Efficiency project manager. I love spending time with my partner, eric, and i love living here in the bayview. Education has afforded me opportunities, and i believe that education is a human right. Advancing tuition Free Education allows our most vulnerable students a chance to make a difference in their lives. The Climate Crisis was my call to action. In march, San Francisco voters approved 845 million bond for ccsf infrastructure improvements. Using this deal, my greparty w put the green plan into action. Environmental, financial, and educational sustainability are intertwined. With students as our guide is principle, we will appoint a Community Oriented chancellor who is committed to implementing a Strategic Plan that is interested in sustained eligibility and the sustainability. Now more than ever we must be laser focused on providing transparency on board matters and education for students that have been displaced by covid19. I will am asking for your support to protect Free Education, upgrade our learning spaces, and camp i dont know the opportunities ccsf offers. As an ally of if a stoplight associations and student organizations, i will fight for you. Im tim chronicle, and im proud to serve as the vice chair of the board of trustees. I know how important it is to have access to quality well funded public education. Community College Classes helped me get back on track when i got sick and had to drop out of high school, allowing me to graduate and enroll at San Francisco state university. This experience inspired me to run for the board of trustees in 2016, when i was elected to a fouryear term. During my last four years serving as your representative on the city College Board, ive worked with students, teachers, and staff to secure important victories for city college. I i ensured that our accreditation was reinstated for the next decade. I worked with if a ultimate to create the cannabis studies program. I helped create the workforce and education fund, and i fought for new resources and policies to support undocumented and lgbtq students. Over the next four years, city college will need to combat severe funding cuts at the state and local level, put in place new support services to help our communities succeed during this challenging covid19 environment, and create workforce programs in areas Like Health Care and technology to meet the needs of our changing economy. I have experience solving challenges like this and hope to continue to bring that experience and leadership to city college. Im alan wong, and im running for College Board to ensure it serves working and immigrant families like my own. Im supported by a. F. T. Local 2121 and seiu 1021. I was born and raised in San Francisco, and my entire family went to city college. When my dad came to this country as an immigrant, he was laid off from his factually job, so i went to city college to improve his english. He learned about the city College Culinary program, and he supported my family as the sole provider for two decades. The training my dad received enabled my dad to afford housing in the sunset and get health care. My mom took e. S. L. Classes that improved herself confidence and talking to family members. As a senior going to s. F. High, i took ccsf classes when i was a junior, helping me to graduate from u. C. San diego when i was just 19 years old. I expanded city college into the sunset by working with city college, sfusd and local nonprofits, and i spent a year writing the city College Workforce and Recovery Fund education legislation to ensure that we provide opportunities for our working families during covid19. Today, my dad has been played off, like many other Service Sector workers. City college is a place of hope and opportunity, where my dad was able to start a new career. Im running so city college can once again be that place where miraculous things can happen for working families like my own. My unanimoname is han so, a running for the board of trustees because it was education that changed my life. I immigranted to the u. S. When i was six years old. My mom was the first person in her family to go to college, where she studied public health, and my dad and i and my two grandparents were able to come to this country. The five of us lived in a onebedroom apartment for the first five years. Like a lot of immigrant families here in San Francisco, my grandparents took care of my while my mom worked to pay the rent and my mom focused on her studied. I still remember my mom teaching me the words hello and bathroom before putting me on the bus and sending me on the way to the first day of school. My first job was at asian law caucus where i worked to bring Education Services to asian and a. P. I. Families as well as undocumented immigrants. As executive director of the democratic party, i staffed the agenda. City college is hugely important to our community and towel all immigrant and working class families, and as trustee, i want to bring my experience and my background to ensure that post pandemic, the communities that have been most affected by the shutdown can use city college to learn new skills in a new economy. Im proud to be endorsed by the democratic property, and a majority of the city College Board of trustees, and ii woul love to have your support, as well. Thank you. [ ] hello. Im shawnna longhorn with the league of women voters. Along with the league and sfgovtv, im here to discuss proposition f, a ballot that will be before the voters on tuesday, november 3. The city collects taxes from San Francisco businesses, including the payroll expense tax, the gross receipts tax, the Administrative Office tax, the annual Business Registration fee, the child care tax, and the Homelessness Tax. The child care and Homelessness Taxes have been challenged in court, and the money collected through these taxes has not been spent by the city. State law limits the amount of revenue, including tax revenue, the city can spend each year. State law authorizes San Francisco voters to approve increases to this limit to last for four years. Proposition f would change certain taxes the city collects from San Francisco businesses, including eliminate the payroll expense tax, increase the gross receipts tax rate in phases, expand the Small Business exemption, and eliminate the credit for businesses that pay a similar tax elsewhere. Increase the Administrative Office tax rate in phases, and change the Business Registration fee. Proposition f would further increase the citys business taxes if the city loses either of the child care tax or Homelessness Tax lawsuits, but it would exclude money collected from these increases when determining baseline spending. It would also increase the citys spending for the next four years. If you vote yes, you want to overhaul the business tax structure. If you vote no, you do not want these changes. Im here with jennifer brooks, a proponent of the measure. Were also joined by starchild, a libertarian, and an opponent of the measure. Were going to begin with some opening statements, and we will begin with star child. Yes. This is starchild, the Libertarian Party of San Francisco. We believe that tax adding on right now is just absolutely the wrong time. Theres so many businesses suffering under the lockdowns. I live in the castro, and it just seems that every other business is closed and boarded up. The measure, furthermore, is so confusing. Its, like, 125 pages long, and reading through it, i couldnt even tell on my own what it was going to do. So im substantially relying on the controllers statement which says its going to be nearly a 100 million tax increase. I think its egregious whenever they pass measures that are so complicated that the average person reading them, everyone someone whos somewhat familiar with reading these kinds of measures cant really tell whats going on, and id be happy to hear the proponents spell out exactly what the different aspects of these measures are and how they affect everybody. But from what we can tell, its a huge tax increase and it comes at a time when businesses are already super struggling in the city. Getting rid of the payroll tax would be terrific, but there is a net tax increase. I dont think this is something that anyone was clamoring for, and i think people should vote no. Thank you, starchild. Well move to jennifer. Thank you. Mission Neighborhood Center has been a Community Anchor in the Mission District for more than 60 years, and its really from that Vantage Point that ive seen the impact that the pandemic has had on San Francisco families, and that is why i feel very strongly that we must pass proposition f. At this time, San Francisco is facing three distinct crises that have come out of the pandemic. The first is job loss. More than 5,000 businesses across the city have shut their doors since the pandemic began. The second is child care sector. Its operating at half its capacity because of the need for social distancing, and third, our City Government is facing potentially a 1. 5 billion shortfall over the next three years. This proposition will help all of these factors. It will help businesses like hotels and recreation. It will unlock 400 million of voter approved child care funding that is currently tied up because of litigation, and third, it will contribute 156 million towards balancing our city budget, and finally, it will create more than 2,000 jobs over the next two years. At the same time proposition f addresses our immediate needs, it solves some longterm needs that have become apparent during the pandemic. Sfesk o specifically, our outdated taxes sorry to cut you off, but were going to go to questions. The first question, jennifer, will go to you. San francisco is facing a budget shortfall of 1. 5 billion due to the covid19 pandemic. This amendment is part of an attempt to address this deficit. Why do you believe its the right way to do so . So, there are a couple of reasons. First, because it helps Small Businesses, and they are the ones facing the critical and are in need of tax relief right now. What this measure does is it rebalances whos paying the business taxes. It is not a new tax. It is overall the same net amount of taxes, it just ensures that Small Businesses get relief, and bigger sector, particularly the information sector, pays its fair share. Starchild, same question to you, except why do you believe this is not the right way to address the potential deficit . Well, its not revenue neutral. You dont help Small Businesses by taxing them more. The people running City Government, they always seem to portray these things as a choice between, you know, well, we have a budget shortfall, so we either have to cut services that you want or raise your taxes, but they never look at the third option, which is to cut their own budget. Theres thousands of people in city departments who are making sixfigure salaries. You think they could tighten their belts, quite frankly. Its not too much to ask when so many other businesses, people have lost their jobs or businesses have entirely had to close. I dont see anything thats going to create 2,000 jobs is pie in the sky speculation. Taxing the information sector . Thats whats been driving the San Francisco economy years and years, the tech economy. Theres real risk of losing losing the goose that laid the golden egg, tech being driven out of town if they continue unfriendly policies. Thank you. Thank you. Were going to go to the next question, and well start with star child. The question is San Franciscos child care and Homelessness Taxes has been challenged in court, and the money thats ae been collected through these taxes has not been spent by the city. If this prop is passed, that will free up these funds for the city. Whats your position on that . Well, we dont believe those propositions should have been passed in the first place. I think theres academic questions about the ledger being written illegally skprks that should skprks and that should be allowed to finish winding its way through the courts. The government should not be rewarded for doing things illegally. Theres a number of places where they did not follow the law in the language in terms of how measures are presented in the ballot handbook, and in some cas cases, theyre presen them in a biased manner. They shouldnt sweep that under the rug and allow them to take this money and keep imposing the tax going forward. You know, its its good to have child care, but if people dont even have jobs to go to, theyre not going to need child care, and theyre going to kill jobs by raising taxes. Theres no reason why this shouldnt have been written revenue neutral. Theres no reason why taxes should be going up. Sorry to interrupt you. We need to move to jennifer. First, a rebuttal. This would replace the payroll tax with a gross receipts tax and increase the number of Small Businesses that are exempt, and it would also reduce Business Registration fees. Now onto why child care. Early care and education chaz high quality is demonstrated to be more effective antipoverty strategies than any other on children, on parent, and even their grandparents. We need to increase and continue our investment in this essential service. We need to be able to shore up the programs that are at the brink of collapse at this critical moment, and we need to invest in proposition f. Thank you, jennifer. So at this point, were going to move into the closing comments, and well start with star child. Yeah. Again, the bottom line is that this is a major, almost 100 million year estimated tax increase per the controller, and the measure is 125 pages long, very confusing about exactly what the effects are going to be, and, again, confusing legislation tends to have a disproportionately bad impact on Small Businesses because they dont have armys of lawyers working for them to figure this stuff out. Its, again, going after the wrong target. Its going after businesses in the voluntary sector rather than the coercive sector to cut their budgets. Of course, the supervisors making six figure salaries can be return today what it was not that many years ago, you know, under 100,000 a year. 99,000 i think, is enough to be made in City Government. They dont need to be paid at citizens expense. If it they want more funding for child care, again, reducing the payroll tax would be great, but theres no need to impose greater taxes that are going to unfavorably affect the Business Climate at a time when businesses are already struggling. I have not heard a good reason why this particular measure is is the way, why they could not have made another measure that doesnt raise taxes overall. Thank you. Closing statement from jennifer. Thank you. So San Francisco was also facing a crisis in child care and education and unbalanced taxes for Small Businesses even before the pandemic, and the pandemic has always exacerbated each of these challenges. Ive done my homework. Proposition f will address our immediate needs while addressing longstanding programs that have become more apparent during the pandemic. Struggling businesses need tax relief, parents need child care, and children need Early Learning and our economy needs a stimulus to restart and recover. Proposition f will enable us to help Small Businesses who are struggling, unlock voter approved child care funding, balance our local budget, and create jobs, and that i why i think we must say yes on f. Thank you both fof for your comments and your time. We hope that this discussion has been informative. For more information on this and other measures in this years election, please visit sfelections. Org. This year, all voters in california will be mailed a vote by mail ballot starting on october 5. If you plan to raurn your ballot by mail, your ballot must be post marked by election day, tuesday, november 3. Alternatively, you may drop off your ballot in person starting on october 5. You can always drop off your ballot at the City Hall Voting Center starting two weeks before election day, 8 00 a. M. To 5 00 p. M. , and if you dont mail in voting, vote in person at one of the 500 locations across the city and at city hall on tuesday, november 3. Chair fewer the meeting will come to order. This is the special budget and finance committee meeting. Im sandra lee fewer, the chair of the committee. And im joined by supervisor walton and rafael mandelman. I thank sfgovtv for broadcasting this meeting. Madam clerk, any announcements. Clerk due to the covid19 Health Emergency and to protect the Board Members and the City Employees and the public, the legislative agenda and the Committee Room are cle