Reports alleging that Councilmember DeMaio asked children to leave the playground before a press conference are absolutely

false. Prior to DeMaio's arrival at the press conference, there was an exchange between a member of our staff and a non-profit program manager. Our staff have always followed a policy of securing parental consent before anyone under-age is featured in a press event. Because of that policy, our staff member informed the manager that a press conference was going to be held momentarily to release a volunteer Initiative. The manager graciously offered to take the children out of the camera shot. At the time, the manager expressed zero objections. To be 100% clear, Councilmember DeMaio was not even at the event during this exchange and any suggestion that he personally asked the manager and children to leave are 100% false. Enclosed is an email from Ms. Bruch confirming the exchange.