Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Rules Committee 20240712

Legislative chamber and Committee Room are closed. However, members will be participating in the meeting remotely. This precaution is taken pursuant to the statewide stayathome order and all local, state, federal and declaration directives. Committee meetings will attend the meeting through Video Conference and participate in the meeting to the same extent as if they were physically present. Public comment will be available on each item on this agenda, both channel 26 and sfgovtv. Org are streaming the number across the screen. Each speaker will be allowed two minutes to speak. Comments during the Public Comment period are available via phone by calling 415 6550001. Again 415 6550001. Access code 145 307 5686. Again 145 307 5686. Then press and again. When connected, youll hear the meeting discussion, but youll be muted and in listening mode only. When the item of interest comes up, dial star three to be added to the speaker line. Best practices are to call from a quiet location, speak clearly and slowly, and turn down your television or radio. Alternatively you may submit Public Comment to email, to myself, the rules Committee Clerk at victo victor. Young sfgovtv. Org. Ifyoucommitpubliccommentviaemail ,itwillbeforwardtothesupervisors a ndincludedaspartofthefile. Finally,itemsactedupontodaywill appear on the board of supervisors agenda of june 23rd, unless otherwise stated. That completes my comments for today. Commissioner ronen thank you so much. Can you please read item number 1. Clerk item number 1 a motion reappointing supervisor sandra lee fewer, term ending june 1st, 2022 to the reentry council. Commissioner ronen colleagues, does anyone have any comments or questions . Seeing none, can we please open Public Comment. Clerk yes. Operation is checking to see if theres any callers in the queue. If you have not already done so, please press star three to be added to the queue. For those on hold, please wait until the system has indicated you have been unmuted. We will give operation a moment to double check the queue. Commissioner ronen okay. Madam chair, there are no callers in the queue for item number 1. Commissioner ronen okay. Public comment is closed. Colleagues, does anyone want to be the honors . Commissioner mar sure. Id be happy to do that. Id like to make a motion to reappoint supervisor sandra lee fewer to the reentry council, and send that to the full board with positive recommendation. Commissioner ronen thank you so much. Can we take a roll call. Clerk on that motion, supervisor stefani . Supervisor stefani aye. Clerk supervisor mar . Aye. Chair ronen. Aye. Clerk the motion passes. Thank you. Can you please raze item number 2. A motion approving appoint of lydia ely, shes redevelopment assessor Successor Agency over board, term ending january 24, 2024. Goo good morning, ms. Ely, is that how you proannouncement pronounce your name. Do you have anything to share with us this morning. Good morning. Supervisors, i know some of you, not all of you. Im pleased to be considered for this spot on the board. I have worked at mocd for ten years and in Affordable Housing for about 25 years on the nonprofit and the government side. Most recently ive been focusing my efforts on Public Housing and as you all know, the Oversight Board is responsible for a number of things, including the completion of the Alice Griffith public house replacement project. Im really excited to be able to expand my knowledge and expertise and serve on this board. And id be happy to answer any questions about my qualifications or experience, if you have any. Supervisor ronen colleagues, any questions . Supervisor stefani no, i want to say i have enjoyed working with you over the years, especially on the edward ii, the project with Community Housing it partnership in district 2. And i know youll be of a great service. So thank you for your service on this. Supervisor ronen thank you. Supervisor mar. No . Okay. Then well open this item up for Public Comment. Is there any member of the public who wishes to speak on this appointment . Clerk members of the public who wish to speak Public Comment on this item should call 415 6550001, access code 145 307 5686. And press and again. Please dial star three to line up to speak. A system prompt will indicate you have raised your hand. Please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted and you may begin your comment. I will we will give operations a moment to check the queue at this time. Supervisor ronen thank you. And ill just note that weve been joined by president norman yee. Good morning, president yee. Madam chair, there are no callers in the queue for item number 2. Supervisor ronen okay. So we will close Public Comment. And id also like to thank you, miss ely, for your incredible work over the years. And be happy to make a motion to send this item forward with positive recommendation. Clerk madam chair, i believe we need to amend the motion. Remove the word rejecting the legislation. Supervisor ronen i make a motion to delete the word rejecting throughout the delegation and move forward with positive recommendation. Clerk on that on that motion, supervisor stefani. Supervisor stefani aye. Clerk supervisor mar . Supervisor mar aye. Clerk mare ronen . Supervisor ronen aye. Clerk the motion passes. Supervisor ronen thank you. Thanks again, ms. Ely. Can you please read item number 3. Clerk appoint of Anna Van Degna to the redevelopment assessor agency Oversight Board, term ending january 24th, 2022. Supervisor ronen hi, good morning, miss van degna. Do you have any comments or statements for us this morning . Sure. Good morning, supervisors. Im Anna Van Degna, the director of the Controllers Office of Public Finance. Im honored to be here today to consider my potential appointment to the Oversight Board. Ive been a resident of San Francisco for nearly two decades. And my role of the citys finance director, i manage a 4 billion debt portfolio and oversee the issuance of the citys general fund back debt. Prior to joining the city in march of 2018, i worked in Public Finance for over 15 years, assisting california local agencies with the issuance of debt, including redevelopment agencies, both pre and postdisillusion. I understand that the Oversight Board has a fiduciary responsibility for the obligation and the taxing entities that are entitled to receive an allocation of property taxes, once the obligations are met. I appreciate your time and consideration. And please let me know if i can answer any questions for you. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. Colleagues, are there any questions . Or comments . No. Okay. Then well open up this item for Public Comment. Is there any member of the public who wishes to speak on this appointment . Clerk again id like to make the statement. Membecall 415 6550001. Access code 145 307 5686 and press and again. A system prompt will indicate you have raised your hand. Please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted and you may begin your comment. Lets give a moment to operations to check the Public Comment line. Supervisor ronen thank you. There are no callers in the queue. Supervisor ronen okay. Thank you so much. Im going to close Public Comment. And mr. Clerk, id like to make a motion to remove the word rejecting in the legislation and move this item forward with positive recommendation. And again, miss van degna, thank you so much for all of your work for the city. Clerk on that motion, supervisor stefani. Aye. Clerk supervisor mar. Aye. Clerk chair ronen. Aye. Clerk the motion passes without objection. Supervisor ronen congratulations. Thanks so much. Thank you. Supervisor ronen mr. Clerk, can you please read item number 4. Clerk a motion approving rejecting the appointment of cynthia wang to the Entertainment Commission, term ending july 1st, 2023. Supervisor ronen hi, is ms. Wang here with us . Hi, good morning. Good morning. Supervisor ronen how are you . Im so sorry i havent had the chance yet to meet you. But im really looking forward to hearing from you today. And do you have any comments that you wanted to share with us to start off . Sure. Sure. Good morning again, chair ronen, vice chair stefani, supervisor mar. My name is i want to check, my video has you frozen. Can you hear me . Supervisor ronen we can hear you. Yes. Great. Great. My name is cynthia wang, im a freelance native, a Community Activist and a single mom. Its an honor to be nominated to serve on the Entertainment Commission, which as we know promotes and enhances entertainment and nightlife in the city. And regulates the industry by conducting hearings for entertainmentrelated permit applications. This sector includes restaurants, bars, nightclubs, outdoor events, Art Galleries and performance venues. The social spaces has been cultural touch stones, that have fueled our economy and the character of our city. In 2018, we had 3,850 nightlife establishments that employed over 63,000 workers and generated an estimated 7. 2 billion. The motion of such space is being a vital part of our cultural fabric is also deeply personal to me. As a young queer person that grew up here, i found my identity and sense of community in the queer nightlife scene. It is often the first place many of us feel safe and affirmed. Yet only weeks ago, our oldest gay bar announced its closure. Today this industry is among the hardest hit by the Public Health crisis. And we must do everything we can, as a city, to support its recovery. The entertainment and nightlife sectors operated on razorthin margins with high costs and liability exposure, well before the pandemic. With more than 400 restaurant closures in San Francisco, during 2019, Small Businesses were struggling to stay afloat long before social distancing and shelterinplace. The already dire situation has been exacerbated by this pandemic. Many of these businesses are suffering and many may not survive. I believe my career in municipal and landuse law, in Public Policy, hospitality, and insurance equips me with the technical background for understanding the challenges Small Businesses face in this sector and also for understanding the tools that may help them rebuild. I currently work for wang insurance, the small Family Business my parents founded in 1979 in the sunset district. We insure over 1,000 restaurants and bars throughout the state, the vast majority being immigrantowned. In my role i discuss Risk Management on a daily basis. So i have an intimate understanding of the issues they grapple with. I helped a dozen shared spaces and applications. Prior to this, i worked in the Hospitality Industry as a Public Policy manager, as a u. S. Diplomat during the obama administration, and began my career practicing law as assistant City Attorney for several bay area cities, mostly focusing on landuse, zoning and code enforcement. Additionally, as a child of immigrants, a queer woman and a single mom of an sfud kindergartener, i bring deep local roots and hope to be a voice for underrepresented communities. Above Everything Else i would be humbled for this opportunity to roll up my sleeves and apply my experience and skill set to help support an industry in crisis. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. Your experience is tremendous. And i know you had a chance to talk to amy, of my staff, and she shared it with me as well. So you are extremely qualified for this position. I just had a question. I, too, so many of the queer bars and nightlife in the city are in my neighborhood or connected to my district in some way. And i attended the online funeral for the stud, which was inspiring and very, very sad. At the same time, im just wondering what ideas you have to help this industry that is so, so in trouble at the moment. Nightlife is taking one of the biggest hits in the city. And i was wondering if you have ideas for helping helping this industry survive and thrive again. Yeah. Absolutely. Obviously being nominated for this position, i have spent a lot of time thinking about this industry and how to best help it. I think weve all watched the ground shift beneath our feet and this industry plunge into an existential crisis. Ive been thinking about how we as city could help it survive. All should be on the table to reimagine Business Models and how to incorporate entertainment in a way that allows businesses to stabilize and stay open. Based on what were seeing from a Public Health perspective, it might be a long time before crowds can gather again in what weve traditionally known as nightlife. So i think the shared initiative was a very strong start, in helping businesses to build capacity and make up for some of what theyve lost indoors. Some of the other ideas ive had are im not sure how familiar everyone is, but San Francisco does have minimal restrictions regimes when it comes to last performance. It currently requires Art Galleries, restaurants and venues to acquire onetime event permits or limited live permits for any live performance, even nonamplified ones such as poetry readings. I believe loosening some of those restrictions, particularly with nonamplified being the lowesthanging fruit, we can give businesses the ability to bring customers in a safe, socially distanced way, allowing artists, a community hilt very, very hard by the pandemic, earn some extra income. Certainly anything we can do to continue commercial eviction, paired with mortgage or tax relief for owners, at least through the end of 2020, would be wonderful. And then a few other things i think that, as i was talking about before, Small Businesses have been in crisis, you know, for a long time. A lot of it is the result of our local system of you know, best intentioned, interwoven codes, review boards, appeals and fees that dont allow businesses to be nimble and change their uses without a ton of review and processes. So for a bar, for instance, right now that wants to start doing some retail or production, this can be incredibly burdensome and prohibitive and slow in a time when they need to be nimble. So i think we need to think creatively about flexibility of use, spiethed re expedited review, suspension of enforcement when it comes to changes and improvements made for safety, such as togo windows, hand wash stations and again multiple uses of space, whether that involves food togo production, wholesale, maybe suspension of some of these zoning guidelines and reviews processes, while theyre in survival mode. Perhaps remove some of the notifications requirements that theres usually a public notification, change of use process of four to six months as well as removal of successly use limitation. Lastly, you know, ta tax reliefd fees. And then i was also looking at like business programs. I know your predecessor supervisor compost worked with s. F. Heritage on this. And we there have been a list of businesses that have been seen as having contributions to neighborhood history or the identity of a neighborhood or community. I think theres a lot in your district, chair ronen, maybe we can look at opening up that funnel again for, one, the historically important to the Queer Community or certain communities of color as well. And latinx and asian communities as well. Supervisor ronen thank you. Its amazing. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that answer very much. And if you are appointed, i would love to work with you on some of those ideas, because this is a big priority for me and my district. And im very, very worried about this industry. I really appreciate your willingness to serve in this way. Thank you for the really complete and really thoughtful answer. Colleagues, do you have any questions for the applicant . Supervisor stefani i dont have any questions. Thank you, ms. Wang, for being will to step up and serve. We talked about everything that you just discussed, including the restrictive permitting schemes and how we can better there and how we reimagine business. I think youre absolutely one of the most qualified candidates ive ever seen. You are absolutely brilliant. Your experience is remarkable. And your passion is above reproach. I have enjoyed getting to know you, and im so excited to have someone like you serving hopefully. Because i do support you immensely on the Entertainment Commission. I look forward to working with you, not only, you know, for businesses in my district, but throughout the city as you mentioned, with regard to the lgbtq community. I just think youre incredibly impressive and im very excited to support you today. Thank you, supervisor, for your kind words. Supervisor ronen supervisor mar. Thanks, chair ronen. I would echo supervisor stefanis comments and praise of for stepping up for this important and her willingness to serve in this really important role. Yeah, you obviously have very impressive, you know, professional background and life experiences, that you can really bring to the Entertainment Commission. Especially were thankful for you and your family operating your Insurance Business in district 4 for so many years, serving Small Businesses across Different Industries in our city. And beyond. And i look forward to working with you on expanding nightlife and entertainment in district 4 and the west side. We could definitely use more of that to help support the recovery and revitalization of our commercial corridors. So thank you. Absolutely. Thank you, supervisor mar. Supervisor ronen thank you. I just had one more question, because of your expertise. So we have when helping our businesses in our district, we found it that the shared Space Program has been hard to implement because typical insurance packages dont cover outdoor spaces. Just any thoughts or ideas about that . I only ask because of your expertise in this area. Yeah. Well, just in the last week or so, weve helped a couple businesses. I think manny is on the line. We helped prepare his insurance requirements for that. There are a lot of packages that will meet the two requirements that the city imposed, which is one way to include a waiver of subrogation on workers comp and name the city as an additional insurer. Were able to meet those requirements on most general insurance packages. Where it becomes more complicated, especially where it applies to like a sidewalk in front of your business, i think where it might become more complicated, and i discussed this with amy as well, when we open the larger corridors, like if we were to shut off a large section of valencia street and multiple businesses are like have tables where someone might be sitting there and having a drink from one place and food from another place. And then an incident occurs, where that liability is going being distributed. And thats something ive already raised to some of the major insurance carriers. And flagged for their attention. Now theyre discussing this at higher levels, too, to figure out what to do. But i think theyre also playing catchup as we all are. Supervisor ronen got it. Got it. Thanks again. Yeah. Supervisor ronen now id like to open this item up for Public Comment. Well allow two minutes to speak. Clerk yes, members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment on this item should call 415 655000 415 6, access code is 145 307 5686. Then press and again. If you havent already done so, please dial star three to line up to speak. A system prompt will indicate you have raised your hand. Please wait until the system prompt unmutes you and you may begin your comment. We have several callers on the line at this time. Yes, we do have a few callers waiting to speak. Ill unmute the first caller. Supervisor ronen thank you. Caller all right. Good morning. My name is tara. Can you guys hear me . I just want to test. Supervisor ronen yes. Great. Im with an organization thats focusing on San Franciscos district 10 neighborhoods, activating spaces of arts and cultural programming. Im writin writing in store of a wangs appointment to the Entertainment Commission. I first met her through our volunteer Work Together in community and she has a very special connection to her neighborhood, specifically Small Businesses, largely due to her familys history in Small Business and her Due Diligence and professionalism in the insurance space. As i have stated, wang insurance manages Risk Management needs for over 1,000 restaurants and personally as a nonprofit founder, shes been a help to me and my organization as well. She has extensive experience in Public Policy, law and economic development. As someone stated earlier, shes probably one of the most qualified Entertainment Commissioner nominees i have seen. So congratulations to your nomination. And as an active participant through my work in systematic space, again shes been an asset. And i think she will really support the commissions mission to support a thrive going nightlife, culture in San Francisco. And special connection to the lgbtq community, i think her professional is needed. Wholeheartedly support her appointment to the Entertainment Commission. And, of course, youre interested to reach out to me for further comment, im available. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Next speaker, please. Caller hi. My name is maria and i live in the district 1 in the richmond. Im calling in to support the recommendation to the commission. I have known cynthia since 2018. We serve on a board together and recently ran for a seat together earlier this year as well. In that experience, i have gotten to know cynthia very well and learned about her impressive professional history, as well as get to know her personally. Cynthia is one of the most hardworking, effective and productive people that i have known both professionally and personally. She has the experience and proven track record to be a strong commissioner. Her legal experience in land use, her experience working with entertainment sector clients at her Family Business, her experience in the Insurance Business, and her personal experience as a queer woman, who knows how important preserving queer nightlife here in San Francisco is, especially with the Public Health crisis. But well keep going on for the foreseeable future. Shes willing to work with everyone to see progress. I strongly urge you all to vote yes today. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Caller hello. Thank you for hearing this Public Comment. My name is una. Im a youth activist and organizer in San Francisco. And im speaking in support of cynthia wangs appointment to the commission. I first met her run for the democratic committee. As i campaigned for her, i learned she was so much more than a candidate. Wang is a c. F. O. Of her Family Business, wang insurance, which manages the risk needs of 1,000 restaurants and entertainment stones throughout the state. Shes been an insurance provider for many years and has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by the entertainment industry. Shes a leader in the Small Business community, and as a Community Activist, i have witnessed the connections cynthia has to our local community. Cynthia has an extensive experience in Public Policy, law and economic development. She was a u. S. Diplomat during the obama administration. Cynthia is a queer native san franciscan, mother to a kindergartener and speaks mandarin and spanish. She found her identity in San Franciscos queer nightlife and will be a champion for this community. Cynthia represents the rich diversity of our city. In this time of uncertainty for our city, i cant think of anyone better equipped to serve on the Entertainment Commission. I hope youll give deep consideration to cynthia wang and vote in favor of her appointment. Thank you for your time. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next speaker, please. Hi, everyone. Can you hear me . Its manny. Yes, we can hear. Please proceed. Hi, friends. I have never done Public Comment before. So im so honored and excited to do Public Comment for the first time for cynthia. My name is manny. Im the owner of mannys on the corner of 16th and valencia. My only addition to the comments here is, you know, im a new Small Business owner. I went through the permitting process for my Small Business under two years ago. And ill just say that its a very frightening and scary experience to try to open up your own Small Business and navigate all of the various bureaucracies. And insurance is one of the most scary parts, because you know you have to have it. You dont know how to get it. Its very complicated. You dont know how much its suppose to cost. Ill say finding an Insurance Agent who gets what youre doing, is there for you, wants to support you, and is more than just a provider of, you know, specific needs, but actually is a partner and friend, is something thats made the whole experience so much easier and better. Cynthia cares about this city. Shes a Small Business owner herself. I know she would make an amazing addition to the Entertainment Commission. I really hope yall vote for her to be tonight Entertainment Commission, because i think we could use her and an amazings a tote my Small Business. Mannys in San Francisco. Thank you so much for hearing me out. I appreciate it. Clerk thank you. Can we hear from the next caller, please. Yes. Good morning, commissioners. My name is im representing the chineseamerican democratic club. And we want to strongly ask for your support for cynthias approval to the commission. I myself have a lot of experience with my grandpas laundromat in the early 60s and 70s. My dads restaurant in the 70s and 80s. Also working for the Human Rights Commission on the local minority Small Business programs for close to 30 years. I think cynthia has the kind of people skills and the professional thats ideal for your commission. At the same time, weve had discussions with her about trying are revitalize our chinatown businesses and entertainment world. Its been very hard hit over the last few years. And tourism in San Francisco is also a big challenge. So shes volunteered to step up and help try to figure this one out for chinatown. We strongly encourage your support for cynthia. I thank you so much. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Greetings, supervisors of the rules commission. My name is brian. Im an s. F. Native in district 11. Im an agent at new york life. And i actually met cynthia wang through chineseamerican democratic club. Im here to voice my support for her as a fellow insurance professional. As youve heard, shes exceptionally qualified with a lot of experience managing insurance for San Francisco businesses. Shes uniquely qualified to understand a lot of the challenges, not just in her district, but all across the city. Therefore, i believe she would bring a very great narrative to the Entertainment Commission and how we can help San Francisco businesses going forward, as we try to figure out the best way to recover out of this pandemic. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Caller good morning, everyone. My name is art. Im the owner of the cafe in mission. I have known cynthia for over 15 years. She is everything we are looking for. Shes a true san franciscan. She was born here. She was raised here. Shes lived through the changes that our city has been going through. Shes very qualified for the shes actually overqualified as somebody else has stated, because of her knowledge of all aspects of the tasks at hand, that will need to be done to take us to the next level. I experienced her fight for me as a business, as an Insurance Agent, through the pandemic, and through the changes we had to go through and adjusting what the businesses needs were, according to the times that were going through. And i have recommended her to people. And i never second guess when you recommend somebody 100 guaranteed, thats priceless. I think she will fight on behalf of Small Businesses. She understands that politics are important and for the city. And shes overqualified for the job. And i hope to give her a fair consideration. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Just want to state that members of the public, who are already on the line, and wish to speak on this item, should press star three at this time. Can we have the next speaker, please. Caller good morning, everyone. My name is mick. Im a resident of district 6 and work as a Public Health advocate. Im here today to give my full, full support for cynthia wang for the Entertainment Commission. I have known her to about five years or so already, working together on several projects and volunteered together. And i believe she is, like what other Public Comments and, you know, other folks in this meeting have stated, that cynthia is highly qualified for this commission seat. Her experience of being a former assistant City Attorney, being a u. S. Diplomat, and being in the insurance professional, thats needed in this kind of time were in right now. Her legal policy and insurance background would be very valuable to the Entertainment Commission, as theyre able to help businesses recover from this pandemic. And during this time of this kind of serious crisis that were in, you know, entertainment and Small Business communities are hurting. And we need someone with the skills like cynthias to contribute to this important commission, as soon as possible. And, you know, i know its not possible to do a double positive recommendation. If you can emphasize the kind of positive recommendation for cynthias appointment, that would show that her kind of qualifications were for this seat. I request that you recommend to the colleagues on the board of supervisors to appoint cynthia wang to the Entertainment Commission. Thank you very much. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Hi. This is dalton woning. Good morning, commissioners. Im calling for voice my support for cynthia. Im a local district 2 restaurant and nightlife business owner. And also a firstgeneration chineseamerican. Cynthia, as youve already heard, has the qualifications and background to help forge a path for recovery for critical industries. Cynthia has lived the problems were all going through at wang insurance and her professional background allows her to create immense value for our community. Over the last several years, she has spoken at many events in support of Small Business. And has helped me personally on many occasions, most recently with my Entertainment Permit that sat in queue with planning for over a year. We applied april 19th of 2019. And just got that passed. Im also a longstanding client of cynthia. Her leadership allowing us to find solutions to all of the problems that present themselves in the city, from restricted permitting to taxes and fees. I hope you vote in favor of cynthia. She has more fight than anyone ive met. She will be a great asset to entertainment and the city at large. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next speaker, please. Madam chair, that completes the queue. Supervisor ronen okay. Thank you so much for all of the Public Comment. Cynthia, i have to say that i agree with my colleagues and the callers, youre one of the most qualified applicants weve ever had for the Entertainment Commission. And it is my pleasure to support your appointment to this body. I think your ideas are fantastic. Your experience is incredible. So youre going to provide so much to the city. So thank you very, very much for your willingness to serve. And i supervisor mar, would you like to do the honors . Yeah. Id love you temperature colleagues, i would move that we approve the mayors appointment of cynthia wang to the Entertainment Commission. And move this forward to the full board with positive recommendation. Clerk chair ronen, would you like to add the amendment to delete the word rejecting throughout the legislation. Supervisor ronen i would. Yes, please. Clerk all right. Supervisor ronen can we have a roll call vote,. Clerk chair mar, is that acceptable . Yes, it is. Clerk on the motion to amend and recommended to the full board, supervisor stefani. Aye. Clerk supervisor mar. Aye. Clerk chair ronen. Aye. Clerk the motion passes without objection. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. And congratulations. Take care. Supervisor ronen mr. Clerk, can you please read item number 5. Clerk item number 5 is a Charter Amendment to attend the charter of the city and county of San Francisco to authorize youth aged 16 and 17 to vote in municipal elections, at elections to be held november 3rd, 2020. I believe we do have Translator Services available for this item. I would like to give the opportunity to those parts parties to make a quick announcement at this time. Supervisor ronen thank you. Clerk i believe we have additional supervisor ronen i see. Sorry. Clerk are there any other translators who would like to make an announcement at this time. This is connie. Ill do it in spanish. [speaking spanish] thank you. Supervisor ronen thank you. Is there any other translation announcements . Clerk yes. Im going to add, this is fay. [speaking foreign language] thank you, supervisor. Thats it for me. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. Id like to make one request. Supervisor ronen sure. Clerk to parties who are not members of the board this committee. I would ask that you turn off your microphone and camera at this time, until youre called upon to speak. I want to state that members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment on this item, should call 415 6550001, the access code is 145 307 5686. Then press and again. If you havent done so, please dial star three to line up to speak. A system prompt will indicate youve raised your hand. Please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted and you may begin your comment. That completes my comment. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. I, for one, am very excited to be here today. Im going to start off asking president yee if he has any comments, since hes the author of this legislation. But i also just wanted to note that we have the vice chair of the Youth Commission here with us today, sarah ginsburg, who is a mayoral appointee and district 9s own commissioner. And youth director commissioner, who well hear from shortly. But, first if we could hear from our very own president norman yee. Supervisor yee thank you, chair ronen. Thank you to my colleagues on the rules committee. Congratulations to cynthia wang. Im happy to be here today to discuss the Charter Amendment, to extend Voting Rights to 16 and 17yearolds for local elections. Im proud to join my colleagues, supervisors fewer, walton, haney, safai, mar and preston in sponsoring this legislation. I would like to thank and recognize the San Francisco Youth Commission. And youth advocates, who have been working so hard to make San Francisco the first major u. S. City to allow 16yearolds and 17yearolds to vote in municipal elections. Thank you for your continued work and tireless support of this effort. It has been a long road to get to this point and it is so important, especially at this critical time in our city, in our country. It takes steps to strengthen our democracy and continue to build upon efforts to ensure that we have a government that works for everyone. We need to ensure that young people build a habit of voting as early as possible. And continue to participate in our democracy throughout their lives. Voter turnout in the United States is far lower than any other established democracies. And turnout is lowest among the youngest of eligible voters, ages 18 to 29. Of that group, only 30 of the em eligibility voters vote in national elections, since 1986. Countries that have set the minimum age, voting age of 16, shows that lowering the voting age increases voter turnout among young voters and even encourages parents to vote at higher rates. The voter turnout is the lowest in the two in the two neighborhoods with the highest number of youth and children, that is bayview and visitation now. We know that the issues we vote on, as a city, dont just impact everyone 18 and older. It impacts our young people also. 16 and 17yearolds go to school, but they dont have a say in the decisions we make about their education system. 16yearolds and 17yearolds can be hired can be tried as adults for some crimes. But they dont have a say in our criminal Justice System. And 16yearolds and 17yearold can work and pay taxes, but they dont have a say in deciding how we spend these tax dollars. Undeniably 16 and 17yearolds are affected by the decisions we make at the ballot boxes opedcation, transportation, housing, policing and economic development. They deserve to have a say. Over decades ive had the opportunity to work with the youth in San Francisco. I have seen that they can and want to navigate complex issues. Youth are the forefront of local, national, and global movements to advance civil and human rights, address inequality, violence, a former criminal Justice System and confronted with challenges of Climate Changes. Earlier this month, 2,000 people joined a youthled a youthled protest at Mission High School to demand justice for george floyd. And then into the systemic oppression, racism and injustices that the black community and other communities of color continue to endure. The question is not are young people cape be of change capable of changing the world for the better, but we stand alongside them and let their voices be heard. The struggle for equal Voting Rights extends back to the earliest days of our nations history, when the right to vote belonged solely to white propertyowning it males. We have come a long ways, but still have far to go to ensure that everyone, who has been afforded the right to vote in this country, is able to cast that ballot on election day. We have a long way to go to ensure that groups that have not have not yet been afforded the opportunity to vote, but so glad they deserve to do to change that right. Thats what this fight is about. This is about moving us forward as a city. And similar message to our country, at a time where we are confronted with gridlock and so many soontobe intractable problems. It is about recognizing that our youth have always pushed our city and country forward. And it is about recognizing that our democracy is stronger, when everyone is informed, engaged and capable and able to participate in decision making. Colleagues, let us get this passed out of rules committee today, so that we can put this on the ballot up for november. So as a supervisor as chair ronen mentioned, there are three commissioners today that will also speak on this issue. Commissioner from district 9, ariana arana, district 1 Youth Commissioner sarah chung. And mayor of Youth Commissioners, sarah begins. By the way, sarah is the only youth, young person that i know that actually went to an event many, many years ago and was excused from her class with a signed note from president obama. Im always jealous of that. [laughter] thank you for being with us today. And the Youth Commissioners have been instrumental in moving this forward and i want to thank them for their leadership. Your leadership and advocacy for the vote is so reflective of the why this Charter Amendment is needed. So i would like to allow them to speak first before maybe my colleagues speak. So lets see. Ariana, you want to lead it off . Yes. Hi, supervisors. Thank you so much for having us here. Im just going to reintroduce ourselves, while kylie sets up the presentation. So as you know, im commissioner ariana arana. And i represent district 9 on the San Francisco Youth Commission. And im here with my colleagues commissioner sarah, who represents district 1 and commissioner sarah, who is a mayoral appointee and lives in district 4. Were here togo present to you to expand Voting Rights to 16 and 17yearolds in San Francisco. Next slide, please. Good morning, supervisors. So just a quick history of vote 16. The specific Engagement Committee on the San Francisco Youth Commission did work on this Ballot Initiative in 2016. And it unfortunately lost by 2. 8 on the ballot. But we did revamp our efforts this year, now more than ever youth deserve a say on the issues that affect them at the local level, so this year we really centered our efforts around Community Outreach to get youth informed and excited about vote 16. Weve been meeting with coleman advocates for youth, s. F. Rising, generation citizen and empower california almost weekly. As you can see, we have several other Community Stakeholders that we communicate with regularly. We currently have 30 Community Organization endorsements a right hand actively trying to increase that number. And over the past few months, our committee has sent over 200 endorsement emails to various organizations, political clubs. Next slide, please. Okay. So im unsure we all know, young people are currently mobilizing for black lives matter. For example, supervisor yee, mentioned the youth protest. And theres also the Golden Gate Bridge youthled march. Young people are creating a movement thats not only lasting a moment. They are keeping the momentum alive, through their communities and through social media. Theyre also actively calling for defunding the police and are holding their legislators accountable and pushing for change in policy. It is very important for young people to have a democratic way to participate in their government and not have to take to the streets every time theres an injustice and that they are unheard. Its important to note that young people will be the most impacted by the current covid19 pandemic and theyre currently being impacted in their schooling, employment, financing, housing and health. There will also be tasked with rebuilding after all of this is over and creating a better plan, if Something Like this were to ever happen again. Therefore, it is crucial that young people have a democratic way to voice their needs and to make change in the communities. Next slide, please. So now were going to elaborate on why we should expand the voting age. Next slide, please. So 16 and 17yearolds are ready to vote locally. They work jobs, they pay taxes, drive, take care of household responsibilities and they play key roles in the communities so they really already have many civic responsibilities. Additionally, many policy decisions affects 16 and 17yearolds, they should get a decision in how these decisions affect them in voting. They use Public Services and utilize spaces like public pars and especially under covid19, their education has been affected. So they should get a say in how these government decisions affect them. 16 and 17yearolds are also essential workers. 13 of Grocery Stores are 16yearold to 17yearold nationally. They should get a say in decisions about their safety. Next slide. From an equity perspective, it is crucial that 16 and 17yearolds have the right to vote in San Francisco. As you can see in the chart, youth of this age are predominantly people of color, so by excluding youth of color from the voting process, the electorate is really only catering to older, lighter voters and also in San Francisco, one in three sfusd have an immigrant parent. So with immigrant parents disenfranchised, it is important that youth are able to address the needs of their families and communities, so that policies and elected officials we vote on and that benefiting everybody in our city. , not just those with a privilege to vote. Next slide, please. So expanding voting to 16 and 17yearolds builds lifelong voters. 16 is a much better age to start the habit, 18 a year of a transition. Many of 18yearolds are going off to college and its a challenging time to start the habit of voting. Research shows that those who vote in one election are 25 more likely to vote in the next one. So its important to make voting more accessible by letting 16yearolds volt. Vote. Also many 16yearolds have grown up in San Francisco their whole lives, like i have. So they understand and they care about issues in San Francisco. Like commissioner ronen mentioned, youth are organizing their own initiatives right now to fight about issues they care about, especially with the black lives matter movement. Lastly, 16yearolds learn civics in school, like i did this past year. So they have the resources to support informed voting choices. Ultimately voting at 16 will get more young people involved in our democracy. Therefore, we urge you to vote in support of this Charter Amendment 16 and 17yearolds voting in municipal elections. Next slide, please. Thank you so much for listening and now well take questions. Supervisor ronen oh, president yee, did you want to . Supervisor yee yeah. Because i cant tell who is in what supervisor ronen oh, im sorry. Im happy to i thought you were running it. Do you have supervisor yee its harder for me to run it from my my colleagues colleagues, i want to Say Something then. Supervisor ronen sure. Sure. Then take it over. Sounds good. Supervisor mar, stefani, did you have any questions . It doesnt seem i look forward to the Public Comment. Supervisor ronen okay. I didnt have any questions either, because your presentation was so complete and so impressive. I learned a lot from it. I had no idea how the majority of youth in this city are youth of color. Thats fascinating. Ive never seen those statistics presented before, which is such a compelling reason, among the many others that you mentioned for why a 16 and 17yearolds should be allowed to vote in municipal elections. I just want to say that this is i wish the whole world agreed with us that this is a nobrainer. To me what you have presented is so clear and complete. And almost its not obvious, but the way that you presented it makes it seem obvious. Every generation that passes the deep intelligence and understanding of the world around them continue to get wider and wider i think. I couldnt be more impressed by your generation. As a matter of fact, its your generation that makes me feel is really the only thing that makes me feel a lot of times like were going to be okay as a world and as a society, because your engagement in the issues of the day, the leadership that you are assuming and that the power that you are taking for yourselves, because you understand that the impact of policies are going to hit you the hardest. So you should be at the forefront of being the voices, the thought leaders in making that change. I could not be more impressed or proud of you. And actually tearing up a little bit. Sorry. But i have a 7yearold daughter and knowing that youre going to be her role models and the people that she strives to be makes me feel excited and safe and optimistic about the world. I could not think it is more timely or relevant or important that you should be able to vote in our elections. And what that will mean for the future in terms of increasing voter turnout. It is so sad that we have such a low voter turnout in this country. What a better way to increase that turn by getting young people engaged in Civic Responsibility and voting. So i just wanted to say thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for your engagement, for your brilliance for your organizing, to your leadership. I am so happy to follow your lead here. And very enthusiastic and vote in favor of this. So thank you so much. And ill now turn it over to supervisor stefani, if had any questions or comments . Stefani than supervisor stefani im excited to this. And the presentation was excellent. Im looking forward to hearing Public Comment and then ill make remarks after that. But i dont want to hold up the Public Comment. Supervisor ronen perfect. Supervisor mar, you feel the same. Great. Lets open this item up for Public Comment. Are there any members of the public that wish to speak . You have two minutes each. Clerk if you have not already done so, please press star three to be able to speak. Please continue to wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted. I believe we have approximately 12 people on the line to speak. Operations. Yes we, do have a number of callers. I will unmute the first caller. Yes, good morning. My name is zach. Im calling with the aclu of northern california. We are proud of this important stand with San Francisco youth leaders and encourage you to vote in favor of placing vote 16 on the November Ballot. As you heard today, freelances jung voters are vital members of the public. And also promote Civic Engagement by allowing young members of our community to get out and vote. So thank you. Clerk can we have the next speaker, please. Hi, there. My name is okay. My name is millo. Im 28 years old and im a former san franciscan, who now lives in east bay. I wanted to vote when i was 16 and my experience at that time made me now work for the National Youth association. Thanks for hearing my Public Comment. I support the Charter Amendment, because i think 16 and 17yearolds would be affected by the decisions we make today for maybe 70, 80 years of their lives, where the older voters may be affected for 10, 20 more years. So i think Younger Voters can serve the biggest say in decisions that we make. And furthermore, when we set different ages, like the driving age or the voting age or the drinking age, i think we often think, 16yearolds are ready to drive, but not ready to vote. Or 18yearolds are ready to vote, but not read ready to dri, and we often get this thinking backwards. If we dont allow young people to do certain things, they wont be able to develop those capacities. So when i started voting in my late teens or early 20s, i found some of our state ballot measures confusing, as you might as well. And probably voted a couple of them wrong. But if we give 16 and 17yearolds the chance to be included in conversations about,. Commissioner haney , why are you voting on this one this way, well have a generation of smarter and salvier voters that will benefit the state and entire country. Thanks for hearing my Public Comment. And i urge you to support the Charter Amendment. Can we have the next caller, please. Hi. Can we have the next caller, please. Caller good morning. Supervisors, can you hear me . Clerk yes, we can. Please proceed. Great. So great to see you all again. Just to reintroduce myself, im ariana. And im the chair of the Civic Engagement community. Im grateful grateful that youve taken the opportunity to hear about vote 16. Like i said in the previous meeting, the charter along with the u. S. Constitution are written in a way so that they can be amended to reflect changing needs in those population, in order to better represent the electorate during election season. And as weve seen more than ever in the past four years, youth have demonstrated an increased level of adult interest and demonstrates the need to have the voices represented in the electorate, currently the San Francisco electorate is about a decade older than the average San Francisco citizen. What that results is legislation being passed that does not reflect the needs of the average san franciscan. And, therefore, makes San Francisco less of a Family Friendly city. Now as you mentioned before, San Francisco youth are more progressive and on average represent a more minority population thats not being reflected in legislation, and especially now more than ever. Theres a need to have those voices heard. And, therefore, i encourage the board to motion in support of board 16 vote and placed on the ballot. Hope in two to four years from now, well see legislation being passed in the city that reflects the needs of the younger population. Thank you for your time and have a lovely day. Clerk hi. Can we have the next speaker, please. Caller good morning. My name is eric. And im a 17yearold district 1 resident. I have also served as an intern in a Supervisors Office and for a few weeks with supervisor stefani before the shelterinplace in order. Its extremely evident that our youth are more civically engaged that any other group. In the past few week, hundreds of instagram posts regarding the black lives matter and Metoo Movement from you. In addition, all San Francisco youth take at least one civics class in high school. Many of those havent done the same in decades. The youth are just as educated on the issues as many adults, with if not more. It defies logic why some of my peers, just two months before me, have the right to vote in the crucial 2020 election. We can drive, work and protest, but we cant vote. S. F. Should lead the charge in eliminating this nationwide inequality. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Caller hello, board of supervisors. My name is chan. I work for a Community Youth center in San Francisco, coordinating the district 7 youth council. I support vote 16 and working with youth. They have engaged in community, theyve taken initiatives and stand up for issues they care about. Most of the issues they bring up are Community Issues like housing, public transportation, gun violence and mental health. I would say this gives young people the opportunity to have a say on the issues and hear them out. Lets give them the tools they need to become more civicically engaged. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Can we hear from the next caller, please. My name is valen tina. Im an incoming freshman. I live and represent district 2 on the San Francisco Youth Commission. Im also a member of the Civic Engagement Community Within the San Francisco Youth Commission. As a 14yearold living in San Francisco, im ready and excited to vote. A lot of what elected officials do affects my future. It will give us a chance to make an impact on our future as well. Im supporting the Charter Amendments. Be the voice of the 16 and 17yearolds is necessary to our democracy. Young san franciscans deserve a say. Many 16 and 17yearolds have lived in San Francisco their entire lives. Covid19 pandemic makes it more clear how the essential workers are to our citys success nationally 13 of gross rye work workers are 17 to 19. They work in restaurants and other industries that remain open. What policies that will determine their safety and their familys safety. I urge you to support the file number 200477. Thank you for your time. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Caller good morning, supervisors. My name is michelle parker. Im calling with two hats on today, a member of the Political Action committee and and a parent. And im calling in support of this Charter Amendment. I just have three points i would like to make. And one is just to talk about a personal experience. I grew up in a home that didnt talk about voting. Im sure my parents voted, but we didnt talk about it. We didnt talk about issues, i did not start voting until i moved to San Francisco 22 years ago, as a young adult. I think it would have been i would have started voting much earlier, had Something Like this been in place. The second point is related to something supervisor ronen directed your attention to, thats about the diversity of our youth in San Francisco. 16 to 17yearolds are predominantly people of color. We need to make sure that the young people of color have a voice in our local democracy. And as they stated in their presentation, many of our children in San Francisco are living in households where their parents cant vote, they may be undocumented citizens, but they have every right, this is why i have supported in the past the Voting Rights of undocumented families in School Board Elections as well. Because their voice is still really important. And then the third point i wanted to make is that there are conversations about cold cognition and hot cognition. And part of why i believe that our young people at age 16 are ready, is because cold cognition, the type that relates to judgment and unheard decisionmaking, its in place by age 16 at the same level as young adults. By this age, our young people can gather and process information, weighs pros and cons and reason logically with facts. I think its really important to give them this opportunity to vote good habits and become voters and help shape our communities and our country. Thanks so much and i urge you to support this. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Caller hello, supervisors. My name is kathy cormier. I live in north beach. And im a parent of two kids who graduated, now are young adults, who would have loved to have had this opportunity to vote as electorate and 1yearolds. Vote as a 16 and 17yearolds. At the main library we had many Public Events in 2016, in support of vote 16sf. And i want to echo what others have said, in particular that last caller who mentioned the difference between cold cognition and hot cognition. Its something that i experience every day working with teens. And it has been heartwarming to see that teens taking peaceful action, our young people in support of black lives matter. And having a more democratic way to hear their voices, to see them is inspiring to see young people at this time exercising their constitutional right here in San Francisco in a peaceful way. In so many ways we have become beacons for the entire nation for young people. And i think that it is now time. This is the time as everyone has said for youth to have the opportunity for our 16 and 17yearolds to develop the good habits of voting. For those people who come to the mix, are representative of the young people in San Francisco, predominantly people of color. And i just want to make sure that we allow the voices of our young people to be heard in this democratic way. So i urge you to give your support to this Charter Amendment. Thank you very much. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next speaker, please. Caller hi. My name is crystal chan. Im a recent graduate of Lowell High School in the district 7 representative on the San Francisco Youth Commission. As well as a member of the Commission Civic Engagement Committee. Im here in support of vote 16, because i believe that expanding votes rights to 16 and 17yearolds is crucial to building a more equitable, inclusive and Representative Government that works for all of us. Every day there are policies being implemented that directly impact young people, and yet we dont get a say in those decisions. I believe that young people should be able to elect the public officials, who make decisions on our behalf, cast ballots to raise the standard for gun ownership, because firearms are the number one cause for death in children and teens. Our generation will have to live with the consequences of rising temperatures and intensified natural disasters. 16 and 17yearolds are functioning members of society and valuable constituents of our representatives. Its important that they get a say in how decisions are made, because policy decisions will have longterm and immediate effects on their lives. The young people in our city understand how policies impact them, their families and their communities and its time that they get a voice in our local government. I urge you to support file number 200477. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next speaker, please. Caller hello, honorable supervisors. My name is michelle. Im a rising senior attending high school in and reside in district 1. As a teen member of the San Francisco chapter of the United Nations association, cofounder of the Charity Organization manchesters masks for all and a student, im concerned about the lack of investment in youth voices in San Francisco. More specifically the current inability of 16 and 17yearolds to vote in the San Francisco municipal election. I fully support the Charter Amendment, as vote 16 would allow 16 and 17yearolds to exercise their voice on issues that impact their future, as well as advance equity in our democracy. In San Francisco, 16 and 17yearolds are predominantly people of color, especially compared to the overall population with one in three students having immigrant parents. Youth have proven to be actively involved in their communities. Organizing protests for Climate Change, gun control, and racial equality. In response to the lack of resources during covid19, myself and hundreds of s. F. Youth volunteers have provided over 3,000 handmade masks for marginalized communities so we understand the needs of our city intimately. Youth such as me pay taxes and address inequalities, so why must i sit back and watch policies affecting my future be decided for me . We are capable, frustrated, but hopeful. Its imperative that we allow diversity and perspective in our voters, especially those who will come to be the most affected by the decisions of those elected. We cant hope to have a fully representative and democratic San Francisco if we dont invest in the voices of our youth. I have the faith that you will make the right decision. I urge you to support the file number 200477. Truly thank you for your time. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Caller hello, everyone. Im the Youth Development specialist for the Youth Commission and i also live in district 4. As an advocate for youth, im concerned about the youth voice not being taken seriously in our governments decisionmaking. Im supporting the Charter Amendment to expand Voting Rights to 16 and 17yearolds in municipal elections, because many children in San Francisco are living in households where parents cannot vote. One in three students has an immigrant parent. Vote 16 would help them ensure they have a voice in the democracy on the local level, and vote 16 will help diversity s. F. s electorate for habitual voting, among San Francisco people. I urge you to support file number 200477 to be placed on the November Ballot. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Caller hello, supervisors. Can you hear me . Clerk we can hear you. Please proceed. Caller all right. Hi. Im a former district 8 Youth Commissioner and a member of the civic Engagement Committee that started this movement back in 2016. I strongly support this movement. In america, we really, really lack voter turnout, not even cracking 50 in some president ial elections. However, the science clearly shows that the earlier onestart voting, the more likely you are to make a lifelong habit of it. And youth do youth 16 and 17yearolds do turn out to vote, when given the chance, as shown in multiple other countries, as well as small cities in the u. S. Furthermore, youth are educated on these subjects, far more even i would say than the average adult, given the advent of social media and many other forms of informationsharing. I hope you all support putting this ballot putting this measure on the ballot. All right. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next speaker, please. Caller can you hear me . Clerk we can hear you. Please proceed. Caller okay. Im a former san franciscan that lives in east bay now. Vote 16 came about in 2016. Over 150 San Francisco youth worked on the campaign, affecting the youth and in the past four years since, youth are leading more and youth leaders. More than ever that young san franciscans deserve a say in a rapidly changing city. And are unafraid and bold enough to take it one way or another in the streets, advocacy or legislating change. Many 16 and 17yearolds have lived in San Francisco their inventory lives and deserve a say in their future. Theyre fighting for real change and they will keep calling attention to the issues. It is our time as allies to not just be humbled by the bravery and their initiatives but to actually follow through with this movement. And require this Charter Amendment and see it pass. Thank you for your time. Clerk thank you. Can we hear from the next caller, please. Caller good morning, supervisors. Can you hear me . Clerk yes, we can hear you. Please proceed. Caller hi, my name is rocky. And im a 16yearold rising senior at University High school. Im a mayoral appointee to the Youth Commission and a vice chair of the Engagement Committee. Im concerned about the public transportation. I think i take the bus to School Every Day and its overcrowded and behind schedule. I want to able to vote on issues that affect me. Im supporting the Charter Amendment to expand Voting Rights to 16yearold and 17yearolds in municipal elections, because we know people deserve the opportunity for our voices to be heard at the ballot box. Were activists and leaders of social movements. We care deeply about the future of our city and affected by the legislation. The issue of transportation for people like me, education for the thousands of students, or countless young people with jobs who dont have a say where the tax dollars go, these issues are important and need to be recognized. Additionally, we want to be given the opportunity to vote. In a survey of thousands of students, 75 say they would definitely most likely vote and in other cities like tacoma park, which implemented vote 16 policy, registered 16 and 17yearolds have turned out at double the rate of the average age group. San francisco will see greater voter turnout than other age groups. Vote 16 is the way to create a more representative and fair city. We are essential workers, students and the future of our city. And our voices need to be recognized immediately in the most civic process we have, to vote. I urge you to support file number 200477. Thank you for your time. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Caller hello. Im a 16yearold living in district 2. And i volunteer as a poll worker in the march primary. As weve heard during the presentation, many people of San Francisco are often the leaders of protest movements. And my peers and i are civic quickly engaged in youthled proprotests and most recently black lives matter. However, because we cannot vote, its challenging to have our voices heard and create real change. As a potential young voter, im ready and eager to have my voice heard in my community. And i appreciate your support for this charter. Thank you for your time. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller, please. Caller hello, supervisors. Im a district 4 representative, a recent graduate of sfusc. Im here to support my fellow commissioners in their amazing work to expand Voting Rights to all 16 and 17yearolds in San Francisco. As a student, so much of what the determined my education, my school life was controlled by the the board of education. I had absolutely no say over that. So do thousands of students. In our schools, we are taught u. S. History and civics, starting at 15 and 16 years old. We are equipped with all of the skills to be able to vote and to make proper decisions and advocate with our government, however we dont have the means to. This would create a much more equitable system and a more representative electorate in San Francisco. Also as people have stated, young people can pay taxes, drive and use so many different city resources, but they dont have control over because of voting. We i fully support this amendment and i hope you also do. Thank you. Clerk thank you. Can we have the next caller. Caller good morning, supervisors. Im a district 8 resident and the california executive director for generation citizen here in San Francisco and around the country. We are standing behind students who are standing up, as they are today. I want to thank supervisor yee and the cosponsorses for their leadership in making this Charter Amendment possible. We believe its important that you give your constituents the opportunity to decide in november whether we share the franchise with young people. [ please stand by ]. A hi, can we have next speaker please . Caller hi. I aim mary and i am a resident of the 62. And i fully support this amendment to allow 16 and 17yearolds to vote in the fall elections as does my dog who you may hear barking in the background. I agree with all the points the commissioners made and i would add my own teen is fully capable of understanding the issues that face the city and have minds of their own and often see things more clearly that adults. The earlier they can develop the habit of participating in the democracy before they transition to college as other speakers have mentioned, the better off well be. I hope my hometown of San Francisco will lead the way in this movement, and thank you for considering this proposal. Thank you. Next speaker please. Caller he low, supervisor. I am the director of the San Francisco Youth Commission. Thank you so much for the opportunity to have the youth leaders speak directly to this today and they have been working so hard on this. I have had the tail end of the 2016 effort and focussing on voter reregistration efforts and now currently staffing the current 2020 effort. And i want to use this as an opportunity to thank the 2016 youth organizer who is helped to build a foundation and pave the way for the second 2020 vote 16 effort and take this time to highlight the team youth organizers. They have really built this second effort and have enthusiasm and dedication to the efforts. I would really like to take my time to thank the Major Community partners. We would not have gotten as far as we have without the direct high level support and appraising and Community Youth center and generation citizen which is a National Organization and power california. Chinese corrective association and chinese for affirmative action. And San Francisco is the opportunity to make history as the first major city to expand Voting Rights and i dont want to belabor the point, but we will win. This is our time. The young people have spoken. Were going to do this. I urge you to support 200477. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next speaker please. A hello, supervisors. I am an advocate for children and youth. I am in support of the Charter Amendment to expand Voting Rights to 16 and 17 year olds if its not been an example enough by the young people standing up to be heard and in a democrat way and speak up by the legislation that has pass and things that they have to follow and pay taxes and do all the things that want to effect them and have the voice to represent the 10 and 111 youth and go to a lot of the high schools and all of them have expressed just assuming they dont have the voices heard and they dont get the opportunity to speak up and have real changes and they have taken it into their hands and we have given them that opportunity and allies and let the voices be heard. Thank you. Thank you. Can we have the next speaker . This is megan imperial calling and serve as the policy chair and i am concerned about creating a new block of hyper tensive voter who is will utilize this to dismantle equity and supporting the Charter Amendment to expand Voting Rights to 16 and 17 year olds in municipal elections because we have seen that we have given legislative amendments and the form to speak truth to power. This will allow our youth to allow to shape their own system and the futures. It can be noted and said that folks are too young, 16 and 17 year olds dont know any better and wont make a difference. However, currently there are plenty of folk who is can vote now and choose not to. And there are many uninformed voices in our system and the voices of 16 and 17 year olds are actually necessary in our democratic process. Those will an allow 16 and 17yearolds to exercise their voice and issues that impact the future and with covid19 and the inequities that are highlighted as the Digital Divide and essential workers and seeing that grocery workers are 50 of 16 to 19 year olds and that will determine the safety. I urge a positive recommendation voting in the municipal elections. Thank you. Thank you. Can we have the next speaker please. That completes the queue. Wonderful. Thank you so much for all the Public Comment. I will close Public Comment now and turning it over to supervisor supervisor stefani. Thank you, chair ronen. I wanted to start out by thanking the youth activists and the Youth Commissioners for the work on this legislation and the incredible advocacy and president yee and the cosponsors for bringing this forward. Its so wonderful to hear my appointee on the call. I have known her since she was a toddler and its just so wonderful to see this advocacy. Also, eric who has interned in my office, thank you for calling in. I had the benefit of having so many incredible youth intern for me and to see the passion and advocacy has been, like you said, supervisor ronen, inspiring. I know that there is critics of this idea and they said in 2016 that they should not have the right to vote and a lot has happened since 2016. We have seen incredible youth advocacy in response to the governments atrocious acts under trump and in the march on Climate Change advocacy and of course, under against gun violence and the parkland students march for life that was so inspired by the students then. And now to reaffirm that black lives matter. I was so inspired by what happened and that teenager organize the march over the bridge. And it was inspiring and impressive and necessary. I do believe that San Francisco voters should have another opportunity to way in on this important question. And i look forward to continuing the conversation with my colleagues, the Youth Commission, and members of the community. I want to thank everyone and you inspire me and give me hope in this Political Climate that feels very i dont even know sometimes how to put the words to it. And you give me hope and seek to things that destroy our democracy as citizens united, the gun laws and systemic racism, all of it. And all of you that took time to call today. All of you that continue to work on this at such a young age are really what will make the change. And i cant thank you enough. I am inspired by you and again, i look forward to hearing what the voters have to say this time and putting it on the ballot. I will definitely vote to do that today and thank you so much for advocacy. Thank you so much. Supervisor mar, do you have any comments . Thank you, chair ronen. Elled echo supervisor stefanis comments in thanking president yee and the Youth Commissioners and bringing this incredibly important and Ground Breaking measure forward. And as a teenager growing up under President Trump and so many environmental and other crises i understand on a personal level and absolutely agree that now more than ever young people are yearning for and deserve a voice in important decisions that impact them, the families and the communities and quite literally the bright future. And the cities needs Civic Engagement to address the challenges that confronted all of us and i look forward to moving both vote 16 forward to the November Ballot and having San Francisco might be taking to expand this to democracy. Thank you to everyone who has done hard work on this over the last few years. Supervisor thank you and last words from president yee. Thank you, chair ronen. And really want to thank the young people that spoke today and particularly the commissioners and Youth Commission. And and i want to thank all of them for taking the time to do. I supported this ballot measure in 2016 and saw the enthusiasm of so many young people at the time getting engaged and and this effort that we are currently engaging in is no different. I am seeing the same type of energy and the same interracial people or young people to make the statement and and why they are doing this and why we should get behind this. My two daughters who are mothers now were engaged in civic issues when they were young teenagers also. And my younger one in particular and carissa was a Youth Commissioner when she was 13 years old. And i had the opportunity to speak to both of my daughters and they are so proud of the young people today and the way it could happen. I want to thank my colleagues from the committee that is supporting this. Thank you very much. Thank you. And with that, a bit of wonderful way to end the rules Committee Meeting today. I would like to make a motion to send this item forward with public recommendation. Can we have a roll call vote . Supervisor stefani. Aye. Supervisor mar. Aye. Chair ronen . Ronen. The motion passes without objection. Yay congratulations. Thank you very much. Thank you, everyone. And mr. Clerk, is there any other items on the agenda today . That completes the agenda for today. Meeting adjourned. Congrats, everyone. Have a great week. Bye. We spoke with people regardless of what they are. That is when you see change. That is a lead vannin advantage. So Law Enforcement assistance diversion to work with individuals with nonviolent related of offenses to offer an alternative to an arrest and the county jail. We are seeing reduction in drugrelated crimes in the pilot area. They have done the program for quite a while. They are successful in reducing the going to the county jail. This was a state grant that we applied for. The department is the main administrator. It requires we work with multiple agencies. We have a community that includes the da, Rapid Transit police and San Francisco Sheriffs Department and Law Enforcement agencies, Public Defenders Office and adult probation to Work Together to look at the population that ends up in criminal justice and how they will not end up in jail. Having partners in the nonprofit world and the public defender are critical to the success. We are beginning to succeed because we have that cooperation. Agencies with very little connection are brought together at the same table. Collaboration is good for the department. It gets us all working in the same direction. These are complex issues we are dealing with. When you have systems as complicated as police and health and proation and jails and nonprofits it requires people to come to Work Together so everybody has to put their egos at the door. We have done it very, very well. The model of care where police, district attorney, public defenders are communitybased organizations are all involved to worked towards the common goal. Nobody wants to see drug users in jail. They want them to get the correct treatment they need. We are piloting lead in San Francisco. Close to civic center along market street, union plaza, powell street and in the mission, 16th and mission. Our goal in San Francisco and in seattle is to work with individuals who are cycling in and out of criminal justice and are falling through the cracks and using this as intervention to address that population and the Racial Disparity we see. We want to focus on the mission in tender loan district. It goes to the partners that hired case managers to deal directly with the clients. Case managers with referrals from the police or city agencies connect with the person to determine what their needs are and how we can best meet those needs. I have nobody, no friends, no resources, i am flatout on my own. I witnessed women getting beat, men getting beat. Transgenders getting beat up. I saw people shot, stabbed. These are people that have had many visits to the county jail in San Francisco or other institutions. We are trying to connect them with the resources they need in the community to break out of that cycle. All of the referrals are coming from the Law Enforcement agency. Officers observe an offense. Say you are using. It is found out you are in possession of drugs, that constituted a lead eligible defense. The officer would talk to the individual about participating in the program instead of being booked into the county jail. Are you ever heard of the leads program. Yes. Are you part of the leads program . Do you have a case worker . Yes, i have a case manager. When they have a contact with a possible lead referral, they give us a call. Ideally we can meet them at the scene where the ticket is being issued. Primarily what you are talking to are people under the influence of drugs but they will all be nonviolent. If they were violent they wouldnt qualify for lead. You think i am going to get arrested or maybe i will go to jail for something i just did because of the Substance Abuse issues i am dealing with. They would contact with the outreach worker. Then glide shows up, you are not going to jail. We can take you. Lets meet you where you are without telling you exactly what that is going to look like, let us help you and help you help yourself. Bring them to the Community Assessment and Services Center run by adult probation to have assessment with the department of Public Health staff to assess the treatment needs. It provides meals, groups, there are things happening that make it an open space they can access. They go through detailed assessment about their needs and how we can meet those needs. Someone who would have entered the jail system or would have been arrested and book order the charge is diverted to social services. Then from there instead of them going through that system, which hasnt shown itself to be an effective way to deal with people suffering from suable stance abuse issues they can be connected with case management. They can offer Services Based on their needs as individuals. One of the key things is our approach is client centered. Hall reduction is based around helping the client and meeting them where they are at in terms of what steps are you ready to take . We are not asking individuals to do anything specific at any point in time. It is a Program Based on whatever it takes and wherever it takes. We are going to them and working with them where they feel most comfortable in the community. It opens doors and they get access they wouldnt have had otherwise. Supports them on their goals. We are not assigning goals working to come up with a plan what success looks like to them. Because i have been in the field a lot i can offer different choices and let them decide which one they want to go down and help them on that path. It is all on you. We are here to guide you. We are not trying to force you to do what you want to do or change your mind. It is you telling us how you want us to help you. It means a lot to the clients to know there is someone creative in the way we can assist them. They pick up the phone. It was a blessing to have them when i was on the streets. No matter what situation, what pay phone, cell phone, somebody elses phone by calling them they always answered. In officebased setting somebody at the reception desk and the clinician will not work for this population of drug users on the street. This has been helpful to see the outcome. We will pick you up, take you to the appointment, get you food on the way and make sure your needs are taken care of so you are not out in the cold. First to push me so i will not be afraid to ask for help with the lead team. Can we get you to use less and less so you can function and have a normal life, job, place to stay, be a functioning part of the community. It is all part of the home reduction model. You are using less and you are allowed to be a viable member of the society. This is an important question where lead will go from here. Looking at the data so far and seeing the successes and we can build on that and as the department based on that where the investments need to go. If it is for five months. Hopefully as final we will come up with a model that may help with all of the communities in the california. I want to go back to school to start my ged and go to community clean. It can be somebody scaled out. That is the hope anyway. Is a huge need in the city. Depending on the need and the data we are getting we can definitely see an expansion. We all hope, obviously, the program is successful and we can implement it city wide. I think it will save the county millions of dollars in emergency services, police services, prosecuting services. More importantly, it will save lives. Is our United States constitution requires every ten years that america counts every human being in the United States, which is incredibly important for many reasons. Its important for preliminary representation because if Political Representation because if we under count california, we get less representatives in congress. Its important for San Francisco because if we dont have all of the people in our city, if we dont have all of the folks in california, california and San Francisco stand to lose billions of dollars in funding. Its really important to the city of San Francisco that the federal government gets the count right, so weve created count sf to motivate all sf count to motivate all citizens to participate in the census. For the immigrant community, a lot of people arent sure whether they should take part, whether this is something for u. S. Citizens or whether its something for anybody whos in the yUnited States, and it is something for everybody. Census counts the entire population. Weve given out 2 million to over 30 communitybased organizations to help people do the census in the communities where they live and work. Weve also partnered with the Public Libraries here in the city and also the Public Schools to make sure there are informational materials to make sure the folks do the census at those sites, as well, and weve initiated a campaign to motivate the citizens and make sure they participate in census 2020. Because of the language issues that many Chinese Community and families experience, there is a lot of mistrust in the federal government and whether their private information will be kept private and confidential. So its really important that communities like bayviewhunters point participate because in the past, theyve been under counted, so what that means is that funding that should have gone to these communities, it wasnt enough. Were going to help educate people in the tenderloin, the multicultural residents of the tenderloin. You know, any one of our given blocks, theres 35 different languages spoken, so we are the original u. N. Of San Francisco. So its our job is to educate people and be able to familiarize themselves on doing this census. You go online and do the census. Its available in 13 languages, and you dont need anything. Its based on household. You put in your address and answer nine simple questions. How many people are in your household, do you rent, and your information. Your name, your age, your race, your gender. Everybody is 2,000 in funding for our child care, housing, food stamps, and medical care. All of the residents in the city and county of San Francisco need to be counted in census 2020. If youre not counted, then your community is underrepresented and will be underserved. Ct and city college select committee. Im supervisor haney, chair of the committee. Our clerk stood erica major