Good morning.

Good morning.

The meeting will come to order.

Welcome to the twenty June 24, 2026.

Meeting of the recessed budget and appropriations committee from June 22nd, 2026.

I am Supervisor Connie Chan, Chair of the Committee.

I'm joined by Vice Chair, Supervisor Matt Dorsey, and Member Supervisor Shamon Walton.

Shortly by Supervisors Danny Sauter and President Rafael Mendelman.

Our clerk is Brent Haliba.

I would like to thank James Kawana from EsseGov TV for broadcasting this meeting.

Mr.

Clark, do you have any announcement?

Thank you, Madam Chair.

As uh we are all here to provide public comment.

Just a friendly reminder to those in attendance to please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices so the members of this committee can hear your commentary.

And should you have any documents to be included as part of the file?

This should be submitted to myself, the clerk.

And uh while not required to provide public comment, we do invite you to fill out a comment card and leave them in the boxes by the televisions.

Um, if you wish for your name to be accurately recorded for the minutes, and alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways.

Email them to myself, the budget and appropriations committee clerk at brengt.jsf.org.

If you submit public comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and also included as part of the official file.

You may also send your written comments uh via US Postal Service to our office and city hall at one Dr.

Carlton be good at place room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102.

And thank you, Madam Chair.

That concludes my announcements.

Thank you.

Could we um just have a minute really quick?

Right.

Okay, all right.

Um thank you, Mr.

Clerk.

So for everyone, just a reminder that today we will be taking public comment on the city's budget.

Actually, Madam Chair, if I may, uh to the staff, can you let the singers outside know that they're interfering with this committee being able to hear the people giving uh commentary today?

Thank you much.

Hey, all right.

Um reminder that today we will be taking public comments on cities budget for the past two weeks.

We have had budget presentations for all the departments of this city and have scrutinized their budget and have had discussion about our priorities collectively.

Today is the day we hear from members of the public about their reaction to the past two weeks, as well as your priorities uh for our city budget.

Policy and procedures for how the day will proceed have been posted on today's agenda, as well as on the board's budget web page.

Today, each member of the public will have one minute to provide their public comment.

Each person may speak only once, regardless of whether they are part of the multiple groups or speaking on behalf of any group.

I also wanted to note that we are providing interpretation for Chinese, Spanish, and Filipino, um, until Tagala, uh until 6 p.m.

today.

If members of the public are providing their own interpreter, I would like to clarify that the individual who requires interpretation of the comments must be the one speaking.

The interpreter is here to interpret the speaker's words, not to speak on their behalf or provide their own comment.

The speaker must share their own statements, which then the interpreter will interpret for the benefit of the committee and the public.

So can we please now have the interpreters introduce themselves and interpret those instructions?

Cada persona would have solamente una vez sin importar si forma parte de varios groups or si habla in nombre de un group or persona.

Los services of interpretation stand disponibles hoy astral size of the target.

Gracias.

Okay.

Thank you.

And finally, to respect all the members of the public who took time to come here and ask to speak with us today.

We will not, this committee will not be taking a lunch break.

And so with that, Mr.

Clerk, can you please call items one through three and twenty-three and twenty-four?

Yes, item numbers one through three, twenty-three and twenty-four.

Her items as it relates to this committee's consideration of the mayor's proposed budget for the departments of the city and county for fiscal years 2026-2027 and 2027 to 2028.

Item number one is our hearing to consider the mayor's proposed budget.

Thank you, Mr.

Clerk.

And before we go to public comment, I want to announce some of the additional resolutions we have made with departments regarding the budget and legislative analysts proposed reduction, as well as clarifying some agreements that were previously made, but need to just again uh confirm.

Uh and also um reiterate uh at this committee hearing.

For the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which is the enterprise uh agency that would that came before this body in May, we wanted to clarify that the committee rejected the following budget and legislative analyst policy recommendations which the SAPUC have agreed upon.

For water enterprise, 10, 11, and 12, for Hedge HECI Water and Power, 10, 11, 12, and 13.

For the Public Utilities Bureau, 11.

For wastewater enterprise, 7.

And then for the Treasurer and Tax Collector's Office that came before us last week.

Uh the committee rejected the budget and legislative analysts policy recommendations, five, six, seven, and eight as agreed with the treasure.

And for the city administrators' office, as have now agree with the city administrator, the committee is rejecting the uh BLA recommendations.

Three, four, six, seven, eight, ten, and eleven, those are the ones that the city administrator was in disagreement with, and now we're um we are actually uh in agreement with the city administrator rejecting the recommendation.

However, we are partially rejecting nine, uh, which is the Muscone facility fee, instead of that the recommended amount of 7.5 million, we are rejecting nine at 6.5 million, which also means a corresponding change to the General City Responsibilities Recommendation 2.

Finally, for the Mondays departments, the committee will be rejecting mayor's office of housing and community development recommendation five, which means we are in agreement with MOHCD.

So, with that, uh, let's open for public comment any additional instruction, Mr.

Clerk.

Uh thank you, Madam Chair.

Um, just to note, though listed on uh today's agenda item numbers four through seventeen and nineteen through twenty two have satisfied public comment been acted on and were processed as uh completed business of this committee during June 17th meeting and will not be eligible for comment today.

So please limit your remarks to the budget and uh departments therein.

And as speakers are only afforded one minute, we do have to enforce our board rule one point three point one, which prohibits applause or other audible expression of support or opposition.

We have a lot of people waiting to be heard.

Not only will your turn come up faster if we didn't have to pause for applause breaks, but the committee members should be able to hear your remarks without having to cut through unnecessary noise.

And uh more than welcome to take as many pictures and video as we want, but I do request that you turn off your flash.

And with that, uh, our office was contacted by a member of the public requesting accommodation pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Um Mr.

Lamb, if you can uh unmute our caller, and that will be our first speaker.

Uh Madam Chair, we may need to return uh as uh the person that requested accommodation is uh not yet on the line.

So with that, first caller uh sorry, first speaker, please.

This board claims the budget is 1.5 billion dollars in debt.

Truth of the matter is there's a lot more than that.

You missed out on $25 billion on tax revenue because of all the multi-billion dollar companies that packed up and left because of thievery of their products from their stores because of the poor supervision and management of the Board of Supervisors and enforcement of the laws that's on the book.

So by the same response, you want to cut programs that's for teenagers who are homeless and have disabilities, you want to cut programs, uh programs that's for senior citizens who have disabilities, and you want to cut programs for rehabilitations that's defective, and by the same response, all of them have disabilities, and you're in violation of accommodation and the American Disabilities Act is 27.5 billion dollars.

You're in debt because your poor supervision and management, and these people don't have nothing to do with it.

You put people on programs that weren't eligible, you created this problem, and you're making other people pay for it.

It is not fair.

Thank you much, Mr.

Wright.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Maggie Lee, and I'm an upcoming sophomore at UC Santa Cruz by grew up in San Francisco.

And even after moving away to college, I made the decision to stay involved.

During the school year.

I travel almost two hours back from to Santa Cruz from Santa Cruz, San Francisco to come back for Chinatown Alleyway Tours.

That is how much this program means to me.

Growing up living in an SRO in Chinatown, it was easy to overlook the resilience of my community simply because it was my everyday life.

Chinatown alleyway tours didn't just teach me about the history of Chinatown, but also helped me better understand my own story and how my own experiences growing up in Chinatown are connected to the history, struggles, and strength of the community that helps shape who I am today.

Now I have the opportunity to help share these stories with others, especially younger generations, so they can feel proud of where they come from and stay connected to their roots.

Thank you for listening.

Next speaker, please.

And uh with as many bodies in here, it is uh sucking up a lot of the sound, so please speak directly into the microphone.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Grace Lee, and I'm a rising senior at Lowell High School.

I've been a part of Adopt and Alleyway, the sister program of cats for about two years now.

Never would have thought that a volunteer program joined merely for getting hours necessary for my diploma would be such a huge turning point in my life.

Before joining Triple A, I would have never volunteered to speak in a room like this.

Today I'm standing here advocating for a place where I've not only made some of the most memorable connections and friendships, but where I've developed my leadership, confidence, and organizational skills, things the classroom simply can't recreate.

This program is a space where young people can connect, grow, and find their place in the community.

A budget cut is not just a reduction in activities, it is a reduction in opportunities supporting future leaders, future professionals, and future community members who are looking for a place to learn, grow, and most importantly, belong.

I ask that you please fully restore all MOHCD cuts, including Chinatown Alleyway Tours, and continue supporting these programs so that future generations can have the same opportunities that I was fortunate enough to receive.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Andy, and I'm an 11th grader at Gayalayo High School, and I'm also part of Chinatown CDC's program, Chinatown Alleyway Tours.

These programs have had a major impact on my life, both socially and personally.

Volunteering with seniors and youth in the Chinatown community, like with the mosaic, I've learned the value of being bilateral and how important it is to reach generations to language and culture.

These programs are essential because they ensure that tours of Chinatown include the stories of youth in the community, not just the popular stories and facade that everyone every day knows.

Cats and his training program, fast track have taught me the invasive history of my community, Chinatown.

If over 100,000 is cut from our budget, that history may be lost and never passed on to the next generation.

Having these programs are essential for youth like me because it teaches us that our stories, including my experiences as an immigrant, are worth sharing and are valuable.

Thank you.

Please approach.

Hello, I'm Tony, and I'm a senior at Washington High School.

I'm part of Chinatown Alleyway Tours, also known as Cats, which is a youth program that's under Chinatown CDC.

And I'm here to ask to not cut our funding.

As a teenager that grew up in Chinatown from an immigrant family, this program means a lot to me as CATS is very important because it's a developmental program for teenagers and young adults for job readiness.

My experience with the program has allowed me to improve on many skills, especially interviews, as I was an interviewee for this program twice and was an interviewer on our next cohort.

These interviews taught me the preparation and essential skills needed for the process, but being on the other side shows me how prepared interviewees are and the time people put to be able to obtain this opportunity and later see on how they can develop and learn from this program as I did.

So I asked please to not cut cats funding and thank you are there.

Let me get this next person.

Hi, my name is Nico Young, and I'm an upcoming junior at Lowell High School.

I'm a part of Adopt and Alleyway, which is a sister program of cats.

I didn't grow up in Chinatown, but because my dad works in the parent company, I've always been surrounded by the Chinatown community.

Being a part of Adopt and Alleyway for almost three years now, I've learned how special the people are.

One activity that is dear to me is tennis service, which is going into SRO buildings and doing arts and craft with the elderly.

Although I don't speak Chinese fluently, through these events with the seniors, I'm able to practice my Cantonese while also exercising my organization skills, leadership, and stepping outside my comfort zone.

Cats provide similar opportunities as well, from their immersive tours to their connecting of multiple generations through history.

For me personally, after going on the CATS tour, I've learned more about my Chinatown, and it's a made me proud of my culture and my community.

I just hope that other people can experience these tours as well.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Susan Englander, and I'm referring to the AIDS funding this year.

I'm going to be brief but vehement.

The city is the premier city for AIDS, funding treatment, prevention, and services, and the cuts may seem logical, but that is how we got here.

I aggressively protest these particular cuts.

Will only endanger the vulnerable and those uh communities such as the homeless, which are underserved.

No cuts at all to AIDS funding.

Hi there.

These are my friends.

I met them in Oz.

But we're here now.

I really want to say that what we have to do in this is to have a heart when you're voting.

To have some courage.

And to have a brain.

And if you use those three things, I hope you will use them to really look at the budget.

We need to have something for the children, for working families, for the people who work in this place here, and for all of the children that are going to school.

This is what we want.

This is what will make us happy.

Please, please do it.

Hi, supervisors.

I just graduated from Lowell.

My name's Susanna.

The youth program helped me firsthand by giving me opportunities to help out the Chinatown community by hosting multiple events each month, helping me gain leadership experience.

I've been in a youth program since freshman year.

I've grown up knowing that I can be supported, supported by my peers and mentors.

They taught me that I do have a voice.

It also helped me build long-term relationships.

San Francisco wouldn't be SF without their youth.

Going out of their way, doing something bigger and more for the city.

Cutting this budget prevents other generations from doing what we did.

We helped this city building a community so close.

I want to say that I was a shy, closed-off person freshman year.

And throughout my years of high school, I was able to gain confidence.

Something school didn't offer.

By hosting service events each month, it gave me courage to want to pursue more, do more for the city.

It gave me life skills that I would take on for college.

It wasn't just a program, and it gave me so much gratitude, and I'm so thankful for everyone I met in the way.

The funds will be able to help other youth in their journey, help their community, and give them a voice.

Thank you.

Good morning, supervisors.

My name is Vienna, and I just graduated Washington High School, and I'm supporting or representing Chinatown Alleyway Tours Youth Program.

When I first learned about this program, I had no idea how significant it would be to my growth.

In my first year in the program, I learned so much more about my history as well as the history of so many other Asian Americans in our city.

Furthermore, the program helped me build up my public speaking skills.

I saw my growth from a stammering presenter to a real tour guide who could speak with confidence.

Even the people around me, my friends and mentors were able to see this drastic change.

Chinatown Alleyway Tours has been a significant part of my growth to who I am today, and without this program, I would have never been able to experience a real community of support and mentorship.

Chinatown Alleyway Tours has done so much for each and every individual youth that has been part of this program.

I hope we will be able to continue to do so in the future with the support of the city with the city of San Francisco.

Please restore all MOCHD cuts alongside Chinatown Alleyway Tours.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Tyler Chan.

I recently graduated Abraham Lincoln High School, and I'm a tour guy with Chinatown Alleyway Tours.

When I first joined the program, speaking in front of others was very intimidating.

I remember my first interview clearly, replaying my answers in my head and speaking nervously about who I was.

Through Katz's focus on youth leadership and public speaking, I had the opportunity to build job readiness skills and slowly come out of my show.

Over time, I learned to speak more confidently and share my thoughts without overthinking.

Now in my interviews, I'm able to show my personality and approach each interaction with confidence.

Without Cats, I wouldn't be the person I am today.

Beyond developing my confidence, Cats as a tour guide program shares the history of our Chinatown community through sharing stories of generations before us, their resilience against discrimination and exclusion, their efforts to preserve our culture and traditions, as well as sharing the experiences of my peers and myself.

Cats is more than just the program.

It's the library of stories protecting our community.

Please restore all the cuts.

These budget cuts will take away these amazing opportunities that not only does CATS provide, but also the countless other youth programs in the city that help inspire new leaders every day who strengthen our community.

By providing support to our communities, we are providing support to our city.

I hope the city of San Francisco will do what's right and continue to support our youth programs for me, for everyone here at this podium today, and for our future generations that will undoubtedly bring great change to our city, but only with your support.

Please restore all MOCHD cuts under workforce development alongside Chinatown Alleyway Tours.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Win Yi, and I'm a senior at UC Berkeley, and I also a tour guy with Chinatown Alleyway Tours.

I'm here to ask you, please don't cut and restore funding to the MOHCD workforce development.

As a Chinese immigrant, I joined Katz when I was a teen that was unsure of my what my voice holds and where I belong.

But Katz gave me the chance to speak up and find a community that believed in me before I believed in myself.

Today, that same person who once couldn't talk to strangers, have led hundreds of tours sharing the resilient story of Chinatown.

In a time where Asian American history is often overlooked, Cats ensure those stories are preserved and told by the youth who live with them.

Cats is not only a tour program, it is job readiness.

It is leadership development, it's cultural empowerment.

We gain public speaking skills and leadership skill that prepare us for college and career.

I've seen the visible growth of all my peers throughout my seven years here.

So please continue to fund MOHCD so that the next teenager like me can get the opportunity to grow.

Thank you.

Hi, if you don't mind holding the line a moment, uh, can we have the ADA caller?

Hi, caller, you've been unmuted.

Ms.

Mara, can you hear us?

Good morning, supervisors.

My name is Delphine Brody.

Um, I'm calling uh as a trans woman um who lived in San Francisco for many years and has been displaced along with many other trans women and trans people.

Um I'm urging you um not to to make any cuts to the MOHCD budget, including um programs that would fulfill San Francisco's promise to end transgender homelessness by 2027.

And um uh that that includes um items that are not listed in the budget cuts, um, but which need to be restored, um, as well as um items uh programs that that would would allow us to get to zero on HIV.

Um and harm reduction programs need to be uh retained entirely in order to protect our communities, including those who who are using drugs because they have not had a speaker your time has elapsed.

Thank you.

Can we have mixed person in line?

Hello, my name is Lorraine Wu, and I'm speaking on behalf of Kelvin Lim, who is a first year student at Cal Poly and a tour guide intern for CCDC's Chinatown Alleyway Tour, or CATS.

CATS has helped me find my voice and grow into a more confident leader.

Before joining CATS, I struggled with confidence and didn't speak in front of people because I was afraid of being judged.

Through leading tours and sharing the stories of our community, I learned how to take I learned how to speak confidently in front of large groups, and take on her leadership roles and even facilitating the recent unveiling of the mosaic mural in Chinatown.

I now use these skills to lead meetings and events in my other youth programs, and they'll continue to help me in college and my future careers.

CATS is a place where young people can are trusted to lead and where our voices matter.

Cutting funds would take away opportunities that help youth like me grow into confident and capable adults.

Please restore her all her MOHCD cuts.

Thank you.

Good morning.

CAS taught me that my story matters.

Growing up in SRO housing, I never saw my experience as something worth sharing.

Through the program, I found my voice and learned that youth can be powerful at the case, caring for stories, history, and activism of our community.

Now, even as I'm about to graduate at UC Berkeley, I bring up cats in every interview, every conversation, as something core to my identity.

Please, I ask that you continue to fund this impactful program under MOCD that gives underrepresented and under-resourced youth a place to find their voice and a community to grow in.

Thank you.

Hello, supervisors.

My name is Steven, and I'm speaking on behalf of Mabella, a rising senior at Lowell High School and also in CCDC's youth program, Adopt an Alleyway and Chinatown Alleyway Tours.

When I first went into high school, I was timid and shy.

Being surrounded by such a new environment, I told myself that I didn't have a voice and that I wasn't capable of being a leader.

But after being in CCDC's youth programs, I've been taught that my voice matters.

With every volunteering event and meeting, I've been taught on how to be a better speaker, leader, mentor, friend, and most importantly, a better person.

My friends and mentors and AA and CATs have been a guiding light for my morals and values.

Without them, I don't know where I'd be today.

Cutting these youth programs means cutting opportunities for future lost youth to find their voice in community.

We ask that all MOHCD cuts, including Chinatown LUA tours, are restored.

These programs shape me, and I hope that they continue to do so for future generations of Chinatown and San Francisco.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Logan.

I'm going to be a senior at Lincoln High School.

I'm a part of Campaign Academy, a sister program to CCDC's Chinatown Alleyway Tours, also known as CATS.

I'm here today to ask you to restore CATS funding, which has been cut from MOHCD.

Although I personally am not a part of CATS, many of my friends and fellow team members did take part in CATS and all have told me wonderful things about the program.

These friends were able to develop lifelong skills and crucial job experiences as CATS provided many teams with their first job experiences while teaching them skills like leadership communication and public speaking.

By cutting their budget, less opportunities are available for youth to gain their these important life skills.

In the future, I had hoped to join CATS since it was a great opportunity to learn real-world work experience.

However, due to the budget, because there will be less resources and opportunities for future participants.

Thank you.

My name is Michelle.

Here today as a community member working closely with CCDC's Chinatown Alleyway Tours or Cats.

Here to ask for the restoration of funds from MHCD.

Cats is a youth-run, youth-led program where kids learn about the significance of Chinese American history in relation to SF.

Different generations of tour guides mentor others who eventually learn to lead their own tours.

Over and over again, these students recite their stories until they sharpen their voices, until their rich histories that may not always be taught in schools become ingrained in them.

My dad immigrated to New York City's Chinatown back in 1969.

We were not taught to be proud of our heritage back then.

Classmates pulled their eyes back into slits, called him names.

He was mugged a couple of times as a child.

My uncles joined Chinatown gangs to survive, where one of my dad's friends was shot dead at 19 years old.

My dad did not have programs like these when he was a child.

He didn't have people telling him that he was important or capable or that he had a voice that people wanted to hear.

Through CATS, these kids have that.

Their histories are important.

Please restore their funding.

Thank you.

Hi, good morning.

I'm running behalf of Joyce Yee, an upcoming freshman at UC Berkeley and a member of CATS.

CATS allowed me to see so much life packed in the small neighborhood with amazing and supportive coordinators and peers.

I've gained significant leadership and public speaking skills to help me beyond tour guiding.

I've been able to lessen the burden through working with Chinese alleyway tours by supporting my family financially.

I'm able to help buy groceries, pay for school expenses, including my exam fees and school supplies, as well as safe at college.

Please consider continuing our to fund our program, Chinatown Alley Tours.

Many of our Torah guides, including myself, benefit deeply from the support receive.

This program doesn't just teach history but keeps our community stories alive through youth voices.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Hi, my name is Crystal.

I work with hospitality house.

Um I was born in San Francisco, was homeless for 10 years of my life, and if these programs get cut, like I would be still on the streets if they got cut though that many years ago.

Like, so cutting these budgets now, it affects future.

Our future kids, grandkids, everybody that might struggle in low income neighborhoods.

Hi, good morning.

My name is Maria.

Um, I'm the case manager housing at Hospitality House.

I'm asking that you don't cut the budget because um it would affect so many people.

You cut uh hub, you cut uh many uh things, and that didn't affect everybody.

I've had kids, I've had families.

Please don't cut the budget.

Thank you.

My name is Diana Bell from Hospitality House.

Cutting the budget affects more people than we imagine.

It affects programs and services that make San Francisco the city it is.

Remember, we're the people of San Francisco and not a line on the budget.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Sean Joy Odom.

I'm a peer advocate from the hospitality house.

Please don't cut the budget.

If you have family or any relatives that may be dealing with mental health or homelessness, just remember that because some of these people could be your people.

Don't cut the budget.

Thank you.

My name is Jim Verises, and I came to support the continued funding of community living campaign at the historical level.

I'm very impressed with CLC programs and greater San Francisco community that serves CLC elevates the voices and talents and leadership of older adults and people with disabilities through community building and empowerment programs and advocacy.

I've been working with CLC part time for five years after having been a finance professional and accountant for many years at South School General Hospital Medical Center in Stanford, Lucille Packard Children's Hospital, and several other medical centers in the subscribed Bayer area for 35 years.

I decided to continue working with CLC.

Speaker time has elapsed.

Thank you.

I'm a tenant with Talentown Community Development Center, which also houses Latinos, African Americans, Anglo Americans, Asian Americans.

So I'm here to please say that I live in an apartment with subsidized that building a building next door, a hundred more units that are one, two, three, four bedrooms.

Please don't cut the the staffings after a couple of years.

Can you imagine being out in the streets and having two or things?

So please take that into account also.

Um with hospitality house, I see a psychiatrist psychologist there.

Please don't cut their services, also provide copy.

There's a lot of people that are in house that go there for having coffee, just sitting down and watching TV.

They provide other services.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Che Hua Wu.

Please support long-term housing subsidies for SO families.

My family of four has lived in an SRO in Chinatown for 21 years.

All these years we have worked hard to live our lives, but the SO environment has continued to affect our family.

The building we live in is very old.

Our room has had problems such as ceiling leaks, mold on the wall, and damages on the wall.

The space is also very narrow.

My children are growing up, but they do not have enough space to do homework or study in peace.

We are not unwilling to work hard.

We have worked hard for 21 years, but with the high cost of housing in San Francisco, low-income families still cannot afford market rate rent.

This shows that short-term help is not enough for families like ours.

A few years of time limited support cannot truly help us get back on our feet.

We need long-term rental subsidies so we can have a chance at safe, stable, and dignified housing.

And so our children can have a better place to study and grow up in.

Thank you.

I respectfully ask you to support long term rental subsidies.

My family of three has lived in an SO in Chinatown for more than seven years.

Living in an SO is already difficult for adults, but for a growing child, it's not a healthy or ideal place to live.

She almost has no quiet space to do homework and has no space on her own.

Short-term rental subsidies can bring some hope, but long-term housing subsidies can truly change a family's future.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Chen Mei Chao.

Please support long-term housing subsidies for SO families.

My family of four has lived in an SO room of less than 10 square meters for more than 10 years.

My two children have no space to study every day.

We have to wait in line to coke, shower, and use the bathroom.

The poor living conditions have seriously affected my child my children's health and growth.

I can endure hardship myself, but it hurts me to see my children suffer with me.

Our income is low.

We have applied for affordable housing before, but the income requirements were too high.

So we were not able to qualify.

That is why we are still living in an SOO.

Short-term subsidies can only solve problems in front of us.

They cannot truly solve the long-term housing instability that families like ours face.

What we need is a long-term housing solution that allows families to live with peace of mind and children to grow up in stability.

I hope the city will provide long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

Thank you.

Thank you.

One moment, can you pull the microphone closer?

Hi, Supervisors.

My name is Singyun Chan.

I respectfully ask you to support long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

I live with my two sons in a 10 square meter SR room in Chinatown.

I have worked very hard to support my family.

During the busiest time, I work three jobs in one day.

Even so, renting a two bedroom apartment in SF is still far beyond what we can afford.

Long term rental subsidies are very important for families like mine.

We are not asking because we are not trying.

We are asking because we need more time to stabilize.

Living without private space for so long has affected his learning, his confidence, and his emotional development.

He even feels ashamed of living in an SO and does not dare to invite friends to home.

My grandson is a good child.

I just hope he can grow up in a safe and stable home with a place to do homework.

Please support long-term rental subsidies.

Thank you.

Because most of the immigrants do not speak English and are unfamiliar with government laws and regulations.

It is through the program of WRCC and workers' consultation provided by CPA that we are able to fight for workers' injustice in a timely manner and secure the fairly treatment we deserve.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Xiu Jun Wu.

I asked you to support long-term rental subsidies here today.

My family of three generations has lived in an SO in Chinatown for 17 years.

My little granddaughter was born in the SO.

She learned how to crawl, how to walk on the small bed.

We have tried hard to move into better housing, but rent in San Francisco is simply too expensive for us for.

This is why we need long-term rental subsidies, not time-limited support.

If subsidy ends after a few years and we still have not been selected for affordable housing, and our income still cannot cover market rate rent, we may not only be forced back into an SO, we may even face homelessness.

For families like ours, time limited help is not real stability.

It only pushes the fear a few years into the future.

We need long-term stable support, so seniors and children do not have to live under the constant fear of losing their home.

Thank you.

Hi supervisors, my name is Pei Ling Wu.

I am 68 years old.

Please support long-term housing protection for emergency housing voucher families.

I now live with my daughter and my 14-year-old granddaughter.

My health has not been good.

I had kidney surgery and still have not fully recovered.

So I need long-term care and rest.

Our family mainly depends on my daughter, but she has also has thyroid disease and needs long-term medication.

She has to care for both me and her child.

So we can so she can only work part-time and earns about 1.5K a month.

We were very fortunate to receive housing through the EH3 program.

It gave our vulnerable family a stable place to live, but now the EH3 may end.

Thank you.

Hi, Supervisors.

My name is Si Kong Twan.

I respectfully ask you to support long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

My family of six lives in an SO in Chinatown.

We have four children, ages eight months old, four years old, nine years old, and eleven years old.

Right now, all six of us live in one room that is about 10 square meters.

After fitting two bunk beds, the room is completely full.

We cannot even fit a table.

Two of my children have to eat and do homework on the bed.

After school, they can only study and play on the bed.

Right now, only my husband works.

I have to stay home to care for four children.

Our income is not enough to afford market rate rent.

That is why time-limited rental subsidies are not enough for families like ours.

When the subsidy ends in a few years, my children will still need care, and our income will not suddenly become uh be enough to afford market rate rent.

Without long-term stable support, we may be forced back into an SO, and my children will face overcrowding and instability again.

Please support long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

Thank you.

My family of four lives in an SO in Chinatown.

I have two children in elementary school, and we are a low-income family because I need to pick up and care for my children.

I can only work in a restaurant.

And I usually do not return home until 10 at night.

We recently we both lost our jobs.

We have already worked very hard every day, but our income is still very low.

Living in a city as expensive as San Francisco puts a lot of pressure on our family.

For us, housing is not a short-term problem.

It is a basic need that affects our daily life, our children's growth, and their future.

Short-term housing subsidies can bring some hope, but long-term housing subsidies can truly change my family's future.

I hope that the city will invest in long-term solutions so more families can have a safe and dignified home.

Thank you.

And my younger son often cry because the room was so crowded.

My children did not have a quiet safe or stable place to grow.

With the help from Chinatown CDC, we receive rental subsidies and finally move out of the SO.

My children now have space to do homework rest and grow.

We no longer worry about waiting to use a bathroom, shower, or kitchen, and we can work with more peace of mind.

Rental subsidy gave my family stability and gave my children a healthier future with our long-term support.

I cannot imagine how my children would be affected.

So I'm here to ask you to please support long-term rental subsidies so more families can have a safe, stable, and dignified home.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning.

My name is Richard Hood, and I'm representing the hospitality house.

Budget cuts in San Francisco Tenderline and Software Market are more than just numbers on a spreadsheet.

They affect real people.

For many residents, programs that provide housing support, health care, meals, and community service are critical source of stability and hope.

When funding is reduced, some of our neighbors may struggle to assess the help they need to get through difficult times.

These neighbors are filled with people working hard to build better lives, support their families, and strengthen their community.

Budget kids make a journey even harder.

Budget cuts just don't cut, they hurt, they harm, and they traumatize communities that's already traumatized.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

My name is Ruben Viegas.

I have been a bilingual peer advocate at hospitality house for about three years now.

If you used to ask me what we would do at Hospitality House, my answer would be simple.

We save lives, we change lives.

Hospitality House is more than a building, it is a lifeline.

Every day people come through his doors needing something essential: a safe place to rest, a meal, hygiene supplies, help finding housing, or simply someone who will listen and treat them with dignity.

For many, it's the first step towards stability and getting their lives back on track.

Cutting funding to this center would not only not just reduce services, it would remove one of the few consistent points of support for people who are working hard to overcome homelessness and hardship.

These services don't meet, don't just meet immediate needs.

They reduce long-term costs to our city by connecting people to housing, health care, and stability before crisis escalate.

I urge you to consider the real impact of your decision on the individuals and families who rely.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hi, my name is Tiffany Jackson.

I'm also with hospitality house.

Um when cutting funding, you're not only cutting programs, you're cutting people.

You're cutting opportunities, stability, and pathways out of poverty.

You're taking away the very support systems that people need to get back on their feet.

And let's be honest, homelessness is not someone else's problem.

It's closer to all of us than we think.

Uh, we're all one paycheck away, one illness away from needing the same support that people rely on today.

San Francisco should not balance the budget on the back of the most vulnerable residents.

We should be investing in solutions and not cutting them.

I ask you today, do not measure this budget by dollars alone.

Measure it by the lives that will be impacted and the futures that will be changed.

Because the city is not judged by how it treats its wealthiest residents, it's judged by how it treats the people who need the most help.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

Hi, everyone.

My name is Jock Pereira.

I work in San Francisco, and I want to talk about who gets to participate in the justice system and who gets left out.

The public defender's office represents people who cannot afford an attorney.

42% black, 27% Latino, and 75% with a mental health condition or substance use disorder.

These are the people that are most directed or most directly affected by criminal legal decisions.

Yet the PD's office is 60% of the DAs and shrinking relative to need.

Courts are overflowing as caseloads have grown 68% in misdemeanors and 52% in felonies since 2019.

Then there's be the jury.

Another county's people who cannot afford to lose a day's wage claim hardship and are excluded.

Yet in the last four years, San Francisco has made sure constituents actually get a jury of their peers.

This program has gathered unanimous support from the DA, the public defender, the treasurer, and the media because of its success, yet it is currently at risk for not being fully funded.

It costs $300,000 to fill that gap.

A justice system that only functions for people with resources is not justice.

Fund the public defender's office and fund the be the jury program.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

My name is Matt Sosna.

I'm a law student and a resident of District 8.

Right now, I'm here to urge you to support funding for the Be the Jury program.

Right now, jurors in California are paid just $15 a day.

That's less than minimum wage for a single hour of work.

This makes it impossible for working people to serve.

In San Francisco, Be the Jury has provided $100 a day to low income jurors for the past four years.

That support must be maintained.

Since 2022, 5,000 San Franciscans have been able to serve, and about 11% of jurors rely on this program.

More representative juries strengthen trust and support public safety.

This is a rare collaboration across the district attorney, public defender, treasurer, superior court, and bars association.

I urge the Board of Supervisors to approve the $300,000 adback to maintain this program at $100 a day.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Alma Wheeler.

I live in San Francisco District 8, and I'm a student at CCSF.

I'm also intern with the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, and I'm here to urge you to increase funding for the public for the office so they can fulfill their constitutional duty to represent the people who can't afford an attorney.

I see attorneys handling hundreds of cases to the point of overload, and due to the situation, office has been forced to declare a partial unavailable once a week because the caseloads are too high.

The public defenders' office budget has consistently been only 60% of the district attorney's budget, and this is unsustainable and unfair.

Our city has long prided itself on fairness, inclusion, and equal justice, and those values meet mean little if people cannot access effective legal representation simply because they cannot afford it.

I urge you to provide funding necessary to ensure that everyone in San Francisco receives the representation guaranteed by our Constitution.

Thank you.

The Youth Commission has always been committed to dissolving the systemic barriers preventing youth employment.

As a low-income youth of color in a single parent newcomer household, the JCYC YouthWorks program enabled me to explore my career interests without financial burden.

Through partnerships with over 360 city departments, youth works shows young people that careers in public service are within reach.

In my community, careers in public service can feel stigmatized, but the youth works internship changed that.

I learned about local policymaking, met with district supervisors to advocate for freedom meaning for all youth, gain professional skills, and discovered my lifelong passion for public policy and government.

Subjects I'm excited to study for in college.

Therefore, I'm asking this committee to work with the mayor's office to add back two million in funding for JCYC Youth Works to maintain staffing levels and internship placements.

With the current proposed budget cuts, it is unacceptable that only 80 youth can have life-changing internships.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning.

My name is Evelyn Conboy, and I'm a district seven resident and the district seven youth commissioner.

I'm here today to urge the supervisors and the mayor to restore SF Youth Works Funding, a program that places youth in paid city internships.

In high school, I was a youth works intern and placed with the board.

That internship was my first introduction to government and sparked an interest that led me to serve on the youth commission today.

But I'm just one of the many young people who have benefited from this program.

Each year, YouthWorks places 400 young people in paid internships, and throughout its history, the program has provided upwards of 10,000 youth opportunities.

Proposed cuts threaten to reduce youth work services by 80%.

These cuts would disproportionally impact youth facing significant economic barriers.

Nearly 90% of youth works participants come from households earning less than $50,000 a year.

I urge you all to consider the long-term consequences of these cuts and restore funding for this program.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And before we continue, I just want to make sure everybody stays silenced so we can hear all the speaker.

I know it's a it's gonna be a long day, but if you're inside a chamber, I would appreciate we can listen to the speaker.

Thank you.

You can begin your comments.

Hello, I'm Harper Fort Gang, the District 8 Youth Commissioner.

And as you've been hearing, youth commissioners are here today to highlight parts of the budget that we believe need to be protected for the 113,000 youth in our city.

Please restore the 80% budget cuts to SF youth work so 400 youth can get jobs next summer.

As one participant wrote, quote, this program believed in me long before I believed in myself.

We need to keep this belief in youth alive.

And second, please fully staff SF environment.

San Francisco has committed to youth by committing to ambitious climate action goals.

At a minimum, we need funding for a clean transportation program manager and electrification rebates through the climate equity hub.

Thank you.

Let's go, San Francisco Youth.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning, Supervisors.

My name is Matthew Wynne, and I'm a resident of District 5's Tenderloin, as well as a citywide youth commissioner on the youth commission.

And today I'm speaking today for the livelihoods of San Francisco's most vulnerable youth.

First, as someone with experience living in a frontline community, I have seen the growing disdain among youth with the unjust impact of the cuts to the environment department.

With programs like the Climate Equity Hub that carry out electrification efforts for low-income communities, I ask you to support the department in the requests to fund their unfilled positions.

Even in light of strict budgets, the disproportionate impact this cut holds is simply unacceptable.

Please hear me, the calls of so many youth across San Francisco, and do the right thing by voting for a budget that works with us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning, supervisors.

My name is Natalie Liu, and I'm a District 11 Youth Commissioner.

Alongside another commissioner, I recently co-authored a resolution passed last Monday opposing the proposed budget cuts, reducing free city funding by 2.9 million dollars.

Eliminating the $46 per unit cash grants takes away a vital financial safety net for low income, transitional age and unhoused youth.

This summer I'm taking classes at City College.

As a student from a low-income background, these cash grants are essential for me to afford textbooks and other school supplies.

This story is not unique as it also applies to over 6,000 low-income students who rely on these exact stipends.

Cutting this funding disproportionately impacts 30% of families with youth who live below the federal poverty line.

For many of us, expanding our education isn't just a choice.

It's a necessity.

Because these opportunities are so crucial for the next generation of youth leaders and educators to thrive.

Maintaining your support is imperative.

Please restore funding for free city grants.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

Hi, good morning, supervisors.

My name is Shane, and I am a resident of District 4, serving as the district 4 youth commissioner.

Uh I'm speaking today to uplift the needs and priorities of youth across the city, whether it is food security or youth employment.

So specifically, um I want to talk about the sugary drinks distributed tax advisory committee.

I'm as the only youth to sit on the committee, I urge you to support SD tax uh bridge plan, budget recommendations.

Growing up in an immigrant family, I've witnessed firsthand how public health challenges fall hardest on communities like mine, and I've seen what happens when these critical these critical resources disappear.

That's why I urge you to restore the 415,000 dollars for oral health education and linkage while the mayor's proposal continues funding screenings and sealants.

It eliminates the outreach and navigation services that help immigrant and low-income families learn about available care, understand how to access it, and connect with providers.

So please restore that.

Thank you.

Thank you for thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

Sorry, before you start, I'm so sorry.

Let can we actually be silence again for the speaker?

If you need to take, if you need to actually have a conversation, please take it outside of the chamber.

Thank you.

Good morning, supervisors.

My name is Gabby Listana, and I'm the chair and District 6 Youth Commissioner on the San Francisco Youth Commission.

Last Monday, the youth commission published a resolution opposing budget cuts to multiple youth serving organizations across the city.

And today I'm speaking to strongly urge you to restore the 750,000 in funding for the Col Street Youth Clinic under Huckleberry Youth Services and the Michael Baxter Larket Street Youth Clinic under Larkin Street Youth Services.

These clinics serve hundreds of youth every year, especially youth at risk for homelessness.

Additionally, San Francisco only has 10 youth dedicated clinics.

Further closures will eliminate vital drop-in care for vulnerable young people, especially minors under 18 who are not only always served by other clinics in the area and are already facing massive barriers to health care.

As a former resident of the tenderloin, the neighborhood where the Michael Baxter Clinic is.

So I am asking you to please restore this funding.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Next speaker.

I hope that you have a good day.

My name is Wendy Ortiz.

I have received a subsidy for one year for to uh help with my baby.

I am a single mother, and I have tried to survive with my child in a country where nobody speaks my language, and where um to be able to work, one has to have certain doc documents.

Um that say that I have a permit to work.

Uh, to be able to uh to feed my family, uh the point is uh we need that our families need subsidies long that are long term and more lasting and with the objective to be able to reach stability that is in work and economic and financial uh power in that way we can uh gain our own independence and no longer be a public charge.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, good morning, supervisors.

My name is Ariana Ku.

I'm a current resident of District 3 and the Vice Chair of District 3 Youth Council, and I'm also a student at Lowell.

I'm here today to urge you to continue funding the Free City College Cash Grants program.

Studies show that 87% of students who undergo higher education report higher financial stability, as well as a higher rate of employment and civic and community engagement.

All of these benefits, and yet education is on the chopping board.

SFUSD is facing a 100 million dollar deficit for the next fiscal year, and students are worried, but our concerns don't seem to affect the 30% cut that Free City College is set to face, which will rip away three million dollars worth of living expensive meals and tuition from students.

Education is already lacking funding, and you want to continue taking from it.

Stop building a city disconnected from youth and stand by our education.

Stand by our futures, stand with youth, and continue funding Free City College.

Thank you for your comments and just a brief announcement.

We have a quorum of the Board of Supervisors now present, so we are now convened as a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning, supervisors.

My name is Winnie Liao.

I'm a District three resident and it's former youth commissioner and youth council chair.

And I'm speaking today against the $75,000 dollar cut to the Chinese newcomer Service.

The newcomer Service has been instrumental in helping my family and thousands of others acclimate to a new country through job recruitment to translation to naturalization assistance.

As I was sorting through my family's documents from almost 20 years ago, I saw pages of resources from the Wix program that fed me as an infant to my mom's handwritten notes from learning English to pass the citizenship test.

All of which was only possible with dedicated staff handling our cases.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning, supervisors.

My name is Iris Liang.

I'm a resident of District 3 and currently serve on the District 3 Youth Council.

I'm here today to highlight the importance of climate change.

More specifically, I'm urging you to provide more funding for the SF Environment Department, SFE.

One thing SFE does is they give climate education to over a hundred schools in SF.

However, because they only receive 2% of the general fund, 45% of its budget comes from the solid waste in pound account.

This means they mostly teach about zero waste but skip other important topics like biodiversity or clean energy.

It's important for youth to get a full understanding about climate change as we are the ones who have to tackle with the consequences of it in the future.

I know the impact of climate-based education on youth because even learning about ocean acidification for one week in my chemistry class has made a lasting impression on me.

I'm inspired to take more climate change action after learning facts like there's more CO2 in the ocean than in the atmosphere.

Giving more funding to SFE will allow for more variety in lesson plans and a better understanding of climate change for the youth.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning, supervisors.

My name is Denise Lynn, and I'm a resident of District 3 and serving on the District 3 Youth Council.

I'm currently a student attending Lowell High School and Mobilian Incoming Sophomore.

I'm speaking today to highlight the importance of public transportation for youth across the city and county of San Francisco.

Supporting public transportation needs for youth is crucial as it's one of the main ways youth get around San Francisco.

SFUSD's most recent travel tally survey revealed that 60% of SFUSD ninth graders use meaning on any given day.

Personally, I use public transportation every day, whether it's going to school or just exploring San Francisco.

If public transportation continues to be defunded, the result of many youth losing opportunities like extracurricular activities such as myself, as I have to take public transportation back home after my late dragon boat practices at Lake Marseille.

So I urge you to prioritize and fully support funding for public transportation so that all youth can continue to have safe, reliable, and accessible transit options.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Harmony Chang.

I am a rising junior to Lowell High School and a member of the District 3 Youth Council.

I'm speaking today to uplift the people the youth across San Francisco.

One issue that matters deeply to me is funding for youth works.

In fact, I'm scheduled to be working today, but I chose to be here instead because I've seen how important these opportunities are for young people.

YouthWorks provides opportunities for youth to gain meaningful paid work experience and valuable skills.

This year, many of my classmates applied but weren't accepted simply because there weren't enough spots available.

Cutting youth works funding from 2.4 million to just 400,000 would leave more even more youth without access to these opportunities, as the program will be reduced from 400 interns per year to only 80.

I urge the city to restore funding for the youth works and invest in San Francisco's youth.

Remember that we're the future workforce, voters, and leaders of the city, and we'll inherit the decisions you make today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hello, Board of Supervisors.

My name is Clay Now Young.

I'm a rising junior at Wallenberg High School, a proud born and raised San Franciscan, and I live in District 3.

After reviewing the budget, I urge you, do not cut funding to college resources.

My teacher always told me if you're ahead, stay ahead.

And all this and all the the that scared me in doing my work, I took it to heart.

However, due to the budget cuts, I am forced to take dual enrollment at the College of San Mateo, which is a 40-minute drive from Chinatown.

According to the San Francisco Youth Commission, the free city program has impacted over 114,000 students.

This includes career training, transfer programs, and opportunities for high schoolers such as myself.

Cutting the program's funding from 9.3 to 6.4 million not only decreases access to higher education, but also bars the future economic growth of San Francisco.

If San Francisco is one of the most progressive cities in the world, why are we cutting the progress of the youth?

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning, supervisors.

My name is Gavin Dizon, and I'm a resident of District 5.

I'm 17 years old and currently attending Galileo High School.

I'm here today to ask you to support all of the youth commission's budget and policy priorities.

Affordability is one of the biggest challenges facing young people in District 5.

As a student, I've seen friends and classmates move away because their families could no longer afford to stay in the neighborhoods they grew up in.

When families struggle to pay for housing, food, and transportation, students carry those burdens into the classroom, making it harder to focus on school and build a future here.

According to the San Francisco Youth Commission's District 5 youth budget needs report, the recommendations were informed by feedback from District 5 youth ages 12 to 23, and homelessness and affordable housing ranked among the top unresolved issues identified by young people in our district.

These aren't just statistics, no, they reflect the everyday reality that many of us experience.

You follow the future of District 5 in San Francisco.

I urge you to support the youth commission's budget and both departments.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning, supervisors.

My name is Isaac Misa Warneros, and I'm a student attending Galileo High School, representing District 3.

According to June 2026 San Francisco Chronicle report, longtime residents near Chinatown are facing eviction pressures and steep rent increases that threaten their ability to remain in the community communities that they have called home for decades.

For many young people in District 3, this isn't just a housing issue.

It's the stress of wondering whether your family will be the next to leave.

It's wondering whether you'll have to switch schools, leave behind friends, or lose the community you grow up in.

Research from San Francisco's 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment found that housing instability and economic stress are significant factors contributing to mental health challenges across our city.

If we are serious about improving youth mental health, we must also address housing stability.

I urge the board to continue supporting affordable housing preservation, strengthening protections for vulnerable tenants, and investing in policies that help families remain in communities they call home because every young person deserves more than a place to live.

They deserve the stability, security, and hope they need to build their future here in San Francisco.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Hello, supervisors.

My name is Ayush Patel, and I represent the Civic Engagement Education Committee on the District 20 Youth Council.

Over the past term, we've worked to elevate youth voice and local decision making, engage students across District 1, identify barriers that women access to workforce opportunities.

The proposed fiscal year budget for the coming year would cut youth worth by over $2 million, reducing paid civic engagement and workforce opportunities from approximately 400 to only 80.

80% of the whole total.

At the same time, reduction to use serving clinics and nonprofit programs would further women young people's access to services, mentorship, and support systems.

In response, we urge the city to restore and protect funding for youth works in related youth service programs.

These investments are essential because they provide paid work experience, civic engagement opportunities, and direct pathways for youth to develop leadership and career skills.

If funding is reduced as proposed, the impact will be significant.

Fewer youth will be able to participate in paid programs, and many will lose critical access to support services that they need to stay engaged in school, work, and community life.

Thank you for your comments.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning.

My name is Sarah Sayon and I am part of the Civic Engagement and Education Committee or the CEC on the District 1 Youth Council.

The CEC works to provide more resources and opportunities for youth to be involved and educated in their communities.

The CEC urges the mayor and board of supervisors to reconsider the proposed funding cuts to community-based organizations.

Such organizations like Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center, also known as Lyric, support youth education, career development, health access and housing, and more.

Lyric is an organization that specifically provides resources to LGBTQIA plus youth, and currently offers services to over 4,000 youth annually.

Among their many programs, Lyric offers paid work experiences, job readiness workshops, and financial literacy education.

They possibly face a $300,000 deficit.

According to Lyrics' executive director, this deficit could impact their meaningful services that change the lives of many queer youth.

As a district one youth and member of the council CEC, whose goal is to improve.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning.

My name is Judith Wei.

I'm a rising senior at George Washington High School and the Public Health and Safety Committee Chair of the District One Youth Council.

I'm here to urge you to preserve funding for Richmond Area Multiservices, also known as Rams, and protect school-based mental health services.

Over 30% of high school students report feeling so hopeless that affects their ability to function in class.

SFUSD has over 1,100 high school students classified as homeless, facing violence and experience instability at home.

Through each school's wellness center that partners with Rams, these students are given access to critical mental health support to meet students where they are.

For some, school is the only place they can be.

But under these proposed cuts, roughly 175 students would lose access to RAM services and nearly 1,000 hours of counseling.

I ask you to preserve funding for the vital and equitable mental health support that Rams provides to all SFUSD high schools and neighborhoods.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

I sincerely ask for your support for long-term housing subsidies for SL families.

I am a single mother and I live with my two daughters, ages 13 and 11 in an SO in Chinatown.

The SO environment is very poor, and living there has deeply affected my daughters.

The lighting in our room is very dim, and when my daughters do their homework, I worry it is hurting their eyes.

I have applied for housing opportunities before, but we have never been selected.

My biggest wish is to improve our living environment and give my daughters a safe, happy and healthy home to grow up in.

For low-income families like ours, short-term housing subsidies are not enough.

If the support ends, we may be pushed toward homelessness.

I respectfully ask the supervisors to support long-term housing subsidies for families.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

My name is Newman.

I represent the trainees from country and hospital program from Charity Culture Service Center.

Before the training, I submitted nearly a hundred read me, but we allowed a single offer.

Thanks to the CCS hand on training and job placement.

I got job at club SFO as a bartender.

Without their help and connections, I would not be here today.

Hearing about the budget cuts to this program makes me deeply answered.

For low income immigrants who can afford private training, CCSC is our only lifeline to better jobs.

This program doesn't just help us, it helps our city, and we are able to contribute more tax revenue back to the government.

Next speaker.

Hello, is it CCSC looking for?

Yeah, I'm Jason with CCSC at Charity Cultural Services Center.

And I'm just here, I work there, but I see our clients every day.

These students who came today made time out of their day when they're working, but they were willing to represent and just say that we help them so much.

The training that we give them in Chinatown and cooking and bartending the hospitality industry.

It helped them find jobs.

Some of them have been applying for jobs many, many times until they got to our center.

And we trained them, helped them with resumes, did mock interviews, and we have connections with employers that we refer them to, and they're working today, making a good living.

We see their paycheck subs.

Thank you.

Oh, and please consider funding for us.

Yes, please.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

Uh, good morning.

I'm from the CCSC and uh Treasury Cultural Services Center.

And I first thing I as a resident, I thank you all the officer, mayor to uh make the economy much getting better.

So I'm the one to uh to connect with the employer and then the uh worker.

And I feel uh does have a lot of opportunity.

Uh the employer in the small business and big cooperation to contact us.

They need uh skilled workers like our student.

So I when I know our funding gets cut, I'm so um uh so worried because uh now our economy is getting better, but uh we stopped training worker, so that's we that we cannot provide or to uh support the economy uh to recover.

So I uh on behalf of my organization, so I not just you know hopefully you're not cutting our funding to train the skilled worker, but also um to give us more funding.

Then we can make more money together and to support the city.

And thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Next speaker, please.

Thank you.

Hi, Supervisors.

My name is Mei Yen Lu.

Please support long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

My family of four lives in an SR room in Chinatown that is only about six square meters.

The building we live in is more than a hundred years old, and they are often repair problems such as aging pipes and old facilities.

Our living environment has been unstable for a long time.

For a low-income immigrant family like ours, a few years of time-limited support cannot truly solve the problem.

After a few years, we may still not be able to increase our income.

Caring for our children also limits how many hours we can work.

We cannot suddenly earn enough to afford market rate rent.

If the subsidy ends after a few years, we may be forced back into the same crowded and unstable environment or even face a bigger housing crisis.

Long-term housing subsidies are the only way to truly help families like ours stabilize so seniors and children can have a safer and more dignified home.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Ying Hui Kuang.

I'm a mother of two children.

Today I respectfully ask you to support long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

Before, my family lived in a very small space.

We could not even sit together as a family to have a meal.

We had to eat separately in different corners of the room.

During the most difficult time in my life, I also learned that I had a rare disease.

Facing both health problems and housing instability, I felt very scared, lost, and helpless.

At that time, I was really grateful to receive rental subsidies from Chinatown CDC.

Their support was like sunshine coming into our lives.

They help us find stable housing and support us in our daily lives so my family could stand on our feet again during the hardest time.

This is why I hope you will support long-term rental subsidies for SO families so more families can move into safe, stable, and dignified housing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Rayne and I am in sixth grade.

I'm here today to ask you to please support long-term rental subsidies for SRO families.

Four years ago, my dad broke his leg.

Two years ago, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she is still receiving treatment.

I'm very grateful that my family was able to move out of an SRO four years ago.

We were lucky to receive rental subsidies with the help of the SRO family's United Collaborative.

My mom says they are like the sunshine of San Francisco, shining on us and warming her heart.

Because of this support, my family was able to live in a safer, healthier, and more stable home.

I hope more families can have the same chance to move out of SROs and live in a place where they can feel safe, healthy, and hopefully.

Please support long-term rental subsidies for SRO families.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is William.

I am 10 years old.

My mom is the strongest person I know.

She takes care of my sister and me every day.

She's nice to people and she always tells us to help others and do good things for our community.

I used to live in an SRO.

I remember waiting with my mom for a long time just to use the kitchen and bathroom.

It was hard because we had to share with many other people.

I still have many friends who live in SROs.

I hope they can move out soon and live in a safe home.

I also hope they do not have to worry about moving again after just a few years.

Please support long-term rental subsidies for SRO families.

Some more kids and families can have a safe home.

Thank you.

Thank you, and good job, William.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, Supervisor.

My name is Jimpengwoo.

I want to share a story about my son and me.

I also want to ask for more help for family.

When we first come to America, my son and I live in SRO.

My life is very hard.

There was a mice and cockroach in the room.

We didn't sleep well.

My son was afraid to come home.

He didn't trust the water.

He is afraid to blast his teeth.

Really, he had a problem with his teeth.

He felt stressed.

He became quiet.

He didn't want to talk to people.

He his school works got worse.

Luckily, we got help from the CCD's rental subsidy program.

We moved out.

My son got better.

Now I understand a stable home is not just peaceful to live.

It's about the children's health renting and future long-term rental health can change families' life.

Today I hope you can support long-term subsidies for us.

Yes, thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is B.

Sian Shi.

I'm here today to ask you to support long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

The building I live in is in very poor condition.

It has four floors, and I live on the third floor.

There's no elevator, so every time I have to take my child down the stairs.

It is very difficult because the space is so limited.

I also worry that my child may accidentally bump his head.

This is why I hope for a long-term stable housing program that can help families like mine move out of SROs and give our children a safe and healthy home.

Short-term housing support cannot give us real stability.

My child is still young and we cannot earn enough in just a few years for high market rate rent.

If the support ends and SRO rents have also gone up, we may face homelessness.

Good morning, supervisors.

My name is Erin Shu.

I live in an SRO with my family in Chinatown.

My daughter is nine years old, and my son is 18.

Because of a congenital condition, my son cannot live independently or support himself through work.

I ask you to prioritize long-term housing subsidies for families like mine.

Short-term subsidies are not enough.

Rents have gone up much faster than we.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

My name is Joe.

I'm 12 years old and I live with my family in an SRO in Chinatown.

I'm here today to ask you to please support long-term rental subsidies for SRO families.

Growing up in an SRO is not easy.

Our home is small and it is difficult not having a place to do my homework.

I know it is even harder for my dad.

He does his best to take care of my sister and me.

My dad used to be a very happy person, but because of our living conditions and how much he worries about us, he is starting to have more white hair.

I hope that we will be able to move into affordable housing before all my dad's hair turns white.

Long-term rental subsidies would help us live in a safe and healthy place and give my sister and I a better chance at a bit at a better future.

Please support long-term rental subsidies for SRO families.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

My youngest son has developmental delays and needs special education.

After we moved into stable housing, his language skills and overall development improved noticeably.

This change has meant so much to our family.

My husband has not been able to work for more than five years because of health problems, and he needs long-term medication.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Thank you.

Good morning, budget committee.

My name is Bianca Catalan, and I am a parent organizer with Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth.

I am also a parent of children in SFUSD.

Through my work, I partner directly with immigrant families across San Francisco.

Most of the families I work with are working class, limited English speakers or monolingual parents who face significant barriers when trying to navigate government systems and advocate for their children.

It is often their first opportunity to engage with local government, learn how decisions are made, and realize that their voices matters.

Through this work, families again access to trusted information referral to immigration legal services.

Next speaker, please.

Good morning.

My name is Carolina Castro.

I am an IPV promoter with Coleman Advocates.

I am here to advocate for my immigrant community and for families who often need the support to make sure their voices are heard.

Through this work, I have been able to see the positive impact it has on our children's education when parents feel valued and know that their options matter.

When a parent feels that their voice is important, they become more motivated to participate in the decisions made at school that affect their children's education and future.

That is why I ask you to continue providing funding for this important work so we can continue informing and supporting more families to learn about and exercise the right that we have as parents of public of students in public schools to be involved.

When families participate, it is not only not only benefits our children, but it also strengthens our community and our city.

Thank you very much.

Next speaker.

The IPV appoyando el trabajo con familias immigrantes.

Atraverso my trabajo, I'll sali as caches, visit communidades, conversar directamente con las familias.

Muchas familias immigrantes necesitan information claro, recursos y spaces on the puzzle accompanied.

También ayuda a construir confianza, liderazgo, y una participation activa civica.

Gracias.

Good morning, my name is Mariela Ornellas Guerrero.

I am a member of Coleman Advocates where I collaborate with the IPV program, supporting work of immigrant families through my work by going out into the community, connecting with families and listening to the directly to their concerns.

I have been able to hear their worries, their fears, and also their hopes.

Many immigrant families need clear information, resources, and spaces where they feel supported and know that their voices matter.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Next speaker, thank you.

Immigrants with limited English proficiencies and families regardless of immigrant immigration status, have greater opportunities to participate and make their voices heard.

Language resources are extremely important for families like mine.

We rely on organizations such as CAA to help us navigate work, education, and daily life.

We respectfully ask the committee not to cut out funding.

Please continue supporting the immigrant parent voting collaborative by maintaining 500,000 in funding over two years.

This support will help organizations across the city continue to serve in immigrant communities.

In 2016, I worked with CAA to advocate for non-citizen parents' right to vote.

After this policy was successfully passed, I joined CAA to do outreach work on non-citizens' parent voting, encouraging non-citizen parents to vote and to act actively participate in their children's education.

Throughout our work, more parents have come to understand the importance of non citizen voting and have actively actively participated in school meetings, speaking up and sharing their suggestions.

This has helped the school district better understand the needs of students from different backgrounds and implement more comprehensive education policies.

Hello everyone, my name is Annie.

When anti-immigrant policies from the Trump administration reserves, our community feels fear and anxiety.

Many families worry about being separated, are afraid to go outside and question whether they are and question whether they can continue to live safely and peacefully.

The San Francisco immigrant legal and education network, SFI Lin, and its community partners, including Chinese for Affirmative Action, CAA, provide immigrants with clear and reliable support.

We host Nota Rights Workshop to teach people how to protect themselves and their families when encountering immigration enforcement, helping ensure that all residents can live a safer, more fair, and more dignified environment.

We respectfully ask that funding be maintained for the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Immigal and Education Network and San Francisco Immigrant Legal Emergency Hotline, totaling a 1.64 million in supplemental extended funding to continue providing immigrant immigration legal services and referral.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Thank you for your consideration and support.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

I live in the 94102 Zipco.

CAA is a member of the Immigrant Parents Voting Collaborative.

The collaborative is dedicated to helping immigrant families access legal services, social services, health education, youth development opportunities, and support there that reflect their language and cultural needs.

These services provide important support to immigrant families in our community.

There are always through our outreach efforts, we have informed more than 80,000 parents about their voting rights and encouraged them to participate in civic life.

I respectfully ask the city to continue supporting immigrant parents' voting programs by maintaining 250,000 in annual funding, 500,000 in funding over two years.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

I live in the 94115 zip code.

CAA is a San Francisco-based organization that advocates for immigrants' rights, policies, and services.

It is dedicated to creating more opportunities for immigrant families to participate in civic life and have their voices heard.

Funding support is especially important for providing language access language access services and immigrant legal referrals.

Community programs are also essential.

Through CAA's monthly community gatherings, immigrant parents have opportunities to discuss important issues such as education in school district matters.

CAA also partners with the San Francisco Department of Election and City College of San Francisco to provide residents with information and resources.

At a time when federal immigration policies have been more restrictive, family reunification has become increasingly difficult for many immigrants.

We want other families to have the opportunity to build stable and successful life in the United States.

Therefore, we respectfully request that you maintain the current 1.64 million budget allocation to extend supplemental funding for San Francisco immigrant legal education network.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon, budget community members.

My name is Anthony, and I'm with Chinese for Affirmative Action.

We are a part of eight member organization of IPVC or the immigrant parent voting collaborative.

IPBC was created to enhance civic participation through many civic engagement workshops and in the process, create leaders of immigrant families in their schools and in their communities.

We've informed over 84,000 parents about their rights to vote and provide crucial referrals to immigrant legal services.

We also create opportunities to engage in key decision-making processes such as Canada forums and many opportunities for immigrant parents to vote for the three candidates on the SFUSD board of uh ed.

It is crucial to continue uplifting immigrant families as we need more immigrant parents to continue to participate in future elections in order to support our children's education.

Please support the immigrant parent voting collaborative by maintaining the funding pool of 250,000 each year and 500,000 for two years.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, committee members.

My name is Crystal, and I'm also with Chinese for affirmative action.

Also the fiscal lead for the immigrant parent voting collaborative.

Since last year, there's been so many additional attacks on our communities.

Rampant anti-immigrant policies, unlawful arrests and deportation, and cuts to public programs throughout the city.

Families are fearful of attending schools because of potential ICE activities.

Residents don't know if it's safe to show up at their immigration hearings and appointments.

Schools might be closing even, and as a result, residents are growing more unwell every single day.

San Francisco can lead by example.

Invest in programs that ensure immigrant families feel safe and have access to essential resources, educational equity, and voting opportunities.

Life has always been difficult for our family.

In 2020, my husband had two surgeries because of health issues.

After that, we were able to receive an emergency housing voucher in 2022 and for that first time, we had a stable and safe home.

But now, because of his health, my husband can only work two to three hours a day.

I work two part-time jobs, but our income is still barely enough to cover rent.

If EXU ends, our family of four will not know where to go.

Our children are still growing, and our biggest fear is losing the stability we have now.

Family like ours are working hard and caring for our children.

We are not trying to depend on assistance.

EX3 simply gives us a chance to stand on our feet again.

Today I respectfully ask you to continue protecting EX3 families.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Hi supervisors, my name is Erme Wu today.

I respectfully ask you to support long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

My family of five once lived in a 10 square meter SO room for 10 years.

We had no space for activities and eating meals and doing homework could only happen on the bed.

We also often had to wait in line to use shared bathrooms, kitchen, and shower.

For families like ours, stable housing is not just about moving into a different place.

Our family has experienced a lot of stress and trauma.

After moving out of the SO, we could finally breathe, slowly heal, and begin to have a better life.

This is why long-term housing subsidies are so important.

Short-term help is not enough.

Low income families need time to stabilize, recover, and give children a chance to break the cycle of poverty.

Many families are still living in SOs and waiting for a chance to change their lives.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hi, supervisors.

I am a single mother raising my son by myself.

He is now in sixth grade.

I work as a caretaker for seniors, earning about 2.3k a month.

I have to pay for rent, food, transportation, school expenses, and daily family needs.

The pressure is very heavy.

Even when I do not feel well or feel exhausted from work, I'm the only support for my family, so I have to keep going.

In the past, we live in an SO.

The space was very small and the living environment was unstable.

For a growing child who needs space to study, the environment was difficult.

After we moved out of SO do EH3 in 2022, I saw a big change in my son.

He became more focused in school, more emotionally stable, and more hopeful about the future.

Today I'm here to ask for your to I'm here to ask for your support for long-term rental subsidy.

But for long-term housing solution for EH3 families.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, Supervisors.

My name is Yen Ching Xiao.

Today I respectfully ask for your support for long-term housing protection for EH3 families.

I live in an SO for 20 years, and those years were extremely difficult.

In 2022, because of health reasons, I was able to move out through the emergency housing wheelchair program for the first time.

I felt a little bit of hope in my life and finally had a more stable and safe home.

But now that hope may soon be taken away.

My husband's health is very bad.

He has serious mobility issues, has had three major surgeries and depends on medication every day.

I not only have to care for him, but also work temporary jobs to support our families.

Going back to an SO is almost impossible for us.

Not only because the rent is no longer affordable, but also because my husband's health cannot handle that environment or stress of moving again.

Today, I respectfully ask you to protect vulnerable families like ours.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Shia Pengju.

I am a mother of a family of six.

I'm here today to ask you to support EH emergency housing voucher housing assistant.

Since last October, when I learned that EHV may end in 2026, I have felt anxious every day and worry about our future.

It's not because we do not work hard.

I wake up at 4 a.m.

every day and start work at 5 a.m.

to support my family.

I often work until my whole body hurts.

In the past, my family lived in an SO for eight years.

My child once asked me, mom, when can we move out?

I never had the answer and have never forgotten those words.

Now we finally have a stable home, but we are facing the risk of losing our housing assistance.

I need to care for my sick parents and two children because of language barriers.

I can only do physical labor and I cannot afford height rent.

If we lose EH3, we truly do not know where we can go.

That's why today I'm here to ask for your support for EH3 families and provide a long-term housing solution for us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Yen Chi Jang.

Today I asked you to support housing protections for EHV families.

In 2022, my family of three was finally able to move out of an SO through the emergency housing welfare program.

For us, it was not just a place to live, it was a chance to start our lives again.

Last year, my wife passed away from breast cancer.

This year, my daughter and I have been living with the pain of losing her while trying to keep going.

But during this difficult time, we received notice that EHE will end this October.

This is a very bad news for us.

My income is limited.

We have tried to apply for affordable housing, but we do not qualify for many programs.

And we simply cannot afford market rate rent.

My daughter is in high school every day after school.

She helps me search for housing, fill out applications.

She works very hard and is very understanding, but the reality is that we are still unable to afford a rent and it's really difficult for us.

That's why I'm here to ask for your support for all the EH3 households.

Thank you.

Thank you for the comments.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Xiao Hanjang.

I respectfully ask you to support long-term rental subsidies.

I am a single mother and I live with my eight-year-old daughter in a small room in Chinatown that is less than seven square meters.

Recently, a drunk neighbor accidentally entered our room.

At that moment, my daughter and I were both terrified and helpless.

That is why I asked for your support for long-term housing subsidies instead of time-limited support.

For a single mother like me, a few years of help is not enough.

I'm the only person supporting my family, and my daughter is only eight years old.

She still needs my long-term care.

Deep poverty cannot be solved in just a few years.

I cannot suddenly become financially stable enough to afford market rate rent.

Long-term housing subsidies would help us truly live an unsafe environment, allow my daughter to grow up with peace of mind and give me time slowly to stabilize my life and care for my family.

Please support long-term rental subsidies for S all families.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments to the next speaker, please.

Thank you.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Jenling Situ.

Please support long-term rental subsidies for SL families.

I'm a mother of three children, ages nine, seven, and five.

Our family of five is crowded into one small room.

My youngest child even has to use a portable toilet in the room because the shared bathroom is too tall for her.

Right now, my husband is the only one supporting our family.

With today's high cost of living and rent, we cannot afford a stable home without rental assistance.

Short-term help may solve the problem for now, but it cannot give low-income SOL families real stability.

We need long-term housing support so families do not have to live in constant fear of when the help will end or whether we can still afford a place to live.

Hi, my name is Jamie.

I am seven years old.

I live with my mom and my sister in a very small room.

Our room is very, very small.

We share the kitchen, shower, and bathroom with other people.

We do not have a table for homework.

Sometimes we do homework on the bed.

I do not really know what long-term housing help means, but I know I want my family to have a bigger home.

I hope we can stay in San Francisco.

I hope when we move out of the SRO, we do not have to move back.

Can you please help my family?

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Thank you and good job.

Hello, go ahead.

So yung tan day chi change one thing that you might want to gain loyal.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Sue Dan Wu.

My family of four currently lives in an SRO.

I respectfully ask for your support for long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

My son often asks me, Mom, when can we have our own room?

Every time when I hear that, my heart hurts, and I feel helpless.

As a parent, I only want my children to live somewhere safer, healthier, and with dignity.

That is why I am asking for long-term stable housing subsidies, not time-limited support.

For SOL families like ours, these struggles will not disappear in just a few years.

If the subsidy ends before we are selected for affordable housing, and our income still cannot cover market rate rent, we may be forced back into the same crowded, unhealthy and unsafe environment.

For children, that is not real stability.

It is another disappointment.

So you so you say.

Or even several generations for a family to build saving and truly become safe, stable.

We are not unwilling to work hard.

We just need more time to breathe and a stable place to live.

So we can slowly recover our health, stabilize our income, and allow our children to study and grow in peace.

And that's why I'm here to ask for your support today.

Thank you.

Thank you for comments.

So the next speaker, please.

I am a member of the SL Family United Collaborative.

My family of three in a very small SL unit.

We share kitchen, bathroom, and many with many other residents.

And our daily life can be very difficult.

My son is seven years old now.

Since he was one year old, he suffered from allergy and often needs medical care.

Because our SRO has poor ventilation.

He wake up every morning with running nose.

Sometimes he ran no bleed.

Their health problems affect her well-being and also affect his ability to learn at school.

But my family never gets the less.

We will continue to apply and hope that one day we can move our SRO into a healthier home.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Let's have the interpretation of the comments, please.

Hello, supervisor.

My name is Sinzin Li.

I am member of the SRO Family United Collaborative.

Three generations of my family in SRO room.

There are four of us, me, my six-year-old daughter, and my parents.

Our room is very small.

We have to fit in all our belongings into a limited space.

Every day we have to share the kitchen, bathroom, and restaurant with another tenants.

We often have to wait in life.

Since I come to the United States, I work very hard to learn English.

I'm also studying early childhood education because I hope one day I can become a peace school teacher.

I hope the city can provide more long-term housing subsidies and affordable housing opportunity.

So low income family like mine can have a safety home.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Let's have the interpretation.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Chi Hurley.

Please support long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

My family of three lives in an SO in Chinatown because of language barriers.

Even though I work hard and try my best, it is still very difficult for us to become stable in San Francisco.

I almost never get to cook dinner for my daughter at a normal dinner time.

Every day I have to wait in line to use the sheer kitchen.

Sometimes by the time it is my turn to cook, it is already past 8 p.m.

And my child has already waited hungry for too long.

Long-term rental subsidies are very important to us because they do not only help our generation, they can change the path for the next generation.

If children have a stable home and a more normal place to live and study, they have a better chance to do well in school, grow up healthy, and one day break the cycle of poverty.

Please support long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

Once it ends, we still would not be able to afford market rate housing.

By then, SOL rents may also increase.

Hi supervisors, my name is I Ching Mai.

I'm here today to ask for your support for long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

I'm a single mother and I live with my son in an SR room in Chinatown that is only about five square meters.

The space is so small that we cannot even fit a proper bunk bed.

We have to put up a few wooden panels to create a small loft bed for my son while I sleep on the couch.

He does not have a quiet place to study and can only do homework on the bed.

My health is not good, and I need long-term medical care.

I can only work part-time, and because I do not speak English, I can only take on difficult low-wage work.

Short-term subsidy may help a few years, but when it ends, we'll still face the same high rents and uncertainty.

For families like mine, income health and waiting for affordable housing are not problems that can be solved in just a few years.

Long term subsidies would help us stay stay safely housed while we wait for affordable housing.

They would give my child a stable place to learn and grow.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Bi Hua Liu.

Please support long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

I live with my son and daughter in an SRO in Chinatown.

My son is 16 and my daughter is nine.

The building we live in is in very poor condition, and there is not even a place to cope.

My two children are at the age when they are growing and need nutrition the most.

But as a mother, I can hardly prepare a normal meal for them.

Our room is also very small, and my children have no space to do homework, study or rest.

Right now I'm the only one working, and I simply cannot afford a high rent outside to improve my children's living environment.

When I think about this, I feel sad.

We desperately need a stable home.

Short-term help may f solve the immediate problem, but if the subsidy ends after a few years, we still will not be able to afford market rate rent.

And we may even return to an unsafe and unstable environment.

Only long-term rental subsidies can truly give us stability.

I'm here to ask for you to please support us.

Thank you.

Thank you for coming to the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

Thank you for the for taking the time to listen to my story.

My name is I just graduated high school and I hope to attend college.

I live in a small SRO in Chinatown with my mom and younger brother.

But the small the room is so small that we have a hard time concentrating and doing our homework.

The only table that we have is a small affordable table where we eat dinner and do our homework.

My mom is the opportunity to, we hope that it's a long-term support so that family like mine get the time and stability to get on their feet.

So I am pleased asking you to support long-term housing subsidies so that family like mine can get on their feet by themselves.

Thank you.

Thank you for comments, Mr.

Sue.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Thank you.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Bing Won Chan.

Today I respectfully ask you to support long-term housing subsidies for SO families.

I live with my two sons in an SO in Chinatown.

There are many residents in the building, and it is often very noisy.

When my children have difficult homework and need a quiet place to think, they simply cannot concentrate.

Because our room is so small, they can only sit by the bed and use a small folding table to do homework.

The table is our dine, also our dining table.

And it is the study table for both of my sons.

As a parent, my biggest worry is that without a stable and quiet environment, my children's education and future will be affected.

Long-term housing subsidies will not only help our generation move out of SOs, they can also change the lives of the next generation.

If children have a stable home and a place to study in peace, they will have a better chance to finish school, find better jobs in the future, and break the cycle of poverty.

Please help us.

We'll have on members of our community.

Countless seniors and disabled people in my life have spent so much time and energy having to juggle different public programs.

And as a result, they suddenly lose access to benefits because they aren't familiar with how to facilitate communication between agencies.

Make our city what it is.

Participate in our in our society and our life public life and institutions.

Without her, our work would be would reach far fewer neighbors of ours.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Li Jen Wu.

I hope that you will support emergency housing voucher families.

I'm a mother of three children.

Our family of five lived in an SO for more than seven years.

When we lived there, my three children were bitten by bedbugs almost every night.

They could not sleep, and I also stayed up all night trying to catch the bedbugs.

When we received the emergency housing voucher, our whole family was so happy because we could finally move out of the SO.

Without this support, no matter how hard my husband and I work, we would not be able to leave the SO.

I hope we can have stable long-term housing so my children can enjoy their childhood.

If we lose this voucher, it will have a very serious impact on our family.

My children keep asking me what will happen and where will we live in the future?

They are so worried that they cannot sleep at night.

Please support emergency housing voucher families like ours.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hello, supervisor.

My name is Jackson Learn.

I make help poly student, and I'm respectfully hoping you to support long-term rental subsidies.

My mother's sister and me has been living in Chinatown SLO for four years, and I was a Galeo High School student at that time.

But SO is not an ideal study environment because the clouds may actually force me to sit in my bed to do my homework and reviews without a table.

Well, I can actually hear my parents' loise clearly.

Also, the times the time slide actually make me feel hard to read my works or some on my textbooks.

So, you know, five to six hours study.

But I'm lucky that I got as I got sectioned later, so I hope you guys can support rental subsidies.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Hoy Sang Kai, and I'm a senior at CUC San Diego.

I'm speaking today because I hope the supervisors will support long-term rental subsidies.

My parents and my younger sister and I have lived in a Chinatown single room occupancy for around 15 years.

I have spent almost my entire childhood growing up in this environment.

For my sister who is 11 years old, she has lived in this housing situation her whole life.

Our building has more than 60 households, and everyone shares the kitchen, bathrooms, and toilets.

Because so many people use the kitchen.

The stoves are often broken.

My mother is always always stressed about waiting to have a better chance than I had, a stable home, we do not have a quiet place to study, rest, or feel comfortable.

Short term help is not enough because it does not give families real security.

If the help ends after a few years, we may not be able to afford rent, and we may be forced into the same unstable situation.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Hailing Li.

Today I respectfully ask you to support long-term rental subsidies for SO families.

They have no space to do homework.

I stay home to care for our children, so I cannot work.

Short-term subsidies do not feel stable for families like ours.

We would always worry.

What happens when the help ends?

If our income is still too low, would we be forced back into an SRO or have nowhere to live?

Low-income families leave long-term support so we have time to stabilize our income and give our children a safe place to study and grow up in.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Thank you for the interpretation.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

My name is Lucero Rera, and I'm a community organizer with a member of the Latino Task Force and a bilingual coordinator with the Center on Juvenile Criminal Justice.

I am here today to urge decision makers not to cut essential resources and services that support our youth, families, and communities.

Every day I work with young people who are navigating complex challenges, including involvement with the juvenile justice system, child welfare, mental health needs, housing instability, and family conflict.

Many of you have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, systemic barriers are beyond their control.

The services we provide are often different between young people succeed.

It is important to recognize our home cause with critical community resources that are being cut while we continue to invest in punitive systems that often lack the infrastructure needed to truly support people and create lasting change.

Divesting to proven community-based approaches and investing in community.

When we invest in our communities, we invest in prevention, healing, accountability, and long-term public safety.

Next speaker, please.

Thank you for providing your comments to the committee.

I'm sorry to cut you off.

We do have to give a minute to each speaker.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the interpretation, please.

Good afternoon.

My name is Jefferson.

I'm here to advocate for HOME.

I've been at Homey for four years.

For us the program is important.

I feel bad about the cuts.

I feel that what is happening in our community right now, the rising crime, is the result of the previous cuts.

If I can change, so can others.

And so he implores you to keep funding his program.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Let's have interpretation of the speaker before we get the next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Jonathan, a participant of the homie program, and I come to ask that you do not cut the funds since it's a great help to us as young people.

For people since they have they have helped me to be a great leader in my life and have helped me receive receive the services that I need and help me to move forward with my goals and have to face life.

Thank you so much.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Thank you.

Please please help the community.

Thank you.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

My name is Victor Carrillo.

For over 18 years, I have worked with uh youth uh people and families in San Francisco to violence prevention programs, emotional wellness, and cultural identity programs.

I am here today to strongly oppose these proposed budget cuts to essential community services.

These are not just numbers on the split sheet.

These are investments that keep young people safe, connected and supported.

At a time when our communities are facing growing challenges, cutting violence prevention programs and youth services, send the ground message.

Every dollar removed from this program increase the risk of violence, disconnection, and crisis on the neighborhoods.

Budget decisions reflect our values and these codes do not reflect the values of San Francisco.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Necessitamos mucho los fundos para HOME para que siga standards.

Good afternoon.

Her name is Irene, and she's been receiving services at HOME since twenty nineteen.

She works in the mission and lives in the tenderlord, and she says that we really need the funds at HOME.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hello, board of supervisors.

My name is Sophia, civic engagement organizer with Poder Safe and resident of District Eleven.

San Francisco is home to a large community of LEP individuals, many of whom rely on city services.

And this moment of heightened enforcement and policy shifts, causing community members to live in fear, language access is even more important.

With the passage of the 2024 amendments to the language access ordinance, we need your commitment to adequately for adequate funding for staffing and ensuring that language access remains a priority for San Francisco.

Currently, LANSF is funded by OSIA, and we are currently in the middle of a two-year grant that ensures San Franciscans receive in-language information regarding their language access rights.

Thank you for your comments.

This precludes their ability for legal gainful employment, period, and is the situation many find themselves in today.

It's imperative that we restore every cut to fund free city college, community-based public safety, immigrant services, and the safety net organizations that our communities rely on.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

My name is Guadalupe Benites.

I'm a member of the organization Poder, and I ask you to fulfill the promises of continuing to finance the legal immigration services, the rapid response network, and the organizations in the security uh network that depend um that immigrants depend on.

I'll take back the cuts to services for uh elderly people and disabled people and completely finance the promise of the dignity fund.

No to uh firings of employees of organizations in a nonprofit organization.

Uh, take back the cuts of all the uh uh labor rights programs.

Uh take back the cuts uh to uh programs for the prevention of violence.

We need real public safety.

Take back the cuts to medical care that um young people and adults rely on and the services.

Thank you for the comments.

Thank you for the interpretation of the comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Programmas muy important para nuestros hijos, canal causes to say and no stay in the calle.

Gracias.

My name is Amparo Alarcon.

I'm a member of Poder, and I'm here to ask for the funds to be able to continue the programs and funds to continue with the uh legal um consultations uh for uh dignified housing and to reestablish the medical garden, the community garden, and the spaces for young young people.

Uh these programs are very important for our children that so that they are uh dedicated to good things, and also uh I am opposed to the cuts and access to language.

Thank you for your comments to the next speaker, please.

Hello, supervisors, my name is Amy Aguilera, and I'm a civic engagement organizer with Poder and also a resident of the Excelsior.

I'm here to demand a people's budget for San Francisco.

San Francisco is a sanctuary city, and our budget must align with that value.

We meet immigrant families every day who are trying to survive in this city.

Expenses are up, rent is up, raising a family here for many is no longer sustainable.

We must restore cuts to social safety nets that allow our families to thrive from services to seniors and persons with disabilities, community-based organizations, language access, youth programs, community clinics, and a free city college.

It's also important to continue investing in free legal immigration services through SF Island and rapid response.

Without these services, our communities have less opportunities to improve their economic situation.

So please invest in us.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Okay, Mr.

Member.

All right.

Hello, supervisors.

My name is Violeta Vasquez, and I'm born, raised, reside, and work in districts 10 and 11.

I'm here with Five Elements Youth Program, Poled in Solidarity with the People's Budget Coalition.

I'm here to advocate for a real change in our moral document, the city's budget.

Every year we divest in vital public services and increase investment in policing, yet our communities aren't any safer.

Our mayor advocates for parties downtown, corporate payouts, and billionaires' budget.

But you all were voted in by us.

You are accountable to our welfare.

We need free city college, universal health care, living wages, r uh restoring funds for violence prevention like HOME and AROC, our immigrant communities, women's services, and so much more.

We know the city has the money because our police budget is so inflated.

You're accountable to us.

So make decisions based off of what our youth and families need, not the bottom line.

I urge you to please sit up and listen and put your devices as way as the young people come up to speak after me.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Antonio, and I live in District 5.

I am here with Blood, a member of the people's budget.

I am here to advocate for a San Francisco that has fully funded communities organizations.

And programs that support and defends, brown and black, and indigenous communities of color.

I don't understand why we are cutting communities programs to fund the police.

Thank you, Antonia.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Thank you, and good job.

Hello, my name is Jasmine.

I live in District 11, and I work with Hummingburg Farm.

I came to advocate for that San Francisco should continue to be a sanctuary city, restore every cut to immigrants.

Our city is full of immigrants that can help our city as much as citizens do.

Immigrants are hiding, kids will come to school.

I am a daughter of immigrants, and my parents are scared to go to work or even file papers because of the fear of ice in this supposedly sanctuary city.

Immigrant lawyers are cut.

We are not safe.

Please fund and do not cut.

Thank you.

Thank you for comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

Hi, my name is Keno, and I live in District 5.

I'm here today to advocate on the behalf of our generation, the next to become.

As a young person, I asked you to fund programs like Homey Youth Works and Free City College.

Right now I'm a youth or OFA, so this budget directly impacts me.

I hope an opportunity like OFA keeps going for our younger people because it is our only source to a better future.

Thank you for listening.

Have a good afternoon.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Ozzy Cruz Hunt, and I'm going into ninth grade.

I live in District 9 and 2.

I'm here with Hummingbird Farm to speak in support of people's budget for San Francisco.

The Giants baseball team is funding for more turf fields across the city.

Turf fields are so harmful to the environment that whole ecosystems get destroyed when the bulldozers come and destroy the grass.

Instead of funding death to animals, the city could invest in climate justice, prioritizing green spaces, natural fields, and community projects that support both people and the environment.

I put up signs and posters as a way of doing activism.

I visit the park regularly and worry about the turf causing harm to trees, animals, and ourselves.

Thank you, and free Palestine.

Thank you for your comments to the next speaker, please.

Um, hello, my name is Caleb Simpson, and I'm incoming freshman at Archibishop Ruin High School.

I live in District 10, and I'm here with Pondor in the People's Budget uh coalition to advocate for true public safety.

We need to listen to the voices of community members who are experienc who are experiencing danger and instability.

We need to follow the evidence about what truly keeps our neighborhood safe.

True public safety means investing in people and community-based solutions instead of prioritizing funding for downtown's interests and other things.

We need to invest in the public safety program.

Our community deserves and need.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Anthony Freeman.

I'm here with District 11 to demand people's budget for Services.

And to keep the youth and senior health clinics open, restore cuts to health care, stop nurse layoffs, and truly fund the healthcare workforce that supports recovery, trans rights, and community care.

Find the money, restore the cuts.

This is our San Francisco, and we will be back to see your choices and hold you accountable to the people.

We are San Francisco, fight for the people and people's budgets.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Good job.

My name is Layla.

I live in District 1, and I'm here with Poder, member of the People's Budget Coalition.

Today I'm advocating for San Francisco to keep its promise and use its budget to keep as of a sanctuary city.

We ask that every cut to immigrant legal services, rapid response networks, and safety net um organizations.

Our immigrant community members rely on to be restored.

We demand that the city prioritize the protecting and investing in the people and individuals who are the backbone of San Francisco communities and the city's budget be put towards supporting its residents, not taking away the services that they depend on to keep their families and lives intact.

Immigrant families and their children deserve to thrive and deserve to live without fear that their communities will be destroyed because you disinvested in them.

Please keep your promise, fund the people's budget, and protect and restore these services so that our neighbors and loved ones can live without fear and prosper.

Thank you, Layla, for your comments.

And so the next speaker, please.

All right, so hi, my name is Kat.

I live in District 10, and I'm here with Poder, members of the People's Budget.

I'm here to advocate for universal health care.

The reasoning why I'm here to advocate for universal health care is because when I was little, a guy in a bicycle got hit by a car outside of my house.

He was bleeding from his head and refused medical attention.

His reasoning for refusing medical attention was because he didn't have health care insurance.

This man preferred to walk away with a head wound because he didn't have health care insurance.

Can any of you guys imagine having to weigh the pros and cons with your life?

Because I know people have to weigh the pros and cons with their life.

Not only theirs, but their kids too, which brings up the question: why do we have to weigh our pros and cons with our lives to begin with?

Can any of you guys answer that?

You have a minute.

I'm sorry, you have 13 seconds left.

Thank you so much for comments.

Just a reminder to everybody this is your opportunity to provide public comment to the committee, but the committee is not able to respond to any questions at this time.

Let's hear from the next speaker, please.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Melanie Ramirez.

Thank you to all of those who are listening to me.

I live and work in District 11.

I'm here with Poler, member of the People's Budget Coalition.

I'm here to advocate for youth services.

I'm a product of my community.

A product of community organizations who supported me since I was a teen at Burden High School.

Now I'm a free city recipient.

Youth programming is vital for youth in San Francisco.

I am an example of what investing in your leaders of tomorrow looks like.

Organizations like Good Samaritan, Literacy for Environmental Justice, Sutra Stewards, programs like Dream SF, Boder are the reason why I'm here today.

That is public safety to me.

The city can divest from preventative services that keep community stable.

Invest in free city, invest in free youth clinics, invest in your youth.

We will stand up for programs that are in danger of closing, including Homie and Excelsior Works, because they are the ones that have lifted community up.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Hello, supervisors.

Hi, my name is Alexa, and I also live uh I live in District 3, but I also work and study in District 11.

I am here with Foder, a part of the People's Budget Coalition.

And I am here to advocate for free city college.

I heavily rely on free city because I live in a single parent household, making it hard for my for my family to actually to afford like actual school tuition.

And many can relate with my situation.

If not, they have other situations.

Free city gives many students the opportunity to not feel burdened about whether or not still stays.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's say the next speaker, please.

Hi, my name is Carolina, and I live in District 9, and I work in District 11.

And um, and I'm here with Poder and a member of the People's Budget Coalition, and I'm here to advocate for every cut to nonprofit services and for the layoffs being done to city and nonprofit workers.

There are over 7,000 nonprofit services that help and support the city people, the city's people in various ways.

And by cutting these resources, it's like cutting a lifeline to thousands of people who use these services every day to survive.

Part of what makes these services so powerful are the teams that are actively working behind them.

And as someone who has worked in nonprofits like the women's building, Casa de Apollo, and Poder, it's crucial that we have more support from the city, not less.

So part of why I've stayed so consistent in nonprofit work is because of how much it's needed, and we shouldn't have to fight for basic resources every day.

So therefore I ask each and every one of you to take accountability for the promise you made to the people you serve and think about the city you're leaving for the youth to inherit.

Thank you so much for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Next speaker, please come forward.

Members of the People's Budget Coalition.

I'm here to echo what um our community members are here to uh say.

Today we ask you to find the money to restore the cuts, support the people's budget.

Uh, thank you so much.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hi, my name is Mixley Martinez, and I work in District 11.

I'm here with Poder, member of the People's Budget Coalition.

San Francisco prides itself on defending and protecting Latina, Asian, Pacific Islander, Filipino, Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color.

However, the proposed cuts to the social safety net, including housing, education, clinical and disability services, undermine that commitment.

These cuts disregard the needs and realities of communities that rely on these critical resources.

Meanwhile, the SFPD continues to receive massive overtime budgets that you know will be overspent.

These priorities are inconsistent.

Reducing critical services while increasing enforcement funding directly harms communities of color and contradicts city values.

I urge you to restore all proposed cuts to the social safety net and fund programs that support the communities that build SF and keep the city thriving.

Hi, my name is Gayatri, and I live and work in District 11.

I'm here with Poder, a member of the People's Budget Coalition.

I am standing here to advocate for the execution of San Francisco's promises as a sanctuary city.

There's been a few too many cases in which our local police and protection agencies have attempted to blur the lines of these agreements, and continuing to unnecessarily overfund them is not a solution.

Keeping our promises means restoring all cuts to immigrant services and fully funding immigrant law services, hotlines, response networks, and other organizations such as Homey and Excelsior Works that immigrants rely on.

You have the power to do so and to change your actions to use the community's money supportively instead of wasting it on things such as flock safety, the reset center, and especially the massive share of an SFPD overtime budgets that you are well aware they will overspend.

Find the money, restore the cuts, and support the people that elected you.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Hola, my number is Iber Vivo en el distrito nueve, soy parte de poder.

E community college.

Hello, my name is Yvette, and I live in the District 9, and I'm part of the poder, and I represent the students of the school district.

We're that whose first language is not English.

Thank you, Vet for your your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hi, my name is Jonathan.

My first language is Spanish, and I'm here on the behalf of Poder.

I live in District Eleven.

Uh for City College since they want to cut free city college.

And I'm a young student at City College, and I'm here on behalf of everyone, all the students from City College, and I represent all the people that for different reasons couldn't be here and every one of them, and I ask that you support our dreams and not cut them.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hello, supervisors.

My name is Anastasia, and I'm a resident of District 8, and I go to school in District Eleven and June Jordan School for Equity.

And I'm here with Pondra and the People's Budget Coalition.

Please prioritize the needs of women and gender-based justice.

We want you to restore funding for women and gender-based justice programs, fully fund services, survivors rely on and protect the safety net that victims deserve.

We need the people's budget now.

Thank you.

Thank you for sharing your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

I'm with the People's Budget Coalition to urge this billionaire mayor as a proud sanctuary city.

We need you to restore every cut to immigrants and fully fund our immigration legal services, rapid response network, and the safety net or immigrants rely on.

Thank you for your comments.

For the city and its people, we demand you restore every cut to the social safety net and fully fund the communities that keep our San Francisco alive.

Restore free city now and fully fund San Francisco's promise of accessible higher education now and forever, and undo every cut to SF environment and the climate action plan because we want to thrive, not survive.

And for our workers who serve SF daily, no layoffs for the city or nonprofit workers.

Restore every cut to domestic workers and workers' rights programs.

Fully fund the cost of doing business and a living wage for San Francisco workers who are powering our economic recovery, by the way.

And don't forget to restore every cut to immigrants and fully fund our immigration legal services, rapid response network and the safety net organizations our immigrants rely upon.

Because San Francisco couldn't survive a day without an immigrant.

Your job as supervisors is to represent us, so please take everything we've said into consideration because again, this is a people's city and a people's budget.

And if you make the people feel otherwise, I assure you we will not rest until this city gets what they want.

Thank you or needs.

Thank you so much very much.

Next speaker, please.

Good evening, supervisors.

My name is Alan Tello.

I'm a resident of District Eleven, and I'm here with Poder, Homey, Five Elements, and the People's Budget Coalition.

I gave my first public comment when I was seven years old, 10 years ago.

Every year since we've had to come back and fight for our programs to continue existing, often left competing for scraps.

I don't understand how it's not common sense for the mayor to want to fund programs that support our communities, lower crime, and make sure San Francisco remains a thriving city.

As supervisors, you represent the people.

And today you'll hear loud and clear what the people want.

We want funding for programs like Homey, a violence prevention program that supports some of our most vulnerable youth who have experienced cuts every budget cycle since 2023.

We want you to restore cuts to health care, stop nurse layoffs, and fully fund the workforce that provides recovery services, trans health care, and community care.

Budgets are choices, and you have choices.

You found money for bloated police and sheriff overtime budgets, and everyone knows that everyone knows will be overspent.

Stop balancing the budget on the backs of our youth, our elders, disabled people, queer people, and working families.

Find our money, fund our budget, a people's budget now.

So the next speaker, please.

Everyone, thank you so much for being here and participating in the process.

Thank you so much for coming and giving public comment to the committee.

We do need to hear from each speaker, so do not interrupt the proceedings any longer with applause or jeering.

Please find some silent way to support the speaker, and we can continue moving on to the next one to hear from the rest of the hundreds of people that want to give public comment.

Next speaker, please.

Okay, shout out to the youth though.

Woo!

I know, I know you just told us, but I had to just shout out the youth.

Hi, my name is Alondra, and I live and work in Southeast San Francisco.

I'm here with Poder and the People's Budget Coalition, advocating for a budget that reflects a Frisco that prioritizes the people that shape the city that we all live in.

I urge you to listen to all the youth here.

Present and taking their time to plead with you guys to consider uh, you know, these decisions that you guys have to make.

Um, these decisions will impact the city's most vulnerable communities, and we're asking you guys to please do not be complicit to the predatory capitalistic ways of the mayor and his billionaire buddies.

We voted ya in office.

We have the next generation of voters right here, and you have the power to be with us, right?

And so I just want to ask you to restore all the cuts to our schools, language access, legal services, health care, youth programs, and the workforce that make our community strong and resilient.

So be a part of the Frisco that we're building together.

Thank you.

Who's next?

All right.

You may begin.

Okay.

Hi, everyone.

Uh, my name is Alicia Flores.

I'm a rep with IFPTE Local21.

I'm speaking on behalf of Jeanette Longton, a senior employee assistance counselor for the San Francisco Health Service System, who received a layoff notice on April 6th.

You have the power to save a program and two city jobs that benefit thousands of city employees.

The services provided cannot be duplicated or replaced by an external vendor.

Valuable services will be lost forever.

Let us do our job of serving those who serve the citizens of San Francisco.

Do the right thing, show the dedicated hardworking workforce of SF that you care.

Keep the internal employee assistance program by ensuring its funding now and into the future.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

The next speaker, please.

Afternoon supervisors, I'm Dame Lye.

Twelve years with public works as an engineer.

Before that, I manage a private testing lab.

Outsourcing testing labs uh jobs we outside consultants would be a bad idea for the city.

Several reasons is that instead of a city uh history and uh expertise with our MTL staff, we'll be outsourcing that to a copy that's behold only to the core line and it will be treated as a contract obligation.

So we want to keep the uh material system lab and staff.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments to the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

My name is Josephine Wang.

I've been with the materials testing lab for the last 10 years.

The San Francisco Materials Testing Lab has served the city for over a hundred years.

A key point of emphasis is not only our flexibility and responsiveness.

It's not just that we can perform testing the same day when calls come in that morning.

It's the fluidity of our services.

We can pivot immediately at the job site.

We can add or modify tests as conditions change at the site while we're taking a test.

They could change it at that moment.

We do this without contracts, change orders, delays, or added fees.

Reliable, timely tests keep projects moving and protect public safety.

I respectfully ask that you please please vote no on proposition J and preserve this essential public service.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

My name is Sean Stoker McManus.

I am material I am a materials testing technician at the San Francisco Materials Testing Lab.

I'm here today to ask the board of supervisors to continue to find the funding for the city testing lab.

My job is ensuring that the materials on each project are meeting the standards set by the public works engineers.

I work for the city.

Everyone at the lab works for the city.

The testing lab has been continuously working for the city for over 100 years.

I ask that the board of supervisors keep city jobs and not outsource the lab.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Francis.

I've been with the city for 19 years.

And over the years, the material testing lab has been providing uh quality assurance service for all the department's job.

Now you not just DPW, also PUC, MTA, police department for our department.

We are part of the team that serve the city of San Francisco.

Please keep the lab in the city.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

I understand that we have an ADA accommodation that we're going to uh have come forward to the microphone at this time and then we'll resume the line.

My name is Emily, and I'm here as a resident of San Francisco, a member of SERGE, and as a person living with a disability to demand a people's budget for San Francisco.

I urge the city to restore every cut to aging senior and disability services and fully fund the promise of the dignity fund as our aging population grows.

As a person living with a disability, I know how quickly life can change and how essential a strong safety net is.

These services are that net for many in our community.

As a person with privilege, I'm here in solidarity with aging seniors and people with this disabilities who not only depend on these services, but could face a life-threatening set of circumstances if they don't have access to these services.

They deserve the city's full commitment and no less.

Please save these services and don't cut them.

Thank you for your comments.

Thank you.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

Uh, my name is Daniel Tan, and I'm an assistant engineer with the materials testing lab.

I wanted to share one example of how we uh protect against construction compromise and fiscal compromise uh for our city uh on our city projects and ultimately serve the people of San Francisco.

At the new Park Mercedes subdivision, uh pavement renovation.

Uh, there were locations where the newly installed pavement was prematurely cracking.

The contractor had a private lab tested, and they indicated there were no issues.

However, when our GPW lab went out there, we verified the material was failing.

So what happened?

The contractors sampled from locations where the material was good.

We tested the locations where there were actually issues.

Uh the reality is is that there is a conflict of interest and a loss of protection when you use private labs.

So uh please keep our uh DPW materials testing lab.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Uh good afternoon.

My name is Wallace Lee.

I work for public works.

I've been with the city for 30 almost 35 years, approaching 35 years as a design engineer, and I'm currently a senior engineer.

And uh a lot of my work and my designs and my colleagues' engineering designs depend on the quality assurance of these uh of our colleagues here at Materials Testing Lab.

They ensure that our specs, our designs are fulfilled accordingly to what we uh specify for.

And the last thing we want is to have contracting out from private privatizations that can skew test results that favor them, such as such as the uh Akron uh uh drinking water crisis, as well as the Hunters Point uh soils testing crisis.

So I urge you to maintain our quality assurance team for the city and county of San Francisco.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments to the next speaker, please.

Supervisors, good afternoon.

Bianca Polavino, president IFPCE Local 21, District 1 resident.

These budget cuts harm everyone, and local 21 has already lost 30 members, and the proposed layoffs for the materials testing lab and employee assistance counselors are valuable services that help many city departments and employees carry out their essential work.

The city should not contract out this important work.

Further, we support a living wage for every single San Francisco worker who is powering our economic recovery, and we stand in unwavering solidarity today with every single person fighting to restore every cut to the social safety net to fund the communities that keep our neighborhoods thriving.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Thank you so much for your patience.

I cannot imagine how you can make that with so many all good requests.

I represent the San Francisco Cooperative Against Human Trafficking and the 70 agencies and organizations, including law enforcement members of this group.

And we're here to advocate to beg for funding for our health line.

The crisis line for human trafficking serves uh all the marginalized community.

I bring here our student alliance.

They will speak and I will give them the floor, and I bring our ask in writing for all of you, and we'll leave the thank you so much for all you do.

Thank you.

You can leave those binders up front, and I'll grab them in a moment once the first speaker begins.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Emily Gordatsky.

I'm a recent graduate of Lowell High School, and I am the co-founder and chair of the San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking Student Alliance.

I'm here to support the request for the Sydney funding of the 24-7 crisis line for survivors of human trafficking and community members, and the overall funding of anti-gender-based violence prevention services.

Over 15,000 survivors of gender-based violence reach out to the community for help annually.

Many underrepresented groups are among the ones who fall prey to traffickers, and those traffickers tend to be people that the victims know themselves.

The 24-7 crisis line services provide such networks and connect victims with a caring community of advocates, professionals, and law enforcement agencies assisting survivors trapped in modern-day slavery to find appropriate local resources.

Please do not allow this greatly needed resource to lapse.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Emily, for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

My name is Ali Goldberg, and I am a student at the Cahila School and a member of the student alliance of the San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking.

Today I urge your support for the vital work being done in SF against gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

Over 15,000 survivors of gender-based violence reach out for help annually.

Our service providers work around the clock to ensure survivors have the necessary resources, shelters, legal aid, physical and mental health services, crisis support, and counseling.

Your vital support is required for this critical work to continue.

We are especially concerned about the inadequate funding towards the 24-7 crisis line for the survivors of human trafficking.

I am a second-generation immigrant.

76% of advocates report that immigrant survivors fear contacting law enforcement to report domestic violence or sexual assault, making crisis lines like ours essential.

Please do everything you can to ensure we maintain the funding needed to continue these services.

Thank you for your comments.

Hello, my name is Archisme the Makerjee and I'm a student from Livermore High School and a member of the Student Alliance of San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking.

I'm here to urge your support for the vital work being done in San Francisco to end gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

Over 15,000 survivors of gender-based violence seek help from community organizations each year.

Our direct service providers work around the clock to ensure survivors have access to shelter, legal aid, health care, counseling, and crisis support.

Your support is critical to ensuring that these lifelong services remain available.

We're especially concerned that the 24-7 crisis line for survivors of human trafficking has been left without funding, despite the city having no alternative resources to replace it.

As a youth advocate, I know that many young people and students facing exploitation and trafficking depend on these services as lifelong support and recovery.

Please support the funding needed to sustain these essential services.

Thank you.

Thank you for comments.

Next speaker, please.

My name is Kira Brodsky.

I'm a student at the Kehila School and a member of the Student Alliance of the San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking.

I'm here to ask for your support for the important work being done in San Francisco to end gender-based violence that includes domestic abuse, sexual violence, and human trafficking.

Our direct service providers worked nonstop to give survivors access to the support they need, like shelters, legal aid, health services, support hotlines, and counseling.

Your essential support is needed for this critical work to continue.

We are especially worried about the 24-7 crisis line for survivors of human trafficking, which has been left unfunded without any alternate resources to replace it.

So many young people who are part of the LGBTQIA plus community and other marginalized groups are not able to go to authorities to fear of discrimination.

Why also being more vulnerable to sexual violence and trafficking?

Without a safe and affirming crisis line, many survivors have nowhere to turn.

Please do everything you can do to ensure that this life-saving funding is approved.

These services are, and the survivors who depend on them cannot continue to be abandoned.

Thank you so much.

So the next speaker, please.

That includes domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

Over 15,000 survivors of gender-based violence reach out to the community for help annually.

Our direct service providers work around the clock to ensure that survivors have the resources they need, like shelters, legal aid, physical and mental health services, support crisis hotlines, and counseling.

Your vital support is needed for this critical work to continue.

These services and the survivors they serve cannot be abandoned.

We are especially concerned that the 24-7 crisis line for survivors of human trafficking has been left without funding, while the city has no alternative resources to replace it.

Human trafficking disproportionately affects indigenous people because of the historically rooted discrimination they face to this day.

The crisis line provides irreplaceable support to higher-risk communities and therefore needs urgent funding.

Please do everything you can to ensure the funding that will keep these services alive.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for comments.

Next speaker, please.

My name is Madeline Hardy.

I am a student at Albany High School and a member of the student alliance of the San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking.

I ask for your support for the vital work being done in San Francisco to end gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

Over 15,000 survivors of gender-based violence reach out for help annually.

Our direct service providers work around the clock to ensure survivors have shelters, legal aid, physical and mental health services, support hotlines, counseling, and more.

These survivors cannot be abandoned.

We are especially concerned that the 24-7 crisis line for survivors of human trafficking has been left without funding despite the city's heavy reliance on it.

Recently, our administration dramatically curbed asylum and humanitarian relief, leaving many immigrant populations desperate and easily tricked into human trafficking.

People can be forced to take illegal routes, which often results in exploitation and forced criminality.

Again, I urge you to help keep these crucial services for all trafficked individuals alive.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

My name is Emily Michaels.

I'm a student at San Francisco University High School, and I'm a member of the Student Alliance of the San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking.

We need your support to continue the vital work in San Francisco to end gender-based violence that includes domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

Over 15,000 survivors of gender-based violence reach out to the community for help annually.

Our direct service providers work relentlessly to ensure survivors have the support and resources they need, including shelters, legal aid, physical and mental health services, support all lines, and counseling.

These life-saving services cannot be abandoned.

We are deeply concerned that the 24-7 crisis line for survivors of human trafficking has been left without funding despite the city's continued reliance on it.

Fostral children are highly vulnerable to human traffickers.

Youth fleeing from unstable or abusive homes often find themselves on the streets, increasing their exposure to human traffickers looking to prey on their needs for stability and shelter.

Your funding is essential in providing these children the resources they need to keep them safe.

Please do everything in your power to protect services for all trafficked individuals.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your comments.

The next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Haya Kamroff.

I'm a student at George Washington High School and a member of the student alliance of the San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking.

I ask you for your support for the vital work being done in San Francisco to end gender-based violence, which includes domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

Over 15,000 survivors of gender-based violence reach out to the community for help annually.

Our direct service providers worked endlessly around the clock to ensure survivors have legal aid, physical and mental health services, support hotlines and counseling.

Your support is vital for this critical work to continue.

We are concerned that the 24-7 crisis line for survivors of human trafficking has been left without funding.

Meanwhile, the city has no alternatives to replace it.

Low income community members are among the most vulnerable populations targeted by human traffickers.

Individuals that align within these communities are disproportionately exposed to exploitation.

Traffickers frequently prey on financial desperation, luring victims into forced labor and sexual abuse.

We urge you to start investing in this program to ensure funding that will keep these preventative services available.

Thank you.

Thank you for comments.

Hello, supervisors.

My name is Ben LeBine and I'm a youth advocate on the San Francisco Collaborative of Human Trafficking's Crisis Line.

Most people believe that slavery ended in 1865, but that's simply not the case.

Each year in the US, more than 16,000 trafficking victims are identified, and experts agree that the true number is significantly higher.

Here in San Francisco, we face a particular challenge.

As a major international city, we've become a hub where traffickers can find and exploit vulnerable people.

Those victims are often LGBTQ plus youth who have been rejected by their families, immigrants who fear seeking help, and individuals experiencing homelessness who are simply trying to survive.

Behind every statistic is a person, someone's child, someone's friend, someone who may feel they have nowhere to turn.

That is why SFCat's crisis line matters.

For many victims, one pe uh one phone call is the first step towards safety.

When that phone call comes, there must be someone there to answer, listen, and connect with them.

Uh connect them with help.

If we are serious about protecting the most vulnerable members of our community, we must uh continue budget support for the human trafficking crisis line.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

And so the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

My name is Kevin.

I'm here on behalf of uh hospitality health.

And I just ask you guys to uh think, use your conscience and just think about these cuts and attacks that you guys are doing to these nonprofits and the youth programs.

You've seen these youngsters come up here, the you program.

Two weeks ago, I reversed uh uh overdose on a fentanyl on a person right there in the TL.

And this if you cut all these and you lead these people back to these streets, it's gonna reverse a lot of things.

Don't the gangs and violence and and the exploitation sectors, you're gonna go right back to that stuff.

And so if you cut that harm reduction, I'm a product of harm reduction.

So we say is it leave it up to the professional.

I'm very professional because I we employ hundreds of people a year.

We house people.

We house people.

And you guys say that what you're doing is is is gonna uh not affect um the youth of tomorrow.

It will so much Kevin for the next speaker, please.

What you're doing is not right.

Thank you.

My name is James, please.

Please uh pull the microphone right up to your mouth.

My name is James Anthony, and I want to focus on the homelessness and everything that's going on in the budget cuts.

So I just want to say stigmatizing homelessness as a crime creates barriers for people who are already facing significant challenges, including mental health condition, substance use disorder, and uh housing instability.

At Hospitality House, we recognize that lasting solutions come through compassion, engagement, and support rather than judgment.

Hospitality House alongside neighborhood organizations, our community partners continue to build strong relationships with the community.

Um, with the community to address their immediate needs and with the dignity and respect as long-lasting pillar of the community on Sixth Street.

We remain committed to being accessible, responsive, and prepared to help individuals take the steps, next steps towards stability, recovery, housing, and self-sufficiency.

Our services are designed to meet the unique needs to of the community, creating pathways to hope and positive change with strengthening the neighborhood as a whole.

This is our community, and we need to stand up for our community and help us and be there for our community.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Yes, good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Terrence Blake, and I work for the hospitality house.

I usually work with brothers and sisters who have lived the same life experience as me.

Working with the homeless population and long-term offenders, people along with addiction and recovery, folks.

By cutting so many of our programs, we will be devastated.

Our community will be devastated.

We also need long-term housing for the people in our community.

There are things are so expensive for us.

So we need two jobs just to maintain stable housing.

Shaking my head.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Thank you, uh supervisors.

My name is Angelo Gonzalez.

I'm a bilingual employment case manager at hospitality house, and I thank everybody for taking the time to truly listen to us to each voice today.

As my job as an employment case manager, I see every day the desperate situations people face, trying to find employment from employment.

We try to find them housing, from housing to become a part of our local economy.

Now, I empathize with you to making this hard decision today.

It's not easy to consider cutting funding from very vulnerable communities.

But at the same time, I ask you in return to empathize with each and every person you heard today, and we'll hear for the rest of the day.

And also consider when you go in your car when you go home to really reflect on all these people that you see that will be affected, truly affected by these cuts.

I thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, my name is Dave Gillesti.

I'm employment case manager with hospitality house.

At San Francisco housing affordability crisis continues, hundreds of families remain, one missed paycheck, rent increase or subsidy loss away from homelessness.

While short-term housing subsidized help many families, exit shelters and unstable living situations.

For others, they fail to provide the long-term stability that children need to thrive.

One federal study found that 42% of short-term rental subsidy recipients return to homelessness.

When assistance expires, many families, desperate parents working multiple jobs, are unable to afford San Francisco's high rent and face risk of eviction.

Displacement, or homelessness.

Once again, for children, this instability can mean disrupted schooling, lost friendships, increased stress, and trauma, and the loss of stable home environments every children deserves.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

And so the next speaker, please.

Um, hello.

My name is Aurora Wallace, and I work for Hospitality House, and I've lived in this community for many years, and I've seen firsthand how policy and procedures affect the neighborhood.

Um please don't turn your back on us.

Help us rebuild.

Not only are we saving lives, but we are increasing public safety.

We are strengthening our community, and we are allowing persons to re-enter the workforce as tack paying tax-paying citizens with pride and dignity.

We are reclaiming our public spaces, and we are reducing the strain on emergency services.

Please help us change for the better.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Christian, and I'm here to demand long-term subsidies for families living in SROs.

I came here last time, and I hope you all took a good and long look at the children's pictures that they drew of their dream homes.

These short-term subsidies is not enough to house these families and stabilize them.

The children and the families deserve to grow up in a safe and stable environment with their own space and their city of San Francisco.

And not to worry that their subsidy is about to end.

No six in a room filled with infestation and no heat and no protection.

A federal study found that 42% of short-term rental subsidy recipients returned to homelessness.

Please invest in long-term solutions and stop the revolving door of homelessness.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Supervisors, future senator.

I spent over a decade living on the streets of San Francisco.

I'm a former drug user, and I spent eight and a half months of my pregnancy living on a sidewalk in a back alley.

Maternal child and adolescent health saved my life.

Now I get to lurk at work alongside this program supporting others with perinatal stabilization.

My child is now eight years old.

It's really challenging living in a world where we witness police abusing our community.

Help, my arm is broken.

Check my MRN.

I can't breathe, is yelled out.

I feel like I'm qualified to say our communities need HIV care.

We need pregnancy care, we need tail clinics, five-year subsidies, EHV subsidies.

We need the people's budget.

We don't need over policing and a new failed war on drugs.

This mayor is out here, social media influencing and making it rain tax breaks for the wealthy while we're struggling and being abused.

He's completely out of touch with reality.

AI profited over 500 billion dollars in 2025.

In the world's fourth largest economy, there is no deficit.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

Jennifer Freedombach Coalition on Homelessness.

Thank you for listening.

A lot of folks took off work today to be here, and I hope you act on what you're hearing.

Listen, we put props C on the ballot.

We had a vision to put thousands of homeless San Franciscans out of homelessness and end family homelessness and youth homelessness.

We are on the way to realizing that vision when the pandemic hit.

San Franciscans lost their housing while the fund plummeted, and we had to do short-term subsidies.

Now the fund is up.

We could do long-term.

We also have in the investment plan actually money to get rid of housing.

Not okay.

The investment plan supplants cut.

Prop C was designed by and passed by homeless people for homeless people to exit homelessness.

We need an offering of new initiatives that include long-term flex pool, one-to-one replacement of any units lost, new restore beds, and we need to make sure that all our EHV households stay in their homes.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Hi, my name is Cadess, and I'm with the Coalition on Homelessness.

I'm here urging all of you to invest in long-term subsidies and protect permanent supportive housing.

The need for long-term subsidies is very clear.

You have service providers telling you that it's needed.

You have the data telling you that long-term subsidies are needed, and that short-term two and five-year subsidies don't work for everyone.

And that it is that is currently the only kind that is being funded.

But even more importantly, you have families telling you they need long-term subsidies, and that is actually what leads to real stability.

What if someone on a fixed income to do when their two year subsidy ends?

Go back to the streets.

That is unacceptable, and it is your responsibility to make sure that does not happen.

This city needs to invest in the people who keep it running and show that we care about everyone and not just the rich, and actually have it reflect in the budget.

Our communities and our children deserve to have housing that is stable and a city that supports them.

Thank you.

Thank you for sharing your comments to the next speaker, please.

Okay, sorry.

Yeah.

Okay.

Hi, my name is Sam Liu, and I was the campaign manager for Prop C.

So some history about propsy.

It was created for them by unhoused people, and it was created so we would have a real source of money to get people into housing, because homelessness ends when people are in a home.

Year after year, we have had to fight for the smallest amounts of funding because we see pregnant moms on the street and families of six live in a single room.

This was a measure that thousands of people fought for across the city.

To hear that the mayor's budget plans only fund short-term housing is a desecration of everything that our communities have fought for and deserve.

If people only have two years in housing, then what's gonna happen?

They're gonna go back onto the streets.

Props C needs to be used in the way that it was created.

Permanent housing for our families, youth, and seniors.

The city has billions of dollars and spends most of it on police that doesn't do anything for us while criminalizing the most vulnerable.

It's time to fund what will actually keep us safe housing, food, free city college, a living wage, and a sanctuary city.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Hi, Supervisor.

My name is Miguel Carrera, and I work in the coalition on homelessness.

So I asked you to support the long term subsidies.

Why?

Because when you when the mayor, when you're thinking about to provide short term subsidies, you oppressing and repressing families, children, and people with disabilities.

We know allow to you and we don't allow the mayor to do or to bring or to give you short term subsidies to the families.

We need to make it stable the families.

The families have to be for long time for the time they need.

No, don't put limit to the families.

Don't dictate the orders to the families.

Please, please support the budget.

Support the HASPA budget, support the 500 subsidies with the money.

Do they to you guys and to the mayor?

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your comments.

Clerk's office staff has coordinated an ADA accommodation.

We're gonna have that speaker come forward now and then we'll resume the line.

Please begin.

All right, thank you.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Sabrina Hall.

I'm a district 10 resident, a CCSF student, and a mother.

Look at me.

I am disabled.

Formerly incarcerated black woman hooked up to this oxygen tank.

I am the living reality of the safety nets you want to slash.

I receive 46 hours a week of IHSS wraparound services to stay alive.

Squeezing disability and senior dignity funds is a matter of life and death for us.

When you freeze pretrial positions, you trap and um San Francisco public defender positions, you trap poor black and brown people in cages just for being poor.

That hits my spirit.

And a 30% cut to free city college strips away the wraparound grants for low-income students that need needed for books, survival, food, cars, and transportation.

Do not balance a six hundred and forty-two million deficit on the backs of poor students, seniors, disabled folks, and an incarcerated.

Reject Mayor Louis's cuts, fund IHSS, protect pretrial and fully restore fitting city college.

Power to the people.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

And in the meantime, please ensure that you're supporting the speaker silently so we can move through the line quickly.

Let's have the next speaker please uh please begin.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Zach.

I'm an RV resident here, and one the LVRP program rolled out.

A lot of people had concerns about the short term subsidies, and they had uh good cause because the science supports that long term subsidies are valuable more at a rate uh double that of short-term subsidies, even though short-term subsidies come in at an 18% lower cost price point than long-term subsidies.

You save money by actually funding long-term subsidies because more people stay housed.

This is what you want to do, right?

Is keep people housed and not have people return to homelessness because that's what happens with short-term subsidies.

Change the change them from short-term subsidies to long-term subsidies, people stay housed.

Thanks.

Thank you for comments.

Next speaker, please.

My name is Mimi with the Asian Law Caucus.

We are the nation's first Asian American legal and civil rights organization.

We're in the workers' rights community collaborative, where we unite with worker centers to advocate for low-wage immigrant workers.

Last year, the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, who funds WRCC reached out to us for assistance in creating a legally binding promissory note for two Filipino caregivers who were unpaid for their work to secure and obtain the eventual payment of their owed wages upon the death of the care recipient or the sale of the house where they currently live.

The current city budget proposal does not fund year two of the workers' rights community collaborative and this kind of creative co-enforcement collaboration that protects immigrant workers.

Now is not the time to defund this program.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Hi, my name is Min.

I'm also with Asian Law Caucus as a part of the workers' rights community collaborative.

As a law clerk that works with low-wage immigrant workers, including domestic workers, truck drivers, restaurant workers.

I've seen firsthand how we can build trust and rapport with these workers who might not otherwise have the opportunity to demand back their stolen wages over time and breaks.

My grandfather is a Vietnamese immigrant to the US, and he was working as a tailor when he was terminated because of racial discrimination, and he didn't know where he could seek legal help.

So he didn't.

And if he had access to the network of linguistically and culturally competent advocates and lawyers that we have at the WRCC, he would have been encouraged to fight.

So I urge the Board of Supervisors to protect the workers' rights community collaborative funding and to give the hardest working people in the city the bare minimum.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your comments.

Good afternoon.

My name is Aradna Tawari.

I am the lead attorney for the San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative, SFILDC.

We are a coalition of 15 dedicated legal service agencies.

Despite the rollback of many protections and the unprecedented levels of ICE enforcement, city investments have allowed us to build strategic coordinated infrastructure to defend our diverse and essential communities.

As an example of this, in this past April, when ICE illegally arrested a district 11 asylum seeker from China, our rapid response team was on the ground at the ICE processing processing center within an hour.

A year ago, this might have meant the quiet deportation of a community member, but instead it meant our team working around the clock for two days, buoyed by the real-time technical and legal support of our 14 organizational partners until this community member was back home in San Francisco safely.

This increased capacity exists today because of your funding.

Thank you for anchoring this vital support in the 2627 budget to support our immigrant communities.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Millie Atkinson with the Justice and Diversity Center and a proud member of the SFILDC.

Our collaborative represents over a thousand San Francisco residents who are in removal proceedings, and the budget supplemental that was passed last November allowed us to serve hundreds more.

We were able to host more clinics, file emergency motions and applications, and stand beside our clients at immigration appointments and court hearings when they were at the highest risk for detention by ICE.

Because of your support, we are ensuring that every San Francisco is afforded due process.

We have documented hundreds of illegal arrests by ICE in the last year, and just yesterday, our SFLDC partner, the lawyers committee for civil rights, won a groundbreaking decision ending ICE's illegal practice of arresting asylum seekers at their court hearings.

But these victories are not possible without sustained and reliable funding from the city.

We thank you again for supporting the mayor's decision to extend our funding from the budget supplemental for another year, and ask that you continue to prioritize services for immigrants in this year and next year's budgets so we can continue to fight and win and respond to threats with power, not panic.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hello, supervisors.

My name is Lucia Obregone, and I represent the San Francisco Latino Parity and Equity Coalition.

They cut our funds, they close the door.

But we've seen this fight before our workers and immigrants, too.

Will keep showing up for you too because no one can stop me from caring for my people.

No one can stop me for fighting for what's right.

No one can stop me from protecting our services.

We'll raise our voices.

We'll stand and fight because no one can stop me from caring for our people.

No one can stop me for fighting for a tribe.

No one can stop me from protecting our services.

We'll rise our voices.

We'll stand and fight.

Thank you for your comments.

Hi, I am Lydia Candila, the Executive Director Association Maya.

I am here today representing my people in Indigenous Maya community.

I am respectfully came before you to ask for your support.

Our community needs funding and resources to continue serving our families and preserving our culture.

The people I represent are hard-working individuals.

They work long hours, often eight to ten hours and ever more every day.

As they do so with dedication and pride.

Many members of our community work as cooks and chiefs through the San Francisco.

They work contribute significantly to these cities' restaurants' economy and cultural diversity.

I ask you that you please consider the valuable contribution and community makes to San Francisco every day.

This workers helped keep the city restaurant industry strong and their air for supportless business and families.

As the Executive Director of Socio Maya, I want to thank you so much for your comments for listening.

Thank you.

Thanks, speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

My name is Yvette Diaz.

I live in District 9 and work at Galeria de la Rasa, also in District 9.

San Francisco Arts and Culture is always on the chopping block, yet we rely on artists to maintain the life and vibrancy of the city.

At Galeria, I work directly with artists in our region and Raises Artist Workforce Development Programs.

These programs benefit artists that reside in your districts, not just District 9.

Without these programs, we cut paths to sustainable artistic practices and avenues to financial stability.

Artists aren't just a smokescreen to the issues our city faces or data for generative AI.

Artists are humans that work and create for the community.

And they want to do this without struggling to survive in one of the richest cities in the world.

Please add these artists' workforce development programs back on this budget.

Our artists need to know that the city isn't just using them to look good.

Thank you for comments.

So the next speaker, please.

My name is Nadia Medina.

I live in District 11 and I work at Galeria de la Rasa as part of the Bloomberg Arts High School internship program.

The mayor wants to prioritize San Francisco arts and culture, but cutting funding on artist workforce development is utter hypocrisy.

As a student who benefits from the workforce development programs, I hope you consider that these decisions affect all people.

The arts must be funded as people like you and me are what make these possible and accessible for all.

San Francisco is one of the most prosperous cities in the nation where art is very much alive.

We demand an end to disinvestment and instead ask for funding to empower and strengthen the arts and community in San Francisco.

Please support our artists in the city.

Thank you.

Thank you for comments.

Next speaker, please.

I've worked in every single one of your districts.

In that time, there's only one thing that's kept me and everyone else you're hearing from today here in San Francisco, and that's our community.

A community of people who have leaned on each other because their city refuses to fund them.

A community of people, each and every city hall employee has managed to isolate.

A community of people who have lost trust in their leadership, a community of people who cannot trust and therefore lack of a better word, mayor.

Do more than restore the cuts to MOHCD.

Do more than restore the cuts to OEWD.

Restore the trust that all of us that the Latinette community held in you.

Stand with the people who cannot afford to miss the days of work, who don't get to sit behind a barrier and enjoy water from gold-plated pitchers.

Nice touch, by the way.

Stand with your people, stand with San Francisco.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments to the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Katia Padilla, and I'm speaking on behalf of the Latino Task Force, the San Francisco Latino Parity and Equity Coalition and the People's Budget.

I'm here today to urge you to restore the cuts impacting workforce development, housing stability, and community-based services across our city.

I said this before, but the Latino community makes up fifteen percent of San Francisco's population, but drives 31% of its workforce and economic engine, contributing more than $3.5 billion in purchasing power and over one billion in taxes each year.

Yet investment in Latino communities has been cut by 73% over the last four years.

Budgets are moral documents, they reveal our priorities.

So then why is our mayor going against the recommendations of the soda tax advisory committee by defunding education and dental home linkage when we need it most.

Good afternoon, Board of Supervisors.

My name is Moreya Balam.

I am from Mexico, Yucatan.

I am a member of uh Nuevo Soul Day Labor and Domestic Worker Center.

I am a domestic worker and I've been asking for the mayor to please don't cut the budget.

Thank you.

Thank you for comments.

Next speaker, please.

Hello, Supervisor.

I am Prisma Ramos and I am a member of the Nuevo Sol and Organization and the Coalition.

And I am here today to ask that you not cut head in general, as we all need financial support.

I am study at City College in my studies have helped me a great deal.

So if it is with you power to help, please we are asking for your assistance and for you to hear us.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for your comments.

Let's add the next speaker, please.

Oh, no, no.

Algo sumamente, corte los uhsto have esta situation tan difficile.

Good afternoon, uh board of supervisors.

My name is Guernia Guillermia Castellano.

I am a co-director of Nuevo Sol and also Latino Tax Force, as well as many other organizations that have uh presented themselves here.

I am here with a domestic worker because I'm here to represent uh them in this plight and to help us uh deal with with these budget cuts.

This is really important because these cuts will affect our vision and the way that we can train ourselves.

It's a terrible to see that these cuts that we have that we're witnessing are the great the biggest cuts that we have seen in the last 40 years, and we ask you to please not uh to restore the the budget.

Thank you.

Thank you, yes.

I understand that uh clerk's office users have brought forward an ADA accommodation.

Uh that will have access to the lecture at this time, and then we'll resume the normal line.

Please begin.

Thank you.

Um my name is Daisy Jimenez.

I'm a native San Franciscan, and I'm representing the aging population for free city tuition.

Um this um community college offers intergenerational and diverse and rich environment, um, especially for the aging population where we've been hit with a lot of budget cuts with the senior communities, uh centers.

And um by cutting this, it's affecting uh all departments, uh HSA, DOS, the housing, because they all want us to stay in our homes longer.

Thank you.

Thank you for comments to the next speaker, please.

Hello, supervisors.

My name is Mia Satya.

I'm a senior in disability action.

I'm here today to talk about the life saving work of our health care action team, also known as HAT, and to ask for it to be fully funded.

HAT is a coalition of seniors, people with disabilities, caregivers, and leaders working together to ensure that seniors have the health care they need to stay in their homes.

Critical services that people depend on are being cut at the national level, at the state level, and now at the city level.

A lot of people are confused about what they qualify for.

Are they losing their health care?

Are they losing this program?

And too often we hear from clients that they have reached out to multiple service providers and they can't get the answers to the questions that they need for their complex issues that might relate to having a disability, immigration, having children, income, changing, things like that.

Without in-home support, seniors can lose their sense of dignity, lose their housing, and even lose their lives.

Please support Hat.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

But we would like to also see this much support given back to us, because it really takes um it's going to take it's gonna make a big impact on on our families and in our progress for us to to pull forward if you go forward with these cuts.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments to the next speaker, please.

Thank you for your comments.

I am a domestic worker, and I'm here to ask you to please don't cut the budget.

We use these funds to train all of our domestic workers so that they can be self-sufficient and that they can know their rights.

And uh I'm asking you to please don't cut the budget.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments to the next speaker, please.

And I'm here to let you know we can.

I'm gonna pause your time real quick.

Can you pull the microphone right up to your mouth so we can hear you more clearly?

Yeah.

We're here to fight to get the funding for all organization to get people there.

Without education, we can go nowhere.

We have to invest in human beings, look like city college, training for people get there, and also we we here to support all organizations, look at OMI, Chinese Progressive Association, Carson, Latino Task Force, California Domestic Worker Coalition, MEDA, Mission Highing Hall, San Francisco Latin, San Francisco Latino Party and Quick Coalition.

We here to fight to get there.

And today we are two get so much for your comments.

We got to go short on this city.

We have to move on to the next slide.

Thank you for sharing your comments of the committee.

Thank you so much.

Next speaker, please.

Uh good afternoon, Board of Supervisors.

Uh, my name is Omar Del Real.

Today I represent the People's Budget Coalition, the San Francisco Parity Equity Coalition, the San Francisco Latino Task Force, and of course Mission Hiring Hall, the nonprofit I am proud to work for.

Today I ask uh to consider funding or refunding our general employment hospitality program.

Our offices is a mere three blocks away from here, and I cannot tell you how many people come in and visit our offices on a daily basis just seeking employment opportunities.

We all know that once you get a job, it leads to be able to find a house, a rent, pay rent, get your roommates, get your life stable.

So please consider supporting San Francisco, the people and Viva Mexico.

Come on, World Cup.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Brian Minero, and I'm uh permanently working on a program assistant at Mission Haranho, and I'm also a permanently incarcerated as been a lot of years as a juvenile incarcerated and I'm 22 now, and now being able to I'm an immigrant, I'm from El Salvador in coming to these resources that it helped the community is really modern for the people.

It helped me.

I come into uh soul to out for uh work and they helped me, and now I'm currently working on Mission Higher Hall and now sitting down with those people to find an employment and help them make a rest to me.

It made me feel better because as a young man, as a youth advisory council of probation uh Alamita County.

Also, it made me feel uh inspiration to the community, and now I want to ask you to make the best decision for our community and for the next generation.

Thank you.

Thank you for sharing your comments.

Let's welcome our two hundredth speakers so far for the day.

Please come forward to the lecture.

200.

Hi, my name is Jasmine Everett, also here as representation for Mission Hiring Hall.

Um sorry, it's my first time here.

Um I come here as a community member and as a member of a nonprofit organization.

We're here to support not just Latino Task Force in San Francisco, Latino party inequality, but all of the nonprofit organizations that are here today asking for continued support and funding.

As Omar said, we help everyday individuals with their employment search, and as Brian said that we helped him a lot along his journey with his lifetime.

He's a very young man, he's been able to start his own nonprofit organization.

He's been able to do so much with the help of nonprofits, so people should not have to come here begging for decency and humanity.

Please make the right decision to continue to fund these nonprofit programs.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Alison King, and I'm speaking on behalf of Mission Economic Development Agency today.

Meta began working with Madras Educadores Latinos de San Francisco in 2024.

Through intensive training, they earned early childhood state certifications and successfully built a worker-owned cooperative.

Since January 2025, they have provided high quality affordable staffing to the Felton Institute and four other local child care centers, proving that community-owned businesses can solve our city's severe child care staffing shortages.

However, because of budget cuts, Meta is forced to completely terminate all technical assistance with this co-op.

It would make a huge difference for many children and families if Meta could continue to work with Madres.

They still need support to manage a new client relationships, update legal operating agreements, and expand their membership to up to 25 families.

Cutting their resources right now abandons these working parents at their most vulnerable growth phase and leaves our neighborhood child care centers without the stable trusted staffing they depend on to stay open.

Thank you.

Thank you for sharing your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

My name is José Moriscal.

I'm the associate director of our workforce development team at Mission Economic Development Agency.

I'm here to advocate for our mission techies program.

Our mission techies program supports 50 individuals every year to learn the important skills to become IT experts.

With um with continuing funding, we will be able to continue providing the high quality program.

Right now, our funding has been reduced, which will reduce the quality of our programming and will make it harder for us to continue placing community members in the IT industry.

We've had other community members also be placed in places like Microsoft.

We've had community members be placed in other smaller uh tech businesses here in San Francisco.

We ask that you continue funding our services so that we can continue supporting the community.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for sharing your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Kitsali Rocha, and I work at Incituto Familia de la RASA.

And I'm speaking as part of the San Francisco Latino Parity and Equity Coalition and the Latino Task Force.

I urge you to restore the proposed cuts to the city to city departments, particularly the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

These cuts will have a direct impact on youth, families, immigrants, and communities of color across San Francisco.

Case management, care coordination, resource navigation, and workforce development services are often the first point of contact to support individuals and families.

These services connect people to housing, health care, and employment opportunities, the very resources that help prevent homelessness, hospitalization, and increased reliance on our emergency systems.

When we cut these programs, we are not saving money.

We are reducing access to the supports that keep communities stable and create pathways for economic mobility.

As the cost of operating and providing services continues to rise, community-based organizations are being asked to do more with fewer resources.

I urge you to please partner with us, protect the safety net, and restore the cuts being made to our communities.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

It's our taxes for our services, it's our taxes, for our services.

Buenas tardes, supervisors, Francisco Herrera here, Nuevo Sol de Labor Domestic Workers Center, with the Coalition for Domestic Workers, with LPEC, San Francisco LAPEC, and Latino Task Force, as well as the organizations mentioned already.

The budget is a moral document, as we've heard many times.

That is the truth.

We've put this money together as taxpayers.

We've asked the mayor to look for it more monies from the state, from other sources.

That has not happened.

We should not be penalized because the city is not hire enough people to do the service, and now are up to one year late of paying nonprofits in the city for the work that they've been doing.

They've had to get loans out.

So it's really a time right now to look not in cutting, Francisco but in investing.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Hello, if y'all could actually pay attention while I was speaking, that would be great.

Thank you.

My name is Betul, and I'm here today as the primary case manager with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center AROC and with the People's Budget Coalition.

And our MOHCD funded case management program is facing over 80,000 in cuts.

AROC is the only Arab and SWANA-centered service providing organization in all of Northern California, and our case management and immigration services are vital to the community, especially in the city where we're one of the fastest growing populations.

Our funding and AROC as an organization have repeatedly faced Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian attacks and threats.

And at a time where both of these things are on the rise, alongside increased repression towards immigrants, it's necessary that the city, the supervisors, and mayor Lurry work to protect those most vulnerable and susceptible to these threats.

We ask that you restore the funding for our MOHCD funded case management work and for all of the organizations facing these cuts.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments to have the next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Rima, and I am a part of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center's legal team.

AROC is a proud member of the SF Immigrant Legal and Education Network and Rapid Response Network.

In that collaborative, we provide free legal services, know your rights education, and ICE verification.

We are the only free Arabic language immigration legal provider.

Continued investment in SF Island and the Rapid Response Network preserves legal services, rapid response infrastructure, multilingual outreach, and community-based response systems that SF residents already rely on.

Sustaining these investments protects prior city investments while maintaining critical staffing, coordination, and service capacity across both networks.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

My name is Selma, and I'm also here with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center.

We are a partner organization of the Immigrant Parent Voting Collaborative, which consists of eight multilingual and cultural organizations with decades of expertise in immigrant rights, education equity, and civic leadership.

AROC is also part of the language access network, which is a coalition of seven organizations here in San Francisco that provide language access education services and know your rights.

At a time when immigrant communities are facing continuous and increased threats, this is a critical opportunity for San Francisco to lead by example to invest in programs that ensure immigrant families feel safe and have access to essential resources.

In moments of heightened enforcement and policy shifts, language access becomes becomes even more critical.

We stress the need to prioritize language access, ensuring limited English proficiency in residents have equal access to vital information and public services.

So we ask that you maintain the funding level for immigrant parent voting outreach and engagement in school board elections at 250,000 dollars each year.

And maintain the funding level for the language access network.

We have to move on to the next speaker.

Thank you.

I live in District 11, and I like to put in a good word for AROC.

As uh as an opponent to Israeli genocide and ethnic cleansing, I find AROC's website's calendar uh very useful in in having a source of activities uh uh support human rights, be it be they online or or on the streets.

And as a possessor of a free muni uh clipper card, I like to commend the the MTA's parrot transit program.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

And so the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

My name is Sydney Yi Sioux and I am with Chinatown Media and Arts Collaborative, also known as C Mac, urging you to reject the proposed budget cuts to arts and culture programs impacting Chinatown.

In Chinatown, culture is our economy, and we rely heavily on foot traffic.

It's the legacy murals, the community festivals and the cultural institutions like CMAC and Chinese Culture Center that not only draw in tourists and regional visitors, but also our dense residential community who support and sustain our local businesses.

Being a cultural ambassador as Ms.

Chinatown USA, I have crossed paths with many board members and mayor Lurie at community events organized by the very programs being cut from this budget.

CMAC envisions a cultural campus that is in the heart of Chinatown, bridging communities and increasing economic revenue.

Defunding our programs directly decreases foot traffic required to generate vital sales and tax revenue that fuels San Francisco's broader economic recovery, and I deeply urge you to recognize this funding as a critical investment and to please restore it.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Hi, supervisors.

My name is Aaron Lim, and I'm a Chinatown resident.

I'm here to urge you to reinstate the $200,000 in art activations for the Chinatown Media and Arts Collaborative, also known as CMAC.

With Portsmouth Square currently shut down for construction.

Our community has lost its vital living room.

Our seniors, youth, and families have nowhere left to gather.

Cutting CMAC's contemporary arts festivals, night markets right now is not just a budget issue, it's a community wellness issue.

These activations are some of the last remaining spaces keeping our neighborhood connected, active, and mentally healthy.

Without Portsmouth Square, we desperately need programs like this to survive.

I urge you to please protect Chinatown's health and restore the 200,000 dollars.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for comments.

Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, Board of Supervisor.

My name is Michelle, a Chinese American San Franciscan.

I'm here to urge you to reject budget cuts to the Chinese Culture Center.

This is deeply personal.

My great grandmother lives in Chinatown.

During COVID, the extreme isolation and lack of socialization caused her to quickly develop dementia.

It proved to me, it proved to my family that community connection is a matter of life or death for our seniors.

Today, Pert Mouth Square and the courtyard where the CCC operates allows our elders to gather, socialize, and stay connected.

Events like the Hungry Girls Festival and the Art Revitalization keep our community healthy and give our seniors a place to share stories.

For Chinatown's elders, the CCC is not just an art organization.

It is healthcare.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

Hi, Board of Supervisors.

My name is Yuang Yuan.

I'm the program director at the Chinese Cultural Center.

I'm here to urge you to restore CCC's funding for Hungry Ghosts Festival, a crucial tradition and beloved gathering for San Francisco.

Hungry Ghosts Festival reimagines a traditional ritual as a citywide gathering rooted in Chinatown and celebrated by many across our diverse communities.

Just in 2025 alone, CCC collaborated with more than 40 artists, 30 partners, and 25 Chinatown merchants through Hungry Ghosts Festival, joining an estimated 18,000 attendees and bringing over 400,000 in direct spending in SF Chinatown.

Many people have been asking when is the uh Hungry Ghost Festival happening this year, and it really breaks my heart to tell them it's not coming back this year because of the funding cuts.

Our community needs your support to keep Chinatown thriving, and I urge you to protect this safe haven and help bring the Hungry Ghost Festival back.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, please.

Hi, Supervisor.

My name is Kian.

I'm a Chinatown residence and a culture worker at Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco.

I'm here today to urge you to restore the funding for the Chinatown App Revitalization program as well as the Hungry Gold Festival, which provide free art and culture program for the community.

Two years ago, I visited San Francisco for the first time and attended Hungry Girl Festival and the Public App program in Chinatown.

And I saw San Francisco Chinatown unlike any others.

That experience has such a profound impact on me and that I moved from New York to San Francisco and choose to make Chinatown my home, where I once witnessed how art and culture can connect immigrant residents, visitor, and community across generation.

Today it's sad to see this opportunity disappear due to the funding cut.

So therefore, here I'm sincerely ask the city to restore this funding.

So Chinatown, can we make a vibrant and cultural wish neighborhood for us, we, the people.

Thank you for comments.

So the next speaker, please.

I'm Hannah Chia, Miss San Francisco Chinatown and daughter of Khmai refugees.

Speaking today as a community member of the Chinese Culture Center.

Before this crown, when I graduated from UC Berkeley, I moved to San Francisco because I saw the city as a major arts and culture hub.

When I was far from family, Chinatown's arts programming gave me a home.

My first ever event was the Hungry Ghost Festival, a significant holiday in my family to honor our ancestors.

And I was so moved by how the Chinese Culture Center developed it into something modern, educational, diverse, and deeply community centered.

That led me to regularly visit 41 Ross and the Edge on the Square Gallery, where I met artists and stories that inspired me to become a San Francisco Chinatown to carry on this legacy.

These programs are the living thread between Chinatown's past and its future, especially as America's oldest Chinatown.

When we cut funding, we lose these spaces and stories that make SF not only an iconic city but the home to many different communities.

I urge you to please protect these programs.

So the next speaker, please.

Hi, my name is Rumi Tang Smith.

I'm here today with the Chinatown Media and Arts Collective, or CMAC, and the Chinese Culture Center.

More than one in three people in this city are Asian American, and yet when budget cuts come, Chinatown is on the chopping block.

The proposed cuts to CMAX art activation fund would eliminate the night market activations, community gatherings, and the cultural infrastructure that has kept this neighborhood alive through displacement and erasure through the decades.

So my question for the board is simple.

When does the budget actually reflect who lives here?

If we cut the programs that keep Chinatown's culture alive, who benefits and who pays the price?

You heard from our community today, and the answer is clear.

Please restore the funding to CMAX Art Activation Fund and stand behind the Chinese culture center.

Fund the community that has built this city alongside you.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon.

My name is Virginia Chung, and I support the People's Budget.

I'm with Open Door Illegal, the only legal services provider located on the West Side, and we are committed to ensuring that everyone has access to justice regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, income, language, age, sexual orientation, or ability.

We request we request restoration of culturally and linguistically responsive legal services for immigrants, seniors, people with disabilities on the West side, and all communities in need citywide.

A people's budget is not just about funding programs, it's about funding solutions to prevent homelessness, domestic violence, unnecessary emergency room visits, incarceration, and the cycles of trauma that impact families and communities for generations.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Good afternoon, supervisors.

My name is Sierra Sparks, and I'm here on behalf of Open Door Legal and the People's Budget Coalition.

I wholeheartedly support a people's budget for San Francisco.

And I, as you review the proposed budget and make your recommendations, I urge you to prioritize funding to protect gender justice, including the Office of Victims' Rights and Right to Counsel for Survivors, and LGBTQ plus organizations that provide critical support and stability, as well as funding to support our immigrant communities.

Additionally, I ask that you continue to deepen the support of legal services, specifically restoring the rescinded funding that was intended to protect constituents in District 1, 4, and 7, elders, people with disabilities, and the AAPI community.

San Francisco has long been a beacon of hope, safety, and inclusion.

We have an obligation to protect our most vulnerable.

Please protect our legacy by investing in Social Safety Net and services that safeguard your constituents' stability and access to justice.

Thank you.

Thank you for comments.

Next speaker, please.

Hello, supervisors.

I'm Tab Buckner, and I'll be frank.

People will die.

I refer to a proposed cut to harm reduction services.

When the tools for such access are removed, overdoses and serious infections increase.

Plain and simple.

And mayoral candidate candidate Lurie promised robust HIV resources.

Cutting back and culturally competent HIV prevention and health support will endanger residents, especially people of color, immigrants, trans, queer, youth, and seniors.

Let's return to the global model we once were and reach our zero goal for HIV before carelessly losing more community members.

Make sure to adopt the people's budget, including complete harm reduction and HIV services.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ted Buckner, for your comments.

Ted the next speaker, please.

Hi, uh good afternoon.

Uh my name is uh Patrick Russella.

I'm with the Filipino Community Center.

And uh we serve uh the community in District 11 in the Excelsior district.

And we've been there uh providing services for Filipino workers uh since uh two thousand three.

Uh we're part of the uh workers' rights community collaborative.

Uh and we are um very concerned because uh the mayor's budget proposal does not include funding for year two for the collaborative, which puts the city at risk for losing its only uh in-language and culturally competent labor law co-enforcement service rooted in the community.

And uh, we know we really see this as um really stifling uh the the people who make the city run, uh the workers who make the city run, everybody from the caregivers, the restaurant workers, hotel workers.

So we want to urge that we actually get um the funding for the workers' rights community collaborative.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

So the next speaker, please.

We are also part of the workers' rights collaborative in the city.

And you, the supervisors and all, we have had a partnership for the last 19 years.

You approve the labor ordinance, and we with the OLSE made this ordinance to be in force.

We protect workers for wish theft, we for violation of basic leave and many other things.

But this year, as Pat's mentioned, we don't have funding for our second year.

So I want to leave you with one question.

What is the value of the ordinance?

Is there no one to enforce it?

Your work will be worthless, and people and workers, the low wage workers will be with the protection.

So please fund the second year of our contract.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments to the next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, my name is Juan Bilvaso.

I'm a staff attorney at La Razo Seta de Gal in the workers' rights program, and also uh we're a member organization, the workers' rights community collaborative.

Our program at LRCL receives around 400 calls from service seekers per year.

Uh of those we're able to schedule about 250 250 legal consultations.

The workers that come to us suffer all manner of violations of their legal rights and personal dignity.

Workers we serve have been robbed, defrauded, harassed, and the worst cases abused and sexually violated.

As my colleagues have stated, the mayor's budget proposal is not funding year two of the collaborative.

Every year we find ourselves here asking to maintain funding for a collaborative that for the better part of 20 years has been working for SF workers.

Time that could be better spent serving vulnerable community members.

I urge the board to prioritize continued funding to protect SF workers and community.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments to have the next speaker, please.

Um, good afternoon civilizers.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Do we have an interpreter?

Yes, I'll interpret.

Uh, my name is Zi Wei.

I am a restaurant worker living in San Francisco, and I work at SFO Airport.

After arriving in San Francisco, I worked at a produce shop in Chinatown and a restaurant in Japan Town.

I worked over six days a week, 10 hours a day, yet my wages fell far short of minimum wage.

I received no health insurance, no overtime pay, or full meal breaks.

Thanks to CPA's workers' rights counseling services, I gained the knowledge and courage to fight for my rights whenever they were violated.

I have also actively dedicated myself to fight for the rights of low-income workers.

Our programs provide essential support to help low-income families establish a firm footing and sustain their livelihoods in San Francisco.

So we call upon the city to fully restore funding for the California Domestic Workers Coalition and to commit to continued funding for the workers' rights community collaborative.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

I'm also a worker leader at CPA.

I urge the Board of Supervisor to fully restore funding for the California Domestic Worker Coalition, C DWC, and continue to fund the WRCC Worker Rights Community Collaborative for year two.

I am an IHSS worker caring for an eighty-four years old elder.

We domestic workers provide essential daily support to many low income seniors, enabling their family members to work and contribute to the economy.

However, domestic workers often lack protection and face wage theft and unpaid overtime.

Because of language barrier and fear of contacting government agency, many domestic workers chose to stay silent.

As a result, free workers' rights consultation services are often the only place we can seek help.

Thank you for your comments.

Let's have the next speaker, please.

Can we get interpretation of the comments, please?

My name is Yin Fan.

I live in District 3 in SF.

I am also a work leader at CPA.

I urge the Board of Supervisors to fully restore the C D B C W C and continue to fund the WRCC programs for year two.

I am an IHSS worker who takes care of an 86 years old senior.

I work seven days in a row.

With CPA support, I muster up the courage to negotiate with my employer and now at least one one day off in the week, which I use to pay more attention to my son.

If these two programs are eliminated, SF will lose the only existing services that provide free workers' rights consultation in multiple languages.

These programs also work directly with OLSE to help enforce labor law and protect the rights of low income immigrants.

In today's political climate, the city should be strengthening protection for immigrants and low wage workers, not weakening them.

Thank you.