Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20240714

Them seniors will be able to remain in my community. All of them had been ellised act, and they were just waiting for the final blow. And because of this money through the eras act, the city was able to step in and buy that building. And now that building will be part of the citys Affordable Housing stock. And at least 40 of this fund will be dedicated to the preservation of existing housing just like that one. And i just feel like its so important were out there, buying these kinds of buildings that are getting elity acted to save clients in ellis acted to save clients in these types of buildings. Its my belief that the small site also helps build more neighborhood support for Affordable Housing generally. And ill just close by saying thank you for all of the hard work and the work from your staff, supervisor fewer. I just really appreciated it. Thank you. President yee okay. Thank you. Colleagues, can we take this same house, same call . Okay. Without objection, this ordinance is passed on First Reading unanimously. [gavel]. President yee madam clerk, please call the next item . Clerk item 8 is a resolution to authorize the general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities commission to authorize a lease extension for the property located at 651 bryant street for the continued use by the San Francisco Public Utilities commission for a total annual base rent of approximately 578,000. President yee okay. Colleagues, can we take this item same house, same call . Without objection, this resolution is adopted unanimously. [gavel]. President yee madam clerk, please call the next item. Clerk item 9, resolution to approve the grant between the city and wu yee Childrens Services to support the citys implementation of the citywide plan for early care in education to increase the amount for a total amount of 3,840 million july 1, 2017 through june 30, 2020. President yee colleagues, can we take this same house, same call . Without objection, this resolution is adopted unanimously. [gavel]. President yee madam clerk, please call items 10 and 11 together. Clerk items 10 and 11 are resolutions that authorize the director of the Human Services agency to execute two grant agreements between the city and item 10, a grant with the San Francisco in Home Services Public Authority for the provision of medical, health and dental benefits, the independent provider, july 1, 2019, through june 30, 2020, and for home bridge and provider Skill Development training and support for a total amount not to exceed 90. 7 million for a total agreement april 1, 2019 through april 1, 2020. President yee all right. Colleagues, can we take these items same house, same call . [gavel]. President yee without objection, these resolutions are adopted unanimously. Madam clerk, please call the next item. Clerk item 12 is a resolution to authorize the director of health to enter into a participation agreement between Public Health Behavioral Health services and the california mental Health Services authority for the development of Technology Based Mental Health solutions intended to increase access to Mental Health support to underserved communities for 1. 2 million june 1, 2019 through june 30, 2022. President yee colleagues, can we take this same house, same call . Without objection, this resolution is adopted unanimously. [gavel]. President yee lets go to the next item, please. Clerk item 13 is a resolution to approve a master lease of a building located at 1601 quesada avenue with a base rent of approximately 200,000 per year and to adopt the appropriate findings. President yee colleagues, can we take this same house, same call . Without objection, this resolution is adopted unanimously. [gavel]. President yee madam clerk, please call item number 14. Clerk item 14 is an ordinance to amend the administrative code to require the city to close Juvenile Hall by december 31, 2021 and to affirm the ceqa determination. President yee okay. Supervisor walton . Supervisor walton thank you so much, president yee. First, i want to start off by saying thank you to the majority of my colleagues. We actually have nine of my colleagues who have signed on to this for a total of ten who are in support of this much needed and important change in transformation in our juvenile Justice System. I also want to say thank you to my dream team in district 10, especially tracey brown, who has been a leader working closely with supervisor ronens office and her strong team, as well as supervisor haneys office as we fight to work on this important legislation for our young people. With that said, i just want to go over a few points that i think are important as we get ready to move towards a vote, and then, i have a few amendments that we are adding to the ordinance. But one, i want to be clear that we would never put a system in place that is worse than our current Juvenile Hall. We are proposing an alternate tiff to Juvenile Hall that also provides a true opportunity for young people to be rehabilitated. Job training, Mental Health supports, education connections, an exposure with a noninstitutional focus that provides a true pathway to success, even for serious offenders. Individualized plans that are focused on the person and not the infraction. Young offenders of serious crimes that may harm themselves in society would have a place that provides all of those opportunities and focus on helping them change versus teaching them how to life institutionalized versus teaching them how to prepare for prison. I want to reiterate the fact is what were focused on is an expanded array of benefits. All of the changes that people like myself have made in our lives have been a result of mentorship, educational exposure, quality after school programs, but it has never been because of time in Juvenile Hall. I was incarcerated as a youth in Solano County and contra costa county. I have spoken as Log Cabin Ranch on a weekly basis for a good part of a year, and occasionally at y. G. C. , our current Juvenile Justice Center here in San Francisco. You still have to sleep in on a concrete slab on a mat. You must walk in line like they do in prison. You must always be accompanied by a counselor, and thats true preparation for the prison pipeline. Thats why weve worked closely with Mental Health experts, regardless of what they may say, and thats why this part is important. And to give you an example of how the system needs to improve, when i was on the board of education, we had to fight with the leadership president yee im sorry. If you cant refrain, were going to have to ask you to leave. Supervisor walton i hope youre not having a nervous breakdown, mr. Brown. So to give you an example of how the system needs to improve, when i was on the board of education, we had to fight with the leadership of j. P. D. To provide access to internet in Juvenile Hall. Im going to repeat that. President yee all right. I gave a warning. Supervisor walton i will keep praying for you always. Take him out. President yee so reverend brown, i would like you to just refrain. Ive asked you twice now, and we have a meeting now, and i would like to have supervisor walton finish his comments. Supervisor . Supervisor walton thank you, president yee, and to give you an example of how the system needs to improve, when i was on the board of education, we had to fight with the leadership of j. P. D. To provide internet in Juvenile Hall. I understand the need for safety, but there are fire walls for this. The lack of Internet Access leads to the fact that we have not been trying to adequately educate our youth and have been focused on punitive aspects of incarceration. We can and will do so much better. All of what ive just explained is how to handle incarceration and how to handle punishment. And i was to reiterate this is not a job creator, and ive always been a job creator. This allows for more row bust planning and for our young people to become successful. Let me quickly disspell some of the myths quickly. We have met with many experts in the field of juvenile justice. We have spoke to all experts and in fact, even the chronicle highlighted the failures of the current juvenile Justice System. The cause and the lack of positive effect for young people and the reduction of crimes committed by young people. Theres a myth that we did not discuss that with the leadership of j. P. D. This is untrue. In fact, after i was elected at the end of last year before taking office, i met with chief nance in december 2018 and told him to his face, we should shutdown Juvenile Hall and find an alternative. This was said at starbucks on 16th and kansas, and the reality is the leadership of j. P. D. Is the reason were here. The lack of innovation focused on rehabilitation is imperative. Furthermore, Log Cabin Ranch was closed last year. Where is the focus of an alternative for young people in its absence. And j. P. D. Waited until we announced we were going to close Juvenile Hall before they took steps to help young people. Thats appalling that our young black and brown people should be locked down from things that will lead to success and change. We are pushing to increase opportunities for engagement with young people in a less institutionalized setting, more conducive to learning how to be productive. Weve also spoken with Mental Health providers, including dr. Koufax, because the majority of young people committing juvenile crimes need Mental Health assessments. This is not a game for us but about the future of our young people here in frisan francisc and we have spoken with all of the experts, not focused on folks spewing hot air without facts. I have personally spent a day in the courtroom and spoken with judges who want us to do a better job. I wish i had time to run around and play make believe, but we have real work to do to improve the lives of our young people here in San Francisco. With that, i also want to bring your attention to some amendments that reflect our commitment to work with city labor and with our colleagues. Id like to bring this to a vote today to make history, but i also have a few amendments to go over. I also want to thank supervisor yee and supervisor mandelman for their support and work in these amendments and help make their work in this ordinance a little bit stronger. So First Amendment is on page 5, lines 7 through 12, and this is about a meet and confer. Prior to the closure of Juvenile Hall, under this section, 119. 3, the department of Human Resources shall provide notice to unions representing affected employees and conduct and conclude any necessary meet and confer under state and local law. Notwithstanding the deadline imposed by this section, the city may close Juvenile Hall only after d. H. R. Submits a written certification to the clerk of the board of supervisors and the mayor that the city has satisfied applicable meet and confer obligations. On page 13, lines 3 and 4, working groups shall develop a plan to transition staff to jobs. Page 14, line 5, add language to request that the director retain subject Matter Experts as needed. Page 14, line 13 to 18, the amendment is that the final plan will be approved by the board of supervisors no later than june 1, 2021. This gives the opportunity for the final plan to be reviewed and voted on. Page 15, line 13, the leets fee money and add funding for communitybased alternatives. And page 16, lines 1 through 5 states that the undertaking is for the general welfare. So i ask for those acceptance to the general ordinance. I have given everyone a copy. I just want to reiterate that the purpose of this is to make sure our young people have an opportunity even in an incustody experience. Im really proud of us that we have worked so hard on an opportunity that is going to influence our young people. President yee supervisor ronen . Supervisor ronen thank you so much, and i want to thank supervisor walton for all his leadership on this legislation. I want to start out with a couple more thank yous because this truly was a Community Labor of love. I want to thank the key organizations who have fought for this and who have worked with my office and supervisor walton and haneys offices to work with various organizations, and many members of the juvenile justice providers association. And i want to give a shout out to a core group of individuals who give an incredible amount of time to making sure this legislation was written the right way, who poured over numerous drafts and gave important insights to our office every step of the way. Jessica, meredith, katey, dan, james, and a huge thank you. I just want to echo supervisor walton to our staffers, carolyn who came first to supervisor campos office with this dream 8 years ago, and finally seeing it true. Thank you, carolyn, and i also want to give a shout out and a thank you to jill and joaquin from the San Francisco chronicle who did an incredible investigative series and background reporting that really backed up what the community had been fighting for for over a decade, to shutdown Juvenile Hall. But what i really want to share with you, today, colleagues, and with the public is a a bunch of points that were written by public defender robert dunlap, because when i read it, i found it to be one of the most powerful reasons why were doing what were doing. Many people throughout this debate has been trying to make a claim that Juvenile Hall is not a prison, its not a jail. It doesnt have a feel of what adults go through when they are in jail, and thats just simply not true. And robert dunlap, who is in Juvenile Hall every single day had the following points to make. One rule is silence while eating. During meal time, the kids sit at tables hudled around their trays, fore bidden to speak to one another. When i asked why, i was told that was the policy. The real reason i suspect is to further the convenience of the guards. Number two, on the topic of food, parents are allowed to bring snacks on saturdays. Nothing healthy or homemade, only soda and prepackaged junk food. Point number three, which brings us to visiting. No grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, or ministers of the family unless theyre parents. Many parents are strapped with watching the younger children, thus, the grandparents come. The position of j. P. D. . How do we know theyre the grandparents . 50 minute time slots on saturdays and sundays in the m. P. R. With dozens of other people around, and during the week, you can only have an afternoon pass before dinner, or an evening pass after dinner. A parent cannot visit children two times in one day, and you only get one time of pass. Number five, passes are generally issues in 30day increments, so if your kid if it is is in longer, and you dont notice the expiration date, you can come home from work, feed the kids, and come here, and be turned way. Number six, after visit with the parents, the children are taken to a shower and strip searched by a guard. Often, a guard will be sitting alone watching a Football Game on a sunday with every kid locked up in his room. Number eight, in spite of recent antishackling laws, kids are vastly overrestrained. This in a place where every entrance is locked and controlled with multiple steel doors. This further imprints on the kids the notion they are criminals. As if the whole Juvenile Hall aspect were not enough, complete with sleeping on concrete with mats, and using steel toilets, we recognize this has the reverse impact. Number nine, kids are not allowed to sleep in the dark. A light is kept on, and if the kids put a piece of paper on it in order to darken the room in order to sleep, more room time. Kids are categorized one through four based on time. Transgressions such as having too many books in your room results in a level reduction. Doing something well on the other hand, like getting straight as does not yield promotion. This is a microcosm of the system. People and kids in general respond much better to positive reinforcement. When a juvenile is injured and needs to go to the hospital, the parents are not notified until well after the fact, usually after the child is returned to custody. Children are largely isolated from the outside world. They are not allowed to watch news or read the newspaper, yet they are allowed to watch movies and listen to music. Number 13, because the children are not serving sentences, per se, they have no release date. From daytoday, week to week, they never know what day they will be released from custody, nor do they know what time it is on any given day as there are no clocks in any of the housing units, ostensibly so the kids cannot coordinate an escape plan. This is what the kids that we detain in Juvenile Hall deal with, so no wonder that study after study after study shows that when kids leave Juvenile Hall, they come out worse than when they