Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20240713

Following the success of his series, he landed himself his own television show. The show entitled, young broke and beautiful was created and hosted by stuart. It looked at visits to new orleans, detroit. He is famous for his blog where they have written over 10,000 articles on local news, politics. You may have remembered stuart for his run for mayor in 2015. And among other things, he made some pretty incredible viral videos about the need for more public toilets, which helped to inspire some of the changes that have been made, including some of the work that ive been able to do on that issue. At a time when San Francisco has become more and more expensive, and harder and harder for young people, artists, journalists and creative folks to be here and thrive, stuart has been an essential voice for the culture that is still here and even a guru and moral compass for the many dreamers and creatives that are here. Im proud to be honoring him today. And also, its his birthday this week. So, happy birthday, stuart. You want to come up and say a few words . You got all dressed up, too. [applause] what do i do now . Thank you. This is an honor. Ive been here for 17andahalf years now. This is my home. Im proud to be fight for it. And love it. And be with all of you doing the same thing. So thank you very much. I really appreciate it. Thank you. [applause] president yee thank you. Next, supervisor fewer. Supervisor fewer thank you, president yee. Colleagues, today i have the pleasure oh, id like to call out witty la bouncy. Colleagues, today had the pleasure of recognizing an individual who has worked for decades to document our citys history. Woody is a life long san franciscan and the founder of the western neighborhood projects, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the history and culture of the neighborhoods on the western side of San Francisco. As director of the western neighborhoods project, woody worked with an array of government, business and Community Stakeholders to build awareness of the history and Cultural Diversity of San Franciscos western neighborhoods. He conducted surveys, testified before commissions and elected boards and statements adopted by the city. He helped save a cottage built for refugees in the 1906 earthquake, that drew 15,000 visitors. He helped organize the free San Francisco history days weekend at the old mint, which draws 6,000 to 7,000 people each year. In addition to his work with the western neighborhood project, he is cofounder of open sf history, an online archive of over 41,000 historic images taken throughout San Francisco. Open sf history is a result of countless hours of archiving, cataloging, scanning and uploading and is a valuable resource for current and future generations. San francisco has become woodys life and our story would be incomplete without his hard work. Tens of thousands of people have visited Historic Sites that woody helped save and restore. The often overlooked western neighborhoods have preserved stories that may have been lost forever. It tells how histories shape their diverse makeup today, including the integral chineseamerican communities played in the culture and the economy of the west side. Woody partnered with a chinese Historic Society of america, for the chinese in richmond project, which documented the migration from chinatown to the richmond and elevated the story of Chinese Americans on the west side. This is essential to understanding the myriad ways of which the chinaamerican experience is woven into the fabric of our neighborhoods. This summer he transitioned to Vice President of advocacy and programs, a nonprofit working to preserve and enhance San Franciscos unique architectural and cultural identity. He is leading heritage advocacy and education programs, helping to advance a citywide preservation commission, commissioning registry, and nominations and much more. It seems fitting to tell San Francisco stories, today, were writing woody into that story. Woody, someone who was raised in richmond. Moved there in 1959. I raised my kids on the citys west side. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for illuminating the culture of the place i have called home for almost 60 years. As a small token of our appreciation, the City Planning Department has gifted our office the original plans that planning has for richmond district. I can think of no better keeper of this document than you. Woody, thank you very much. So proud to recognize you today. Thank you. [applause] is it okay president yee, if i say just a couple of words . Thank you. Thank you, supervisor fewer, i consider you a great friend to me and the richmond district. I appreciate the honor and see it as recognition of the importance of local history to the city we love. Conversations about our past are often mistakenly framed as divisive topics, but i have advocated that local history in particular is an opportunity for unification. We all share a deep love for San Francisco. Our architectural and cultural heritage, our buildings, neighborhoods, our doorways to understanding and mutuality. We understand the ground that others before us, that is resource to tap the future and the present of this great city. I know this board understands this from supervisor fewers support of western neighborhoods project and its chinese in the richmond program. President yee for finding funding for projects in west portal. Supervisor peskins tireless efficients to protect our architectural legacy. Supervisor ronen to preserve the cultural districts and each member of the board for nominating different institutions with nominations. I applaud your service and love of the city. I encourage you to keep it strong by using history as a tool. And never passing up a chance to ask for something, i want to encourage you to replenish and reviaing rate the Historic Fund and continue to restore the benefits by the popular business registry. San francisco heritage will be working in every corner of the city, particularly the excelsior and parkside districts. I look forward to partnering with you in the coming year. I wish the best Holiday Season to you and your loved ones. Thank you. President yee before you leave the podium, i also should have chimed in earlier that the work that you do to preserve history of the city, in particular on the west side, is just remarkable. Its benefitted different generations. My kids read your stuff. Ive read it. Its not even you talk about the whole west side. You have publications that are specific to the neighborhoods. The smaller neighborhoods. And its just amazing what ive learned just reading your material. For those who dont know his work, which are few of you that dont know, but if you dont know, really, look up the publications, if you really want to know about San Francisco. Supervisor peskin. Supervisor peskin thank you, president yee. And thank you, supervisor fewer, and everything has been said, but not everybody has said it. So i would like to associate myself with the previously stated comments and say that this is the first time ive ever seen woody without his hat on. All right. Go ahead. Supervisor fewer. President yee next up, supervisor stefani. Thank you, president yee. Colleagues, today, i am honoring barry and pearl. I read about them on the j. And i knew i had to meet them. Both are retired City Employees and Life Long Community acts kvists and public certificate activists and Public Servants. Barry spent 30 years in the Planning Department and tersa with the department of Public Health before spending 17 years as a medical secretary. But today, i am commending them for a courageous act of civil disobedience in our nations capital. In september of this year, barry and tersa flew to washington. She hid the banner under her dress and got through before a Capital Police officer stopped her and asked her why her dress appeared so thick. And tersa responded, oh, its in my underwear, and the officer let them through. I dont know how you did that, but its amazing. You look unassuming. So im sure that helped. Once all the senators were in the chamber for a vote, the pair unfurled the banner and shouted, how many more must die . The two yelled to the senators below, do your job. And what, of course, theyre doing is the senates inaction on gun reform. The senate has had a couple of bills on their desk now for at least 293 days. One of those being h. R. 8 which is a universal background check bill that would do background checks on all gun sales. 97 of americans support it. 74 of nra members support background checks on all gun bills, yet mitch mcconnell, the majority leader will not call that up for a vote. So i commend you. You were handcuffed with zip ties, put into a police van and body searched. You spent the next five hours in the washington d. C. Jail before being released. Their arrest is just the latest in a long history of service. Theyve volunteered with american red cross. Rebuilding San Francisco. The San Francisco spca. The stern grove summer concert series. Safety monitors in the gay pride parade. I believe we all owe this couple a debt of gratitude for the love and dedication to the city and for speaking truth to power. As our former colleague supervisor brown reminded us last week, it is so easy to become numb to the gun violence in this country. I want to thank you both or standing up. We have manny scott, the head of the brady campaign, and i see rudy with united players. And to have you on board with all of us as we continue to fight is just wonderful. I know you joined in the gun buyback program, getting 318 guns off the street, 20 of them assault rifles. Thank you very much. And the fact that youve devoted your retirement to ending gun violence warms my heart beyond comprehensive. Thank you so much for comprehension. Thank you for being here. Thank you, supervisors. Were honored and humbled by the boards commendation for our efforts to prevent gun violence. The response weve received from friends, family and total strangers around the world has been overwhelming and encouraging that others may have been motivated to act to address the scourge that is affecting this country. In particular we want to thank supervisor stefani for your efforts to reduce gun violence in San Francisco. We will continue to encourage others to act in any way they can. Whether thats writing a check to support a gun violence organization, making sure that the guns they have in their possession are safe and secured in their home, looking for telltale signs that could lead to accidental death of children. Or intentional death of a domestic partner, or people crying out for help when considering suicide with a gun. Being willing to have a difficult conversation with friends and family about how lives are lost or changed by indiscriminate use of guns in this country, or by becoming an activist and changing the course of the gun debate. Thank you to the members of the board of supervisors for your efforts on behalf of gun control. And we, as members of the Leadership Team of the San Francisco chapter brady united against gun violence, members of moms demand action for moms demand action for gun sense in america, San Francisco chapter, and volunteers for the united players will continue to do all we can to move San Francisco, california, and the United States towards safe and sane use and possession of firearms. Thank you, all. Very much for this honor. [applause] president yee okay. Thank you. The next commendation is from supervisor ronen. Supervisor ronen thank you, president yee. If sam, ministria, luis and tracy could come up. I dont see tracy. If youre in your office, tracy there she is. Come on up to the mic. Many of you know this allstar team because they are leaders in our city and leaders in the mission district. Luis is the executive director of meta. Myrna is president of the Planning Commission and executive director of Jamestown Community services. Sam is director of Neighborhood Centers and tracy is the incredible staffer for our own colleague, supervisor walton as well as a Longtime Mission leader. What they did is when one of the most important historical institutions in the mission, [speaking spanish] was under threat because during the time of economic crisis the former executive director of mlvs had created an economic deal with a private partner to keep ownership of the building. That private partner then tried to take over the entire building. If he was able do that, we would have lost one of the most Important Community hubs and historical sites of, not only the latino, latin Mexican Community in the district, but also the labor history that mixes with the mission. It was such a complicated mess legally. It was caught up in the courts. We didnt have a lot of control over it. Everything was in the hands of a judge. [please stand by] i dont know how you did it to this day, but they did do it. They got together, they got a loan from the help of our mayor who gave 1 million to be able to provide the underlying financing so they could go and get a loan from the bank to purchase the whole building. They joined with other lawyers in the community, other latino leaders like Victor Marques who served as a lawyer, and they saved this building. I will never, for the rest of my life, forget what you did for this community. Forget the blood, sweat, and tears that you put in to making this happen because it was almost impossible. It truly was almost impossible. I couldnt find a way out and you did. That is why the people of district nine and the latin ex communities forever grateful to you four. You dont just do this every day of your lives creating miracles in your own organizations and for your community, but on top of what you do every day, you took on one of the hardest projects and you made it happen and you are all in my book heroes. I cannot thank you enough. I could not have more respect for you and i salute you all. You are amazing. Congratulations and thank you. [applause] before everybody speaks, supervisor walton, would like to say a few words. Thank you so much for honoring these amazing people. It is always great to see when Community Comes together and takes their own destiny by the horns and all of you made this happen together with the entire Mission Community and everything i am definitely not going to forget her. But nothing makes me prouder then to see my friends, my colleague in the fight, my own legislative aide, and of course, Work Together with all of you to make this possible for communities. I want to congratulate you all and appreciate these. Thank you so much and congratulations. Thank you. I will be real brief. I wanted to say thank you to mirna, louise, santiago, and tracy from the bottom of my heart. This is one of the first places i ever came to in San Francisco. I think of it as a second home. My motherinlaw, may she rest in peace, was the lady who found this building. She convinced the board to buy this building and to think about having Community Assets and community leadership. It truly broke my heart to think that we might lose this and that rosario would have given all that she had gave to the city and gave to the community and some of it would have gone in vain. So when you all stepped in in the work that you did, it truly saved the spirit of the neighborhood. You really and truly did. I know you all did it voluntarily. We had that celebration in the mission that day and it was amazing. I just want to thank you on behalf of our family and everyone that was involved. Truly, thank you so much. Okay. Mirna . I wanted to say thank you to supervisor ronen. Also thank you to rosario. May she rest in peace releasing those leaving us with this legacy. And to my four compadres because it wasnt easy to do this, but in the neighborhood that often gets defined by its deficits and not its assets, it is really great a great way to celebrate our assets and our leadership. I think the mission is strong and it has strong leadership. [speaking spanish] it means we are here and we are staying and i think that its because of the folks in this room and to the organizations that they built who will still be here as this building will be here in Community Hands after we are gone. Thank you so much. Supervisor ronen, thank you for this recognition. For me this is an urgency of preserving place for tenants, a place for community organizations, and a place for small businesses. We are carrying out a strategy in the mission around that specifically and we are supported. What you see here and in the mission is community that is together and is leading on this issue so i would ask you for your continued support of those strategies. The other thing i will say is that earlier today there was a conversation about bill 50. It would incentivize the conversion of this kind of facility into something else. I really appreciate the vote earlier today and we are right there with you. Good afternoon, supervisors. Supervisor ronen, thank you for this recognition. I think the only thing i can say at this point is mission Neighborhood Centers is proud to have been able to access is limited assets, real estate assets to move this process forward and ensure that what is a San Francisco<\/a> has become more and more expensive, and harder and harder for young people, artists, journalists and creative folks to be here and thrive, stuart has been an essential voice for the culture that is still here and even a guru and moral compass for the many dreamers and creatives that are here. Im proud to be honoring him today. And also, its his birthday this week. So, happy birthday, stuart. You want to come up and say a few words . You got all dressed up, too. [applause] what do i do now . Thank you. This is an honor. Ive been here for 17andahalf years now. This is my home. Im proud to be fight for it. And love it. And be with all of you doing the same thing. So thank you very much. I really appreciate it. Thank you. [applause] president yee thank you. Next, supervisor fewer. Supervisor fewer thank you, president yee. Colleagues, today i have the pleasure oh, id like to call out witty la bouncy. Colleagues, today had the pleasure of recognizing an individual who has worked for decades to document our citys history. Woody is a life long san franciscan and the founder of the western neighborhood projects, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the history and culture of the neighborhoods on the western side of San Francisco<\/a>. As director of the western neighborhoods project, woody worked with an array of government, business and Community Stakeholders<\/a> to build awareness of the history and Cultural Diversity<\/a> of San Francisco<\/a>s western neighborhoods. He conducted surveys, testified before commissions and elected boards and statements adopted by the city. He helped save a cottage built for refugees in the 1906 earthquake, that drew 15,000 visitors. He helped organize the free San Francisco<\/a> history days weekend at the old mint, which draws 6,000 to 7,000 people each year. In addition to his work with the western neighborhood project, he is cofounder of open sf history, an online archive of over 41,000 historic images taken throughout San Francisco<\/a>. Open sf history is a result of countless hours of archiving, cataloging, scanning and uploading and is a valuable resource for current and future generations. San francisco has become woodys life and our story would be incomplete without his hard work. Tens of thousands of people have visited Historic Sites<\/a> that woody helped save and restore. The often overlooked western neighborhoods have preserved stories that may have been lost forever. It tells how histories shape their diverse makeup today, including the integral chineseamerican communities played in the culture and the economy of the west side. Woody partnered with a chinese Historic Society<\/a> of america, for the chinese in richmond project, which documented the migration from chinatown to the richmond and elevated the story of Chinese Americans<\/a> on the west side. This is essential to understanding the myriad ways of which the chinaamerican experience is woven into the fabric of our neighborhoods. This summer he transitioned to Vice President<\/a> of advocacy and programs, a nonprofit working to preserve and enhance San Francisco<\/a>s unique architectural and cultural identity. He is leading heritage advocacy and education programs, helping to advance a citywide preservation commission, commissioning registry, and nominations and much more. It seems fitting to tell San Francisco<\/a> stories, today, were writing woody into that story. Woody, someone who was raised in richmond. Moved there in 1959. I raised my kids on the citys west side. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for illuminating the culture of the place i have called home for almost 60 years. As a small token of our appreciation, the City Planning Department<\/a> has gifted our office the original plans that planning has for richmond district. I can think of no better keeper of this document than you. Woody, thank you very much. So proud to recognize you today. Thank you. [applause] is it okay president yee, if i say just a couple of words . Thank you. Thank you, supervisor fewer, i consider you a great friend to me and the richmond district. I appreciate the honor and see it as recognition of the importance of local history to the city we love. Conversations about our past are often mistakenly framed as divisive topics, but i have advocated that local history in particular is an opportunity for unification. We all share a deep love for San Francisco<\/a>. Our architectural and cultural heritage, our buildings, neighborhoods, our doorways to understanding and mutuality. We understand the ground that others before us, that is resource to tap the future and the present of this great city. I know this board understands this from supervisor fewers support of western neighborhoods project and its chinese in the richmond program. President yee for finding funding for projects in west portal. Supervisor peskins tireless efficients to protect our architectural legacy. Supervisor ronen to preserve the cultural districts and each member of the board for nominating different institutions with nominations. I applaud your service and love of the city. I encourage you to keep it strong by using history as a tool. And never passing up a chance to ask for something, i want to encourage you to replenish and reviaing rate the Historic Fund<\/a> and continue to restore the benefits by the popular business registry. San francisco heritage will be working in every corner of the city, particularly the excelsior and parkside districts. I look forward to partnering with you in the coming year. I wish the best Holiday Season<\/a> to you and your loved ones. Thank you. President yee before you leave the podium, i also should have chimed in earlier that the work that you do to preserve history of the city, in particular on the west side, is just remarkable. Its benefitted different generations. My kids read your stuff. Ive read it. Its not even you talk about the whole west side. You have publications that are specific to the neighborhoods. The smaller neighborhoods. And its just amazing what ive learned just reading your material. For those who dont know his work, which are few of you that dont know, but if you dont know, really, look up the publications, if you really want to know about San Francisco<\/a>. Supervisor peskin. Supervisor peskin thank you, president yee. And thank you, supervisor fewer, and everything has been said, but not everybody has said it. So i would like to associate myself with the previously stated comments and say that this is the first time ive ever seen woody without his hat on. All right. Go ahead. Supervisor fewer. President yee next up, supervisor stefani. Thank you, president yee. Colleagues, today, i am honoring barry and pearl. I read about them on the j. And i knew i had to meet them. Both are retired City Employees<\/a> and Life Long Community<\/a> acts kvists and public certificate activists and Public Servants<\/a>. Barry spent 30 years in the Planning Department<\/a> and tersa with the department of Public Health<\/a> before spending 17 years as a medical secretary. But today, i am commending them for a courageous act of civil disobedience in our nations capital. In september of this year, barry and tersa flew to washington. She hid the banner under her dress and got through before a Capital Police<\/a> officer stopped her and asked her why her dress appeared so thick. And tersa responded, oh, its in my underwear, and the officer let them through. I dont know how you did that, but its amazing. You look unassuming. So im sure that helped. Once all the senators were in the chamber for a vote, the pair unfurled the banner and shouted, how many more must die . The two yelled to the senators below, do your job. And what, of course, theyre doing is the senates inaction on gun reform. The senate has had a couple of bills on their desk now for at least 293 days. One of those being h. R. 8 which is a universal background check bill that would do background checks on all gun sales. 97 of americans support it. 74 of nra members support background checks on all gun bills, yet mitch mcconnell, the majority leader will not call that up for a vote. So i commend you. You were handcuffed with zip ties, put into a police van and body searched. You spent the next five hours in the washington d. C. Jail before being released. Their arrest is just the latest in a long history of service. Theyve volunteered with american red cross. Rebuilding San Francisco<\/a>. The San Francisco<\/a> spca. The stern grove summer concert series. Safety monitors in the gay pride parade. I believe we all owe this couple a debt of gratitude for the love and dedication to the city and for speaking truth to power. As our former colleague supervisor brown reminded us last week, it is so easy to become numb to the gun violence in this country. I want to thank you both or standing up. We have manny scott, the head of the brady campaign, and i see rudy with united players. And to have you on board with all of us as we continue to fight is just wonderful. I know you joined in the gun buyback program, getting 318 guns off the street, 20 of them assault rifles. Thank you very much. And the fact that youve devoted your retirement to ending gun violence warms my heart beyond comprehensive. Thank you so much for comprehension. Thank you for being here. Thank you, supervisors. Were honored and humbled by the boards commendation for our efforts to prevent gun violence. The response weve received from friends, family and total strangers around the world has been overwhelming and encouraging that others may have been motivated to act to address the scourge that is affecting this country. In particular we want to thank supervisor stefani for your efforts to reduce gun violence in San Francisco<\/a>. We will continue to encourage others to act in any way they can. Whether thats writing a check to support a gun violence organization, making sure that the guns they have in their possession are safe and secured in their home, looking for telltale signs that could lead to accidental death of children. Or intentional death of a domestic partner, or people crying out for help when considering suicide with a gun. Being willing to have a difficult conversation with friends and family about how lives are lost or changed by indiscriminate use of guns in this country, or by becoming an activist and changing the course of the gun debate. Thank you to the members of the board of supervisors for your efforts on behalf of gun control. And we, as members of the Leadership Team<\/a> of the San Francisco<\/a> chapter brady united against gun violence, members of moms demand action for moms demand action for gun sense in america, San Francisco<\/a> chapter, and volunteers for the united players will continue to do all we can to move San Francisco<\/a>, california, and the United States<\/a> towards safe and sane use and possession of firearms. Thank you, all. Very much for this honor. [applause] president yee okay. Thank you. The next commendation is from supervisor ronen. Supervisor ronen thank you, president yee. If sam, ministria, luis and tracy could come up. I dont see tracy. If youre in your office, tracy there she is. Come on up to the mic. Many of you know this allstar team because they are leaders in our city and leaders in the mission district. Luis is the executive director of meta. Myrna is president of the Planning Commission<\/a> and executive director of Jamestown Community<\/a> services. Sam is director of Neighborhood Centers<\/a> and tracy is the incredible staffer for our own colleague, supervisor walton as well as a Longtime Mission<\/a> leader. What they did is when one of the most important historical institutions in the mission, [speaking spanish] was under threat because during the time of economic crisis the former executive director of mlvs had created an economic deal with a private partner to keep ownership of the building. That private partner then tried to take over the entire building. If he was able do that, we would have lost one of the most Important Community<\/a> hubs and historical sites of, not only the latino, latin Mexican Community<\/a> in the district, but also the labor history that mixes with the mission. It was such a complicated mess legally. It was caught up in the courts. We didnt have a lot of control over it. Everything was in the hands of a judge. [please stand by] i dont know how you did it to this day, but they did do it. They got together, they got a loan from the help of our mayor who gave 1 million to be able to provide the underlying financing so they could go and get a loan from the bank to purchase the whole building. They joined with other lawyers in the community, other latino leaders like Victor Marques<\/a> who served as a lawyer, and they saved this building. I will never, for the rest of my life, forget what you did for this community. Forget the blood, sweat, and tears that you put in to making this happen because it was almost impossible. It truly was almost impossible. I couldnt find a way out and you did. That is why the people of district nine and the latin ex communities forever grateful to you four. You dont just do this every day of your lives creating miracles in your own organizations and for your community, but on top of what you do every day, you took on one of the hardest projects and you made it happen and you are all in my book heroes. I cannot thank you enough. I could not have more respect for you and i salute you all. You are amazing. Congratulations and thank you. [applause] before everybody speaks, supervisor walton, would like to say a few words. Thank you so much for honoring these amazing people. It is always great to see when Community Comes<\/a> together and takes their own destiny by the horns and all of you made this happen together with the entire Mission Community<\/a> and everything i am definitely not going to forget her. But nothing makes me prouder then to see my friends, my colleague in the fight, my own legislative aide, and of course, Work Together<\/a> with all of you to make this possible for communities. I want to congratulate you all and appreciate these. Thank you so much and congratulations. Thank you. I will be real brief. I wanted to say thank you to mirna, louise, santiago, and tracy from the bottom of my heart. This is one of the first places i ever came to in San Francisco<\/a>. I think of it as a second home. My motherinlaw, may she rest in peace, was the lady who found this building. She convinced the board to buy this building and to think about having Community Assets<\/a> and community leadership. It truly broke my heart to think that we might lose this and that rosario would have given all that she had gave to the city and gave to the community and some of it would have gone in vain. So when you all stepped in in the work that you did, it truly saved the spirit of the neighborhood. You really and truly did. I know you all did it voluntarily. We had that celebration in the mission that day and it was amazing. I just want to thank you on behalf of our family and everyone that was involved. Truly, thank you so much. Okay. Mirna . I wanted to say thank you to supervisor ronen. Also thank you to rosario. May she rest in peace releasing those leaving us with this legacy. And to my four compadres because it wasnt easy to do this, but in the neighborhood that often gets defined by its deficits and not its assets, it is really great a great way to celebrate our assets and our leadership. I think the mission is strong and it has strong leadership. [speaking spanish] it means we are here and we are staying and i think that its because of the folks in this room and to the organizations that they built who will still be here as this building will be here in Community Hands<\/a> after we are gone. Thank you so much. Supervisor ronen, thank you for this recognition. For me this is an urgency of preserving place for tenants, a place for community organizations, and a place for small businesses. We are carrying out a strategy in the mission around that specifically and we are supported. What you see here and in the mission is community that is together and is leading on this issue so i would ask you for your continued support of those strategies. The other thing i will say is that earlier today there was a conversation about bill 50. It would incentivize the conversion of this kind of facility into something else. I really appreciate the vote earlier today and we are right there with you. Good afternoon, supervisors. Supervisor ronen, thank you for this recognition. I think the only thing i can say at this point is mission Neighborhood Centers<\/a> is proud to have been able to access is limited assets, real estate assets to move this process forward and ensure that what is a Community Institution<\/a> remains intact, not just physically, but in terms of programs that it offers at the site. And none of this would have been possible if you were not for ongoing support on behalf of previous mirrors, as well as the current mayor, and all of you collectively. With that being said, thank you very much for being our partner throughout this process. Thank you. Thank you for this award. Is very humbling to be up here in front of you all to receive this. I am the board chair of Mission Language<\/a> vocational school. It has been a continuant continues to be challenging, and so i want to thank everyone for their support, but i stand here only because i am driven by what community wanted and what Community Asked<\/a> for. So this is just doing our job of delivering for community. Thank you. [applause] [applause] thank you. Next commendation is from supervisor mandelman. Firefighters, come on up. [applause] that does deserve applause. I did not want to let 2020 go by without acknowledging the extraordinary work that the firefighters did in the castro on november 16th. I was woken up that morning around 5 00 a. M. By the fire chief who was letting me know that a four alarm fire was happening on castro street between 18th and market and, colleagues, i hope that that is not a call that you get. I know some of you have. By the time i got there, the firefighters were doing what the firefighters do. They blocked off castro street between 18th and market. Water was everywhere, firefighters were everywhere. More than 100 San Francisco<\/a> firefighters responded that day with multiple stations working together in the neighborhood. They entered the burning building. They were two at 454 and 456 castro street. They checked out the buildings that were on either side of the building. They identified smoke on the upper floors and made an aggressive interior attack to stop the fire from spreading and by 6 00 a. M. , crews had gained control of the fire. By 10 00 a. M. , the fire was fully contained. The two buildings were devastated. The ground floor businesses are going to be not operational for a good while. Thirteen residents were evacuated. One resident was taken to a burn center with serious injuries and one resident was hospitalized for smoke inhalation, and one firefighter was also hospitalized with minor injuries it could have been a whole lot worse. So i just want to say, on behalf of district eight and the board of supervisors, and certainly the castro community, i want to express our heartfelt gratitude to you all for what you do and what you did that day. For having saved lives, prevented greater damage, and your courage and talent reflects the very best of San Francisco<\/a> and im just very pleased to have this opportunity to honor you today. I think we have achieved. To speak speak on behalf of the department. Good afternoon. I am San Francisco<\/a> Fire Department<\/a> deputy chief of operations. Thank you for the op thank you for the commendation. A little bit more detail and approximately at 4 32 a. M. At 456 castro, a working fire was declared. Due to the time of the call, the rapid fire spread, the dense construction and the zero property lines, the fire quickly escalated to a fourth alarm. Aggressive interior and exterior cavities were made. A total of 15 engines, six trucks, his two rescue trucks, five battalion chiefs, three ambulances, two rescue captains and a division chief. The chief of department and her command staff were present and responded along with other specialized units. During this incident, a total of four structures were affected. Two civilians were injured and one was transported to davies and the other was treated at the scene and released. Both will be okay. The fire resulted in eight occupants in four businesses being displaced. Red cross and City Services<\/a> are assisting. The departments p. I. O. Worked with the media, the board of supervisors and city agencies with messaging and recovery during and after this incident. Obviously the location of the fire was in district eight and we thank supervisor mandelman for the acknowledgement. On behalf of our members of our Proud Department<\/a> the battle displays, thank you for the acknowledgement for those who responded. We thank all the supervisors for all the support and we are very honored. Behind me, i think i have everybody here. Lieutenant jackson, firefighter strickland, firefighter chung, firefighter cody, firefighter oneill, paramedic hair, firefighter leonard, firefighter lee, firefighter gabriel, firefighter abella, firefighter zimmerman, firefighter cortez, firefighter forney, did i miss anybody . I think we are all there. These are just a few of the members that responded. Again, we are very honored that you are giving us this. Thank you. [applause] [applause] okay, thank you. That concludes our commendations for today. Except, we actually have a special commendation today. I think it is fair to say that it is shared with all my colleagues on the board of supervisors. So i wonder what that could be . We are here today to appreciate and thank an individual who i think we can all agree has been one of the most dedicated Public Servants<\/a> to the board of supervisors in the city. John given her john. Gibner it is not an easy job that you have had dealing with not only the 11 of us in here, by through the years, many, many other individuals that are very demanding. Feuding fielding dozens of legal requests, sometimes all within the same day, if not the same hour, providing Legal Council<\/a> during sometimes excruciating board meetings, never making any of us, including our staff, feel as though we were asking dumb questions when we probably were doing that, stepping in and helping us craft legislation when you barely had any sunlight at all on your own overflowing plate, and through it all, with the utmost professionalism. Your call him, collected, and allknowing Legal Council<\/a> has benefited so many of us through the years and people that we serve. Theres no way to thank you enough for giving us the benefit of your expertise, which seems to be endless and most importantly, i think your time. Because we all know that how much time this board can demand. That is the time away from your loved ones and your family. You will be missed by all of us, but we count ourselves extremely fortunate to have our steady hand still with us in the City Attorneys Office<\/a> in your new role. No one could really fill shoes, but i think she is pretty happy right now knowing that you are the one accepting the baton that will be handed over to you soon. On a more personal note, you have been the only deputy City Attorney<\/a> that ive interacted with on this board and i feel very fortunate to have had the seven years with you. I will sorely miss you individually. Thank you for your service and your friendship and you dont get to talk yet because as a lot of people that want to talk before you. How about that . Supervisor peskin . Thank you. Colleagues, i think that the president just said everything just right. I am not a real big fan of goodbyes, and unlike my president , i have had two incarnations. Earlier ted lakey and cheryl adams, both of whom were fantastic council to department one, but you far exceeded those expectations and you have a very providing service to this board and this city and to try to explain to me, and i never understood that we were not his client, the city was his client, which means that he could make it up as he went along, and you have done an extraordinary job of doing the exact same thing. I say that with all due respect. City attorney herrera, why are you looking at me like that . [laughter] City Attorney<\/a> herrera had a profoundly hard decision to make in determining who would replace back because the City Attorneys Office<\/a>, which has it is the largest Attorneys Office<\/a> in the city and county of San Francisco<\/a> , has a number of remarkable potential people to fill buckets seat, and i think that dennis made the right decision in appointing you. The only thing that you and buck do not have in common is that you are not a resident of the city and county of San Francisco<\/a> , but that can be corrected. I would like to present to you the janky us to going away card that has ever been presented. It is very board like. It has been signed by every member of the board except for our newest member, supervisor preston. And dean was never your client, so its got 10 members, but more importantly, it has all of the staff and all of our staff who are profoundly grateful for the council that you have given us. Whether we were asking you about how to conquer poverty, how to clean our streets, how to make childcare universal, which we are which were all easy tasks that came with very easy legal advice, and so john, i hate saying goodbye, but dont worry, we will peel every piece of advice that our incoming City Attorney<\/a> gives us to you as the head of the legal team so you will be hearing from each and every member of department to one, the board of supervisors, and madame clerk, if you could present this to the deputy City Attorney<\/a> on behalf of the board and all of our staff, we appreciate your service. Supervisor ronen . Thank you. I forgot how i found out that you were no longer going to be our lead or general counsel, but i screamed out, no that was my immediate response. I dont even know how you have done this job the way that you have done it. We are 11 characters of the highest order with strange personalities, constant demands, have the time scheming against each other or scheming against the Mayors Office<\/a> and you have been privy to it all, and yet somehow, or at least to me, of never betrayed anyones confidence. I knew you would never betray mine. And how you managed to do that and keep that all straight and demand such respect from so many different people, with such a wide range of politics is just extraordinary. I honestly dont know how youve done it. I hope that you feel really good about yourself because i dont know anyone else who can and i do see at least one other general counsel of the board before you came on. I will miss you so much. My staff several times have they have so much respect for you as well. As do all of our staff. They have said to me at times, do you think john likes us, i think he likes s. I think he likes as more than he likes other offices. We all wanted you to like us so much because we like you so much we have no idea because you are so even keeled and so equal to everyone that you never let on what you really are actually thinking other than your legal opinion. But your personal thoughts about people or about what they are doing, you dont you never let down your shield. That is a pretty high degree of professionalism. Something i very much admire about you. Thank you so much, john, for everything. We will miss you. Supervisor mandelman . I feel profoundly cheated and that i have i think other than supervisor preston, i have had the least opportunity to work with you as a member of this board of supervisors, but i take solace in the fact that i think i have known you longer than any of the members of the board of supervisors, since we were in law school and spending summers at the east Bay Community<\/a> law center. And john, aside from being a fantastic lawyer, is a profoundly excellent human being and as a gay man, i was astounded back then that there was this straight guy, and john is straight, this straight guy who wanted to do h. I. V. Benefit advocacy in law school and would go on to work at a legal studio after law school and would spend all the time working on the civil rights and benefits for a community of which he was not apart. I think when we were back in law school we had great hopes and ambitions for what the practice of law would be and that the very best and brightest in law schools would go into Public Service<\/a> and would go into nonprofit. John, in your case, that has absolutely happened. I am so thrilled for you and thrilled for our city, although i am bummed you will not be here in this chamber, i will also say that you are exemplary. You are an exemplar of an office that i think reflects the very best of what lawyers can be. Im so proud of your whole department. Anyway, i will miss you, but im glad you will still be around in the city. Supervisor walton . Thank you. Supervisor mandelman, if you feel you have had the least amount of time to work with him, then i would actually be sitting in your seat right now. That is another story. That is another story. [laughter] john, i want to say how much i appreciate how you are able to work with several different personalities and remain professional. There are times when i would try to draw things out of you to get , maybe you could think a little bit like me or come to that side, and you remain professional the whole time and really stuck to giving quality legal advice. I really appreciate that 100 . I know there are times when my colleagues and i have tried i am always up for a bout, not necessarily always been concerned about breaking the law if i think it is the right thing to do. But that is your job to tell us when we are going overboard. I do appreciate you being able to do that in a professional way , i think the hardest part is having to deal with all of our personalities and our aids. It takes someone who has a certain amount of charisma and a certain amount of heart to make that happen. I appreciate that. Good luck in your next role and a look forward to working with you. Supervisor fewer . Thank you. John, i just wanted to say that, you know, city hall can sometimes be a very lonely place you just dont know who to trust , but i just want to say, that i always felt i could trust to you. I thank you have seen a lot, but you know a lot, and you have always been so generous and gracious and kind, and i just wanted to say that, you know, i know one time i felt harsh with you and i called you into my office and i felt horrible. I felt like i have to apologize to john because he is so steady and so generous and so kind and so nice that it is so unwarranted that i would say anything harsh to him at all. I remember when i apologized you just said, know, its okay. I just felt terrible but you were so generous and forgiving me. It is so indicative of you. I just think so kind. Any time i got a text from you that was a kind word, i knew you meant it. I so valued it. I hope that we have entertained and amused you as much as we have driven you crazy with our personalities and shenanigans. My staff would sometimes say just out of the blue, can i just say, i love john. And so i think everyone sort of feels that way about you. Although, the way we are talking , we are acting like we will not be on the third floor. You are not going over to another jurisdiction or going to private practice, you are actually staying with us. John, i want to invite you to come back to my office and hang out with us. Come back and eat a doughnut, and because i actually feel like we are real friends. I think, to the great disappointment of the board of supervisors and to our office, i want to say, i thank you are such a hell of a baseball player good luck. Thank you. [laughter]. Supervisor stefani . Thank you. I was so sad when i heard the news, john. I remember when i started it was cheryl adams and you jumped on board and you jumped right in like you had been doing the job the entire time. I was so impressed. I feel like youve always been such a class act and how you have had a calm demeanour working for all of us. We sounds like so much fun to work for basin what my colleagues have said, but your calm demeanour has really impressed me i have just loved working with you as a legislative aide and as a supervisor. I also think your work ethic is absolutely amazing and your patience. If anyone is going to fill buck s shoes, i cant imagine anybody better than you. I congratulate you on that. You deserve it. I want to thank you, too, for being patient with me on our recent n. R. A. Fun and everyone coming into my office after we had been sued, and also, what i want when i want to do something more than that, explained to me why couldnt and i protested as much as i could, and then we went resolution route, and even though we knew it was nonbinding, we had that fun lawsuit. I remember you come to my office and giving me two options. You were very patient with me when i look to you and i said no way on option number one and we found a way around it and in the end they dismissed the suit. I thank you for getting through that and i will miss you, but like supervisor fewer said, you are only on the third floor, so you must come visit. Supervisor safai . I will never forget the day you came screaming and yelling at me in the office. I have never been yelled at like that before in my life. Im just kidding. [laughter] i have never worked with someone that is so calm and so preserved and so able to deal with stressful situations whether it was a ballot measure that we were working on, whether it was the advice theyd given me at all hours of the day, calls that you have taken and the calls that we i truly enjoyed your mentoring. A lot of your job is about guiding us and the truth is that the questions we ask elicit different types of responses from you and for me, over the last three years since i have been here, there is only handful of people that have truly helped my transition and allowed me to grow into this role. You are one of those people. The conversations that we have, the listening ear that youve given and the direction that you have given and the advice that youve given and the confidence that youve given have made my job that much easier. You have made me a better supervisor. I truly was taken aback when you said and told me that you are going to be going upstairs, im saddened in one regard, but happy and the other regard because you deserve it. Those are big shoes to fill but we certainly will be continuing to rely on you. I take solace in the fact that we know you will still be in the building, you will still be here to advise us through extension and whenever we hear, you will have to run it through the internal review, you will know we will know what that means. We are very excited to have an onboard. I think this will be a nice transition. What truly, we appreciate the friendship and the guidance that you have given me over the past three years and we all have had have expressed our deep appreciation for the work that you do. Supervisor haney . I think theres definitely different types of lawyers and theres the types of lawyers who will always try and figure out how to tell you why you cant do something and why it is a bad idea, and im really thankful that you are not that type of lawyer. You or somebody who, whatever we brought to you, you would work with us to try to figure out how we can accomplish our goals and i think that the consequence for that for us and our work and our offices and our staff is huge, but for what comes out of this body and what is possible and what we can do for the residents that we represent i think has been so much greater because of your advice and your imagination and your willingness to try to make things happen that we want to see happen for our constituents here. I agree with everybody. I saw i heard a theme of people saying, how did you deal with all of our difficult ways and approaches and everything . It sounded like a lot of us felt like, we must have just been his favorite. He was good with us, but what was clear, what makes it more extraordinary is you are the same way with everybody. The professionalism, the hard work, picking up the phone when you are at disneyland with your family, you know, thank you for doing it this way and i know we worked with you as well and we are so excited you are stepping up. I know you will continue this tradition as you have with us in my short time here of helping us get to because that is what we are here to do. We will make this happen for our constituents even when sometimes it skirts the line a little bit or maybe pushes the boundaries. Thank you for taking that approach and we look forward to continue working with you. Supervisor mar . Thank you. I want to echo all of the really deep felts words of appreciation for the incredible support and advice that you have provided to this cast of characters and others before us with the highest level of patients and ethics and thoughtfulness. I really appreciate that. Thank you for so so much for helping me get through my first year here and even though ive only worked with you for this year, there was the original supervisor mar that had the pleasure of working with you for many years. From both of us, we really thank you and wish you the best. So i realized during this year of being your president that theres actually somebody we all think we work so much with john and probably he comes into our office and works with us individually the most, and this year made me realize that theres probably somebody else in this room that actually spends more time dialoguing, communicating, working with john than any of us that are members of the board of supervisors. And that is angela. I would love to have you make some comments. Angela . Thank you. Deputy City Attorney<\/a> and wingmen , john, based upon the number of voicemails that i leave you and the length of them , i will make these comments very short. I very very much like supervisor peskin, i too had counseling under both cheryl adams and the great ted lakey when i was a legislative aide. At those times, i felt rather distraught that they had come through here and then leaving, but it is a testament to the City Attorneys Office<\/a> that each time we can feel a little bit of abandonment when the deputy moves on. And pearson, im looking forward to working with you. John, i have to tell you this. You didnt know this before, but buck wasnt going around the chain of command when i would call him, but i would often times call him not to question your advice, certainly, but to just say, buck, what if i ask this question . Would i be going in the right direction . And he would always say, first you will talk to the deputy working on that item or john, and very in very rare instances. But heres the advice that i would give you, angela. Now you are going to be in that role and i am looking forward to still talking to you, still counseling with you and it wouldnt be going around the chain of command. I promise. Thank you for so many years of returning my calls very quickly and helping me and all of my staff, to help us administer the department of the board of supervisors and the clerks office. I am hoping you are able to return my calls as quickly as john always did. John, i will miss you very much but i know you were just a phone call away. Thank you, mr. President. John, would you like to say a few words . I dont want to spill water all over the place in my very last moment. Thank you all. Thank you. This is the first time in this room that i have ever been asked to speak without having to answer a question. So i will take a moment. I have loved this job. It has been endlessly interesting, tremendously challenging, very enriching. I believe that this board does great things and Amazing Things<\/a> happen in this room. Sometimes ridiculous things happen in this room. And it has been a privilege to be part of all of it","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia803105.us.archive.org\/26\/items\/SFGTV_20191218_030000_Government_Access_Programming\/SFGTV_20191218_030000_Government_Access_Programming.thumbs\/SFGTV_20191218_030000_Government_Access_Programming_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240716T12:35:10+00:00"}