From one of your districts, but i hope that this can be an invitation for partnership, because although the tenderloin is burdened with this problem, it is not just in the tenderloin, it is a problem for all of San Francisco. Thank you. Hi. My name is jessie james johnson. Im a poet and a 20year resident of the tenderloin. I believe i qualify for seats 1, 2, and 3 and or 7 and 8. I have letters of support from several communitybased organizations, a Business Owner, one from a property owner, and my landlord. Theyre included because its not who i am that are important, but the people that are in my life. These are people who are part of my daily life, people who i have earned their trust and people who i work with. You might know that golden gate is the epicenter of the open air drug dealing. As different as we all are, we are the different people we must come together to address the crisis we find ourselves in. I believe i can help in reaching a consensus. Its heartbreaking to see the people of the tenderloin working against each other. The visual is an obstacle. I believe that anyone, if asked and given a clear path to follow will step forward to be a part of the solution. Some will be challenged to let go of our notion of being victims, and in being a victim, of having no responsibility tot larger community. We have a lot to work through. The solutions we seek will probably not be found in the deliberations of nine people. Who matter who is selected today, this task force must engage everyone in this room to be successful. We need to see ourselves as a community not just of people but with compassion to each other. Only then can we work towards the solution. Chair ronen thank you so much. What he said. Im sam dennison, and for the last nine months, ive been convening in my living room, a tenderloin committee dedicated to the harms of drug use in our community. Submit today mr. Haneys submitted to mr. Haneys office some of the legislation that were working on today. When i said what he said, i really mean it. I live in a place where one of the people that i treasure the most was shot in the back over a drug deal. Somebody living next door to me was shot through a window with somebody who was playing with a gun. Ive also seen people get out of jail trembling because theyve lost their home and everything. What we consistently do is the same thing over and over again, and im heartened to hear that there are a lot of people from the drug policy i lines group and policy Alliance Group and others who will bring to the table new ideas. Id like to foster the conversation that there are people who a as you know, ths is a very complex issue, and the piece that i have to bring to the table is that community parallel process where we have been engaging with these issues very deeply and thoughtfully. So my hope is that if i am to be part of this task force, that i can bring that element of listening clearly, speaking thoughtfully and encouraging others to really bring their better selfs to tves to the t. Thank you. Chair ronen and while portias coming up, ill call carol shanks, philip sabbagh, and thomas wolf. Hello. My name is portia dixson. Im here good morning oh, dang. Okay. I was a i was raised right here in the tenderloin on leavenworth. Actually, i was one of the peoples i started selling drugs out on the street corners at 13 years old. By the age of 34, lucky i had the support i had. I stopped selling. Now i started working for the gubio project. I work for hospitality house, i work for sort. Now i save lives, and i also help people get off the streets and get jobs now, but im not coming with the extensive background, but im one of the people, and im shy, i dont know what to say, oh, this is too much, whoa. Chair ronen youre doing great. Just just tell us who you are and what you want to do and speak from your heart. Im here to take people off the streets and not to jail because jail is not always the way. Im one of the people, and jail didnt help me. It didnt make me stop. I kept going. What worked was the support from other people, so ive got to go. Chair ronen just so you know, you did really, really well. Thank you so much. [applause] thank you, yall. Chair ronen thank you. Hi. My name is carol shanks. I work with food justice, community leader, Community Organizer. Im also a community activity, and i do a lot of work for different nonprofits in district 6. Im a native san franciscan. I am a i have experience in incarceration. I have dealt drugs. I am an addict in recovery. I have been out there on the street using. I also have a very, very good rapport with the people on the street, with the drug dealers and the users, which is very, very important, that they have a voice in this process. Its a lot its more complicated than than them just being out there, using drugs. Its much deeper, has to do with being homeless, mental issues, and all those issues have to be addressed. Its not only devastating to the community owners, but its also devastating to the people out there using and dealing drugs. I have been in meetings with sam in her living room for a few months now in dealing with solutions and helping with limth legislation for matt haneys office in this. I care. I really care, and i just would really, really like to have a seat and be a voice for the people, so i thank you. Namaste. Chair ronen thank you. Thank you. [applause] good morning. My name is thomas wolf. I used to be a heroin addict and homeless. I got clean about 18 months ago. I work with homeless veterans, many of which are dealing with substance abuse. I used to be a drive up buyer and then i was a walk up buyer. I know whats going on. Ive been out there. Now in recovery. What ive done is ive gotten some exposure on social media. Ive been on the news several times. What id like to do is bring some new ideas and solutions to the table for San Francisco. I am a native san franciscan, and i do still live in San Francisco, and i still live in the city, and i just want to help, so thank you very much. Chair ronen as philip comes up, if i could call janet ector, ibithaj hammond, and sew had a abdue agene, and soha abdu ajine and im sorry. [inaudible] all of this being said, im not indifferent to the struggles that people face. I have been volunteering at healthright 360, tutoring in g. E. D. Or in some cases, simply learning to read in the past four years, and i found that to be an incredibly rewarding experience. I believe people deserve sometimes second, third, fourth chances. At the same time, we cant enable people by turning a blind eye to their criminal activity. Im not going to pretend that i have the answer, im simply here as a concerned citizen. I have a strong background in analysis. I have a masters degree in business. Im real esta im retired, and im simply hoping i can help this task force achieve its goals. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much. Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to apply for a community on the task force. I have lived in San Francisco since 1976, frequently as a resident of the tenderloin. I was born to and raised in the same marginalized condition that currently plague our Tenderloin Community. I went through my own chaotic drug use, including dealing, and subsequently went through treatment at walden house. As a result, i went onto work at walden house for eight years. Im currently the manager of the Harm Reduction programs at glide, providing services to people who are actively engaged in drug use. In my current role, i also manage the Law Enforcement diversion program, working in collaboration with the sfpd, the sheriffs office, b. A. R. T. Police, the District Attorneys Office and several branchs of public health, so i have a lot of experience with the community and deep ties with the community, and i think i can bring a unique perspective to the task force thats grounded in the principles of Harm Reduction practices as well as being a voice for both reason and compassion. [please stand by] a lot of people talk about who they are and whats going on. We have to understand who we are. If we understand who we are, we understand who they are. Because its not us versus them. I spent a year in jail, ms. Richards is a great strong leader and i appreciate her. The reason why im here today is because Restorative Justice for me has been the answer. We believe in respect, care, trust and empathy. Im here to say change is possible. Former gang member, sold drugs, dealt drugs, used drugs. Family membered o. D. Ed but change is possible and it comes through care and concern. Its not about whether we are going to be consistent, its about who is speaking that language. Its not what i say, its how i say it. Ive seen the pictures of the young men and women that were arrested and put on the tenderloin website and most of them were friends. All i saw was trauma, victimization. So whats really needed for us is just for us all to come together as we have here and all these people here are stakeholders, just as they are in the streets, and i believe the empathy we are bringing will be the difference. What i would hope to bring, specifically to this agape love that says no, this is the truth. The truth needs to be spoke. Theres places in the city where its not allowed. There are places you would not see this level of drug use. Lets start there. Lets take that model, lets bring that love and the resources that we have, the outreach would be the biggest difference. If we can provide a difference for them in their lives and the hope, lifestyle, addiction is reel. Beliefs, habits and traditions have been handed out that makes us think this is the only way. That is another thing that has to be challenged. So i say thank you, whichever way you go, im glad you are going in that direction, and i will support you in any form. Thank you. [applause] good morning, honorable supervisors. My name is rhiannon bailard. Im the executive director of operations at uc hastings law and i serve as Vice President of the board for the Tenderloin Community benefits district. Im here today applying for a seat as a Business Owner representative on the task force, because uc davis law wants to be part of the solution. We understand this is an incredibly complicated problem and one that can only be resolved by having a multidisciplinary, multiinstitutional holistic approach as youve heard from so many different perspectives that we have heard today. My background, among other functions, i oversee safety and security. So what that means is im responsible for 1500 people that live, work or study here in the city and specifically in the tenderloin. And 300 of those are student residents. Im the one thats responsible for their feeling of a lack of safety. We have had others have commented increasing violence that weve seen, increasing frequency, increasing in the extremity of it. Weve had multiple homicides in and around the campus. We have had assaults in our parking garage. I think anybody here can speak to the amount of violence that weve seen. And im responsible for responding to my community. And i also know that the tenderloin has more children than any other neighborhood in San Francisco. Its completely unacceptable in terms of whats happening right now. At the same time, i absolutely agree with the comments that have been provided by sam and others that its not black and white of us versus them, victims versus perpetrators so we need this holistic approach. And what i bring in addition to having that safety and security background is someone who really focuses on consensus building, who focuses oncoming to compromisetype solutions to be able to hear all the voices that are attributing, seeking to resolve it. I appreciate your time today. Thank you. As curtis comes up, is kim diamond, teresa lynn friend, eric brizee my name is Curtis Bradford. Im applying for seats 8 or 99. Im in the tenderloin district. Ive lived in my current s. R. O. For the last ten years. Prior to that ive been homeless and using and couch surfing and room hopping and sometimes doorway sleeping and using and sometimes dealing in the tenderloin for many years prior to that as well. I got clean nine years ago through the storm wall project and through glides 90day outpatient drug Treatment Program. After that i became a facilitator at the Treatment Program for eight years. Im one of the founding members, along with jesse here and cochair of the tenderloin Peoples Congress which is a Grassroots Organization in the tenderloin. Im currently serving my third year as a board member of the Tenderloin Community benefit district. Spent five years on the board at t. N. D. C. s reportable housing developer. Im a fulltime employee as a Community Organizer in the tenderloin. As you can see tenderloin is in my dna. And im deeply engaged with the community, with the residents, the families, the seniors, the small Business Owners, nonprofits, with the staff. I have this Broad Spectrum of folks and thats what we need. We need somebody who can bring all these broad semi trust specm together. This is a challenging subject and its going to require someone who has relationships and can build relationships throughout a spectrum of perspectives in the neighborhood. And i believe that i bring that to this. Im one of the members of the Steering Committee of for the masses. I think i have a lot to bring to this, and i hope youll consider me. Thank you. Hello. Good morning, supervisors. My name is kim diamond. And im a voice, just a human voice. All i bring to you today is life experience. This is what will be my first board appointment. Im a resident of k. C. C. Since 2012. Ive been on the homeless route, ive used drugs to survive. I walk outside my door every day to drug deals being made. I want to be a point to help accomplish find Real Solutions for these problems on our streets, just like many, many more of those beautiful voices before me and have spoken all of this too. I want my grandchildren to be able to visit me. I want them to be able to be safe. I was unsure that i was qualified for this position in the beginning but going through the process showed me some things. I already knew the tenderloin had given me my street experience and smarts and i was surprised by the awesome support letters i received. I didnt get started until just last thursday. I found the email explaining the process so i sat down, sent out requests to everyone i could think of and i received good ones but there were a couple that threw me a little. They stated they couldnt support me, they had to support their people in their organization and thats one thing that really stood out that made me realize that i could hear my dad telling me to get my head out outside clouds. I had only one thing in mind, to Contact People who know me personally so i truly bring to this seat a representative of none and representative of all. I will listen to everyone and speak for all. Inclusion is not just a word to me, it is a way of life. Exclusion of any kind is a wall. I put your attention to remember the idea i put forth in my paperwork that i dont have time to go into. I dont care who gets credit for it, i just think its a program that is worth it in our neighborhood. Thank you for your time. Thank you so much. Good morning. My name is teresa friend. Im the director and managing attorney of the homeless advocacy project of the Justice University of the bar association. We provide social services to individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in San Francisco. Ive supervised it for over 25 years. It is located in the building we own at haight street in the tenderloin. We have 20 employees. We serve 1500 clients a year at that location. Our block of haight street, 100 block, is the site of active drug dealing on a daily basis. You have excellent applicants. You cant go wrong. I will tell you why i would like to serve. But i cant say that im any more qualified than the number of people who have spoken. I believe i would be a good addition because first, the office is at ground zero of the issue so we have every incentive to find an answer that works. Every day my staff and our clients have to navigate through a crowd of drug dealers to get and out of our building. In addition to other issues that have been mentioned, some drug dealers sometimes sexually harass our female staff members, just on friday we had a dealer threaten our security guard, threaten to kill our guard because he asked them to move away from the front of our building. At the same time we represent a lot of clients who have serious addiction issues who liv on the street. Our staff has been traumatized by watching police sweeps with people thrown on the ground and their things thrown away. So figuring out the most effective way to address the problem is a high priority for me and our organization. I also just want to say in addition to having been an attorney for 35 years im a certified mediator. It will be important for everyone to really listen to each other. And i think i can help facilitate some of that communication. So i thank you for your consideration, as i said. You cant go wrong. Thank you. Im also going to call up nicole richardson, tom whalen, max young. Good morning. My name is eric brizee. Im Operations Manager for american conservatory theater. We operate on Market Street, a costume shop on Market Street and the theater on geary street. So we circle the entire district. I also chair a meeting, the 1100 block meeting. We work with health and safety issues on the midmarket corridor. Weve been meeting for about a month with support from city, Law Enforcement, d. A. s office, health and human services, et cetera. I have been educated a lot this past year on the different aspects of whats going on in our streets. I think that we can all say we are at gr