Transcripts For SFGTV Mayors OEWD Workforce Webinar 20240713

What that says is that even though we locally are doing everything that we can to provide resources to the public, we know that theres so much more that needs to be done. We cant wait for a federal stimulus check in many cases, people who are living paycheck to paycheck and need money to pay their bills. And we know, especially our hairdressers and our nail salons, our barbershops, theyre probably suffering the most. Because if they dont work they dont have any income. So this is a very challenging time for all of us. And as we deal with the protecting of Public Health, we need to always protect the Financial Health of our families and communities. After were able to reopen what is that going to look like . And how will we be able to continue to make sure that everyone has a decent paying job with benefits . Thats the foundation of our city and its necessary for us to figure out ways in which we can help to support one another and uplift one another. Just a few things that we have been doing here in San Francisco include providing additional sick leave for private sector employees and also making available funding that employers have paid into our fund that establishes the support for Health Care Benefits and were able to give that back to the employees to use for important things like rent or food, finding Creative Solutions to give to s. F. , where were using those resources to help to pay for food for lowincome families and undocumented families. We know that may not qualify for other benefits that are available. Making sure that people who are very concerned and will not be able to generate revenues that theyre able to get some resources and some relief to help to pay rent. For their ability to stay housed, our Small Business community is the foundation of our city and we know that, sadly, whats happening now is that people are impacted financially, but we know that theres going to be a real challenge in the future. And its important that we make smart decisions, that we make investment in the people who work so hard for our city so that they are able to get over the very challenging time and are able to emerge from this in a way that moves our city forward. So today what we wanted to do was to take this opportunity to have a webinar specifically for workers. Because even though we have made a lot of announcements here in San Francisco about various programs that are available, it can get quite confusing because there are local programs, there are state programs, there are challenges with unemployment and other things. And we wanted to provide this as an opportunity to reach directly out to workers. And to talk to the community about ways in which we want to be as helpful as we possibly can. And also to solicit feedback because we may not have all of the answers, we may not know exactly whats going on in every sector of every part of this city, and we want to be a resource to make sure that were investing the dollars in the right programs that are going to directly impact peoples lives. So today im joined by a number of folks here who are here to serve employees of San Francisco. The workforce director josh arce works for our office of workforce and Economic Development. And for more information about what were doing and if you have any other questions or concerns, not only can you call josh directly and hell answer your call. But go to oewd. Org or call 311, and he is available. He is very dedicated to helping workers and to helping people find Job Opportunities. So thats one of his roles here with the city. And were so grateful for his commitment and service to the city. We are also joined by rudy gonzalez, the executive director for the San Francisco Labor Council. And as you know the San Francisco Labor Council represents all organized labor here in San Francisco, but they dont just fight for the groups that are part of their collaborative. They fight for better wages, they fight for Better Benefits so that people have can live with dignity and can take tear of their family take care of their family. I have a uni union family that m blessed to be part of and we know that organized labor in San Francisco is critical to the safety net of many of our lowwage workers and people who make San Francisco strong. And i want to thank you, michelle, who michelle lenardbell who is agreeing to moderate this conversation. And they have been my goto for Employment Opportunities since i mean, its been theyve been around longer than this, but its been over 20 years. When i have someone who is struggling and needs an employment opportunity, and they provide the wrap around Supportive Services and the training necessary to get people on their feet and back to work. So were glad to have an incredible network of people who are here to help to guide this conversation, help us to answer some questions, and the goal is to make sure that we are connecting our resources to the people that we know that need it the most. That is why were here. And we want to thank you all for joining us. At this time i want to join it over to josh arce, with oewd. Thank you, mayor breed and thank you for convening us here and for everything that youre doing for workers. I want to say at our department under our director, we are a team of 54 men and women who are committed working with at this point 48 communitybased organizations to support workers out there at this time and to prepare for our recovery. So as you said, so we can emerge from this even stronger. Thank you. Mayor london breed so, thank you, josh. And rudy gonzalez, the executive director of the San Francisco Labor Council here in the city. And also i want to mention our Economic Recovery Task force, because not only do we need to help workers now, and what happens in future when we start to reopen the city, hes a cochair leading that charge on the San Francisco economic recovery. So, ladies and gentlemen, rudy gonzalez. Thank you, mayor breed and director arce, and michelle, its great to be in your community. Were grateful for the opportunity to be part of this discussion and bringing together not only organized laborer but as you said, mayor, ways to lift up all people. So were happy to get to work on our recovery right now. Mayor london breed all right, michelle, we can turn it over to you so we can get started. We probably have a lot of folks on the line who have a number of questions and thats what were here to do, to answer the questions. And also to take feedback on just suggestions that people who are in the middle of these experiences might have. So ill turn it over to you. Thank you so much again. Thank you, mayor breed, thank you. Im michelle leonardbell and im the general manager of mission hiring call. We have been putting people in San Francisco to work with quality employment since 1971. So were going to get started here. Mayor, thank you so much for everything that youre doing. We believe that lives here in the city and the region around the city have been saved because of your Decisive Action and your administrations work. Thank you to all of the participants who sent in questions. We received many, many questions around workforce. What were going to try to do is to select the questions that were asked more than once. And also to request the diversity of the things that you would like to know. Our first question was one that was very common. And ill share this one with mayor breed and then with josh. So many people are frustrated with the challenges of applying for unemployment. What is the latest status on the state and federal unemployment resources . Mayor breed . Mayor london breed well, ill turn this over to josh because he has a lot more detail. But, you know, again, weve had 83,000 people in San Francisco alone and over 2. 5 million in state of california, of people who applied for unemployment. I know that the Governors Office is working to increase the capacity in order to try and be as responsive as possible to people because we know that people need their money now. We dont have direct local control over Unemployment Insurance in general but were definitely partnering and working with the states to be as aggressive as we can to get unemployment in the hands of people right away. It has definitely been a challenge. And ill turn it over to josh. Yes, thank you, mayor breed. And we work very closely with the state Employment Development department, or e. E. D. And they have an unpri unpreceds only 50,000 who had applied for employment and three million ever since. And so as the governor and the labor secretary julie siu increased staffing to the unemployment phone lines and emails, what weve been doing is running a hotline. We have been working closely with the Human Service agency, Community Partners including selfhelp for the elderly, and the Mission Economic development agency. And a whole lot of the staff to answer phones. Our team takes calls seven days a week in multiple languages. And its really around whatever supports that we need during covid19 and, of course, most of the calls around unemployment. Many of our Community Partners are doing the same. So in nearly 2,000 calls that have been received to date since march 16th shelterinplace order, and independent contractor questions, and what we do is that we gather information from those callers and the staff works directly with us. Were grateful for that to get the answers and to call folks back and email them with those updates. We do twiceaweek Rapid Response virtual online webinars to get a group of folks and workers laid off in a room to share those resources with the state, with the Labor Council, with cover california. And thats about an hourlong process that we do twice a week. As the mayor said, were just here for you and we want to stay connected. Our website is www. Oewd. Org. And the phone number is 41570 4157014817. And go to our website www. Oewd. Org and thats a great way to get the number and all of the resources that well talk about today. Thank you again, mayor breed. Thank you, mayor and josh. Of the nearly 350 calls they recently provided services to, unemployment questions were the main questions. So thank you again for this. Oewd. Org and you can get assistance around unemployment. And the next question here is for rudy. Rudy, before people go back to work, they are understandably concerned about the safety and ensuring safety for themselves and their families. Will the city be providing guidelines and giving back to the office back to the office to ensure that people are safe when they return to work . Thank you for that question, michelle. The short answer is yes. The department of Public Health, the county Health Officer have been working diligently to provide clarification and guidance where weve needed it. I think that a good example of this came to the City Administrators Office and the mayors administration with respect to industries and the construction sector. So, yes, the city is providing that guidance. Its something that is a top priority for the Economic Recovery Task force in our effort to support not only jobs and jobs and businesses and Small Businesses, but we also want to support workers by collaborating around what those safety protocols are. Theyre going to look and feel a little different in various industries. But we trust that the department of Public Health is going to provide us, you know, timely guidance on those things. And i think that its also important to recognize that the situation is fluid. And so we have to be dynamic in how we respond to these concerns. This is an area that im particularly interested in developing feedback through the Recovery Task force, their Community Engagement team. Im very interested in what some of the specific needs will be from some of our small and mediumsized businesses along these lines. But, yes, well continue to work with the City Partners and the Industry Partners to develop clear guidance that allows people to get back to regular work, to continue the essential work, and to do so in a way that promotes Public Health. Thank you for that, rudy. Our next question is for mayor breed. Will more people be eligible for testing as more people return to work, mayor breed . Mayor london breed oh, definitely. The only way that were going to be able to get back to life as we knew it in some capacity is to ensure that testing is available to people. And the good news is that we announced that all essential workers for the city or even in the private sector, you are considered an essential worker, whether you exhibit symptoms or not, you can be tested. So, please, reach out to us. You can go on to sf. Org citytestssf. Or call 311 if you would like to be tested and youre an essential worker. But the other thing is that we will test anyone who exhibits symptoms, whether you have insurance or not. I think that is important. Because we never want testing to be a barrier. If you are not an essential worker or just a San Franciscoian or anyone, you know, from our immigrant community or anyone you dont have to have insurance to get tested. If you are exhibiting at least one symptom, we will test you. So you can go online or call 311 and we will get you tested. So i think that the good news is that we expanded our testing casity. Scapacity. So were able to provide the opportunities more than we ever had before. So theres no reason for anyone in San Francisco to not get tested right now if they need to, if they exhibit at least one symptom of covid19. And i also want to be clear that our essential workers can get tested in general. So what we want to be able to do is that we want to expand that even further. Because ultimately the goal is to make sure that as people get back to work that we have Testing Capacity to get people tested. In general. Because even if i get tested today, its negative. Well, im around people tomorrow, and the possibility of me getting the virus is possible still. So it doesnt just go away because of a test. So we have to make sure that testing is readily available at any given time for anyone. So im really excited about our Testing Capacity. So, again, no reason that anyone cant get tested who exhibits symptoms or our essential workers for any of these reasons. Thank you so much for that, mayor. One more followup question as well with schools remaining closed through the rest of this academic year, will more Child Care Services be available as more people return to work . Mayor london breed yeah, and i believe so for sure. The good news is that were offering child care for essential workers right now in our Health Care Industry and our Public Safety industry. And our goal is not only to expand that as we have space available, but it also is to expand it as we have more testing. And so right now were having conversations with our Public Health department about what does it mean for summer camp. What does this mean for things that we want to be available to kids but we also want to not only protect the children that we want to have these opportunities, we want to make sure that the workforce and their parents and others have access to this testing. Testing, Contact Tracing, those sorts of things are going to be key when we start to allow various industries to reopen in San Francisco, along with the guidelines, just like what were doing with construction, just like what were doing right now with Outdoor Services like a number of flower shops and nurseries and kiosks and outdoor businesses, setting guidelines in place and allowing those industries to open. We want to do that with more industries. But that happens as we have also more testing capacities which we are seeing occur. And im really excited about that for the future. Thank you, mayor breed. Director josh arce, would you like to add anything . You know, i thought that, mayor breed, this might be a good place to say to any students or parents that might be watching that you can apply for the mayors opportunity for all Summer Internship Program which is preparing to launch again in june and taking applications for online internship through the Human Rights Commission. Should we share that link with everybody . Mayor london breed i hope that you know the link. [laughter]. And from director davis its www. Opps4allsf. Org. And well have these links posted at the end of the video feed. Mayor london breed and then also i think that, you know, if you have questions and theres a lot of information overload, you can always call 311. Thank you, mayor breed. We have had several questions around skills and Training Programs which are going to be essential to getting folks back to work who have lost positions in this crisis. Lets start with this question with rudy and then josh. How are we preparing people who have lost their jobs for Employment Opportunities when the city reopens . And its going to be such a tight market. Thank you for that question. The first thing were doing is identifying where the greatest needs are. And in some industries the road will be longer to recovery. So its important that we get into those workplaces and identify who needs reskilling or upskilling and different forms of training. And i think that its important to note that some of the existing models that the city has worked very closely with organized labor and our Public Education institutions Like City College and departments like joshs and city build, provide a good framework for us to start modeling this. In fact, just recently director arce and i were part of a collaboration and the city was able to directly address some workers at munch sconi center that will have a longer road to recovery in the trade and show sector. They accessed funds through the state of california and set up a collaborative model where well be partnering with a high road Union Apprenticeship training to help hundreds of workers at musconi to transition into viable career paths in the construction industry. So i think that unique to this recession is that we are going to have certain sectors of the economy continue. Some will even thrive. And its going to be up to us to collaborate to make sure that we deliver those Training Programs directly to the workers who need it. Im particularly excited about this opportunity of musconi, because i think that it shows a Great Partnership not only the city and organized labor who have these Training Programs already set up, but it also highlights the importance of San Franciscos role with respect to the Governors Administration and the e. D. D. Without those partnerships, these kind of models wouldnt be possible. So were really excited to think through how do we provide some of those skills in a new virtual setting and how do we model then so they can be rolled out at scale. While some workers are just kind of waiting for the next round of orders to come out, we know that others will face a much tougher road and will have a longer ways to go. So we want to get into that segment of the workforce and Many Industries so that we can provide not just new skills or certifications, but real career paths. So that people can recover, you know, in their own family life. And, thank you, michelle. This example that rudy mentions, because mayor breed has in so many ways primed the workforce for this moment. And i think back to not much more than a year ago when the chariot drivers lost their drivers and mayor breed convened our office and m. T. A. , Teamsters Union and mission to meet these workers who had been driving private shuttles and to train them through a new program, city drive, to become muni Bus Operators and commercial drivers. When we got the call from rudy its a logical next step to have that coordination and to connect with the Workforce Development board and e. D. D. And to really think of options here. Its only at the end of last week that we i think that 10 days ago is when we started this conversation and just at the end of last week, as rudy said, the state e. D. D. Announced theyre awarding one Million Dollars to train several hundred of those men and women to become Union Construction apprentices through city build. So that kind of work with labor, Community Partners, to think of new Training Programs is something that i know that were focused on every day, Nonprofit Service provider partners are out there. And most Community Partners that we support are still operating virtually. Neighborhood job centers, i have mentioned some already, as well as Success Center and the young developers, and hospitality house in the tenderloin, and the inner city youth, you can connect to these great organizations through oewd. Org. And theyre working through the Service Agencies right now to hire onsight monitors at 24anhour each which is a great opportunity and our hospitality is working with one fair wage and the state of california to support high roads to kitchens and working to support restaurant workers in partnership with our Human Services agency. The cannabis industry is hiring and they really need our help, but, again, its just about most importantly that were connected and that our website is oewd. Org, as mayor breed said, you can call me, call any of us, were just here to support you and stay connected as we have been charged by our mayor. Yes, thank you so much. Another thing that id like to add is that during this time is that you felt that you were underemployed or just existing in employment, this could be a perfect storm for you. And when we say underemployed we mean if you were working fulltime and partners in your household were working fulltime and you were not making ends meet with the employment that you were in, this could be a great time to go to oewd. Org and check out the training. Most of these trainings are not over 18 weeks and it will land you into quality employment. Next question ill ask of josh. Given the changing landscape of work, what sort of retraining and reeducating programs is the city developing to equip people for jobs . Thanks, michelle. Mayor breed has spoken of the need for us to adapt our workforce to the new normal. And the fact is that we get notices from employers laying off workers. And since march 1, we have received nearly 300 of such notices of companies laying off employees in San Francisco and that impacts more than 33,000 workers out there. Nearly half of these companies are in the accomodation and food service industry. So we know that these are areas where we need to focus and we have talked about some of those ideas and well look forward to connecting with our partners to do even more of that. Health care and tech are still hiring and we think that those are going to be Key Industries that well hear through the Economic Recovery Task force where we will see opportunities. And Health Care Academy partners are signing up and theres tech s. F. , and its still taking applications to train in the tech industry. And theres free training thanks to Linkedin Learning and zen desk where you can certify for free and their platform, which opens up more opportunities for you in recovery. And opportunities for all that we mentioned is a really important way as mayor breed has said to plant seeds for our young people. Both in an ordinary economy, and certainly postcovid. And apprenticeship, not just in construction but tech and health care and commercial driving, we expect to be a key to our workforce strategy during recovery. And, again, our Community Partners are out there doing the work to support you. We have received an additional 675,000 from the state e. D. D. For general Supportive Services to support workers that are laid off to be able to do these kind of trainings and thats something that you can learn more about, again, to upskill or reskill and to really prepare for this through our website oewd. Org. Thank you, josh, for that. And also if you go to mission missionhiringcall. Org you can apply for city build at that website. And you can apply for the Construction Administration and training and professional services academy. This is an answer for folks who do not wish to put on a tool belt. You can work inside construction companies. And the training is just 18 weeks. And we also Security Guard training free of charge. And we also offer placement into hospitality positions. This question, the next question that we have here is about the impact to our most vulnerable workers. Ill ask this one of everyone. Starting with mayor breed and then josh and then rudy. How is the city helping workers in sectors like arts, nonprofits and other fields where the workers may have already been struggling before the coronavirus pandemic . Mayor london breed ill tell you the one thing that weve been able to do, fortunately, with not just our city workers, but with many of the nonprofit workers that the city has contracts with, we have been able to honor our commitment to those contracts which have allowed us to continue to pay many of our nonprofit providers. And so that has been incredible. We have not had to stop funding even though our city faces a 1. 1 billion to 1. 7 billion budget deficit. We actually repurposed i think that i cant remember the exact amount but i think that it was around 2 million or so for art support to give to arts organizations and to give to artists. Because, you know, these musicians and people who this is their livelihood and they dont have the ability to get by. If you, for example, play live music once a week and thats how you make ends meet, and now youre not playing live music anywhere anymore, these artists are suffering. Theres a number of arts organizations that are suffering. So we have repurposed some of our dollars and grant money that were not directly committed and we are digging deep to find more to support artists and people in our arts community. And, in fact, give to s. F. , they may qualify for, give to s. F. , we started to partner with both to partner with the private dollars and the public dollars for food security, for housing, and for Small Businesses. And we work with many nonprofits to try to distribute the Resources Available to get the money in the hands of people right away through some of these particular programs. But it continues to be a challenge because we have had money that we put into these pots and it runs out quickly. And we have, of course, wait lists of people who need resources, which is why im constantly not only raising money, but trying to scrap up city money in order to combine those resources to provide that to people that we know that are already struggling. So well continue to do that. Thank you so much, mayor breed. These are all great resources. Keep in mind that the small the communitybased organizations all over the city are working hard and theyre ready to go to work as soon as we unshelter to help to you access every one of these services and trainings that we talked about here today. Mayor london breed well, a lot of the nonprofits, just so you know, are still working. Theyre still helping us in various xa capacities. Definitely those managing our shelters and those working with the homeless population, they have not stopped working. They are putting themselves in harms way in order to take care of people on a regular basis. So there are some organizations, even before the pandemic really hit our city and they were out doing the work around outreach and educating people about what is what the coronavirus is and some of the recommendations and things to do or not to do and who to call for resources. So our relationships with our nonprofits is really important in not only communicating but distributing the resources that we have through give to s. F. Were working with organizations to identify the people who are most in need and who to contribute those resources to. So we appreciate that. And were hopeful that we can maintain it. But we are looking at a very challenging future for this city with our anticipated budget deficits. Thank you, mayor breed. We have time for one last question and its about economic recovery. Id like to go,a round to al, af the panelists, starting with mayor breed. How can we ensure as the city begins its recovery that every San Franciscoians has a chance to succeed in this new normal. Mayor london breed im sorry . How can we ensure that every San Franciscoian has a chance to succeed in this new normal . Mayor london breed well, unfortunately, thats going to be very challenging. Its going to be challenging, sadly, because of our deficit. Because of whats happening with our economy, and it doesnt mean that we dont try to come together to figure out ways in which we can really focus on, you know, making sure that exactly what josh and what rudy talked about is looking at people in various industries and making sure that if their industry is going under or those Job Opportunities are no longer available, and then how do we help them to shift what theyre doing. And thats going to be really important. Thats how were going to be able to ensure support for our city workforce. Its going to be tough. There are no plans in the near future. Tourism is going to continue to be very challenging. So when you think about it, the people who work at the Convention Centers and the people who work at the hotels and the folks who work at restaurants where well need to make changes to the restaurant industry. A lot of folks are going to suffer. What we have to be prepared to do, exactly what josh talked about, when the chariot drivers lost their jobs, well, they could drive one of those big vans for chariot, they can drive muni. So what a great and they get paid more. So i think that thats a lot of what were going to be doing is helping to make it easier for people to shift whatever industry they might be working in and making sure that the programs match what is available. So, for example, were not going to be out of the woods on the coronavirus for some time until theres a vaccine. And Contact Tracing along with testing will be a critical part in trying to help to keep people safe. Well, we need thousands of people to do Contact Tracing. So training people and getting them equipped with what that entails could be a stepping stone to another opportunity. But its the kinds of things that well need to do in order to try to support everyone. It will be challenging, but we are committed to this, and thats why im i have a lot of confidence in the Economic Recovery Task force with a number of people from labor, people from academic world, folks with the City Departments, folks from nonprofits and from the communities and from the arts communities. Like, the goal is to come up with the right plan of action for people in various industries so that we make it less challenging on people than im sure that it already is. And thats what were committed to. Thank you, mayor. Josh, would you like to chime in . Yeah, thank you again, thank you again, mayor breed and to the panel because a few of the ideas that we talked about here and then we have heard in the questions are some cues for what we can think about in recovery. 10 years ago we had federal stimulus dollars and economic stimulus resources that we may see again, i know that were all advocating under the mayors leadership and to our speaker and governor to make the case for any resources that we can. The mayors example of Sick Leave Fund was a partnership between our office and Human Services agency. And with the 10 million fund we saw applications to support nearly 21,000 different workers giving us a framework to think about. If we could have those stimulus dollars again to implement those programs, and it could be built out again. Supporting our immigrant workers, and families that give to s. F. Dollars that mayor breed has helped to secure that will soon deploy to those workers who may not be eligible for any other form of relief because of immigration status, working with partners such as the Human Rights Commission and Latino Task Force and the Labor Council and others wh that are some of e ways to do what mayor breed charged with us each before this started to leave no one behind. We were just starting a collaborative right before this started under the coordination of hospitality house and joe wilson, his team and Tiffany Jackson with the homeless advocates and workers advocates of formerly homeless job seekers to really create a new system, a multidepartmental system working with the community that weve got to return to that too. And it was also policies and our local hiring policy for construction started 10 years ago. And ideas that we can obviously catalyze a return to the Economic Prosperity that we had, and we will have once again. But using these policies to truly make sure that no one is left behind because by the end of that moment of prosperity we saw disparities such as unemployment within the African American Community Disproportionately low compared to everyone else in this city. And many of our women of color, and Public Housing residents who are not able to share in that income and that wealth as we rebuild. And its going to be tough as the mayor said. But as we rebuild weve got all of the right partners from community, labor and businesses and mayor, and the supervisors and the agencies and everyone coming together to do this through the task force to do these kind of policies, to come together and well look forward to that hard work to get us back. Thank you so much for that, josh. Rudy, would you like to chime in with a closing statement on recovery . Sure, thanks, michelle. In terms of the Economic Recovery Task force, i think that the frame here is that we have to be deliberate. So if were going to talk about a recovery that serves everybody and provides opportunity, you know, were going to have to focus energy on that question. And the Recovery Task force framework, theres sort of three areas or three work areas around job and business and a work group dedicated to that, and Economic Development and a work group dedicated to that. And im proud that theres a vulnerable Populations Work Group to think about these questions and these issues, through an equity lens, right and to think about how do we lift people up. I dont think that it will happen on accident or by chance. Its going to happen because of political leaders, of Community Leaders and overall a level of engagement that brings everybody into the conversation. I want to say that i think that it also counts on some of the outcomes that were seeing at the federal level. Im very proud that our national aflcio is mobilizing our 12. 5 million members to lobby and to push to make sure that local government gets taken care of in the next stimulus package. All of the extraordinary efforts from p. P. E. To testing, to making sure that nonprofits and Vulnerable Community groups are being taken care of at the city level requires that the federal level of our government recognize that and then to provide resources, funding, money. So were fighting for that very hard as an organized movement. And i also want to say they think that our local government will play a key role in defining what recovery feels like for all people. Our local government really has an opportunity, not only as the representatives of the people, but as the largest employer in San Francisco, well have an opportunity to speak our values in this recovery. And i think that it starts with health care. I know that the city has been a leader on that. The mayor has been working diligently as she said with the ahcao and money and there are policies that we can look to really make sure that everybody recovers in San Francisco. So were excited and were ready to get to work on the Economic Recovery Task force and thank you again for the opportunity to participate in this panel. Thank you, rudy. And thank you all who have participated in this today. Mayor breed, thank you for having us. And one last thought on recovery. As we go back to work and everyone else joins the others now working, lets keep in mind our safety. This isnt the kind of skim over emails from our employer and advising us of policy and procedures. Weve got to keep safety as paramount and at the utmost top of our minds while we go back to work. Because weve got to keep families safe. As the mayor said were not through this yet but weve got to keep working together. Thank you, mayor breed and i turn this back over to you. Mayor london breed thank you. And let me say, michelle, i know that you have a lot of questions and i want to make sure that were able to answer them. So feel free to turn them over to josh. And hell followup. We want to be a resource for people and so if theres any questions, please reach out to us. The website is oewd. Org. Call 311, and we understand that it is probably frustrating to go through this process of applying for unemployment on your own and needing documents and not getting a response. Though we dont have direct control over this particular state agency, we want to be helpful. For example, if youre struggling for unemployment and youre waiting for a check and if we have a resource to provide support or food or something of that nature, we dont want you to have to wait for unemployment to get help. If theres something available in our city we want to help as much as we can. And so we appreciate the opportunity to be here. Well continue to do everything that we can to support our workforce. As we go through the challenges of our budget, keeping people employed and making sure that people have employment options is really so important to taking care of the people of this city and also our economic recovery health. That is so desperately needed. So were counting on all of us to do our part in providing information as well as getting information and making the decisions based on whats best for the people that were here to serve. So i really appreciate all of you and all of the work that youre all doing on the frontlines. We really are in this together. And i want to see us emerge as a stronger, better city for our workforce more than ever as a result of this unexpected pandemic. And i think that by working together we will. So thank you all so much. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Hi. My name is carmen chiu, San Franciscos aelectricitied assessor. Today, i want to share with you a property tax savings programs for families called proposition 58. Prop 58 was passed in 1986 and it was helped parents pass on their lower Property Tax Base to their children. So how does this work . Under californias prop 13 law, the value we use to calculate your property tax is limited to 2 growth peryear. But when ownership changes, prop 13 requires that we reassess properties to market value. If parents want to pass on their home or other property to their children, it would be considered a change in ownership. Assuming the market value of your property has gone up, your children, the new owners, would pay taxes starting at that new higher level. Thats where prop 58 comes in. Prop 58 recognizes the transfer between parents and children so that instead of taxing your children at that new higher level, they get to keep your lower prop 13 value. Remember, prop 58 only applies to transfers between parents and children. Heres how the law twines an eligible child. A biological child, a step child, child adopted before the age of 18, and a soninlaw or daughterinlaw. To benefit from this tax saving program, remember, you just have to apply. Download the prop 58 form from our website and submit it to our office. Now you may ask, is there a cap how much you can pass on. Well, first, your principal residence can be excluded. Other than that, the total tap of properties that can use this exclusion cannot exceed 1 million. This means for example if you have two other properties, each valued at 500,000, you can exclude both because they both fit under the 1 million cap. Now what happens hwhen the totl value you want to pass on exceeds 1 million. Lets say you have four properties. Three with current taxable value of 300,000 and one at 200,000, totaling 1. 1 million in value. Assuming that you decide to pass on properties one, two, and three, we would apply the exclusions on a first come, first served basis. You would deduct properties one, two, and three, and you would still have 100,000 left to pass on. What happens when you pass on the last property . This property, house four, has been existing value of 2 has an existing value of 200,000, and its existing Property Value is actually higher, 700,000. As i said, the value left in your cap is 100,000. When we first figure out your portion, we figure out the portion that can be excluded. We do that by dividing the exclusion value over the assessed value. In this case, its 50 . This means 50 of the property will remain at its existing value. Meanwhile, the rest will be reassessed at market value. So the new taxable value for this property will be 50 of the existing value, which is 200,000, equaling 100,000, plus the portion reassessed to market value, which is 50 times 700,000, in other words, 350,000, with a total coming out to 450,000. A Similar Program is also available for prepping transfers fl interest r from grandparents to grandchildren. If youre interested in learning more visit our website or 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. How i really started my advocacy was through my own personal experiences with discrimination as a trans person. And when i came out as trans, you know, i experienced discrimination in the workplace. They refused to let me use the womens bathroom and fired me. There were so many barriers that other trans folks had in the workplace. And so when i finished college, i moved out to San Francisco in the hopes of finding a safer community. And also, i want to recognize our amazing Trans Advisory Committee who advises our office as well as the mayor, so our transadvisory community members, if they could raise their hands and you could give a little love to them. [applause] thank you so much for your help. My leadership here at the office is engaging the mayor and leadership with our lgbt community. We also get to support, like, local policy and make sure that that is implemented, from allgender bathrooms to making sure that theres lgbt Data Collection across the city. Get to do a lot of great events in trans awareness month. Transgender people really need representation in politics of all kinds, and im so grateful for clair farley because she represents us so intelligently. I would like to take a moment of silence to honor all those folks that nicky mentioned that weve lost this year. I came out when i was 18 as trans and grew up as gay in missoula, montana. So as you can imagine, it wasnt the safest environment for lgbt folks. I had a pretty supportive family. I have an identical twin, and so we really were able to support each other. Once i moved away from home and started college, i was really able to recognize my own value and what i had to offer, and i think that for me was one of the Biggest Challenges is kind of facing so many barriers, even with all the privilege and access that i had. It was how can i make sure that i transform those challenges into really helping other people. Were celebrating transgender awareness month, and within that, we recognize transgender day of remembrance, which is a memorial of those that we have lost due to transgender violence, which within the last year, 2019, weve lost 22 transgender folks. Think all but one are transgender women of color who have been murdered across the country. I think its important because we get to lift up their stories, and bring attention to the attacks and violence that are still taking place. We push back against washington. That kind of impact is starting to impact trans black folks, so its important for our office to advocate and recognize, and come together and really remember our strength and resilience. As the only acting director of a City Department in the country, i feel like theres a lot of pressure, but working through my own challenges and barriers and even my own selfdoubt, i think ive been try to remember that the action is about helping our community, whether thats making sure the community is housed, making sure they have access to health care, and using kind of my access and privilege to make change. I would like to Say Something about clair farley. She has really inspired me. I was a nurse and became disabled. Before i transitioned and after i transitioned, i didnt know what i wanted to do. Im back at college, and clair farley has really impressed on me to have a voice and to have agency, you have to have an education. Mayor breed has led this effort. She made a 2. 3 Million Investment into trans homes, and she spear headed this effort in partnership with my office and tony, and were so proud to have a mayor who continues to commit and really make sure that everyone in this city can thrive. Our community has the most resources, and im very happy to be here and to have a place finally to call home. Thank you. [applause] one, two, three. [applause] even in those moments when i do feel kind of alone or unseen or doubt myself, i take a look at the community and the power of the supportive allies that are at the table that really help me to push past that. Being yourself, its the word of wisdom i would give anyone. Surely be patient with yourself and your dream. Knowing that love, you may not always feel that from your family around you, but you can after my fire in my apartment and losing everything, the red cross gave us a list of agencies in the city to reach out to and i signed up for the belowmarket rate program. I got my certificate and started applying and won the housing lottery. [ ] the current Lottery Program began in 2016. But there have been lot rows that have happened for Affordable Housing in the city for much longer than that. It was there was no standard practice. For nonprofit organizations that were providing Affordable Housing with low in the city, they all did their lotteries on their own. Private developers that include in their buildings affordable units, those are the city weve been monitoring for some time since 1992. We did it with Something Like this. Where people were given circus tickets. We game into 291st century in 2016 and started doing electronic lotteries. At the same time, we started electronic applications systems. Called dalia. The lottery is completely free. You can apply two ways. You can submit a paper application, which you can download from the listing itself. If you a plo apply online, it wl take five minutes. You can make it easier creating an account. To get to dalia, you log on to housing. Sfgov. Org. I have lived in San Francisco for almost 42 years. I was born here in the hayes valley. I applied for the San Francisco Affordable Housing lottery three times. Since 2016, weve had about 265 electronic lotteries and almost 2,000 people have got their home through the lottery system. If you go into the listing, you can actually just press lottery results and you put in your lottery number and it will tell you exactly how you ranked. For some people, signing up for it was going to be a challenge. There is a Digital Divide here and especially when you are trying to help low and very low income people. So we began providing digital assistance for folks to go in and get help. Along with the income and the residency requirements, we also required someone who is trying to buy the home to be a first time home buyer and theres also an educational component that consists of an orientation that they need to attend, a firsttime home buyer workshop and a oneonone counseling session with the housing councilor. Sometimes we have to go through 10 applicants before they shouldnt be discouraged if they have a low lottery number. They still might get a value for an available, Affordable Housing unit. We have a variety of Lottery Programs. The four that you will most often see are what we call c. O. P. , the certificate of Preference Program, the dthp which is the displaced penance Housing Preference program. The neighborhood resident Housing Program and the live worth preference. I moved in my new home february 25th and 2019. The neighborhood Preference Program really helped me achieve that goal and that dream was with eventually wind up staying in San Francisco. The next steps, after finding out how well you did in the lottery and especially if you ranked really well you will be contacted by the leasing agent. You have to submit those document and income and asset qualify and you have to pass the credit and rental screening and the background and when you qualify for the unit, you can chose the unit and hopefully sign that lease. All city sponsored Affordable Housing comes through the system and has an electronic lottery. Every week theres a listing on dalia. Something that people can apply for. Its a bit hard to predict how long it will take for someone to be able to move into a unit. Lets say the lottery has happened. Several factors go into that and mainly how many units are in the project, right. And how well you ranked and what preference bucket you were in. This particular building was brand new and really this is the one that i wanted out of everything i applied for. In my mind, i was like how am i going to win this . I did and when you get that notice that you won, its like at first, its surreal and you dont believe it and it sinks in, yeah, it happened. Some of our buildings are pretty spectacular. They have key less entry now. They have a court yard where they play movies during the weekends, they have another master kitchen and space where people can throw parties. Mayor breed has a plan for over 10,000 new units between now and 2025. We will Start Construction on about 2,000 new units just in 2020. We also have a very big portfolio like over 25,000 units across the city. And life happens to people. People move. So we have a very large number of rerentals and resales of units every year. Best thing about working for the Affordable Housing program is that we know that were making a difference and we actually see that difference on a daytoday basis. Being back in the neighborhood i grew up in, its a wonderful experience. Its a long process to get through. Well worth it when you get to the other side. I could not be happier. [ ] announcer youre watching coping with covid19. Todays special guest is dr. Steven getnick. Hi, im chris man us and youre watching coping with covid19. Today my guest is the director of the Behavior Therapy Center of San Francisco and Professor Emeritus in counseling psychology at the university of San Francisco. Doctor, welcome to the show. Thank you. Lets talk about managing anxieties during this pandemic. What types of issues are people facing at the moment . There are a number of issues and i really want to point out that this is affecting everyone and has come on very quickly. So it is normal. If you are not experiencing some anxiety, something is a touch off because this affects us all. I think some of the main ones are our health and worried about getting the virus and our developing serious complications. I think for a lot of people who are single, living alone, in isolation, has been very difficult. I think being in close quarters with people who we normally have some space from now are together 24 7. Thats produced a lot of stress and anxiety. That loss of connection with others. We already addressed. And having kids home. For a lot of people. Yes, absolutely. What are the other problems that they might have . I think without that dynamic, the good things are not a problem. It is the difficulties we have. And when were together 24 7, again its like hooking everything up to an amplifier. So, what kind of problems could be created from working home from home, perhaps for the first time in your career . A lot of people are not used to working at home and a working at home just isnt the same. For one thing, there is a lack of social interaction. Some people find that that affects them greatly. Some people are actually finding theyre getting more work done at home without distractions from work. The lack of structure is probably the most common. We see it here with work at the office. People are kind of watching. We know that our schedule is, suddenly youre at home and you are on your own. Absolutely. If those are some of the issues people are facing, what are some of the techniques people can use to overcome their anxiety . Caller i think there are many. One of the first is how managing and keeping track of your thinking, we think and talk to ourselves a lot. Thats normal. We have a dialogue with ourselves often and we need to monitor that a bit. People tend to ruminate versus problemsolve. That is they tend to worry about all the things that might go wrong. And what i suggest is, look, there are things that can go wrong, but ruminating about the worstcase scenario is not going to be very productive. Sit down, figure out what the things are that you have to deal with and try to problemsolve. I think any of the selfcontrol techniques for anxiety can be helpful. And there are dozens of them. The common ones are meditation, relaxation techniques, yoga, for example and another is diaphragmattic breathing. If you google that, you can learn diaphragmattic breathing in about 10 minutes online. Its incredibly simple and it is a really nice way to reduce anxiety in the moment. Selfcontrol procedures, exercise. Whether if youre fortunate enough to have equipment at home, thats great. If youre not, get outside and go for a walk, keep your safe distance, of course. But you need to be active. Thats helpful. I think people marry be dealing with information overload at the moment. How do you suggest people manage that . I was just going to say that. I think it is really important to kind of limit the information you get. Not in terms of accuracy. I think in terms of accuracy, you want to identify a few sites where people are coming with evidencebased information and scientific information so you can form yourself well. Once youve informed yourself, you need to not be watching all day long. Ive talked to people who are mesmerized from the tv and a it keeps that anxiety going so you need to limit your viewing for sure. This can be stress for people who have economic concerns and worried about their family and friends and loved ones who are essential workers. What would you suggest they do to help manage anxiety and stress . There is a number of things. One of major ones for depression is behavioral activation. Simply, it really means that people will tend to not be depressed as a number of reinforcing activities to engage in. Whether it is hobbies, you read, you listen to music, you crochet, you whatever. These kinds of things are very important so you want to make sure that youre engaging in activities that literally make you feel better as opposed to sitting around ruminating, worrying about the worstcase scenarios that might happen. What about trying to do some selfdevelopment . Yeah. Its a very interesting time. Ive talked to a couple of my own clients who are finding, in a very positive way, that this isolation, while at first can generate a lot of anxiety, particularly if youre just not good at living alone. For a number of people, its giving them a chance to sit back and really think about what is important in their lives, what are the priorities. I think that maybe if there is any Silver Lining in this epidemic, its really forcing all of us to kind of rethink whats really important. Indeed. You know, though, at the same time, there are people who are feeling very lonely at home. How would you encourage them to overcome that . You get online. Facetime, skype, zoom, like what were doing right now. You can stay connected. Its very possible. Most connections are important. We are social critters and we need that connection. I think for people who dont have those options, pull up photos, take a look at pictures of family. You need to stay connected. And its very important. And finally, do you have any suggestions that are specifically for families . Yeah. Well, again, i think one of the interesting things thats come about from all of this, is i talked to families on video is theyre obviously spending more time together. While its a bit awkward, particularly for parents who are in the house working a lot. Its a chance to really deepen relationships and spend more good, quality time together. I think parents really need to step back and kind of plan their day a little bit. Not micro manage it, but have some ideas. Can the family play games together . A lot of people i talked to, theyre even together as a family for the first time. So i think there are a number of things that people can do. I think it is qulaouzful for the families to take five, 10 minutes and say how did the day go . I talked to someone in the phone book before we started who said they noticed what time of day all their anxiety kind of comes together and they start sniping at each other. Now theyre taking a few minutes at tend of the day to say, ok, how are we doing . I think they need modeling good behavior, something you can do within the family, too, to try to thats right. I think thats relevant. Very relevant to how children are going to do. Most of the research from crises, particularly things we cant control showed that children do as well as their parents do. So i think it is important for parents to think about how theyre react aing and they stay calm because whatever they do is modeling, coping for their children. So, that can be very useful. It can also be problematic. When we talked earlier, you mentioned that acknowledging that your kids are afraid is important. Yes. I think that ties to your last question. I think modeling you know, its not incompatible with saying, yeah, you know, mom or dad is a little nervous, too. It means a lot of stuff is going on, but were going to be ok. Were going to stay together. We have our time together. Were going to be safe. Well fill in the blank. So you can do both. You can reassure but in a realistic way that once the kids know its normal to be anxious in these times. Thank you for coming ton show, doctor. I really appreciate the time youve given us. Youre welcome. Thank you for having me. And that is it for this episode. Well be back with more covid19 related information shortly. You have been coping with covid19. Thank you for watching. We have private and Public Gardens throughout the garden tour. All of the gardens are volunteers. The only requirement is youre willing to show your garden for a day. So we have gardens that vary from all stages of development and all gardens, family gardens, private gardens, some of them as small as postage stamps and others pretty expansive. Its a variety all of the world is represented in our gardens here in the portola. I have been coming to the portola garden tour for the past seven or eight years ever since i learned about it because it is the most important event of the neighborhood, and the reason it is so important is because it links this neighborhood back to its history. In the early 1800s the portola was farmland. The regions flowers were grown in this neighborhood. If you wanted flowers anywhere future bay area, you would come to this area to get them. In the past decade, the area has tried to reclaim its roots as the garden district. One of the ways it has done that is through the portola garden tour, where neighbors open their gardens open their gardens to people of San Francisco so they can share that history. When i started meeting with the neighbors and seeing their gardens, i came up with this idea that it would be a great idea to fundraise. We started doing this as a fundraiser. Since we established it, we awarded 23 scholarships and six work projects for the students. The Scholarship Programs that we have developed in association with the portola is just a winwinwin situation all around. The Scholarship Program is important because it helps people to be able to tin in their situation and afford to take classes. I was not sure how i would stay in San Francisco. It is so expensive here. I prayed so i would receive enough so i could stay in San Francisco and finish my school, which is fantastic, because i dont know where else i would have gone to finish. The scholarships make the difference between students being able to stay here in the city and take classes and having to go somewhere else. [ ] [ ] you come into someones home and its theyre private and personal space. Its all about them and really their garden and in the city and urban environment, the garden is the extension of their indoor environment, their Outdoor Living room. Why are you here at this garden core . Its amazing and i volunteer here every year. This is fantastic. Its a beautiful day. You walk around and look at gardens. You meet people that love gardens. Its fantastic. The portola garden tour is the last saturday in september every year. Mark your calendars every year. As a woman of color who grew up in San Francisco i understand how institutions can have an impact on communities of color. I think having my voice was important. That is where my passion lies when the opportunity to lead an office in such a new space came up. I couldnt turn it down. I was with the District Attorneys Office for a little over nine years, if you include the time as an intern as well as volunteer da, all most 13 years. During the time with the das office i had an opportunity to serve the community not only as the assistant District Attorney but as director of community relations. That afforded the opportunity to have impact on the community in an immediate way. It is one thing to work to serve the rights of those without rights, victims. It is really rewarding to work to to further the goals of our office and the commitment we have as City Employees and advocates for people who dont have a voice. I dont know of anyone surprised to see me in this role. Maybe people have an impression what the director of the office of cannabis should be like, what their beliefs should be. I smash all of that. You grew up in the inner city of San Francisco. My career path is not traditional. I dont think a person should limit themselves to reach full potential. I say that to young women and girls. That is important. You want to see leadership that looks diverse because your path is not predetermined. I didnt wake up thinking i was going to be a prosecutor in my life. The city administrator reached out and wanted to have a conversation and gave me interest in the new role. I thought you must not know what i do for a living. It was the opposite. She had foresight in realizing it would be helpful for somebody not only a former prosecutor but interested in shaping criminal Justice Reform for the city would be the right person for the space. I appreciate the foresight of the mayor to be open how we can be leaders in San Francisco. I was able to transition to the policy space. Here i was able to work on legislation, community relations, communication and start to shape the ways our office was going to reform the criminal Justice System. It is fulfilling for me. I could create programs and see those impact peoples lives. I am the change. It took truants youth to meet with Civil Rights Movement leaders who fought to have access to education. Being a young person to understand that helped the young people realize this was an important thing to give up. What we find is that young people who are truanted have a really high homicide rate in our city, which is a sad statistic. We want to change that. Coming from a community we are black and brown. I dont reach out to other people. I dont think they feel the same way. I had the great opportunity to work on Prison Reform issues and criminal Justice Reform issues. We created a program at san quentin where we brought district opportunities t to lifs and talk about how we are all impacted by the criminal Justice System. We brought over 40 elected das to san quentin for the situation. Now we are inviting the Police Department. Our formerly incarcerated group born out of this programming asked for the opportunity to work on a project where we could bring the men in blue on the outside to come speak to the men on blue inside to start the healing dialogue around how the criminal Justice System specifically in San Francisco impacts the community. I was attracted to the role. There was a component of equity that was part of this process. The Equity Community here in San Francisco is a community that i had already worked with. Before i took steps to visit cannabis businesses i thought it was important my team have a chance to go inside and speak to men who ha had been impacted. That conversation needed to happen so we know how we are making an impact with the work that we are doing. The das office as we were leading up to the legalization of marijuana in the state we started having conversations on the policy team what that could look like. The District Attorney was really focused on the right side of history for this. We realized it would be quite a heavy lift for individuals who have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs to expunge the record. It was important to figure out the framework to make it seamless and easy. They put their minds to it after some time and many conversations the data analysts and other policy walk throughs on the team came up with the idea to engage the Tech Community in this process. Code for america helped us developed the rhythm to be used for any jurisdiction across the state that was important to create a solution to be used to assist all jurisdictions dealing with this matter. The office of cannabis is the first office to have a completely digital application process. We worked with the digital team to develop the online application. There are going to be hiccups. We are first to do it. It is one of the most rewarding parts to offer a seamless to offer a seamless approach. That is how they can find solutions to solve many of the community challenges. The best way to respond to prop 64 was to retroactively expunge 9,000 cannabis related records for San Francisco. It feels like justice full circle for my personal experience. In the past i was furthering the war on drugs just as my directive. Really coming from a place of Public Safety. That was the mandate and understanding. It is nice to see that pass a society we are able to look at some of our laws and say, you know what . We got it wrong. Lets get this right. I had the privilege of being in the existing framework. My predecessor Nicole Elliott did an incredible job bringing together the individuals superpassionate about cannabis. The office was created in july of 2017. I came in early 2018. I have been able to see the Offices Development over time which is nice. It is exciting to be in the space, stickily in thinking about her leadership. Looking for the office it is always we might be before my time when i was working for the board oforboard of supervisors. I learn new things every day it is challenging and rewarding for me. We get the privilege to work in an office tha that is innova. We get to spearhead the robust exprogram. I am excited she came on board to leverage experience as a prosecutor 10 years as we contemplate enforcements but approaching it without replicating the war on drugs. I was hired by cam laharris. I havent seen a District Attorney that looked kind of like me. That could be a path in my life. I might not have considered it. It is important that women and certainly women of color and spaces of leadership really do their part to bring on and mentor as many young people as they can. It is superimportant to take advantage of as many opportunities a as they can when they can intern because the doors are wide open. Plans change and that is okay. The way this was shaped because i took a risk to try something new and explore something and show that i was capable. You are capable, right . It was about leaning in and being at the table to say my voice matters. You find your passion, the sky this is one place you can y 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. Have this project approved and then complete the seismic work. But in other words, in other steps of work for the mill, the contracts are in compliance. Thank you. Human services, trent roar, the director of homelessness and housing, Abigail Stewart khan, and the director of our healthy streets Operation Team, jeff kazinski, people who are consistently working on the front lines to help us deal with many of the challenges that exist as it relates to covid19 in San Francisco. As of today, we have 1,754 cases of covid19, and sadly we have had 31 people pass away as a result. Currently there are 84 people that are hospitalized, and for more information, please visit datasf. Org covid19 for details. I want to just start today on a little bit of a lighter note in recognition of so many of the First Responders and Health Care Workers that are on the front lines doing the incredible work to keep us all safe. Monday was International Firefighters day, and i had an opportunity to drop off lunch to our firefighters at station 6, and just express my appreciation for their work. The firefighters and the paramedics and the people who are called to so many very challenging scenes continue to work very hard for our city during this pandemic, and we appreciate the work that they do. And as we know, in the age of social distancing, they dont have the luxury to socially distance themselves when they are trying to save someones life, and they still put their lives on the line, so i want to express my appreciation to the firefighters and paramedics in San Francisco, and also today is the oneyear anniversary of our fire cheer janine scott. Janine nicholson. Got my police and fire chiefs fixed up. Janine nicholson has been on the job for about a year now. Today is her anniversary where she was sworn in. Shes been doing an amazing job, and again, i want to express my appreciation to the men and women of the San Francisco fire department. And today is also National Nurses day, and this is an incredible opportunity. I know so many of you have done really amazing things, whether its coming outside and clapping or singing songs or sending messages to our Health Care Providers as well as our nurses in particular who are doing the hard work, who are directly in contact with people who have the virus and those who are dealing with a number of other health challenges. I want to take this opportunity to especially send a heartfelt thank you to the nurses here in San Francisco and all over the country for the work that you have been doing to help us throughout this pandemic. Those are the real unsung heroes, the folks who have to put themselves on the line, the folks who are asking us to make sure they have ppe so that they can help support the patients that they care so deeply about. So i just wanted to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for your work. I want to talk a little bit about our Small Businesses. Governor newsom plans to announce the next phase in the statewide shelterinplace order tomorrow, and we are working to understand the exact details of what that would entail. And as i said on monday, its important that we work hand in hand with the state on guidelines to reopen, but we need to do so responsibly. And what that means is we the governor is providing the guidelines for the state as a whole, but the reason why our counties have control over whether or not we implement some of those suggestions has everything to do with whats happening with the facts, with the numbers, how many more cases, how many more deaths, whats happening on the ground in our cities so that we can make good decisions to continue to protect people. As much as i want to see so many Small Businesses reopening in San Francisco, i want people to get back to work, i want these places to thrive, i want people in San Francisco to have access to things that they know and love, the challenge we will continue to have in San Francisco in particular is making sure that and dr. Colfax will talk more about this, but the numbers are still going up. The number of deaths are still going up, and we have not lowered the curve, so we have to be mindful of that and we have to be responsible when we look at ways to bring various industries back, implementing the kinds of guidelines that are going to continue to limit direct contact with one other. Already we saw in a study that was done in the mission with the number of people who were infected, many of the folks primarily who were infected are people who have essential workers who have no choice but to go to work to make ends meet and also because they are essential workers. So we want to keep that in mind. The more that people have interactions with other people, the likelihood that other folks will continue to get infected. And so as difficult as i know this has been, we need to keep that in mind when making decisions about reopening. And so im really excited that weve allowed construction to occur in our city. Its not only important for the Job Opportunities for those who work in construction, but its also important for the desperately needed housing thats under construction in San Francisco. In time for mothers day, the flower shops are able to provide deliveries, just in time to send your mom or your loved one or someone you care about flowers, or just maybe order some for yourself. The things that we are doing to try and get these businesses open, we will continue to use facts, use data and get them back in business as quickly as possible. And i will tell you we are working very hard to come up with the kinds of guidelines that will continue to protect Public Health. This is really a longterm plan. The fact is, without a vaccine, we are going to be living with concerns around the covid19 for months to come, and so its time that we started getting creative and providing solutions and making sure that were working around that while still allowing people to open their businesses and to make sure that our economy is not even more damaged than we know it will be as a result of this. And so we will continue to work with the department of Public Health to make good decisions about how to get our city going again, and its going to take time. Its going to take patience. I know were asking a lot of all of you, and i just want to, again, express my appreciation to so many of you who have followed the order and done your part, and its definitely appreciated, and there is Additional Support in that arena needed as well. I also want to express my appreciation for what has been happening in dolores park in particular. We know that there were some challenges this past weekend, in sunday in particular, and as a result of the announcement that i made on monday, people are following the rules, and weve been monitoring the park, along with other parks and other areas in the city, and we want to really express our appreciation. Today is a beautiful day. Im not suggesting you go out and have a picnic and meet with your friends. Those things are prohibited, and we know this weekend is probably going to be nice, so when enjoying the park space and the fresh air, please, please, please make sure that you are only doing it with the people who are part of your household and you maintain six feet distance from all other parties, and you dont invite friends in to have a wine party or a picnic or anything of that nature. This is really about making sure that you have the benefits of our park, but also we have to be very, very careful, because the coronavirus is here in San Francisco, and people are impacted, and this is the last thing that we want to see happen as a result of our hard work and maintaining our distance for all this time. So please continue to follow the order. We will be monitoring dolores park and other hotspots very, very carefully, and if necessary, we will make a swift decision if we see that the park is overrun in a way that we cant necessarily control it. Its for your own safety, so thank you again for your cooperation so far and please continue to follow the order when enjoying our parks. Today i want to just announce a plan, and jeff kazinski who is here from the healthy streets Operation Team will talk more in detail about it, but they have been very, very hard at work. Many of you are familiar with the healthy streets Operation Center which is hsoc, and its part of a group that stands various city agencies where we work with the Homeless Outreach team, the hot team. We work with the San Francisco Police Department. We work with the department of Public Health and a number of other organizations in order to address the challenges with healthy streets in San Francisco. We know that continues to be a challenge, but the reason why weve been able to make gains before this pandemic had a lot to do with this team of people who are working collaboratively to address the challenges on our streets. And so the Human Rights Commission under the leadership of cheryl davis created a Tenderloin Community round table with stakeholders from the neighborhood, and they came up with a comprehensive plan. Part of what they wanted to do, like theyve done, as we said, we embedded in our Emergency Operations center here in muscony, a team that focuses on equity and underserved communities. And as a result, what these what the Human Rights Commission has done, along with a number of other Community Volunteers and folks, they would go out into neighborhoods, like the tenderloin, like the bayview, like the western edition, pass out food, pass out maps, educate the public about coronavirus and challenges, make sure people know how to get testing or other resources. Again, these are a group of people, a lot of volunteers, a lot of people from the community, who were putting their lives on the line to really support and serve the public and to make sure that no one is left out of the equation. And what they notice, the biggest challenge was, of course, sadly, the tenderloin. And so part of the work that came to be as a result of this round table, they distributed thousands of face coverings in this community. They partnered with code tenderloin and the boys and girls club to distribute computers to youth in the community and identify where we need to put internet hotspots so that kids are not they dont fall behind in school. They mobilized Community Resilience care vans with the Police Department to remind people about the importance of social distancing and to and they distributed face coverings, and they educated people on the fact that you dont need a mask. You can also have something thats a face covering, like a scarf or some other thing to cover your nose and your mouth. They distribute learning kits and books and activities to youth and their families. You know, in the tenderloin. So they have been hard at work, but we know the conditions remain particularly challenging. And we sadly have seen a significant increase in the number of Homeless People who are on the streets, which is concerning from both the health of those who are unsheltered and for the health of the residents who live in the community. So to address these challenges, weve developed a plan for responding to the issues of the tenderloin on a block by block basis. Now this plan was informed by ontheground assessments of the tenderloin and numerous meetings with members of the community, nonprofit organizations and businesses in the area. And to start, we identified 13 blocks that are our first priority, and as i said, jeff kazinski will talk a little bit more about that in detail, and i want to really recognize the hard work of everyone who participated. The conversations centered around the need to, of course, clean the sidewalks, clear the sidewalks, have sufficient trash, have access to resources, make sure that there are the streets and the community is a lot more safe, especially because there are a lot of children and elderly people who live in the tenderloin, and so this is a conversation that have been happening for a very long time, and before the pandemic and has gotten even worse since. I want to really recognize that this is going to be a targeted plan. Its going to be a challenging one, and we are set to be as aggressive as we can with implementing it so that the people of that community can notice and see a difference. Thanks to urban alchemy, we have some Community Ambassadors that were bringing on board on a parttime basis. Those are the people that you see who are oftentimes managing the restroom facilities. They are familiar with people in the community, and i want to thank them for their hard work and their dedication because they are showing up to work every single day in these very challenging communities, again, putting their lives on the line. I want to also thank the department of public works and what they do every single day. Cleaning up feces and needles and urine and trash, and i know on monday i expressed a lot of frustration because as much resources as we continue to invest in the tenderloin, and as much work as a lot of people are doing to keep that place clean and accessible to folks who live there, it still continues to be a challenge, and we need to hold everybody accountable. Everyone has to be held accountable. Its not just the citys responsibility. Its the people who are a part of that community, whether they are housed or not, we all play a role in protecting and serving and supporting this particular community, and that is our commitment in outlining a plan that specifically looks at three of the most challenging blocks and puts into place a system that will allow for regular cleaning, trash pickup, food service, trash cans, restroom facilities, wash stations, water, just some of the basic things, and well continue to also through the hotels we provide, ensure that they are available to some of our most vulnerable populations and just a reminder that before this pandemic we had thousands of people who were homeless who were in our system of care, and those will be the people that will be prioritized with any service that we make available because we want to make sure that the folks who have been waiting the longest in many instances, they are oftentimes the ones who are skipped over for services and support, and we need to do a better job at making sure we stick to this system and we prioritize the people who were in our city before this pandemic so they get the support and services that they need. So with that, i want to thank all of you again for your cooperation and continue to the best of my ability, because i got to tell you, this staying at home thing is rough for me too. So i at first i said it with a lot of enthusiasm, and now probably not as enthusiastic as ive asked in the past. Nevertheless, it is necessary. And i want to just remind everyone how important it is so that we can keep our Public Health in tact, we can keep people safe and we will continue to do all we can to provide resources and to make sure that as soon as we can we get our economy going and we provide an opportunity for our business community, especially our Small Businesses that are struggling, to open and operate. So thank you again for your patience and your cooperation, and now id like to ask dr. Grant colfax to come forward and provide us with an update. Dr. Grant colfax thank you, mayor breed. Good afternoon. Im dr. Grant colfax, director of health for the city and county of San Francisco. Before beginning my coronavirus update, i would like to thank the thousands of nurses in the department of Public Health and throughout the city for their dedication and courage as they continue to serve patients and our community during this unprecedented pandemic. This is National Nurses week, and it couldnt come at a better time. All of San Franciscos nurses are demonstrating the utmost professionalism, compassion, courage and heart, as they always do. I personally give thanks to the nurses in our Public Health system as zuckerberg San Francisco general hospital, as laguna honda hospital, our many Health Centers, Public Health Centers Across the city, including maxine hall Health Center, chinatown Health Center, Castro Mission Health Center and city clinic for their provision and care of services for communities across our great city. You provide medical care, but you do so much more. You provide comfort, emotional support, advocacy and, frankly, whatever it takes to help patients and their families. You get it done. I know this from my own personal experience, from working in the Emergency Rooms at zuckerberg San Francisco general hospital, the inpatient units at that hospital and across the city, including at the va and ucsf, to our clinics throughout the city. Nurses are the backbone of our system, a system that requires the skills and wisdom of the nursing profession now more than ever. All of us in San Francisco owe nurses a debt of gratitude, a debt of gratitude that grows every day. You are true heroes. We would not be where we are today, making the progress in the fight against the coronavirus, without your steady hands, warm hearts and Brilliant Minds on the front lines. Thank you. Thank you. Now with regard to where we stand with coronavirus in San Francisco. Today there are 1754 San Francisco residents with confirmed cases of covid19, and sadly 31 san franciscans have died of the disease. My condolences to their families, their friends and their community. I would also like to provide an update today on a few aspects of our progress and where things stand in the fight against the coronavirus. I want to start with the issue of testing. As of today, 27,334 people in San Francisco have been tested for covid19, and over the last period of months, 8 , on average, have tested positive. We are continuing to strive to reach our goal of universal access to testing for all san franciscans. As we announced monday, we now provide free universal testing for all essential workers, regardless of symptoms or potential exposure. And today at laguna honda hospital we are starting our routine testing at Nursing Homes of both staff and patients. And fortunately we have already seen a significant uptick in the number of tests conducted across the city. 700 people were tested yesterday at the city test sf site alone in the largest day of testing since we opened that service. I am glad that people are starting to take advantage of this option, but we can still do more, and indeed we must still do more. If you have been showing up to work during this stayathome order, you can now get tested and tested for free. There are several options now for testing, including your own health care provider, the two city test assess sites, and the four department of Public Health Community Test sites. These sites are open to Health Care Workers, First Responders, grocery clerks, construction workers, drivers, child care workers, workers at outdoor businesses, and others who continue to leave their homes to serve the community during this pandemic. Please call 311 or visit sfgovgettestedassess for more information and to see a map of all the test sites in the city. We know that essential workers are more at risk because they interact daily with other people and cannot easily maintain social distancing by staying at home. In fact, a recent study by ucsf in partnership with the Health Department and the Latino Task Force reinforced this fact. The study found that workers tested in the Mission District had a higher rate of positive results than residents and that many of these workers were asymptomatic. This is why getting tested regardless of symptoms is key to our response, and this is why we are moving forward in our vision for universal access to testing for all in San Francisco. We need to do everything we can to support workers in all aspects of health and safety during the pandemic. This includes access to testing, but it also means support for successful isolation and quarantine so that people can get well and limit the risk of exposures to members of their households. We are committed to working with communities to better understand the type and kinds of support that people need. The expanded testing is a step in the right direction, an important step in the right direction, and i encourage all essential workers to make use of it. And as we test more people, we naturally expect to find more cases. So this added resource is very important. Expanding testing is a key piece of our recovery plan. And now i would like to review other major elements we have in our plan. I want to make sure that everyone in our Community Knows how much we are measuring our readiness to open, how much and how. Now as much as i want, and i think everyone wants, reopening to happen, we must continue to follow the science, data and facts. Remember, the virus is still out there, and it thrives when we get together and socialize. We should celebrate our progress and the fact that we have saved lives across the bay area and the state. We have truly saved lives. For instance, our mortality rate in San Francisco is one quarter of that in new york state, and our mortality rate in San Francisco is half of the california state average. And yet we must also recognize that we are still very much in the midst of a pandemic. It is not over yet, not by a long shot. The virus doesnt have a timeline. It was here in february. It was here in march and april, and it will be here in the summer and fall and beyond. And the more people move around, the more contact they will have with others, the more likely it is that the virus will spread. It is highly contagious. We know that there is more virus out there than ever before, and there are still outbreaks in our communities. We remain focused on protecting the health of the most vulnerable populations, those who live in congregate settings. In the bay area we will be watching five key indicators to track our progress. They are that the number of patients in the hospital with covid19 is low and flat or decreasing for a sustained period of time. Number two, that we have enough personal protective equipment, ppe, for all our Health Care Workers to respond. Number three, that we have expanded testing to meet the need, especially for people in vulnerable populations, essential workers and communities that are affected by health disparity. And not only that that testing is expanded, but that we have the Wraparound Services to support individuals and their families in the event that they test positive. Number four, that we have the capacity to investigate every case of covid19, to trace each persons close contacts, and to isolate and quarantine the people who need it. And number five, that we have the ability to measure the rate of new cases of covid19 to determine whether it is decreasing, staying flat or increasing. This will take ongoing effort as we are still building our Surveillance Systems across the bay area with the help of scientists from ucsf, the zuckerberg institute, and berkeley. I know that there is a lot of excitement and hope about reopening, and i personally look forward to that too. And yet we must hold steady and let the data guide us. We must maintain our gains. Otherwise the virus will quickly outrun us, and a surge will occur. And at the same time, we cannot lose sight of the fact that life will be better in may. Right now Outdoor Activities and businesses can resume with proper precautions. This is going to improve our lives and our outlook. I notice, too, that surveys show that the vast majority of the public want to continue our restrictions to keep themselves, their family and their communities safe. They know how important it is that we slow the viruss spread. The vast majority of the public support Public Health measures to slow the virus down. And at the same time, i recognize that San Francisco residents and businesses have made tremendous sacrifices to flatten the curve and protect Community Health. We must continue to Work Together so those sacrifices dont go to waste. We will keep watching the indicators and work with our region and state on the most reasonable next steps. Reasonable and responsible and driven by data and science and facts. There have been many questions this week about the governors plans and their impact on San Francisco. Let me clarify the San Francisco and Bay Area Health orders currently in effect through may do not permit Curbside Pickup from nonessential businesses. The governors guidance to retailers coming out thursday will spell out the states expectations. We will study those very carefully. However, it is important to remember that the rule of thumb is whichever order is more restrictive is the order that will take precedence going forward. We are working and my team is working very hard to help find ways to reopen more businesses and activities safely while sustaining the progress we have made. We are developing carefully stepwise approaches, working to mitigate risk and protect the Public Health as much as possible. We are partnering with the Mayors Office of economic Workforce Development to ensure that the voices and ideas of local businesses help craft this next phase. We are hoping some pilot programs can go into effect this month, but these will be with considerable restrictions to ensure safety. Now i want to add a few remarks to the announcement of a blockbyblock plan to address the issues in the tenderloin that are impacting the quality of life for residents in that neighborhood. Jeff kazinski, manager of the healthy streets Operation Center, or hsoc, will provide more details in a moment. But i want to highlight to help departments support for and participation in this critical work. The health of the Tenderloin Community has been and continues to be a priority for us. We operate a Primary Care Clinic there and have a longstanding relationship with the community and our patients. We have participated in hsoc since the beginning, and the Health Department provides outreach, street medicine, Overdose Prevention and opioid treatment, Harm Reduction, and Environmental Health services to protect the health and safety of the people in the tenderloin who are experiencing homelessness and those that are housed. The tenderloin is a vibrant community of families, merchants, artists, restaurants, governmental and civic organizations. We know, i know that the coronavirus emergency has made life harder for the tenderloin. The department is committed to partnering with other city agencies and communities and business organizations to help improve the situation. Our Community Health Response Team and street medicine teams are on the front lines and expanding their outreach efforts in helping people protect themselves from the spread of the coronavirus. Our Environmental Health inspectors conducted an initial assessment of the areas identified in the plan, which helped to form the basis of the report. These inspectors will continue to provide input and guidance on interventions that may be necessary in the neighborhood to protect against rapid spread of the coronavirus. And now, jeff kazinski will further describe the goals and activities of the citys plans to support this important community, and i would like to personally thank him for his leadership in this effort. Thank you. Good afternoon. Im the manager of the healthy streets operations center. Hsoc is a multidepartmental collaborative that was stood up to address unsheltered homelessness and related street conditions here in San Francisco. Before i start, i want to thank all of the frontline outreach workers involved in hsoc, the hot team members, paramedics, Police Department, Public Health, outreach workers, public works employees and the nonprofit partners whoever day are out in the streets working with our unsheltered individuals and people who are struggling on the streets to help them shelter in place in a for people who actually have no shelter. Its challenging work. They are putting their own health at risk by doing this work, and it is such an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to work with them. Also want to thank the staff who are working behind the scenes, both at the department of emergency management, the dispatch workers and Police Officers who are there helping guide the efforts of the frontline staff, as well as our small but mighty team here at the Emergency Operations center, many of whom helped work on a plan that im going to talk about today. Clearly the challenges of unsheltered homelessness have grown exponentially during the covid19 crisis. Prior to this crisis, we already faced challenges with not having enough shelter and Affordable Housing to meet the needs of our community. Mayor breed had been working tirelessly and continues to work tirelessly on this issue, but this pandemic has forced us to thin out the shelters, and it has also required that we follow the cdc guidance to not disrupt homeless encampments. And where is that is a challenge for some, i just want to point out that many of the fantastic results that weve had here in San Francisco that dr. Colfax spoke of are because were following these guidelines. Nonetheless, this has created challenges in our community and some pretty jarring numbers. In 2016, august of 2016, we estimated that San Francisco had about 1200 people, 1200 tents on our streets and in our public places. By april of 2019, that number was below 400. I believe it was about 385. Recently we did a count in april of 2020, and there were close to 1200 tents again in the city and county of San Francisco. The tenderloin is by far the most impacted and hardesthit neighborhood in this current situation. Theres over 300 tents in the tenderloin, 20 large encampments, and thats an increase of almost 300 since just january of 2020. This has had negative impacts on Public Health and on Public Safety in the neighborhood. And this is not acceptable. The tenderloin is a special neighborhood. Its home to many lowincome families and individuals to formerly homeless individuals, to many seniors, to families and children, to people with disabilities. It also hosts the secondlargest africanamerican population in the city. Multigenerational households, from yemen, latin america, the philippines, vietnam and other regions. It was the center of tenants rights and lgtbq activism in San Francisco. And the neighborhood has dozens of historic businesses. Its also the densest neighborhood in San Francisco, and its also a place where openair drug dealing, drug sales and use, sex work and homelessness are acute. While this neighborhood has its challenges, its also one of the most vibrant and one of the most loving neighborhoods in San Francisco, and its residents deserve better than what is happening there right now. The urgency of this comprehensive plan that ill speak about in a bit has been driven through a lens of human dignity, of equity, of Public Health and of Public Safety. And it is a high priority for mayor breed who instructed the department a few weeks ago to put this plan together, and it has been a high priority for her since this crisis started. I will tell you that when mayor breed travels in the tenderloin, which is often, my phone starts ringing almost immediately to try to address some of the concerns that the mayor is seeing as shes travelling through the neighborhood, that were all seeing as we travel through these neighbourhoods. So in order to come up with some solutions to the complicated problems in this neighborhood that they were facing prior to this crisis and now have been made worse during the crisis, many city leaders, the mayor of course, and departments and many of our nonprofit providers during the past few weeks have been working to put together a very comprehensive plan. The Human Rights Commission really served as a center of gravity around this issue. They held Community Round table meetings with many stakeholders in the tenderloin and worked closely with them to gather their input and to make sure that the voice of the neighborhood was front and center in the development of this plan. We also conducted the quarterly tent count on april 22. Dph conducted an assessment on april 22, and then on april 28, over 50 City Employees and Community Volunteers and nonprofit employees went to 49 blocks in the tenderloin, assessed everything that was going on in those blocks, looked for challenges, as well as opportunities, and did assessments, Health Assessments and housing assessments of over 300 unsheltered individuals on the streets. That information was compiled into this plan. It was reviewed by the mayor, her staff, city leadership, departmental staff, and most importantly members of the tl community. I want to emphasize that the plan that we produced is not a final plan. It will never be a final plan. Its a living document. It will continue to evolve. The situation on the ground changes sometimes hourly, and were going to continue to take feedback from the community and evolve this plan as we move forward. So let me address some of the elements of the plan for you. To address the concerns that we saw and heard from in the community, weve outlined a number of recommendations, and as the mayor pointed out, there are 13 high priority blocks that we are going to focus on first. But were going to address every block in the tenderloin. Some of the recommendations that were moving forward on right now are addressing encampments by offering safe sleeping alternatives to unsheltered individuals, other places that they can camp and have their tents that dont impact house residents and businesses in the city. To continue to facilitate social distancing compliance by closing streets, adding additional sidewalk space by closing those streets, limiting parking and taking other measures. Ensuring that all residents, housed and unhoused, have a safe passage to and from their homes and to and from the businesses that they need to frequent. Were going to improve access to hygiene stations, restrooms, Garbage Disposal for unhoused individuals, as well as increasing access to food and water for housed and unhoused residents alike. We want to increase Police Presence to address crime in the neighborhood, but not to address social problems in the neighborhood. For that were going to continue activating outreach workers and nonprofit employees to continue to work closely with unsheltered individuals to help encourage them to be as safe as they possibly can, and not to impact the safety of other people in the neighborhood. Were going to be increasing Health Services in the neighborhood and working with Small Businesses through outreach and education. I know that thats a lot of words and that may be a bit vague, so i want to be a little bit more specific about work that has already happened, because a significant amount of work had begun weeks ago. We werent just writing a plan. We were actually implementing it as we were writing it. In the past few weeks weve installed six water manifolds to provide better access to drinking water. I want to thank the puc for their partnership in making that happen and the public works department. Of course weve added additional food drops so that before there were only a few places where people could get food and lines were getting quite long and social distancing was challenging, so we added additional places where people can get food and well continue to do that. Very recently added four 24hour pit stops in the neighborhood. We also, and i think this is very significant and have been working very hard to identify highrisk unsheltered individuals in the tenderloin and helping move them to shelterinplace hotel rooms. I want to thank director roar and dr. Stewart khan for their leadership and partnership in making this happen. We are on tuesday opening up a safe sleeping village on fulton street between hyde and larkin and i want to thank our friends at urban alchemy that are willing to operate that place. It will be 50 camp sites, if you will. People can set up tents safely and services will be available to them on site to help reduce the number of people camping out on sidewalks and we will be expanding into additional locations in and around the tenderloin in the coming weeks. Were going to keep expanding pit stops and adding garbage cans. We have already been out marking sidewalks where people are lining up to show folks what six feet is like to ensure social distancing. Going to continue conducting outreach to people on the streets which in the tenderloin which were doing every day. That includes Health Assessments and also includes providing people with masks and other supplies that they need to be able to shelter in place safely. And were going to be creating a Community Ambassador program with local nonprofits, hopefully putting up to 50 people on the street every day in the tenderloin, helping remind people to social distancing, helping to keep the streets clean, but also reporting back to the city any problems that they have identified. And we have a number of next steps moving forward with this plan. We are gonna set up a more regular feedback process led by the hrc with our nonprofit stakeholders there. We are going to, as youll see in the plan, theres block theres plans for all 13 blocks. Were going to start operationalizing those plans with a specific timeline and resources needed that includes lists of lots and other spaces that can be used as alternatives to sleeping on the street. Were going to be getting a plan for Small Business outreach, and i know that this as dr. Colfax said, were not sure how long this shelterinplace orders are going to be going on or how long this that this is going to be a challenge for some time. However, we also want to start thinking about a postcovid19 plan to ensure safe streets in the tenderloin so that the work that were starting now continues into the future to continue to improve conditions in the neighborhood. Thank you all very much for the time, and we will introduce chief scott as soon as i clean up for him here. Good afternoon. As i always start my remarks, i like to start with thanking our mayor london breed and our director of Public Health dr. Grant colfax for their amazing leadership during this very challenging time. I want to start with how we are looking so far this week in the advent of the most recent updated Public Health order. Overall, we are seeing more people outside, which we expected, with all the good weather. We are pleased to see that the vast majority of the folks that we have encountered continue to adhere to the Public Health orders. As you may know, during the first week of our updated health order, the new provisions offered modest relaxation of some of the restrictions in the Previous Health order for outdoor businesses and recreational facilities. And we continue to engage and remind people that the order is still in tact and still in effect, and i want to reiterate what dr. Colfax said and what mayor breed said, during my remarks today. Please maintain a social distance of at least six feet. If you must go outside, wear your face coverings, when youre in line or inside of an essential business or other places where social distancing is required. And we know this is a challenge for many people, but we ask that you continue to stay vigilant and continue to practice those Public Health directions. People should wash their hands often, and please continue to shelter in place. People watching the news in other parts of the country, and even other parts of the world, have seen that San Francisco has been a model, and we have been successful and we have done it the right way. And i know it may be tempting to fall off a little bit. People are getting anxious. People are tired of being inside, but we do need to stay vigilant. As dr. Colfax and mayor breed pointed out, this virus is not going away. The virus is not taking a vacation, neither should we. We continue to follow mayor breeds lead, and we need to continue to follow the Public Health guidelines. I cannot emphasize that enough. Now i can tell you as the chief of police that i have received calls from departments and chiefs from around the country, and they have asked, you know, what are we doing, allow are we doing what were doing, and i think thats a testament to the fact that, number one, weve been successful and, number two, that were doing things that a lot of people are trying to emulate, and thats thanks to you all. Thats thanks to the people of our great city, and we would like to keep that momentum going. First and foremost, you know, for the San Francisco Police Department, the work that we have done and will continue to do will be with the support of and in collaboration with members of our communities, and thats really important, because our premise and our preface has been voluntary compliance from day one, and we cannot get voluntary compliance without the support of the community. So were going to continue to model the behavior and continue to work with our community members, as jeff kazinski just stated, with the tenderloin plan, and in other parts of the city, and we ask for your cooperation and your voluntary compliance. Weve had a successful [indiscernible] and i think by far im proud to say that ive been a member of this outstanding team. Lets keep up the work. Lets keep up the vigilance and lets keep people healthy, safe and most importantly alive. Ill go to our enforcement efforts for covid19 since our last press conference on monday weve added one citation to the total, so now we have 22 total Public Health order citations, and the breakdown is 12 businesses and 10 individuals who have been cited. In total weve had 103 warnings or admonishments, and again i will explain that admonishments means that these are our final warnings to these particular individuals and businesses before we move to enforcement with a citation. And the breakdown of that 103 is 57 businesses and 16 individuals. As far as our Crime Statistics, today id like to talk about our yeartodate Crime Statistics. I know i usually report on weektoweek Crime Statistics, but i think its important to let you all know how were tracking yeartodate. Our Violent Crime is down 6 from this time last year. Thats a reduction of 91 fewer Violent Crimes. Our property crimes are down 12 from this time last year which is a reduction of 1,895 fewer property crimes. Now with that, i would emphasize also, as you know, this city, our city has had challenges with autoburglaries. Our autoburglaries are down 22 from this time last year, which is a reduction of 1,647 fewer crimes. Now we do realize and understand that some of the reasons for this reduction, that there have been far fewer people on the streets which limits the opportunities. But also, i want to thank the men and women of the San Francisco Police Department, and i want to thank our community, because as we continue to ask you to report crimes, you are doing that. And our men and women of our Police Department are responding. We have arrested many of the individuals who were committing burglaries in our city, burglary is one of the few Crime Statistics in which were up in terms of burglary were up 11 over this time last year, which is a difference of 190 additional crimes from this time last year. But weve made a lot of arrests, and we will continue to respond and we will continue to bring those to justice who are insistent on preying upon particularly in this time during the Public Health emergency, preying upon those who cant help themselves, particularly our vulnerable population. The other area that were up that i am sad to report are homicides, which we are three above where we were this time last year. We have 16 year to date, and we had 13 this time last year, but we have made some arrests, even this week, on homicide suspects, and we will continue to investigate every case and hopefully bring the people that committed these heinous crimes to justice. As always, i want to encourage everyone to report crimes when you see them, particularly Violent Crimes. Call 911 to report Violent Crimes in progress. We will respond. We will be there to help, and we will do everything that we can to bring the people committing these crimes to justice. Please also note, and ive said this in Previous Press conferences, that we have our implementation of our text 911 service, and if youre unable to make a phone call, but you have access to your ability to text, please text us and we will be there. For crimes that have already happened and for nonviolent property crimes, please call our nonemergency number at 4155530123. You can also call 301 or utilize our website at San Franciscopolicedepartment. Org to request a police to report or file a Police Report that qualify for online filing. Id like to end by just saying, again, lets continue to stay vigilant. You know, there are a lot of people that are doing the essential work thats necessary for us to survive. Our Grocery Store workers, our mechanics, our bus drivers, our Police Officers, our nurses, our firefighters, the list goes on and on. When we ask you to abide by these Public Health orders, think of those people. Think of the people that are coming to work, risking their families, risking their own health so you can have food on the table. Think of them. Wear your face coverings. Think of them when we ask you to wash your hands often. Think of them when we ask you to keep six feet of social distance. We have to stop the spread of this virus, and we know in our city were able to do it and we will do it, so thank you very much, and i think were going to open it up to questions. Chief, were going to go ahead and start with you. Okay. Okay, first question is from holly mcdeed. There have been reports that nonessential businesses around the bay area are breaking shelter in place orders and reopening. To what extent is that happening in San Francisco and how does the city plan to address these concerns . Well, let me start by saying, holly, first of all weve had really good success with our compliance pathways, and were going to continue that same posture. Midnight on march 17 we said that we were going to be out in force, number one educating people when we had our first Public Health order. And thats what we did, and we have been doing that ever since. So for those businesses look, some of this is confusing for people. The orders are changing. You have a national narrative, you have the state, you have other parts of the state that are opening up, and people some people are confused about everything thats going on. Thats why we need to follow our mayors guidance. We will be out to help educate, and for those people who are egregious after weve educated them and sorted things out, we will fight those people. We have done it and we will continue to do that. So our model has worked. I think thats a part of the reason that we are that successful at this point, as we are, and we will continue that model, and we will have common sense, compassion and balance, and we do understand that peoples lives have been up ended and peoples Financial Futures are uncertain, and we get that. So were going to continue to police with empathy and balance and compassion, but we still need to do our job and keep people healthy and safe. The next question is from heth knight, San Francisco chronicle. Will the new tenderloin plan include measures to combat rampant drug dealing and drug use in the neighborhood . Thank you, heather, for that question. Absolutely it will. The San Francisco Police Department look, a lot of these issues are social issues, but crime is a policing issue, and when you talk about drug dealing, we know that people have come into the tenderloin particularly during this pandemic, and they have taken advantage of vulnerable people. We have made arrests in encampments. We have seen people go in with bags of drugs and distribute them to others to sell in these encampments, and we have arrested those people. We have confiscated their money. We have confiscated their drugs, and we will continue to do that with a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm to try to keep people safe. So yeah, you can expect more of that, and as we roll out this tenderloin plan, one of the things that im very happy with is that in my discussions with the communities, and on the many Conference Calls that weve had, the community is asking for us to be there. They are asking for us to enforce. They are asking for us to get the drug dealers away from this vulnerable population and off the streets, and thats what well do. Thank you, chief. The following questions are for mayor london breed. Madam mayor, your first question is from politico. How does San Francisco plan to spend funds received through the cares act, and are you running into frustrations on how its spent or not allowed to be spent . Mayor london breed well, for the most part we are spending the funds on testing, on Contact Tracing, on hotel rooms and other expenses specifically related to the financial impacts on the city as it relates to the coronavirus that are nonfema expenses. And yes we would like more flexibility on spending these dollars because that would be helpful. It is going to be expensive for us to manage this challenge, but ultimately we are going to continue to move forward and do what we can and work with the federal government to try and get a lot more flexibility than we currently have. The next question is from angela hart, Kaiser Health news. Madam mayor, what is your response to the criticism that the city is moving too slow on providing safe hotel and motel rooms for Homeless People . Mayor london breed well, first of all i would like anyone to name any other city thats doing better than San Francisco as it relates to getting people who are homeless into hotel rooms. We have over a thousand people that we have been able to get into hotel rooms, people who are were a part of our Shelter Systems and a part of our very vulnerable populations. And it is continuously a real challenge, of course. As i said before, the problems that existed with our homeless populations, specifically the challenges around Substance Use disorder and mental illness, they dont just go away, and so i do think its important that on any given day when there isnt a pandemic, it is already challenging. And we have a number of incredible organizations that are consistently working with this population. But now its a lot different, and in the age of social distancing, what we are trying to do with, again, a very challenging and vulnerable population, is provide resources as rapidly as we can. And it is not easy. It is not easy logistically, and its not just about having the resources and moving faster. Of course wed like to move a lot more faster than we are, but its so critical that when we are opening up any hotel room we have to make sure that the people that are working in that hotel, whether its the people who work for the Hotel Directly or the people who work for the city or they work for the nonprofit organizations, that we keep them as well as the people who are homeless that we are providing housing for, the goal is to keep everyone safe. What we dont want to do is create another outbreak situation or another challenge unnecessarily so by doing this wrong. There is so much this city is doing right, and i want to take this opportunity i just need one second. I forgot the list of Service Providers. Because not every Service Provider in this city has stepped up and agreed to help at this time and to put their lives on the line to manage these hotels and provide services and oversight and resources to our homeless population. I want to specifically acknowledge and thank epitch Palestinian Community services, five keys, st. Vincent de paul, Catholic Charities and larkin street. These are the organizations that have stepped up and provided the support that we need, along with a number of Disaster Service workers, including the director of our library here in San Francisco, michael lambert, who is a site manager at one of these hotels. So i want to be clear that there are so many people that are putting their lives on the line, and it is not easy to do this work, and the fact is we are trying to do it while socially distancing ourselves in the process from a population that may not always follow our guidance or our direction, but we will continue to push. We will continue to try, and i want to really thank the people who are out there on the front lines every day doing this work, despite the criticism, despite the push and the pressure from people who arent even on the front lines who have no idea what its like to be in those situations, working hard to support this population every single day. Thank you for showing up. Thank you, mayor breed. The following questions are for dr. Grant colfax, department of Public Health. Dr. Colfax, your first question this sunday is mothers day. What are the citys suggestions on how residents celebrate it this year . If we wear masks and maintain social distance, can we visit our moms in person . Dr. Grant colfax so i would strongly recommend compliance with the shelterinplace order, that you celebrate mothers day from a distance from your mother. Dont go visit your mom if shes not part of your immediate family and household on a daily basis. There are other ways to celebrate. Its beyond my expertise to tell you what you should get for your mom, but flowers, phone calls, engagements on social media, hearing your voice, pictures are some of the things that ive been thinking about. But please, i think the greatest gift you can provide to we can give to our mothers this mothers day is to stay away, to be at a distance. Please keep them safe. Many mothers are highly vulnerable to covid19, and so please respect the order, celebrate using social media, phone calls and other mechanisms, but dont go visit your mom in person this year. Thank you. Next questions are similar questions from maureen kelly. There are some who are raising concerns that the department of Public Health is blurring the line between Harm Reduction and enabling when it comes to the citys practice of delivering alcohol, marijuana and tobacco to homeless addicts in isolation and quarantine. Can you please explain the citys philosophy behind this practice . Well, look, our philosophy in terms of treating people who suffer from addiction, Substance Use disorders, is really again focused on science and the medical literature, which shows that a Harm Reduction approach, which includes the continuum from supporting abstinence and recovery to helping people who continue to use to reduce their harms. There is there are decades of there are decades of literature supporting this approach. Right now with regard to supporting people who are at risk or who need to be in quarantine or isolation because theyre covid positive, our focus needs to be on supporting them and meeting them where they are, meeting them where they are so that they can be cared for in the most appropriate way, in a way thats good for them and for our community. So whether that includes ensuring that they have access to counselling, our Behavioural Health experts are Offering Services every day. Medicationassisted treatment, including nicotine and opiate replacement, Behavioural Health counselling, and in cases where people decide that they are going to continue to use, our focus is using the best evidence to help people manage their addictions, and in some cases this will include helping them manage their alcohol use and their nicotine use so that they can stay safe and in place as much as possible to help their community and to help themselves. Thank you. The next question is from charles rain, citizen news. Does a serological or diagnostic testing passport seem likely for san franciscans who want to return to work in the future . Dr. Grant colfax well, look, the World Health Organization issue add warning last week against the use of these socalled immunity passports. We simply do not know what the utility of an Antibody Test yet is. We are obviously looking at that very carefully. What an Antibody Test means in terms of shorterterm or longerterm immunity is developing. The science is still not there yet. So we will certainly be looking at how testing for a diagnosis of covid19 is integrated into our next steps with regard to a gradual reduction in the restrictions around social distancing, but certainly antibody passports, to speculate anything beyond what ive said would be premature at this time. The next question is from San Francisco chronicle. How many Staff Members and residents have tested positive for the virus and died at Central Gardens . So at this point we have a total of 72 cases of covid19 diagnosed in Central Gardens. We have 37 staff and 39 residents. Overall, there have been 160 cases of covid19 confirmed in the 21 nursing home facilities across the city. I want to emphasize that these facilities are overseen by the state and also emphasize that we are requiring all nursing facilities in the city to test for covid19, and as i said previously, we have started this work in laguna honda. At laguna honda, we are continuing to have our 21 cases of covid19 diagnosed, and to date there have been no deaths at laguna honda. As a followup, you previously said that San Francisco does not count a nursing home death or case within the countys number if the resident lives somewhere else. We checked with several other counties. All count those numbers within the county, despite where the nursing home residents has a registered address. How do you explain that discrepancy . Dr. Grant colfax so thank you for letting me clarify the issue. So first of all, we count covid19 cases during our outbreaks as cases, regardless of the county of residence. So when i report these outbreak numbers around Nursing Homes, that includes all the residents, not where their home address is. And our measurement of confirming deaths at with covid19 is not specific to Nursing Homes. Its not even specific to covid19. Its basic vital statistics, that if a person dies, even in the confines of the city, but has a permanent address somewhere else, that death is reported in that jurisdiction. Next question is from jany harr, associated press. How much outside room time is given daily to people in hotel rooms recovering from covid19 . Do they get smoke breaks . Dr. Grant colfax depending on the facility, i cant speculate on the exact amount of time, but i can say in referring to the work that the agencies are doing, that the mayor thanked personally, and across the entire spectrum of our support system for people in isolation and quarantine, we work with people to ensure that they get the breaks as much as possible that they need in order to maintain their isolation and quarantine, to support them, and to support the safety of the community. Next question is from joshua sabotini, San Francisco examiner. Can you expand on your remarks if there were some pilot programs this month related to business, and does that mean the city will allow retailers like bookstores to have Curbside Pickup . Dr. Grant colfax so again, i think once we see what the governor releases later this week in terms of guidelines and recommendations, we will be studying those very carefully in the local context in which, again, we will continue to follow the data, science and facts, collaborate with our Business Leaders and other partners to start establishing some very specific parameters, including how potentially Curbside Pickup could potentially be executed. Thank you, dr. Colfax. The next set of questions are for director trent roar, Human Services agency. Good afternoon. Trent roar, Human Services agency. Director roar, your first question is from angela hart, Kaiser Health news. Please explain how the city has been approaching hotel and motel owners for leasing their spaces out for project room key. What are the challenges in the state providing assistance . Thanks for the question and the opportunity to clarify project room key and its sort of role in county operations. Before i respond to that question, i want to piggyback a little bit on what the mayor how the mayor responded to i think it was your question, ms. Hart, on the characterization of San Franciscos Hotel Leasing being slow. You know, slow is an interesting word to use. You know, its a distributive word thats usually use to compare pace relative to Something Else or relative to a benchmark or relative to other areas doing similar work, and its difficult to use that adjective when talking about a deployment that know county or state has ever done before, no county Human Services agency or county government has attempted to lease and rent hotel rooms directly from hotel owners, and so this is all new territory. So to characterize it as slow, i often wonder, slow compared to what . Because there really is nothing to compare it to. I should say that, you know, im on calls with my county colleagues throughout the state regularly sharing best practices, trying to problem solve together, and i can assure you that were all facing the same difficulties in leasing up rooms, whether its negotiations with Hotel Ownership groups that are overseas, whether its Hotel Ownership groups who are reluctant to rent their hotels to homeless, deployment of staff, unique setup at hotels all present challenges in terms of pace. But in these discussions, you know, in sharing these challenges, what certainly is clear when looking at San Franciscos progress relative to our homeless population, whether its statewide or the bay area, theres a couple numbers id like to share. The first is that San Francisco has about 5 of the states homeless population, but when you look at the total number of rooms being leased statewide under project room key, San Francisco has about 15 of those rooms. Again, we have about 5 of the homeless population. When you narrow down to the bay area and the bay area counties, San Francisco has about 20 of the bay area homeless population. A little over 8,000 homeless is about the same as almeda county, a couple thousand less than santa clara county, so of the 20 of homeless in the bay area and you look at the rooms that San Francisco county has actually rented, we have 45 of the total rooms rented in the bay area are in San Francisco county. So i dont know if those numbers indicate that were slow. I dont know if they indicate that were fast, but certainly when measuring against a benchmark or other counties, we seem to be doing well in terms of ramping up to meet our needs of our homeless and other vulnerable populations. Now specific to your question about room key, so project room key is the statewide the name of the program, and really what project room key is is a Funding Source for counties and general county Human Service agencies to lease hotel rooms. The guidance for project room key wasnt announced until march 27, and it was along with 150 million statewide to counties to support our operations. And as ive mentioned before up here, we started our operations in San Francisco three weeks before the project room key guidance was announced. We started on march 9. The mayor and myself and the director of health met with the Hotel Council on march 18 to share with them our need for hotel rooms for our isolation quarantine needs, as well as for our homeless individuals. We released our request for hotel quotes on march 19, and we entered into our first contracts a week later and opened our first hotels on march 30, which was three days after the project room key guidance was announced. So we started before the state was really activating their response. We thank the state for their partnership. We certainly thank the state for our share of the 150 million that theyve appropriated for this cause, and all the rooms that are leased through San Francisco countys efforts, through my Human Services agency and our staff, along with the Citys Department of real estate and the city Attorneys Office. We approached these leases directly using our county staff, working directly with hotel owners in negotiating and developing and signing contracts, and were not relying on the state to negotiate for us. Were fortunate in San Francisco. We have the Institutional Capacity to do this on our own. I think project room key is really providing support to counties that might be smaller, dont quite have the infrastructure that we do, or counties, frankly, that are very, very large who need the Additional Support from the state. But at this point, San Francisco is able to do this on our own with our own staff and resources, and our partnership with the Hotel Council and other hotel groups, leadership of the mayor, and were able to do this on our own and arent needing to rely on the state, but do appreciate their leadership and certainly the resources theyve allocated to us. The next question is from mission local. According to the latest alternative housing update, there are still hundreds of rooms available. Are there plans to move homeless residents not just those who are considered vulnerable . Yes, you do correctly note that there are empty rooms, according to the report that we release daily, and let me help clarify why. There are two categories of rooms that we have secured and staffed. One is for isolation and quarantine purposes, and these are for individuals who are covid positive or who are showing symptoms. They need to isolate or be quarantined because they dont have a place to do that. Principally these are homeless individuals. We have 530 rooms under contract for isolation and quarantine. Only 248 of them are occupied. What does that mean . That means that we have almost 300 empty rooms that are available should we need to isolate our quarantine additional individuals. This is an intentional design. We want to have flexibility to be able to respond when theres an outbreak at a congregate setting, like shelters that weve had, at mse south, where we were able to successfully quarantine 90 people over the next day, when we have outbreaks at Skilled Nursing facilities or nsros. We have built this system to allow us to respond to those pressing Public Health needs that are, frankly, very difficult to predict. So you will see on an ongoing basis several hundred rooms that are being held and that are open to respond to outbreaks and the need to quarantine individuals. The next group of hotels are for vulnerable homeless individuals, either from our homeless shelters or from our streets, and these are individuals age 60 or older or those who have Underlying Health conditions. We do close to 300 vacancies among those hotels. 260 of which are in two hotels that we have under contract, and we are working with our nonprofit partners to develop the Site Management staffing. Our nonprofit partners have been stretched. You heard early the mayor thanking them for their work and their partnership, but the reality is they are the experts in providing the leadership and the management of these sites, and were working with them to identify staff to do so. These two hotels totalling 260 rooms we hoped to have online by this week. It looks like that will be towards the beginning of next week. We continue to prioritize the vulnerable population. This is a population that fema is reimbursing for, and they are reimbursing for it because this is the guidance from the cdc that these are the most vulnerable individuals to covid and those who could become the most sick if they get the virus. Those 60 and older and with Underlying Health conditions. Lastly on the hotels, we continue to actively negotiate with hotels to meet our estimated need of 7,000 rooms. We are currently in active negotiations with nine hotels totalling 1381 rooms, 1,381 rooms. Most of these should come under contract by the end of the week, and if not, definitely anticipate by early next week, unless we run into unexpected problems with the negotiations. We wont stop at those 1300 plus rooms. We continue to negotiate with or enter into and assess hotels for potential negotiation constantly. This is a rolling activation that we will keep building on. Thanks. This concludes our questions for todays press conference. This is a huge catalyst for change. It will be over 530,000 gross square feet plus two levels of basement. Now the departments are across so many locations it is hard for them to Work Together and collaborate and hard for the customers to figure out the different locations and hours of operation. One of the main drivers is a one stopper mitt center for permit center. Special events. We are a one stop shop for those three things. This has many different uses throughout if years. In 1940s it was cocacola and the flagship as part of the construction project we are retaining the clock tower. The permit center is little working closely with the Digital Services team on how can we modernize and move away from the paper we use right now to move to a more digital world. The Digital Services team was created in 2017. It is 2. 5 years. Our job is to make it possible to get things done with the city online. One of the reasons permitting is so difficult in this city and county is really about the scale. We have 58 Different Department in the city and 18 of them involve permitting. We are expecting the residents to understand how the departments are structured to navigate through the permitting processes. It is difficult and we have heard that from many people we interviewed. Our goal is you dont have to know the department. You are dealing with the city. Now if you are trying to get construction or special events permit you might go to 13 locations to get the permit. Here we are taking 13 locations into one floor of one location which is a huge improvement for the customer and staff trying to Work Together to make it easy to comply with the rules. There are more than 300 permitting processes in the city. There is a huge to do list that we are possessing digital. The first project is allowing people to apply online for the a. D. U. It is an accessory dwelling unit, away for people to add extra living space to their home, to convert a garage or add something to the back of the house. It is a very complicated permit. You have to speak to Different Departments to get it approved. We are trying to consolidate to one easy to due process. Some of the next ones are windows and roofing. Those are high volume permits. They are simple to issue. Another one is restaurant permitting. While the overall volume is lower it is long and complicated business process. People struggle to open restaurants because the permitting process is hard to navigate. The city is going to roll out a digital curing system one that is being tested. When people arrive they canshay what they are here to. It helps them workout which cue they neat to be in. If they rant to run anker rapid she can do that. We say you are next in line make sure you are back ready for your appointment. We want it allinone location across the many departments involved. It is clear where customers go to play. On june 5, 2019 the ceremony was held to celebrate the placement of the last beam on top of the structures. Six months later construction is complete. We will be moving next summer. The flu building the new building will be building. It was designed with light in mind. Employees will appreciate these amenities. Solar panels on the roof, electric vehicle chargers in the basement levels, benefiting from gray watery use and secured bicycle parking for 300 bicycles. When you are on the higher floors of thing yo of the buildt catch the tip of the Golden Gate Bridge on a clear day and good view of soma. It is so exciting for the team. It is a fiscal manifestation what we are trying to do. It is allowing the Different Departments to come together to issue permits to the residents. We hope people can digitally come to one website for permits. We are trying to make it digital so when they come into the center they have a highquality interaction with experts to guide then rather than filling iin forms. They will have good conversations with our staff. [ ]versations with our staff. I am the supervisor of district one. I am sandra lee fewer. [ ] i moved to the Richmond District in 1950 mine. I was two years old. I moved from chinatown and we were one of the first asian families to move out here. [ ] when my mother decided to buy that house, nobody knew where it was. It seems so far away. For a long time, we were the only chinese family there but we started to see the areas of growth to serve a larger chinese population. The stress was storage of the birthplace of that. My father would have to go to chinatown for dim sum and i remember one day he came home and said, there is one here now. It just started to grow very organically. It is the same thing with the russian population, which is another very large ethnic group in the Richmond District. As russia started to move in, we saw more russian stores. So parts of the richmond is very concentrated with the Russian Community and immigrant Russian Community, and also a chinese immigrant community. [ ] i think as living here in the richmond, we really appreciate the fact that we are surrounded three natural barriers. They are beautiful barriers. The presidio which gives us so many trails to walk through, ocean beach, for families to just go to the beach and be in the Pacific Ocean. We also also have a National Park service. We boarded the Golden Gate National Recreation Area so there is a lot of activity to do in the summer time you see people with bonfires. But really families enjoying the beach and the Pacific Ocean during the rest of the time of year. [ ] and Golden Gate Park where we have so many of our treasures here. We have the tea garden, the museum and the academy of sciences. Not to mention the wonderful playgrounds that we have here in richmond. This is why i say the richmond is a great place for families. The theatre is a treasure in our neighborhood. It has been around for a very long time. Is one of our two neighborhood theatres that we have here. I moved here when i was 1959 when i was two years old. We would always go here. I love these neighborhood theatres. It is one of the places that has not only a landmark in the Richmond District, but also in San Francisco. Small theatres showing one or two films. A unique they are unique also to the neighborhood and San Francisco. Where we are today is the heart of the Richmond District. With what is unique is that it is also Small Businesses. There is a different retail here it is mom and pop opening up businesses. And providing for the neighborhood. This is what we love about the streets. The cora door starts on clement street and goes all the way down to the end of clement where you will see Small Businesses even towards 32nd. At the core of it is right here between here and 20 tenth avenue. When we see this variety of stores offered here, it is very unique then of the any other part of San Francisco. There is traditional irish music which you dont get hardly anywhere in San Francisco. Some places have this long legacy of serving ice cream and being a hangout for families to have a sunday afternoon ice cream. And then also, we see Grocery Stores. And also these restaurants that are just new here, but also thriving. [ ] we are seeing restaurants being switched over by hand, new owners, but what we are seeing is a vibrancy of clement street still being recaptured within new businesses that are coming in. That is a really great thing to see. I dont know when i started to shop here, but it was probably a very, very long time ago. I like to cook a lot but i like to cook chinese food. The market is the place i like to come to once a year. Once i like about the market as it is very affordable. It has Fresh Produce and fresh meat. Also, seafood. But they also offer a large selection of condiments and sauces and noodles. A variety of rice that they have is tremendous. I dont thank you can find a variety like that anywhere else. Hi. I am kevin wong. I am the manager. In 1989 we move from chinatown to Richmond District. We have opened for a bit, over 29 years. We carry products from thailand, japan, indonesia, vietnam, singapore and india. We try to keep Everything Fresh daily. So a customer can get the best out a bit. Normally during crab season in november, this is the first place i hit. Because they have really just really fresh crab. This is something my family really likes for me to make. Also, from my traditional chinese food, i love to make a kale soup. They cut it to the size they really want. I am probably here once a week. Im very familiar with the aisles and they know everyone who is a cashier cashier here i know when people come into a market such as this, it looks like an asian supermarkets, which it is and sometimes it can be intimidating. We dont speak the language and many of the labels are in chinese, you may not know what to buy or if it is the proper ingredients for the recipe are trying to make. I do see a lot of people here with a recipe card or sometimes with a magazine and they are looking for specific items. The staff here is very helpful. I speak very little chinese here myself. Thinks that im not sure about, i asked the clerk his and i say is this what i need . Is this what i should be making . And they actually really helped me. They will bring me to the aisle and say this is battery. They are very knowledgeable. Very friendly. I think they are here to serve not only the Asian Community but to serve all communities in the Richmond District and in San Francisco. [ ] what is wonderful about living here is that even though our july is a very foggy and overcast, best neighborhood, the sleepy part outside on the west side is so rich with history, but also with all the amenities that are offered. [ ] i personally love the mega jobs. I think theyre a lot of fun. I like being part of a build that is bigger than myself and outlast me and make a mark on a landscape or industry. We do a lot of the big sexy jobs, the stacked towers, Transit Center, a lot of the note worthy projects. Im Second Generation construction. My dad was in it and for me it just felt right. I was about 16 when i first started drafting home plans for people and working my way through college. In college i became a project engineer on the job, replacing others who were there previously and took over for them. The Transit Center project is about a million square feet. The entire floor is for commuter buses to come in and drop off, there will be five and a half acre city park accessible to everyone. It has an amputheater and water marsh that will filter it through to use it for landscaping. Bay area council is big here in the area, and they have a gender equity group. I love going to the workshops. Its where i met jessica. We hit it off, we were both in the same field and the only two women in the same. Through that friendship did we discover that our projects are interrelated. The projects provide the power from san jose to San Francisco and end in the trans bay terminal where amanda was in charge of construction. Without her project basically i have a fancy bus stop. She has headed up the Womens Network and i do, too. We have exchanged a lot of ideas on how to get groups to Work Together. Its been a Good Partnership for us. Women can play leadership role in this field. I tell him that the schedule is behind, his work is crappy. He starts dropping fbombs and i say if youre going to talk to me like that, the meeting is over. So these are the challenges that we face over and over again. The reality, okay, but it is Getting Better i think. It has been great to bond with other women in the field. We lack diversity and so we have to support each other and change the culture a bit so more women see it as a great field that they can succeed in. What drew me in, i could use more of my mind than my body to get the work done. Its important for women to network with each other, especially in construction. The percentage of women and men in construction is so different. Its hard to feel a part of something and you feel alone. Its fun to play a leadership role in an important project, this is important for the transportation of the entire peninsula. To have that person of women coming into construction, returning to construction from family leave and creating the network of women that can rely on each other. Women are the main source of income in your household. Show of hands. People are very charmed with the idea of the reverse role, that theres a dad at home instead of a mom. You wont have gender equity in the office until its at home. Whatever you do, be the best you can be. Dont say i cant do it, you can excel and do whatever you want. Just put your mind into it. As a society weve basically failed big portion of our population if you think about the basics of food, shelter safety a lot of people dont have any of those im mr. Cookie cant speak for all the things but i know say, i have ideas how we can address the food issue. Open the door and walk through that dont just stand looking out. As they grew up in in a how would that had access to good food and our parent cooked this is how you feed yours this is not happening in our country this is a huge pleasure im david one of the cofounder so about four year ago we worked with the serviced and got to know the kid one of the things we figured out was that they didnt know how to cook. I heard about the Cooking School through the Larkin Academy a. Their noting no way to feed themselves so theyre eating a lot of fast food and i usually eat whatever safeway is near my home a lot of hot food i was excited that i was eating lunch enough instead of what and eat. As i was inviting them over teaching them basic ways to fix good food they were so existed. Particle learning the skills and the food they were really go it it turned into the is Charity Foundation i ran into my friend we were talking about this this do you want to run this Charity Foundations and she said, yes. Im a cofound and executive director for the cooking project our best classes participation for 10 students are monday theyre really fun their chief driven classes we have a different guest around the city theyre our stand alone colas we had a series or series still city of Attorneys Office style of classes our final are night life diners. Santa barbara shall comes in and helps us show us things and this is one the owners they help us to socialize and ive been here about a year. We want to be sure to serve as many as we can. The San Francisco Cooking School is an amazing amazing partner. It is doing that in that space really elevates the space for the kids special for the chief that make it easy for them to come and it really makes the experience pretty special. Im sutro sue set im a chief 2, 3, 4 San Francisco. Thats what those classes afford me the opportunity it breakdown the barriers and is this is not scary this is our choice about you many times this is a feel good what it is that you give them is an opportunity you have to make it seem like its there for them for the taking show them it is their and they can do that. Hi, im antonio the chief in San Francisco. The majority of kids at that age in order to get them into food they need to see something simple and the evidence will show and easy to produce i want to make sure that people can do it with a bowl and spoon and burner and one pan. I like is the receipts that are simple and not feel like its a burden to make foods the cohesives show something eased. I go for vera toilet so someone cant do it or its way out of their range we only use 6 ingredients i can afford 6 ingredient what good is showing you them something they cant use but the sovereignties what are you going to do more me youre not successful. We made a vegetable stirfry indicators hed ginger and onion that is really affordable how to balance it was easy to make the food we present i loved it if i having had access to a kitchen id cook more. Some of us have never had a kitchen not taught how to cookie wasnt taught how to cook. I have a great appreciation for programs that teach kids food and cooking it is one of the healthiest positive things you can communicate to people that are very young. The more programs like the cooking project in general that can have a positive impact how our kids eat is really, really important i believe that everybody should venting to utilize the kitchen and meet other kids their age to identify theyre not alone and their ways in which to pick yours up and move forward that. It is really important to me the opportunity exists and so i do everything in my power to keep it that. Well have our new headquarters in the heart of the tenderloin at taylor and kushlg at the end of this summer 2014 were really excited. A lot of the of the conditions in San Francisco they have in the rest of the country so our goal to 257bd or expand out of the San Francisco in los angeles and then after that who know. Wed never want to tell people want to do or eat only provide the skills and the tools in case thats something people are 2rrd in doing. You cant buy a box of psyche you have to put them in the right vein and direction with the right kids with a right place address time those kids dont have this you have to instill they can do it theyre good enough now to finding out figure out and find the future for hi. Welcome to San Francisco. Stay safe and exploring how you can stay in your home safely after an earthquake. Lets look at common earthquake myths. We are here at the urban center on Mission Street in San Francisco. We have 3 guest today. We have david constructional engineer and bill harvey. I want to talk about urban myths. What do you think about earthquakes, can you tell if they are coming in advance . Hes sleeping during those earthquakes . Have you noticed him take any special . No. He sleeps right through them. There is no truth that im aware of with harvey that dogs are aware of an impending earthquake. You hear the myth all the time. Suppose the dog helps you get up, is it going to help you do something i hear they are aware of small vibrations. But yes, i read extensively that dogs cannot realize earthquakes. Today is a spectacular day in San Francisco and sometimes people would say this is earthquake weather. Is this earthquake weather . No. Not that i have heard of. No such thing. There is no such thing. We are talking about the weather in a daily or weekly cycle. There is no relationship. I have heard its hot or cold weather or rain. Im not sure which is the myth. How about time of day . Yes. It happens when its least convenient. When it happens people say we were lucky and when they dont. Its terrible timing. Its never a good time for an earthquake. But we are going to have one. How about the ground swallowing people into the ground . Like the earth that collapsed . Its not like the tv shows. The earth does move and it bumps up and you get a ground fracture but its not something that opens up and sucks you up into haddes. Its not going anywhere. We are going to have a lot of damage, but this myth that california is going to the ocean is not real. Southern california is moving north. Its coming up from the south to the north. You would have to invest the million year cycle, not weeks or years. Maybe millions of years from now, part of los angeles will be in the bay area. For better or worse. Yes. This is a tough question. Those other ones werent tough. This is a really easy challenge. Are the smaller ones less stress . Yes. The amount released in small earthquakes is that they are so small in you need many of those. I think would you probably have to have maybe hundreds of magnitude earthquakes of 4. 7. So small earthquakes are not making our lives better in the future . Not anyway that you can count on. I have heard that buildings in San Francisco are on rollers and isolated . Its not true. Its a conventional Foundation Like almost all the circumstances buildings in San Francisco. The transamerica was built way before. Its a pretty conventional foundation design. I have heard about this thing called the triangle of life and up you are supposed to go to the edge of your bed to save yourself. Is there anything of value to that . Yes, if you are in your room. You should drop, cover and hold onto something. If you are in school, same thing, kitchen same thing. If you happen to be in your bed, and you rollover your bed, its not a bad place to be. The reality is when we have a major earthquake the ground shaking so pronounced that you are not going to be able to get up and go anywhere. You are pretty much staying where you are when that earthquake hits. You are not going to be able to stand up and run with gravity. You want to get under the door frame but you are not moving to great distances. Where can i buy a Richter Scale . Mr. Richter is selling it. We are going to put a plug in for cold hardware. They are not available. Its a rather complex. In fact we dont even use the Richter Scale anymore. We use a moment magnitude. The Richter Scale was early technology. Probably a myth that i hear most often is my building is just fine in the loma prieta earthquake so everything is fine. Is that true . Loma prieta was different. The ground acceleration here was quite moderate and the duration was moderate. So anyone that believes they survived a big earthquake and their building has been tested is sadly mistaken. We are planning for the bigger earthquake closer to San Francisco and a fault totally independent. Much stronger than the loma prieta earthquake. So people who were here in 89 they should say 3 times as strong and twice as long and that will give them more of an occasion of the earthquake we would have. 10 percent isnt really the threshold of damage. When you triple it you cross that line. Its much more damage in earthquake. I want to thank you, harvey, thanks pat for clerk we expect Vice President honda later this evening. At t we will also be joined by representatives from the city