I understand, he wanna bring more people in the community. Take care of our community first. Take care of us before you brings others.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Alright. We're going to move to the next group of speakers. I've I'm I wanna thank you all for your patience in waiting for this organized group to make their statements. And, now we'll hear from you all, and we're setting the timer for two minutes. Here we go.

[Lara Kiswani]: My name is Lara Kiswani. I'm the executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center. I also sit on the Racial Equity Council for the planning department. And I wanna start by saying we stand in solidarity with the citywide HUD Alliance and their demands and requests of you and hope that they are able to live and thrive in this city alongside everybody else. We also stand in solidarity with SEIU twenty fifteen who were here sharing remarks earlier. Thank you so much. Absolutely. I'm here also with some colleagues to thank you all for introducing a resolution to honor Arab resolution, as well as a resolution to stand against collaborations, racial discriminatory collaborations with the federal government. Arab American heritage and our community contributions in this country go back over a hundred and fifty years. This long history is sadly unknown by many overlooked and erased through racist and xenophobic perceptions that the current president is parroting. Now in a grueling political climate and with this country's federal administration putting a target on our backs, Arab communities in San Francisco and across the country are facing unprecedented levels of state repression, racial, political, and religious discrimination, and hate violence. Over the last year and a half, Arab families in the city have endured immense trauma as we watch family members, friends, and broader community suffer unspeakable atrocities in Gaza, which they continue to endure. All the while, we're faced with unprecedented hate violence and discrimination right here in this city only for being Palestinian or speaking out for being Palestinian. Like, the historic record number of people who gave public comment last year in this chambers in support of a ceasefire resolution that you supported. We appreciate you all, our elected leaders, for taking the right call in this moment, for standing for peace and against discrimination, and we hope that you will continue to ensure that all people are protected and free from harm against any racial or discriminatory policies and supporting the most vulnerable.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Let's welcome our next speaker.

[Mohammad Shek]: Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is Mohammad Shek. I'm the organizing director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center. I also just want to state that I am in full solidarity with the citywide HUD Alliance and their demands for fair and dignified housing. I'm here today to thank you for introducing and hearing the resolution to honor Arab American Heritage Month and specifically supervisor Mahmoud for putting forward this resolution. This month serves to honor our resilience and as a reminder that supporting the Arab and Swana communities is essential right now in the fight against bigotry and intolerance. The acknowledgment of Arab American heritage comes at a crucial time. As many of you know, Arak organizes Bay Area youth ages 14 to 22. Now, locally and nationally, we are witnessing our young community members being not only punished for speaking out against war, genocide, and repression, but diverse immigrant students are being abducted and disappeared by ICE simply for choosing to speak up against war and genocide in Palestine. This is part of a broader attack on immigrants. This is why Arak is proud to have worked for years in multiracial coalitions in this city to support and advocate on behalf of immigrant communities. So as we're working right now alongside many to ensure community defense, the attacks on our communities make clear that this current federal administration is working to make an example out of Arabs, Muslims, and anyone who speaks in support of Palestine for how it plans to squash any kind of dissent. Yet our resilience in the face of injustice is central to what we're here honoring today. So I thank you for taking time to honor our resilience

[Ace (Leon) Washington]: and for

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Let's welcome our next speaker.

[Fadl Radman]: Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is Fadl Radman. I operate two businesses in San Francisco. One of which is a retail outlet, food outlet in the Tenderloin. The other one is a wholesale outlet at the Bayview Hunters Point. I am here to thank supervisor Mahmoud for bringing up the, legislation to recognize the existence, the positive and productive existence of Arabs in San Francisco, who have been here for more than one hundred years. We are an organization as a business. We are organization, Neighborhood Business Alliance, with about 1,000 members in here. We work with the city. Revenues are up, taxes, and we work hard. We work positive. We are in all spectrums of the city here. We are professionals. We are businesses. We are doctors, common workers, and we really appreciate each and every one of you for recognizing our existence in here, so positivity and productivity can go on. Thank you very much.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Let's welcome our next speaker.

[Mariam Soussounis]: Thank you, honorable supervisors. Thank you, supervisor Balal, and our own community members and staff in City Hall for drafting this resolution, and all you do to make sure we have a seat at the table. My name is Mariam. I have served the city and county of San Francisco as a commissioner on the Small Business Commission for nearly a decade. I grew up at a corner store in Delhi, walkable to City Hall, and in a small business community that is deeply involved in the social and civic fabric of this city. I also grew up as a young Arab organizer working with our community groups, advocating for things like the Language Access Ordinance and the SF Safe Civil Rights Ordinance, which is now, being voted on today and resurfacing as a important issue. Thank you all for taking that on. During my time on the Small Business Commission, I have made an effort to sunset a number of outdated and discriminatory policies that reveal themselves through the legislated history of the corner store and nuisance abatement laws. I'm grateful to the supervisors, outgoing, current, and new, especially supervisor Walton, who have been tackling these harmful codes and taking off the books several broken window style laws that punish working and poor communities and create hostile regulatory environments for, as Fadel, one of our members mentioned, over a thousand Arab businesses in this city. However, we still have a long way to go before we break the double standard of who the city serves and whom it punishes. I'm proud to share public comment today with other small businesses, and we are proud to be part of one of the Bay Area's longest continuous merchant organizations. I'm also proud to be with my Arab and Palestinian community and glad to see the Armenian genocide resolution on today's agenda as well. And I'm here to remind you that you do not have to hold the federal party line. We are your constituents, and we ask you to give us, as you vote on this symbolic resolution, the respect we deserve and the material change we have been fighting to see. Thank you.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, commissioner Soussounis, for your comments.

[Nadia Rahman]: Hello, supervisors. My name is Nadia Rahman. I'm a resident of District 1. I am here today to give comment on the resolution recognizing Arab American Heritage Month. Thank you so much to supervisor Mahmood for introducing this resolution and to all of you who stepped forward to sponsor it as well. Recognizing this observance in this moment in time is especially critical. We are one and a half years into the genocide in Gaza. In addition to being a moral disaster, this the genocide in Gaza has caused the worst anti Arab racism in The United States that I've seen in my 39 years of life here. On top of that, we have a presidential administration who is targeting people based on their advocacy for the Arab community here in The United States, specifically for Palestinian human rights. We are living in a time when people are literally being taken off the streets and being disappeared without having broken any laws. Visas of international students are being canceled for exercising their right to free speech in this country. These people are predominantly Arab people and their allies. Arab Americans are being discriminated against daily in the streets of San Francisco. They are experiencing hate daily. Somebody outside when I was right before I came through security today to give public comment told me to go back to my country because I am wearing a kefaya, which is a symbol of Palestinian culture. Stuff like this is happening all the time, but people do not feel safe coming forward and reporting those incidents. Our community organizations are hearing those incidents. Arak is hearing about those incidents. CAIR is hearing about those incidents, But they're not making it into police reports because this community feels under attack, and they do not feel safe. So that comes down to what you can do in addition to voting for this today. Standing with the Arab community means standing up to bullies who want you to remain silent and do not want you to signify

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. If you have something you'd like to hand over, we can place that in our minutes. Just an offer to you. Let's hear from our next speaker, please.

[Mario McGannum]: Good afternoon, supervisors. Good to see you all. Thank you, president Mendelmann. Thank you, supervisor Mahmoud Bilal for putting together this, resolution. It is now more important than ever. For those of you that don't know me, my name is Mario McGannum, and I've worked with many of you. But, owner of the Postal Chase for thirty some odd years, past president of West Portal Merchants Association, president Emeritus of the Council of District Merchants, and currently president of Avenue Greenlight. But what many of you don't under may not know is that I am an immigrant, a Palestinian immigrant. English is my second language, and I am here living the American dream. And I encourage you to do events like this and make resolutions like this because there are in my course of working with the communities in the city, I've run into so many, what I call invisible Arabs or quiet Arabs, that slowly contribute to communities, volunteer their time, support their supervisors, or politically active, but most of you don't even realize who we are because we're so quiet because there is a stigma. We're slowly but surely overcoming this stigma. And thank you for this resolution, and it is more important now than ever to be able to do it because hopefully next year when the Arab American community comes before you, there'll be hundreds of us or plenty of us, just like what we saw the resolution for Grace Horakori, who I've worked with many times before and love to see the recognition that she got, which was well deserved. So, thank you. Keep this up. Let's let's do more. There are many more of us that can come out because I am an immigrant. English is my second language, but I'm also a proud San Franciscan and proud to be in America. And, honestly, if anyone ever told me to go home, my response always is, I wish. Thank you.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your

[Mario McGannum]: I'll yield my time.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Welcome to our next speaker.

[Tatiana Guardado]: Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is Tatiana Guardado. I'm a community advocate on the civil liberties and community safety program at the Asian Law Caucus. I'm honored to be directly supporting low income immigrant communities of color through our work at ALC. As an organization with decades of history defending the rights of Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian communities, we know firsthand the devastating impact that government surveillance and data collection based on religion or ethnicity can have. Communities of color have long been targeted under the guise of national security from NCERS in the early two thousands to the Muslim ban, during Trump's first presidency, to ongoing surveillance programs like the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which erode local oversight of San Francisco Police. Now in Trump's second term, these attacks continue with, for example, mass student visa revocations that a recent lawsuit, says disproportionately target African, Muslim, Middle Eastern, and Asian students. I would like to thank the board members sponsoring the resolution, reaffirming our city's noncooperation with identity based registries, and directing more attention to the civil liberties risks of participating in programs like the JTTF. With the current administration's continued labeling of immigrants as invaders and subhuman, we need the government of the city and county of San Francisco as a critical line of defense. If personal, highly sensitive data is collected or shared with federal authorities, it could be weaponized to enable racial profiling, detention, and other violations of civil rights. Now is a crucial time to reaffirm our city's noncooperation with identity based registries as so many vulnerable community members are being targeted based on their identities. On behalf of ALC, I urge the board of supervisors to vote in support of this resolution. Thank you.

[Speaker 7.0]: Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

[Chris Ward Klein]: Good afternoon, board of supervisors. For the record, my name is Chris Ward Klein. I also go by Sergeant Klein of the United States Marine Corps. I hope, each of you had an enjoyable Easter. I attended multiple churches, attended the cherry blossom parade, and volunteered at the Unitarian church with a community dinner. But that's not what brought me here. I wanted to talk about a few things. There's a a state sponsored terrorism fund of a $120,000,000,000 and I've heard every excuse from the city attorney's office. The last one was that it was a Republican fund set up, and that is not true. The fund was set up in 2015 under President Obama. There is a communication and technology breakdown here that needs to be fixed, rectified by the FCC, DOJ, DHS, and the Department of Defense. For example, the Castro attack just yesterday or a brutal attack, that was caused by a communication technology breakdown that needs to be fixed immediately. It's very easy. The previous speaker spoke about surveillance technology. You need to talk to the city attorney's office about that because the city attorney's office is doing that as well. And finally, I sent an email to each of you earlier today and other key stakeholders within the city and county of San Francisco concerning this and other topics. Please read that email. Get with public health, public safety. Set up meetings immediately to discuss the overutilization and, access or credentials being issued to people that shouldn't have access to these systems. What public health is doing is interfering with public safety and vice versa. It's an easy fix. It's literally a three second fix that needs to be coded to turn it off. We all need to have San Francisco back to where it was. I love San Francisco. I love the street festivals. I love the people here. We can get it back, but it's gonna need an all in all hands approach by everybody in this room, including the people that spoke here earlier. So thank you.

[Speaker 7.0]: Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

[Speaker 47.0]: Hello. I'm here in solidarity with the black community and the Arab community. Also, a guy has been sitting behind me and standing behind me calling people queer. Just letting you know.

[Nick Frabasilio]: This is why I didn't.

[Speaker 47.0]: Mhmm. So we're kind of in the middle of this anti harm reduction debate, and the mayor seems to already be committed to rolling back some harm reduction tools like the foil and straws, which I learned that if you smoke fentanyl, it's safer than if you inject it. So by taking that away, you are forcing people to take on more risk with their health and their lives. There's so much data behind harm reduction, which is led with compassion and backed up by science, that I seriously wonder what your decisions would be if we could charge you with murder for knowingly putting people's lives at risk. Would you still cosponsor or support Recovery First if we, the people, could hold you accountable for doing this to us for literally your I

[David Stoller]: Great.

[Speaker 47.0]: I see a lot of similarities between the anti harm reduction and the anti trans movement in America. There is a denial of science. There is a denial of reality, and there is a denial of diversity in humanity. Humans are very diverse. That's just nature. That is reality. And so we need to account for all of the diversity we have as a species. There's a denial of equity for those most marginalized, those who can't afford to pay for their own recovery programs or or spas or whatever that literally do rely on street programs, and there's a denial of inclusion, inclusion of science backed harm reduction methods.

[Connie Chan, Supervisor (District 1)]: I mean, what the fuck?

[Speaker 7.0]: Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

[Nick Frabasilio]: Nick Frabasilio. First, I'd like to say, I think a supervisor meeting should be held in the evening so people can attend them who aren't working all day. People might have heard of my situation. I've attempted to publicize it, so I'm not being helped. In any case, I've been a victim, for ten years of organized crime. Whoever's doing it to me mostly by some kind of satellite technology. I'm attacked all day, physically, mentally, and property wise, and not able to find help anywhere. I've contacted the San Francisco police many times in recent years, hospitals, social workers, other city agencies, and not helped in anything. I'm barely able to live. I'm being attacked so badly by this technology all day, including by operators on the street as well. I don't know. I believe I'm being attacked mostly for free speech or fascism, whatever we're living under. Maybe you can explain what we're living under. In any case, I'm not being helped by the city. Three of the ten years I've been in San Francisco and seven in the East Bay. And if I'm aware, it would be the SFPD's job to be helping me primarily. Any case, I'm not being helped in any way, so it would appeal to the supervisors to help me and or tell me where I can find help within the city. No comment? Are we living under fascism?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Sir, this is your opportunity to provide your comment to the board of supervisors. We're listening.

[Nick Frabasilio]: Yeah. I just explained I'm not being helped, but I'm not finding help here in the city. So I was asking where in the city I can find help.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: What I'll do is I'll have someone come and take your information and and get more clearly what it is you're looking for. So if you'll have a seat in the first row. Thank you. Welcome back to our next speaker.

[Unidentified public commenter (Uber/FTC case)]: Good afternoon. As a start, I was a driver for Uber that drove to Stanford University delivering on Santa Com. Northern California District excuse me. Northern District Court of California, 25 hyphen c v hyphen 03477 filed April 21 yesterday, year of 2025. I did not file that. That court case is Uber comma FTC v period Federal Trade Commission. I have a United States passport. Recently, San Francisco State University and other universities had visas canceled and revoked. And final statement is, APEC, Asia Pacific Economic Coordination. So if Uber went globalized with mentioning of United States Of America dollar, China trade, China shipping and recession, if, Uber went into The Philippines, if Uber was at a Uber hub in Daly City, with Mission connected with District 9 all the way to Daly City, if that's your route, or San Jose, to then whereof, from District 9, Noe Valley, or then whereof, to that border. Thank you. Sincerely.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Welcome to our next speaker.

[David Stoller]: This mic? Which mic? This mic? Would you

[Martha Hollins]: hear me?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: That's fine.

[David Stoller]: Good. Hi. David Stoller. I'm the founder of Tutu International Tenants Union, and let's get right down to business. We were founded on Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend on Nabloyne, when I was campaigning to reelect my wonderful Dean Preston as supervisor, when polluted water came into our building. I happen to have founded Davy and Goliath Landscape Solutions, the legendary irrigation landscape company in Seattle on Earth Day nineteen ninety one, quite a while ago before I relocated here a couple years ago, so I know a lot about water. I've sat on international panels on water. When the polluted water came in, I knew what was happening. Three one one said, call Randy Shaw. Call Randy Shaw, your slumlord, and he will take care of it. Well, Randy Shaw didn't take care of it. I was sure I was certain the city would find him. He was supposed to hire an emergency plumber to keep the polluted water from these broken water mains out of our building. He didn't do it. The city didn't fine him, and then in my working with Aaron Peskin, Dean Preston, campaigning for Jackie Fielder. Thank you. My vision is a little obscured right now, so if I don't see any of the wonderful people I've had the honor of meeting, thank you. And those who I haven't met yet, thank you. I hope that you will take these matters seriously. We need criminal enterprises like Tenderloin Housing Clinic to be removed from what they're doing because they are violating federal law by having drug addicts live in our buildings for free at the expense of the American taxpayer. One of those drug addicts assaulted me a few days ago. I'm well known to the police. I call them all the time. I've developed a good relationship with them. Unfortunately, I've been able I I've tried. I'm in touch with the mayor all the time and

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Speaker's time is concluded. Except

[David Stoller]: this guy. And I'll be in touch with you all. Thank you.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments.

[David Stoller]: You are Muslim Let's

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: welcome to our next speaker.

[Bilal Mahmood, Supervisor (District 5)]: Our activists.

[Deepak Patel]: Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is Deepak Patel. I'm a first generation hotelier in San Francisco, taking this opportunity at City Hall today with my son who's 18 senior as a spring break, little break, since we had a hearing at City Hall regarding a matter that I wanna bring to your attention that I've I've come to several of your offices and spoke about very briefly. But I wanna take this opportunity to say show that one voice can matter. That the vacancy tax laws that have been in place are in in fact hurting small businesses like myself who have done the right thing by not allowing rents to to be able to rent to small, like, half liquor stores or mini marts that have polluted our city with the ability to have crime in the area because of those stores. And because we've left it vacant, or in my particular case, a construction zone on 6th Street for several years, now we're being taxed out because we're a vacancy. Now it seems that there's only four exemptions and none of those apply to me except for one, which I did receive an exemption for one of the spaces for a fire. The other space, because I rented to a tenant, the tenant thereafter sued me because I did not disclose that construction was gonna happen on the city sidewalks that he I ended up evicting him because that's as a landlord, I need to collect rent if you're in my space. He ended up hiring a pro bono law firm and ended up making a claim for $500,000. Now we closed out that case and moved on. Now the city has used that time frame of the vacancy to tax us $4,500 plus penalty of 2,000 plus dollars. It seems unfair that an area that's riddled with open drug use, heavy construction, and all kinds of economic damage that we as landlords be held to to pay for these vacancy taxes. I think there should

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments.

[Deepak Patel]: Like to say, what a wonderful

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Welcome to our next speaker, mister Aman.

[Mr. Ahmed]: I hope all of you are in good health. I wanna thank former mayor London Breed for doing an excellent job. I would like to thank Dean Preston, my supervisor of District 5. I also like to thank Matt Haney when it was District 6. Congratulations to Stephanie who is in the assembly in Sacramento. Please correct me if I'm incorrect. I'd also like to thank very much our former president, Aaron Peskin, and also Hillary Radin. Thank you, miss Melgar, wherever you are, that this is emergency procedures. And I looked it over, and I you do I think it's p e r t to go to the fire department and learn how if we have an earthquake to be prepared. Now the word affordable is unacceptable, and I found this. New affordable homes for sale in SoMA, s 0 M A. Affordable. It's not a $100,850. Another one, two persons, 150,300. Three person, 120,000 and one, two. Yeah. 120,700. Four person, 144,100. Five person, $155,006.50. There needs to be low income and section eight. I've said it over and over. Then we have the Ellis Act, which is outrageous. So thank you for your time. Happy Easter to you. Happy Pesach. You look you're all of you are doing a wonderful job, and I thank you for your time today.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you, mister Ahmed, for your comments. Let's hear from our next speaker. Welcome.

[Rocio Molina]: Hello. Thank you. My name is Rocio Molina. I'm here from the San Francisco Human Services Network. I am here to share information about the nonprofit sector's need for your support during this critical budget process. We are waiting on the edge of our seats to receive critical updates about what our budgeting will look like for the next year, for the next two years, and to really collaborate as partners with department heads and all of you here today to strategize around the most critical needs of our communities, which the nonprofit sector is perfectly positioned to inform and to support. On the way over here, I was able to listen in a little bit, and I I heard the gentleman implore you all for support on the street. And he was here asking for a referral, asking for guidance, and I can almost guarantee you that he is going to be referred to one of our nonprofit partners in the community who provide the most life saving and critical services to you all, and to our community members. And I really hope that we can place the critical value that they provide with the budget as well in mind. We are asking for a cost of doing business increase to include a consideration of the increased inflation that we are all experiencing. Our nonprofits cannot provide the critical services that they have been providing at the same cost due to inflation. Meals cost more. Housing costs more. I've been hearing a lot about insurance costs going up. These are all things that they would like to share with all of you, and I hope that your ears are open. Thank you.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Are there any other members of the public who would like to address the board during general public comment? Great. Come on up, sir. If no one else lines up, then this will be our last speaker. Welcome.

[Richard S.D. Peterson]: Good afternoon, board president and board of supervisors. My name is Richard SD Peterson. I'll make it really short. I still haven't got my fortune telling permit, and I'm giving up my law practice. And I'm basically unemployed and need your help. And so as you can see, I've become a shill for one of my former clients. That's all. Have a wonderful weekend.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Thank you for your comments. Alright, mister president.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Alright. Public comment is now closed. Madam clerk, let's go to our for adoption without committee reference agenda, items 15 through 27.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Items 15 through 27 were introduced for adoption without committee reference. A unanimous vote is required for adoption of a resolution on first reading today. Alternatively, a member may require a resolution on first reading to go to committee.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Supervisor Mahmood.

[Bilal Mahmood, Supervisor (District 5)]: I'd like to request for items number eighteen and twenty one

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: to be severed to be read separately. Okay. Supervisor Walton.

[Shamann Walton, Supervisor (District 10)]: Thank you, president Mandelmann. I just wanna make sure that I'm added as a cosponsor to item 18. K.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Madam Clerk, you can take care of that.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Yes. You're on.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Alright. Can you call the roll on the balance of the items?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Just to confirm, supervisor mister president, eighteen and nineteen?

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: 1821.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: 1821. Alright. So then on items 15 through seventeen, nineteen, twenty, twenty two, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27. Supervisor Chen. Chen, I. Supervisor Dorsey. Dorsey, I. Supervisor Engadio. Engadio, I. Supervisor Fielder. Fielder, aye. Supervisor, Mahmoud? Aye. Supervisor, Mandelmann?

[David Stoller]: Aye.

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Mandelmann, aye. Supervisor, Melgar? Aye. Melgar, aye. Supervisor, Sauter? Aye. Sauter, aye. Supervisor, Cheryl? Aye. Sheryl, aye. Supervisor Walton? Aye. Walton, aye. And supervisor Chan? Aye. Chan, aye. There are 11 ayes.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Without objection, the resolutions are adopted and motions are approved. Madam Clerk, can you please call item 18?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Item 18. This is a resolution to recognize the month of April 2025 as Arab American Heritage Month in the city and county of San Francisco.

[Bilal Mahmood, Supervisor (District 5)]: Supervisor Mahamud. Thank you, colleagues. I wanted to briefly speak on my resolution of for the city of County San Francisco celebrating Arab American Heritage Month. Arab Americans have made a profound and lasting contribution to the cultural, social, economic, and political landscape of The United States, enriching the nation's history with their resilience, innovation, and creativity, as we just heard from so many of the community members who came and spoke during public comment today. And thank you to them for raising awareness and asking for this resolution as well. Arab American Heritage Month observed in the month of April provides a significant opportunity to honor and celebrate the diverse cultures, traditions, and histories of Arab Americans while promoting awareness and understanding of the Arab American community's invaluable role in shaping American society. The Arab American community in San Francisco has a rich and proud history of contributing to the city's diverse identity with individuals and families from a variety of Arab nations, such as Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, and others, building homes, businesses, communities, and the cities for generations. District 5 is home to a vibrant and thriving Arab American communities where residents from a wide array of backgrounds and traditions have made significant contributions to the city's cultural and social fabric. Just a week ago, with the incredible support of the community, we were able to pull together the first ever largest Tenderloin Eads street fair, creating a space for our Arab community to to shop local retailers in a bazaar, enjoy a live performance by Palestinian artist, MC Abdul, and enjoy activities outdoors with their children. In this context, now more than ever, it is important to uplift our diverse communities and to fight against discrimination, xenophobia, and hate that we know and hear so many of our community members are facing. And it's time to affirm our dedication to supporting Arab Americans and all marginalized communities to achieve equality and justice. Thank you again to all the community members who came out and spoke in public comment, and thank you to my colleagues for your unanimous support. And most importantly as well, I want to thank, Mohanis from supervisor Dorsey's office, who I know has been leading on representation for the Arab and Muslim community for many, many years and is the, aid who actually wrote this resolution. And I want to thank her as well, for her contribution

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: here. Thank you, supervisor Dorsey.

[Matt Dorsey, Supervisor (District 6)]: Thank you, president Mandelmann, and thank you, supervisor Mahmoud, for, I actually was gonna give you credit for authoring the the resolution, but thank you for being the lead sponsor on it. District 6 is proudly home to many Arab Americans and small business owners who are deeply woven into the fabric of our neighborhoods. From corner stores and family run restaurants to nonprofit leaders and entrepreneurs, the Arab American community in District 6 has long played a vital role in sustaining our local economy and strengthening the cultural life of our city. The resilience through the challenging these challenging times has helped to auth, anchor our communities and remind us of the power of perseverance, pride, and service. Today, I'm proud to cosponsor this resolution declaring April as Arab American Heritage Month in San Francisco. This is long overdue recognition of a community that has been an integral part of the American story and certainly San Francisco's story for generations. Arab Americans have contributed immensely to the cultural, economic, and civic fabric of our city, often while facing discrimination, erasure, and barriers to full belonging. This resolution seeks not only to celebrate Arab American heritage, but also to confront that legacy of exclusion. It is an affirmation of identity, history, and the vibrant cultural richness that Arab Americans bring to San Francisco, from the arts to academia, small business to social justice movements, public service to public health. It is also a statement of solidarity and support for a community that has far too often been marginalized and misunderstood. So I wanna take a moment to acknowledge and thank my legislative aide, Mohanis Ibadi, who played a leading role in drafting this resolution. Mohanis is the only Muslim legislative aide currently serving in city hall, and she has brought not just her professional expertise, but also her deep personal passion for equity, inclusion, and representation to this work. To those who know her, she is a rock star. Her commitment to uplifting Arab and Muslim communities through policy celebration and visibility is something I really admire, and I'm grateful every day to have her on our team. So I hope this resolution serves as an enduring public recognition that Arab American history is American history. I am grateful to my colleagues for joining us in celebrating Arab American history Heritage Month and ensuring that San Francisco continues to be a place where every culture is honored, every voice is heard, and every San Franciscan has a seat at the table. Thank you.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Thank you, supervisor. I think with that, we can take this item. Same house, same call, without objection. The resolution is adopted. Madam clerk, can you please call item 21?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Item 21, this is a resolution to affirm San Francisco's commitment to preserving black, indigenous, and black people of color and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer questioning, history, and to provide a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and belonging environment for its workers, residents, and visitors.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Supervisor Mahboud.

[Bilal Mahmood, Supervisor (District 5)]: I just wanna thank again supervisor Walton and supervisor, Mandelmann and president for introducing this resolution, especially in the context of the current Trump administration's weaponization of this issue and, the actions he is continuing to take. I also wanted to briefly acknowledge a recent event that came to light, which was that in this unfortunately, in a similar string of events to the spirit of what's been acknowledged in this resolution, Reverend Brown had some of his memorabilia removed from the Smithsonian, and he was notified of that last week. And I think compounding with a lot of the issues that are happening nationally, we just wanted to acknowledge that on the record as having occurred, and, again, contending these actions from the federal administration as they continue to eliminate black, BIPOC, broader, Arab, Palestinian voices across the across the spectrum. And it's extremely troubling these times. And I just wanted to extend again our gratitude to Reverend Brown for all he's done for the community and for the city, and how these issues should not be occurring, and we are here in support.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: And thank you for that. And with that, we can take this item, same house, same call, without objection. The resolution is adopted. And madam clerk, could you please call could you could you please read the in memoriams?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: Yes. Today's meeting will be adjourned in memory of the following beloved individual on behalf of supervisor Walton for the late mister Otis Winfield junior.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Thank you, madam clerk. I skipped over, imperative agenda, but we do not have any imperative agenda. Correct?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: I have none to report.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Alright. And, I think that brings us to the end of our agenda. Do we have any further business before us?

[Angela Calvillo, Clerk of the Board]: That concludes our business for today.

[Rafael Mandelman, Board President (District 8)]: Well, then we are adjourned. Thank you, madam clerk.