Time that i voted and i think i must have just turned 18 at the time. When i started to do the ballot fill out the ballot and to vote, i remember thinking i dont know any of these people. I dont know any of these measures. And i dont think that that was something that was unusual for someone who came from an immigrant family who i think my parents never voted until after i voted, actually. And so its one of these things that we say, when we think about why it is so important to vote, its because we have the opportunity to vote for people who represent us in government, whether its local government or all the way to the highest level in our federal government. Because these individuals pass laws and make decisions on how we govern how we live our lives, who we can marry, the air we breathe. That is why today im so proud to be here, to kick off not only womens equality day but also the w challenge. So, what is the w challenge . I want everybody to go when you can today to wchallenge. Org. The goal is simple. Its to raise womens voices, to show that across the city, across issues, across ideology, we are united when it comes to getting women out to vote and the importance of getting women out to vote. The way it works is this we can all do something about this. We each individually, not only pledge to vote, but we pledge to get one more woman registered to vote and bring one more woman with us to the ballot. So, with that, id love to introduce our next speaker. She is no stranger to paving the way and fighting for our values. Our San Francisco values. She was the first woman to serve as speaker of the house in u. S. History, our Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi [cheering] [applause] thank you very much, carmen. It is an honor to be here with you and so many Women Leaders in our community. Thank you. Madame mayor, honor to be with you. I was recalling on the way here when carmen was a supervisor, assessor chiu was a supervisor. We walked her district and with katie tang who would then become the supervisor. So katie nice to see you, too. Congratulations, carmen. Look at these women. London breed, the mayor of San Francisco [applause] carmen chiu, the assessor of our city. And katie tang, supervisor. She was a staff person then and on then on to the supervisor following in carmens wonderful footsteps. Were joined by the sheriff katie vicky hennessy. Were so blessed in our community with so many wonderful leader and youll hear from more. Debbie meslo from the commission ton status of women. The list goes on and on. But here we are. The w challenge. Challenging women to vote. Its just a fact. When you dont vote, you dont count. And your views are not takens into consideration. So thank you, carmen, for bringing us together for this challenge. And its so important. At the time, when this happened, they said women given the right to vote. No. Women werent given anything. [laughter] women werent given. It was women fought, marched, starved, were starved by their families. They did everything to be recognized. To be recognized so that women could have the right to vote. We stand on their shoulders. So, we have to continue to fight for equal pay, for equal work and Lily Ledbetter and all those kinds of things. And women are very much about families. And keeping families together. We do not want families separated by immigration policy, that we do not agree with. And we dont want families separated by gun violence. That is why it is an honor to be here with mardie scott. Shes turned the grief of her sons murder into a decades long fight to confront the tragedy of gun violence. You are such an incredible leader. Thank you for inspiring us so. [applause] especially today. Just this morning we lost a cherished member of our community. Brother juno. We need the voices of americas women so that so that when we take power, we will pass laws that will protect and keep families together, not separated by gun violence. And im glad that supervisor catherine stefani, who worked so much on this gun issue before becoming a supervisor. So very, very important. So, votes matter. Because it determines policy and policy matters. Thank you, again. I know when we leave here, well march over there to the library and have a seminar on how women can be more appointed to commissions and boards and Elective Office and the rest so i thought id tell you this story. It was a long time ago. My children were little and i was in my home, getting ready for dinner. And i get a call from the mayor of San Francisco. He says what are you doing, nancy, making a big pot of pasta . [laughter] i said no, mayor, im reading the new york times. [laughter] but heres the point. He called to ask me, because my kids and i always volunteered at the San Francisco library. Where youre going next. He said i know you love the library where you serve and calling to apoint you as a library commissioner. He says thats ok, mr. Mayor, ill do the work without being a commissioner. We love the library. Well just go do that. Now he was not known as a great femininist, but he did say never say that. No man would say that. Get official recognition for what you do. [applause] official recognition for what you do. It was true then. Its true now. Hi, chief. But the point was i i really thought, well, were going to volunteer anyway. But when you get on a commission, you have a vote. People want to know what you think. We started bringing our Commission Meetings into the neighborhood. I was a big thing. You can make a difference with your fresh, new ideas, especially realising how bringing it closer to home was important to families. So im so happy that there will be even now a need but also an opportunity for women to learn more about why it is important that they get official recognition for what they do. Who knows . Library commissioner, speaker of the house. Who knows . [applause] so in any event, proud to recognize a city that recognizes the power of women. When we talk about a vote on a commission, or a vote at the polls, that iss really important. So thank you, carmen, for bringing us together for the w challenge. There is nothing more wholesome for our country, for our political process, for our government than the increased participation of women in leadership in the political system. We owe it to the suffragettes, thats why i wore purple and white, we owe it to the suffragettes standing on their shoulders to advance the cause even further. Thank you all very much. [applause] she is and always will be our leader. Yes [applause] speaking of folks to recognize, i want to make sure that im recognizing the league of women voters of San Francisco and, of course t department of status of women lead by my cosponsors in this. There will be many more people join us and ill recognize you as we go. I wanted to make sure to bring up our mayor, london breed. This next person, i think, needs no introduction. She seems to rise to every single challenge thrown in her way. As a young girl, she was raised by her grandmother. She grew up in public housing. She chanding herself to make history. Our citys newest mayor, mayor london breed. [applause] here in San Francisco, we are so fortunate. We have some of the most amazing leaders anywhere. They just all happen to be women. [laughter] leader pelosi, paving the way, fighting the good fight in washington, d. C. Every single day. A challenge against a terrible president. She stands tall, she stands proud, she stands fearless, while she simultaneously stir ago pot of pasta. [laughter] that is our leader. Amazing, fearless and standing strong. And yes, carmen, too, i accept the w challenge. Because it shouldnt take more than 30 years to elect the second woman mayor of the city and county of San Francisco. [applause] here in our city, we have a woman mayor. We have a woman president of the board of supervisors with seven of the 11 members that are women. The presiding judge here in San Francisco is a woman. So many leaders, our city administrator. So many incredible people. In fact, my first two major appointments, district five supervisor valley brown, a woman, ivy league to the Community College board, a woman. Women who get the job done. Women who focus on doing the work. And let me be clear, to all the men we still love and need you. [laughter] trust and believe that. But we are so fortunate that so many incredible women commissioners, so many incredible women step up to the plate and run for office and put themselves out there to do whats necessary to get the job done. But we have more work to do. We all know the challenges of what we face here in the city and county of San Francisco. The conversations around Mental Illness, the conversations around substance abuse, the things we need to do to build more housing. We know we have work to do. Which is why we have to do everything we can to get women registered to vote, to get out the vote, to elect women, appoint women and do all we can to support one another. And it wont be easy. But we can get the job done. Behind me, i can name so many amazing women. Commander manocks who basically was a captain at Northern Police station and is now commander in the police department. Maddie scott who was mentioned earlier. Other commissioners and people who continue to step up to the plate and lead and do the right thing on behalf of the residents of our city and our country. We are definitely a place of wealth of knowledge and incredible women. And today as we celebrate women equality day, we need to think about what we need to do to work harder to get the a better place. We have work to go. Women, lets get it done. Thank you. Speaking of love to ours allies, i do want to recognize supervisor asafai who joined us today. He will be speaking he is hanging out with the girls up here. He is going to be speaking at the panel later. So, we want to, of course, welcome him and thank him for joining us. Our Small Business commissioner sonya malara and our city administrator, our chief and many, many others who are here. The next speaker is an amazing, amazing legislator. She shows gults and courage. She walks across the aisle to pass policies to build more housing for working families. Shes done so much and brought news to the city. Good news. To expand parenttal benefits but also lactation policies here locally in San Francisco. It truly is a model for the nation and i want to welcome supervisor katie tang up to the podium. [applause] thank you so much, assessor chu. Her entire team. The department of status of women and i want to thank her sister, cindy, also. She designed this fabulous logo here that has a lot of meaning behind it for this w challenge. So thank you, cindy. I was actually just talking to my friend viva. I dont know if she is still here, but from the School District. One thing yes. There is viva. So one thing that i definitely want to do and work with her in the School District on is that now we can also preregister our Young Students to be able to vote. So we want to do that for 16, 17yearolds and begin them on an early path to remember to vote. Now when carmen brought this challenge to us, there was a statistic that was shared, which was that california ranks third in terms of the top number of women who are not registered to vote. Right . That is hard to believe. I didnt know that before. And that is a statistic that i do not think that californians want to be a part of. We dont want to rank high on that. Lets change the landscape of that. A lot has been said about the importance of getting people to vote. Lets get out there and thank you for bringing attention to this. Because we all know we have to do this. But you have to be hit over the head to be reminded about it. Thank you, carmen. [applause] thank you, supervisor tang. Some more folks who have joined us, of course. Commissioner julie su, claudine chang, darlene chu, ecology general manager minna tau. This is pretty important. We have a woman leading a general manager. And ben rosen sf eld here as well. [applause] thank you very much for being here. Our next speaker is a leader in common sense gun control laws far before she was ever a legislator here in San Francisco. Something that is much too important for our communities. She is someone who is a steadfast person to lead the her commitment to creating safe communities for all of our families. I want to welcome one of our newest members of the board of supervisors, supervisor catherine stefani. [applause] thank you, carmen. I, too, accept the w challenge. It is an honor to be here with so many incredible women. Leader pelosi. My sister mayor london breed. Supervisor katie tang and so many other incredible women and our men, too, that help us along the way. I was thinking the other day, you know, my daughter. She is 9 years old and she is absolutely obsessed with Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg and every night she reads out of this little blue boo, that says there is no truth without ruth. And we were talking about the challenges that we face and sometimes how it is really hard to overcome like what we see on the streets with homelessness and Mental Illness and how we have to work so incredibly hard at these issues. And we were talking about the womens right to vote and how long that took. It took us over 100 years. We didnt just get the right to vote, we had to really work so hard for that right to vote. And 98 years later, were still fighting for equal representation and equal pay and equal treatments. So, you know, for my 9yearold daughter, these are lessons that we talk about every night. And its one of the reasons why i picked up legislation that supervisor farrell was sponsoring, which is to have more of our female represented in our public art. We want women we want more symbols of women for our children to look up to. And one of the reasons why we are, you know, putting forward a statue of dr. Maya angelou. Its something that im looking forward to doing and well be doing that this fall. One other thing i was thinking about, too. On ill never forget. January 4, 2007. I was on the treadmill at the j. C. C. Watching leader pelosi and then congresswoman pelosi being sworn in as the first woman to become the speaker of the house. And i was on that treadmill for like two hours. I have to thank you for that workout. [laughter] because i could not stop watching and i will never forget when she was there with all the children around her and she said the house will come to order with the gavel. And then two years later, i was in emerge. I was in my emerge class at the California Democratic convention and Speaker Pelosi was there. And we had signs that said madame speaker and i was pregnant with my daughter gigi. You know, she is 9 now and she is watching me in my role as supervisor. Shes watching me run for office. And she is watching me do it in a pants suit. And i say that because even in my time when i was a trial lawyer, i was told that i needed to wear skirts to trial. Even in my time. So, im happy that my daughter gets to see me do all of this in a pantsuit because it does matter. Because nancy mali the d. A. In Alameda County said if you are not at the table [traffic going by] if you are not at the table, youre not on the menu. If you are not at the table, they are talk about reproductive rights without you. If you are not at the table, they are talking about child care and access to education and Health Care Without you. You have to vote, you have to encourage your friends to vote and you have to run for office if you are a woman. I am so excited to be here today anja wait to vote on november 6 and i cant wait to cast a vote for myself. Thank you. [laughter] [applause] if i lived in district two, i would, too. To close out on our challenge, again i just want to encourage everybody to remember, pleases go to wchallenge. Org, sign up, pledge to vote. Pledge to bring one more woman to the polls with you. Register one more woman to go vote. It really does matter. Please make sure to do that. To close out again, i want to invite our wonderful partners. Debbie meso, the president on the status of women as well as leah edwards. [applause] i just wanted to say quickly that im inviting everyone on november 6 to ladiess night because i know that when women vote, women control the agenda. When women control the agenda, well have equal pay. Well have paid leave. Well have more women ascending in leadership, just like our great Women Leaders here. I really want to thank our great assessor carmen chu for issuing this challenge. I, too, accept it. I want to thank london breed. She talked about her first appointment as a woman. We salute her and appreciate that and our great leader nancy pelosi whos done so much for women in this city. Thank you so much for coming and assessor chu for this challenge. [applause] hello, everyone. Thank you so much to everyone for being here today. My name is leah edwards. Im with the league of women voters of San Francisco and were honored to be a part of this collaboration for womens equality day. Securing womens equality day is really, really important because it commemorates the adoption of a 19th amendment nearly 100 years ago when women first secured the right to vote. Securing this right was not easy. It took 75 years of fighting and ultimately was only made possible by tens of thousands of women who organized and advocated that half the population could have their voice heard. While this might seem like it was a long time ago, citizens across the country continue to face barriers to voting in the form of voter i. D. Law, reduced voting hours and purging voters from voting rolls. Theres still a lot more work to be done to ensure that everybody is able to exercise their right to vote. While voting remains a national problem, low turnout is perhapss a greater one. There are millions of people who are registered to vote but dont ultimately cast their ballots for many reasons. In the last election in San Francisco in june 2018, voter turnout was 56. 2 . So theres still a huge opportunity to get everyone out to the polls and voting. That is why we are here today to urge each of you to vote, to get a friend to vote and to make sure that your voice is heard in the upcoming election. Voting isnt is one of many ways to become civickically engaged. In the meantime, we urge you to take part in the w challenge. Like i said, its really easy. You just get a vote, gate friend to vote and help share your story and i would like to kick this off by inviting carmen chu to be the first to sign the pledge. Thank you. [laughter] [applause] ill be the second. Second. As Women Leaders are signing the pledge, i would like to take this opportunity to thank the Partner Organizations to help put this together and reaching every community in the city. And i also want everyone to wait a little bit. Well take a big Group Picture with the pledge together as a way to say that we accept the challenge collectively. So the Partner Organizations we would like to recognize are the San Francisco womens political committee. Womens march bay area. The womens building. San francisco Democratic Women in action. Ignite. La casina. Community youth center. Our own office of transgender initiatives. The office of Civic Engagement and immigrant affairs. Recology. Richmond district neighborhood center. The Jewish Community relations council. Bayview Hunters Point ymca. Chinatown ymca. Diamond Heights Community association board. South beach. Leadership s. F. , Outward Bound california. Senior and disability action. And we also want to recognize commissioner andrea shorter also with us today. So [cheering] [applause] with that, were going to be closing with carmen and were going to get the big picture together. Thank you, everybody, for coming. Please sign up for the w challenge. You dont haves to be a woman to sign up for the w challenge. All you have to do is pledge to vote. Get one more woman to register to vote and come with you to the polls. Thank you so much. This is one place you can always count on to give you what you had before and remind you of what your San Francisco history used to be. We hear that all the time, people bring their kids here and their grandparents brought them here and down the line. Even though people move away, whenever they come back to the city, they make it here. And they tell us that. Youre going to get something made fresh, made by hand and made with quality products and something thats very, very good. The legacy bars and restaurants was something that was begun by San Francisco simply to recognize and draw attention to the establishments. It really provides for San Franciscos unique character. And that morphed into a request that we work with the city to develop a legacy business registration. Im Michael Cirocco and the owner of an area bakery. The bakery started in 191. My grandfather came over from italy and opened it up then. It is a small operation. Its not big. So everything is kind of quality that way. So i see every piece and cut every piece that comes in and out of that oven. Im leslie ciroccomitchell, a fourth generation baker here with my family. So we get up pretty early in the morning. I usually start baking around 5 00. And then you just start doing rounds of dough. Loaves. My mom and sister basically handle the front and then i have my nephew james helps and then my two daughters and my wife come in and we actually do the baking. After that, my mom and my sister stay and sell the product, retail it. You know, i dont really think about it. But then when i sometimes when i go places and i look and see places put up, oh this is our 50th anniversary and everything and weve been over 100 and that is when it kind of hits me. You know, that geez, weve been here a long time. [applause] a lot of people might ask why our legacy business is important. We all have our own stories to tell about our ancestry. Our lineage and ill use one example of tommys joint. Tommys joint is a place that my husband went to as a child and hes a fourth generation san franciscan. Its a place we can still go to today with our children or grandchildren and share the stories of what was San Francisco like back in the 1950s. Im the general manager at tommys joint. People mostly recognize tommys joint for its murals on the outside of the building. Very bright blue. You drive down and see what it is. They know the building. Tommys is a San Francisco hoffa, which is a germanstyle presenting food. We have five different carved meats and we carve it by hand at the station. You prefer it to be carved whether you like your brisket fatty or want it lean. You want your pastrami to be very lean. You can say i want that piece of corn beef and want it cut, you know, very thick and i want it with some sauerkraut. Tell the guys how you want to prepare it and they will do it right in front of you. San franciscos a place thats changing restaurants, except for tommys joint. Tommys joint has been the same since it opened and that is important. San francisco in general that we dont lose a grip of what San Franciscos came from. Tommys is a place that youll always recognize whenever you lock in the door. Youll see the same staff, the same bartender and have the same meal and that is great. Thats important. The service that San Francisco heritage offers to the legacy businesses is to help them with that application process, to make sure that they really recognize about them what it is that makes them so special here in San Francisco. So well help them with that application process if, in fact, the board of supervisors does recognize them as a legacy business, then that does entitle them to certain financial benefits from the city of San Francisco. But i say really, more importantly, it really brings them public recognition that this is a business in San Francisco that has history and that is unique to San Francisco. It started in june of 1953. And we make everything from scratch. Everything. We started a you we started a off with 12 flavors and mango fruits from the philippines and then started trying them one by one and the family had a whole new clientele. The business really boomed after that. I think that the flavors we make reflect the diversity of San Francisco. We were really surprised about the legacy project but we were thrilled to be a part of it. Businesses come and go in the city. Pretty tough for businesss to stay here because it is so expensive and theres so much competition. So for us who have been here all these years and still be popular and to be recognized by the city has been really a huge honor. We got a phone call from a woman who was 91 and she wanted to know if the mitchells still owned it and she was so happy that we were still involved, still the owners. She was our customer in 1953. And she still comes in. But she was just making sure that we were still around and it just makes us feel, you know, very proud that were carrying on our fathers legacy. And that we mean so much to so many people. It provides a perspective. And i think if you only looked at it in the here and now, youre missing the context. For me, legacy businesses, legacy bars and restaurants are really about setting the context for how we come to be where we are today. I just think its part of San Francisco. People like to see familiar stuff. At least i know i do. In the 1950s, you could see a picture of tommys joint and looks exactly the same. We havent change add thing. I remember one lady saying, you know, ive been eating this ice cream since before i was born. And i thought, wow we have, too. Growing up in San Francisco has been way safer than growing up other places we we have that bubble, and its still that bubble that its okay to be whatever you want to. You can let your free flag fry he fly here. As an adult with autism, im here to challenge peoples idea of what autism is. My journey is not everyones journey because every autistic child is different, but theres hope. My background has heavy roots in the bay area. I was born in san diego and adopted out to San Francisco when i was about 17 years old. I bounced around a little bit here in high school, but ive always been here in the bay. We are an inclusive preschool, which means that we cater to emp. We dont turn anyone away. We take every child regardless of race, creed, religious or ability. The most common thing i hear in my adult life is oh, you dont seem like you have autism. You seem so normal. Yeah. Thats 26 years of really, really, really hard work and i think thises that i still do. I was one of the first open adoptions for an lgbt couple. They split up when i was about four. One of them is partnered, and one of them is not, and then my biological mother, who is also a lesbian. Very queer family. Growing up in the 90s with a queer family was odd, i had the bubble to protect me, and here, i felt safe. I was bullied relatively infrequently. But i never really felt isolated or alone. I have known for virtually my entire life i was not suspended, but kindly asked to not ever bring it up again in first grade, my desire to have a sex change. The school that i went to really had no idea how to handle one. One of my parents is a little bit gender nonconforming, so they know what its about, but my parents wanted my life to be safe. When i have all the neurological issues to manage, that was just one more to add to it. I was a weird kid. I had my core group of, like, very tight, like, three friends. When we look at autism, we characterize it by, like, lack of eye contact, what i do now is when im looking away from the camera, its for my own comfort. Faces are confusing. Its a lack of mirror neurons in your brain working properly to allow you to experience empathy, to realize where somebody is coming from, or to realize that body language means that. At its core, autism is a social disorder, its a neurological disorder that people are born with, and its a big, big spectrum. It wasnt until i was a teenager that i heard autism in relation to myself, and i rejected it. I was very loud, i took up a lot of space, and it was because mostly taking up space let everybody else know where i existed in the world. I didnt like to talk to people really, and then, when i did, i overshared. I was very difficult to be around. But the friends that i have are very close. I click with our atypical kiddos than other people do. In experience, i remember when i was five years old and not wanting people to touch me because it hurt. I remember throwing chairs because i could not regulate my own emotions, and it did not mean that i was a bad kid, it meant that i couldnt cope. I grew up in a family of behavioral psychologists, and i got development cal developmental psychology from all sides. I recognize that my experience is just a very small picture of that, and not everybodys in a position to have a family thats as supportive, but theres also a community thats incredible helpful and wonderful and open and there for you in your moments of need. It was like two or three years of conversations before i was like you know what . Im just going to do this, and i went out and got my prescription for hormones and started transitioning medically, even though i had already been living as a male. I have a twoyearold. The person who im now married to is my husband for about two years, and then started gaining weight and wasnt sure, so i we went and talked with the doctor at my clinic, and he said well, testosterone is basically birth control, so theres no way you can be pregnant. I found out i was pregnant at 6. 5 months. My whole mission is to kind of normalize adults like me. I think ive finally found my calling in early intervention, which is here, kind of what we do. I think the access to irrelevant care for parents is intentionally confusing. When i did the procespective search for autism for my own child, it was confusing. We have a place where children can be children, but its very confusing. I always out myself as an adult with autism. I think its helpful when you know where can your child go. How im choosing to help is to give children that would normally not be allowed to have children in the same respect, kids that have three times as much work to do as their peers or kids who do odd things, like, beach therapy. How do speech therapy. How do you explain that to the rest of their class . I want that to be a normal experience. I was working on a certificate and kind of getting think Early Childhood credits brefore i started working here, and we did a section on transgender inclusion, inclusion, which is a big issue here in San Francisco because we attract lots of queer families, and the teacher approached me and said i dont really feel comfortable or qualified to talk about this from, like, a cisgendered straight persons perspective, would you mind talking a little bit with your own experience, and im like absolutely. So im now one of the guest speakers in that particular class at city college. I love growing up here. I love what San Francisco represents. The idea of leaving has never occurred to me. But its a place that i need to fight for to bring it back to what it used to be, to allow all of those little kids that come from really unsafe environments to move somewhere safe. What ive done with my life is work to make all of those situations better, to bring a little bit of light to all those kind of issues that were still having, hoping to expand into a little bit more of a Resource Center, and this Resource Center would be more those new parents who have gotten that diagnosis, and we want to be this one centralized place that allows parents to breathe for a second. I would love to empower from the bottom up, from the kid level, and from the top down, from the teacher level. So many things that i would love to do that are all about changing peoples minds about certain chunts, like the Transgender Community or the autistic community. I would like my daughter to know theres no wrong way to go through life. Everybody experiences pain and grief and sadness, and that all of those things are temporar adjourned. Shop dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their shop dine in the 49 with within the 49 square miles of San Francisco by supporting local Services Within the neighborhood we help San Francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so where will you shop dine in the 49 my name is jim woods im the founder of Woods Beer Company and the proprietor of woods copy k open 2 henry adams what makes us unique is that were reintegrated brooeg the beer and serving that cross the table people are sitting next to the xurpz drinking alongside were having a lot of ingredient that get theres a lot to do the district of retail shop having that really close connection with the consumer allows us to do exciting things we decided to come to Treasure Island because we saw it as an amazing opportunity cant be beat the views and real estate that great county starting to develop on Treasure Island like minded Business Owners with last week products and want to get on the ground floor a nobrainer for us when you you, you buying local goods made locally our supporting Small Business those are not created an, an sprinkle scale with all the machines and one person procreating them people are making them by hand as a result more interesting and cant get that of minor or anywhere else and San Francisco a hot bed for local manufacturing in support that is what keeps your city vibrant well make a compelling place to live and visit i think that local business is the lifeblood of San Francisco and a vibrant community it is nice we can do this outside. It is so nice out. It is 110 degrees in sacramento. We have this weather ten days a year, maybe, but now with global warming, it is 30 days. We are here to talk about affordability. It has got to be one of the number one issues for you. Housing, homelessness, cost of living, it certainly is for the state of california. Thank you for hosting us, thank you for allowing us this opportunity to dialogue with some people who have beneficiaries of your leadership and the work that has been done at the local level to address the issue of affordability. Not just as it relates to the issues of rent, but also for homeowners, which all of us aspire to be. I am still aspiring. [laughter] can you take advantage of your own Home Loan Program . I wish. [laughter]. By the way, you do. And then after taxes, its like, student loans, rent, and this is crazy. So lets talk about that. You guys feel the same way, i imagine. You are a firefighter, you just came here for a very short period of time, eight years later, youre still here from illinois and chicago. Still here. And you spent 22 years as a deputy sheriff,. I cant believe you retired. Early. [laughter] and you have nothing in common on this topic with them, but you want to have something in common, and you want to be a beneficiary of the program you have all been able to take advantage of. Why dont we talk about that program and mayor, maybe you can set the table on what that loan program is all about. What is so great about the programs that we have in San Francisco is it is not only the first time down payment assistant program, which we know can help people to get a significant amount of money to put as a down payment on a home, and not necessarily have to pay that loan back right away. Theres also the teacher nextdoor program. Sometimes there is just an additional amount of money that you need to put you over the hump because the cost of living here and the cost of purchasing a home is really challenging for so many families, and i know that, you know, when you say, you know, you have a family of four making 200,000 a year, people think, oh, my god, 200,000 a year is a lot, but just think about it. With kids, with the expense of living in the city, it is even hard to save money to put a down payment on a home in the first place. So having an option like this can be absolutely incredible. So we in San Francisco have made a lot of changes. We have put 600 dollar 40 will housing bond, the largest Affordable Housing bond without raising property taxes, that will provide Additional Support for programs like this so that we can really get to a lot of our middle income residents and get to our educators and or Public Safety officials, and the people that are really struggling to afford to live here to making sure they there are easy ways to get access to resources. It is critical to making sure our city remains diverse. It is important. Lets talk a little bit about , and the Practical Application of what the mayor set out. You have been a firefighter in San Francisco for three years. Four new four years. And you were able to navigate this lottery process. Tell us more about that and what ultimately transpired and why you are sitting with us and why you think it is so damn important. Im happy to be sitting here on the other end of this program i am a firefighter of San Francisco. I had friends who came who went to the program and i know that that would be my only way to stay in the city. My mom and dad live here and i grew up here, i was born and raised, i have had so many friends and coworkers leave San Francisco to as far as idaho to find Affordable Housing. And my own fire academy, i would say about half wherefrom here and a quarter are still with here. It is still unfortunate that folks who want to stay cant, but i lucked out, and some of my classmates lucked out where we got this program through the city. I havent even got a chance to personally thank you so thank you. I have a wonderful home in silver terrace, i love it. I love it to death. A great view, it is my dream home. I cant wait to go home every night every morning after work. This program is a help for a down payment and there is no way i would have been able to pay them for the down payment. The amount that you need to compete in this market is astronomical and even with the program, as im sure other people no, the only thing that really helped me was my program. If i didnt have the money from the city, i have been eyeing it for years. It is at it it is competitive. It is competitive. We put additional money in a couple of years back for First Responders, you know, basically trying to get more First Responders to live in the city and theres additional money for that and so the money goes fast. Yeah,. Even with that, use it still has to be a lottery because theres not enough money to go around. Mine wasnt as large as some of the other lotteries that i saw on their, and some of you guys the odds were a little stacked against you guys a little more than i was, but still, it was still really tough i was doing it i knew about this program for a while and i think i had about three years trying to go for it and do it. Even with this program, you still need enough down payment on your own and help from all corners of your own community. I scrounged and i saved. A lot of trips i didnt go on, a lot of nights out i didnt go on , and i lucked out. There is not no other way about it. You lucked out for whatever reason and you decided that you had had enough of the winters in chicago and you came out west. I did. But you didnt expect to be out here this many years. No. I moved from six from chicago about five years ago and i thought, it will totally be a temporary thing, so did my family, and eight years later, im still here in San Francisco as a teacher. I am teaching second grade. My name is cheryl and i closed on a condo in Outer Mission around the 4th of july weekend just recently. It is very close to your school. It is very close to the school and the children that i serve. It is a 16 minute drive every morning in rush hour traffic. It is amazing. Thank you to the Mayors Office of housing. It has been an amazing learning experience similar it is a Lottery Program and it was a good three years that i was trying, but you just keep pushing forward and you keep trying and one day you get lucky and i did. After that, it was a whirlwind process with the down Payment Assistance Loan Program, and also i was a beneficiary of the Teacher Next Door Program so that was another good lumpsum. Both programs you were able to connect with. Yeah,. And then with a down payment of my own, as well, i was able to get my home, and a home that i live in, that i can go home to every night, and not have to worry about paying rent or be pushed out of the city to go move into moved to the suburbs or something more affordable. I just read an article two days ago saying that your income needs to be about three and 43,000 343,000. [laughter] yeah, and i was thinking, that is not me, but because of the Mayors Office of housing in the down Payment Assistance Loan Program and the teacher nextdoor program, all of these resources, i was able to get a home and have me stay in the city and serve in the community that i have worked in and lived in and breathed in for the past eight years. So you want to be sitting in her seat. I have a lot of questions for her. [laughter]. Tell us about your background , what are your aspirations to stay in the city and struggles with rent and housing . My name is yolanda, i teach second grade at San Francisco elementary. I was born and raised in the city and went through the Public School system. You know, this is home. A lot of people i know have moved out of the city because they cant afford to live here. I know some friends and colleagues of mine that have moved out to the pacific northwest, nevada, other places where it is more affordable, and theyre constantly telling me that i need to get out there because it is a lot cheaper, costofliving, houses, it is easier out there to own a home and, you know, every time i am checking listings out here and i see my salary, im just thinking , oh, my goodness, maybe i do need to research this a little bit more because it gets harder and harder each time. But i love where i work, i love San Francisco, so right now it is a struggle for me to own a home, but im constantly trying to save money, you know, and hope that one day that will happen. Without getting too personal, what percentage of your income do you spend on housing . Right now im living at home because im trying to save. You are still with mom and dad . Ive tried to save them money for a house in the bay area. I have realized that i might not live in San Francisco, but hoping i can stay in the bay area because i still want to work where i work. What do your parents say . They talk about do they talk about the good old days when they could afford to raise a family, and now here you are, you cant even afford the home you grew up in . Even my mom, she sees how hard it is for me to eventually own my own home. When she and my dad moved here 30 plus years ago, it was hard for them, they were still able to manage to buy a home, and pay mortgage. They worked at hotels and sales. I am a teacher, i cant i dont even know if i can afford to live here. Right. My mom wants me to save money and hopefully one day by something in the area, but realistically, i dont know if i can anymore. We have relatives up in washington who constantly tell us to go up there. It is very cold in the winter i know. It is terrible. The other thing is, this is also why, in addition to programs like this, we need to deal with the process. For example, the old campus, where it is slated to be 100 educator housing, the additional two year delay through the process and rezoning of the property is just ridiculous. And thats really presenting an opportunity to make sure that we are building more educator housing, and we need to address bureaucracy. You dealt with that when you were mayor here. You want a project done, then it takes up to seven years before you can even get a 100 Affordable Housing project done. It is ridiculous. I wanted to talk about that a little bit more. But first, you spent 22 years, deputy sheriff, he retired and you are working. Did you grow up in the city . Yes, in the city. And struggled with housing despite a pretty decent salary. We negotiated a couple of those contracts, but not good enough. Tell us a little bit about where you have been bouncing around, and your family background