Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20171226

Pool and that means theres some left in the reservoir but you cant get it out. You throw a hose in and pump it out in an abnormal way but it cant be released through normal mechanisms. This is how we track our work over time. So for the last drought, we followed this basic scenario of getting to higher levels of conservation driven by state water board measures and i was asked by a conference what would have you done different if you had known we were getting into this drought and my answer is nothing. This droughtplanning scenario serves us extremely well to meet obligation to our customers here in the city and outside. Which means, if the drought isnt that severe, yes therell be some water left over but we dont really know for sure about that. That led me as we prepared our comments to the state on the Water Quality control plan to look at more documents. There was a declaration by the general manager at the time when considering the factors associated with the citys entitlement to water and systems and consequences of just being wrong is the forecasting the leng length the drought, i cant not say they were overly conservative. I like to cite a sitting commissioner and former general manager who is the general manager through the 8792 drought and that was a horrific period for water managers in california. Thats what we used going back to 1994 our droughtplanning process adopted as part of the water improvement program. We can look at other alternatives but its a matter of how much risk were willing to take on. Thats a very important question for us to consider. I wanted to summarize what we do, why we do it and how we have used it so far. Are we going to a new drought . Could be but were prepared for it. Thats our response, being prepared as if were getting into a long period of drought no matter what. We plan that way. You saw this being drawn down and it gives me a twitch. If it rains in january well shut the project down and take the water. Its more important to get the water than to finish that. We can do that at a later time. Well have to balance that risk though. And its in our planning scenario and well be happy to answer questions. Commissioners. On the drawdown, that affects and its on the progressive curve you showed. Hows that affect your firstyear actions if it turns out to be the first year of a drought sequence. And if droughts dont last longer, does this change your thinking about a firstyear event . Not particularly. We talked about the eight and a half year planning sequence but i think whats built into that is the first year assumption that youre probably not going to over react because you dont know youre in a drought. When we talk about operationalizing new projects we assume that is going to cover a seven and a half year period and kick in at the end of the first year when we say, gosh, that was dry. We have to act as if were in a drought sequence now. In this case that would take us down 200,000 or 250,000 acre feet of storage which is halfway down the first decreasing year. It would accelerate us getting into a firstyear drought is what it would do for us. It does give you less resource if you were to in fact enter a critical period thats correct. Feel the loss of that but at a later year . Yes, it would. You brought out one comment. The picture at the beginning of oshaughnessy as the island was appearing, brings me flashbacks and nightmares and that. It was a very serious time and that be resulted in a bunch of things. It resulted in changing our operations so we were without any ambiguity of waterfirst operations and power would not be generated in a way that would compromise our long term ability to produce water ability and prompted an extensive and deep analysis of what our hydrolgy can be operated in order to maximize our resiliency, if you will, during a drought sequence. So when you look at the curves you have and the rule curves we have in place, that was the product of deep and sober thougthought and modelling and consideration. The policies that were generated were not without cost. They cost us in our ability to generate power. They cost us in our ability to certify water supplies. Theres no part of that thats back of the envelope calculation. Theres no part of that is aimed at anything other than preserving the ability to serve in a reliable and responsible way. I do get concerned when numbers are cited out of context. That impugning and integrity of the planning process and i take that personally. I think what san franciscans can be confident in and what our wholesale customers can be absolutely confident in, is that the operating criteria were using and the planning criteria were using are not scare tactics and they are not conveniently conservative numbers. Theyre very carefully derived numbers and cognizant of the cost in terms of money. In terms of social impact, in terms of economic viablity viability of the area and there are serious feelings. I wanted to share that with you. We had other numbers presented today that would cast that in a less than serious light. I think thats important to discuss. Commissioners, anything else . Thank you. We have two gentlemen to speak on Public Comment on item number nine. First is mr. Peter dreckmyer. Welcome back. So its interesting that mr. Morans quote from 1994 suggests that people were saying the drought plan at that point or whatever management of the system was 14 years before the 2008 design drought. I would beg to differ with you, mr. Moran. I think the design is arbitrary. Its two droughts combined. I dont think theres Science Behind that. In 2009, the state adopted the coequal goals of ensuring reliable water supply and protect the eco system. I think San Franciscos a little behind on the second of those. I will give you credit. In the upper tuolome Stakeholder Group meeting on friday, its people from state and federal agencies and ngos talking about biology. Its a great, constructive collaborative process and we need Something Like that for the lower tuolome and there was a Climate Change study. I dont think any of that was reflected in the design drought. If the concern is Climate Change, why dont we look at the science. It will affect things in positive and negative ways. The first 2400css belongs to the irrigation district and between april and june the climate study said more precipitation will fall as rain and not snow and the snow will melt earlier shifting to the season when it benefits the fpuc. The last year was the second wettest year on record in the Tuolumne Water shed but yielded the most run off ever probably because of the fire and less taken to vegetation. Thats probably what well see in the future and it does have a positive as far as the water supply, negative for the environment. I hope the state will do more. The proposals focus on measures. We dont see those working in the absence of higher flows and sfpuc hasnt supported the idea of if the measures dont work we need more water. Thats Adaptive Management and we hope to see that and there was an agreement in 1995 that said the state agrees to support the negotiating position regarding volumes of water to be supplied during the mediation professional and during proceedings relating to the fish flow issue. It seems like youre contractually obligated to follow the lead of the irrigati irrigation district for the tuolumne. Next mr. Dave river. Its a pleasure to speak to you again. I think the way id like to approach this is to i think commissioner moran, back when you were going through this problem and i can feel the emotion of you saying the challenge of going through this was an outstanding job at the time. The thing that was missing was the environmental aspect. The questions id love to see you guys asking are what environmental unless was done when the current design drought was created. What is the Environmental Impact . What were the measures implemented to mitigate that impact and does the measures make a difference . I think thats really what san franciscans today would like to have. They would like to have a great, reliable water supply but done with great environmental support. I think weve only got half of that. Another question is, how often do you regularly get updates on the environmental damage going on at tuolumne and the chinook salmon possibly going extinct . Another question is how did the drop planning mile compare to history. Peter covered that. Do you note the results of the last drought was not merely as long but it resulted in us having three years of unneeded storage and that would have been terrifically valuable to the fish. You can ask questions and find solution thats are winwin for both the habitat and for the water reliability which you so wonderfully provided for s citizens. I does notice in the 2015 urban Water Management plan there was an assumption household demand for water increases as affluence increases. I think we may have seen the opposite. Another question that could be asked and maybe it doesnt go anywhere but worth the discussion, is what if we changed that assumption that affluent households take the drought more seriously. They implement more planning measures so we see the demand for those households go down . If you model that, what does that do to overall demand . Does that give you more options for dealing with achieving drought goals and protecting the environment. Thanks so much. Thank you, mr. Warner. Any other Public Comment on item nine . Next item, please. I have a question on where we are in the whole process with the state conversation and negotiations. Deputy general manager, thats covered by a confidentiality agreement we can discuss that later on the agenda. Okay. Is there a public piece to where this process is for the state and Water Quality control plan and the substitute environmental environment the control board took comments on march 17 in 2017. There has not been the release of comment doc. We can only rumor when theyll release that. We hear its maybe february but thats a rumor. Its not official. Maybe they take it up some time in april in may but they dont have a schedule posted on their website at this point in time. Thats helpful. Thank you. Last call for Public Comment . Next item. The clerk item ten is a bay area water supply and conservation update. Good afternoon, commissionerers. I was extremely saddened by the news of the mayors passing and his loss will be fell not just by those of you in San Francisco and by many including those at bosca so i appreciate the difficulty in going through today but government business must go on. I intend to focus my remarks on primarily two things and ill keep them short. Last month dan wade, the program director, came and spoke to the board and provided an update. It was well received and appreciated by the board. This year, parked the anniversary the three years passing one allowing representation and the one bill that allowed San Francisco to rebuild the system and the last bill that created a Financing Authority to assist in financing that rebuild if necessary. Together, those three bills have created great results. We now sit at 90 or more completed. And essentially the seismic reliability is there for the community. Thats a great accomplishment. So you now have you before you with the latest quarterly reports projections for a release of the schedule. Full that engaged with your team on that but it certainly reflects kind of what we think is going to happen as the program tries to wind down. That schedule theres pressures on that schedule for other things as well. The concern is that may not be the end of it with the latest e rebaselining. Well continue to work on that. As necessary, once the schedule gets firmed up we do anticipate reaching out to our legislative contingency to extend the oversight from the sate and well work in collaboration with your staff on that and there was support when we went through that process the last time but that state oversight from our perspective is beneficial and helpful so we want to make sure that continues. On the second point, if i can look at the slides, i did want to provide a regular update on the total water use in the service area. As a reminder, the top line is the predrought for 2013 water use all supplies on a monthly basis. The bottom red line is the lowest use in the 2016 calendar year. And the green is where we are at currently. Were right now tracking 12 less than 2013 in october. Thats an increased reduction compared to last month which is about 8 . The interesting thing and well continue to watch this in the summer months, how much closer to the lower line does the demand go. Or does the reduction stay hardened in through the winter. The weather this year and the lack of precipitation will be an interesting part of that. My board has asked me to continue to present on that and we will do that. Lastly, just to add a few comments to the drought discussion you just had, i sincerely appreciate commissioner morans thoughts on that. It is never something that a water manager wants to go through as a drought. Weve had several Difficult Conversations and didnt get as difficult as it could have the last time. This service area, in many ways, is unique because it does not have a significant access to an alternative water supply source. We dont have a connection to the delta or have the backup available in the event the hechy goes dry and that drives the appropriateness of the planning and something bawsca appreciates so id just add my thoughts to that. Thank you. Commissioners, any comments . Any Public Comment . Madame, secretary, please read the consent calendar. Item 11 is the consent calendar. All matters under are considered to be routine by the San Francisco Public Utilities commission and acted upon by a single vote of the commission. That will be no separate discussion of the items unless a member of the commission or the public so requests in which event the matter will be removed from the calendar and considered as a separate item. Commissioners, do you wish to remove anything from the consent calendar . Id motion to move the consent calendar. Second. Any discussion . Public comment . Okay. All in favor . Aye. Opposed . The clerk item 12 authorized memorandum of understanding for improvements on illinois straight between 18th and 19th street in concession with the mission bay loop project in the amount not to exceed 8 64,96. Any Public Comment . All in favor . Aye. Opposed . Thank you. Item 13. [reading item] may i make a comment on the item . Id like to make a motion but before i do that, im wondering if as part of our budget discussions or maybe even to come before the commission, id like to get a sense of i believe our Grant Program is about 2 million now . Thats correct. I dont have an understanding how that compares to other cities when they do apples to apples who have these similar Flooding Issues that theyre dealing with and have Grant Programs. At some point id love to get an understanding if thats sufficient with Technical Assistance and whats being approved today. To touch a little bit upon it and the previous presentation, the Grant Programs ranges from 30,000 and nonengineer. Were actually trying to do something thats different and so we are providing a budget amount of 2 million just to kind of see what the appetite is and if with we see that we would need more we will come back and talk to the commission about needing more resources out there to address. Now, the program is for folks in those flood areas and not everyone. Theres a limit and also were working with the applicants on solutions. So its not like everyone that we will look at the situation case by case. So we can kind of give you more of an update grand and i know the storm water fee is coming and how they interface together. Would potentially there continue to be a Grant Program . Would it increase . Decrease for the folks not in the flood zones or who may be but then they would be pegged fees instead. I think to talk about about what our strategy has been, the storm water fee in the first stage is to acknowledge thats a component well put on everyones bill. The second part is for folks who do not receive a puc bill because they dont receive a water bill, is to submit a bill. So if you have a parking lot and you dont have water service, we want to make sure we capture those folks because theyre contributing storm water to our system. Thats the first phase. The second phase after we roll that in, we are looking at size of property and see if theres pavement and theres multiple factors we havent fully baked out. So we can maybe talk about where they are as far as runoff if youre on top of the hill verse this bottom of the hill. Those things havent been ironed out yet. I think there may be two different Grant Programs were talking about here. One is an investigation for a future Green Infrastructure Grant Program. Thats correlated to the storm water rates modification and thats for installing storm Water Management and the flood water Grant Program which is the agenda item, is for structures on existing properties experiencing flood damage due to raininduced flooding. And trying to find ways to protect properties in lowlying areas. I mean at the end of the day its the same property have the flood risk with every storm because its a matter of topography. So to try to provide assistance to those Property Owners who are always going to have flood risk no matter how any Capital Projects we build to try to manage storm water a bigger storm would bring flood risk to the same Vulnerable Properties and were trying to help them to take measures to floodproof their property. Well see how it gets deployed and see if its the right amount or more or less needed. Id like to make a motion. Second. All in favor . Public comment . Discussion . All right, all in favor . Opposed . Next item please. Item 14 authorize the issuance of the 2017 series defg water Revenue Bonds to advance refund a portion of the 2011 series a, 2011 series b and series c and 2011 series d and 2012 series a and 2012 series c water Revenue Bonds to achieve debt service savings. I have to jump the screen. The monitors moving. Okay. I have problems with my monitor and when he came to try to correct it he explained the monitors were very old and you can try to plug and plug it back in but its a bit of a lost cause. Thank you. Apparently they dont have immediate plans to replace them either. As we struggle with our monitors, its a pet peeve but were in the Technology Capital of the world and we dont have screens we can read documents on. No comment. My wifes in charge. We need a solution. Good afternoon. Im the debt manager at the sfpuc. Im here to present item 14, the water enterprise refunding bond transaction that were about to with your approval, embark on. Before i do that though, i want to spend a couple minutes giving you a quick briefing on an earlier transaction we did that you approved november 14. This is for the new money water bond sale we did. Those bonds sold on november 30, approximately 339 million bonds sold in the 2017 series a, b, c, water Revenue Bonds. Successful transactions around we had seven under writers and the winning bid result in 3. 8 . To put in context, we assume 5 for debt issuances so to come in below that is a good thing. Also, i wanted to point out the bond rating agencies affirmed the water bond ratings, moodys affirmed it at aaa3 and standard at poors at aa minus. Its scheduled to close tomorrow, december 13. Happy to answer questions on that transaction before we jump into the item at hand. Id like to move the item. Second. Discussion . Any Public Comment . All in favor. Aye. Thank you. Approved, thank you. Next item, please. The clerk item 15 thorse a memorandum of understanding with the office of the treasurer and Tax Collector bureau of delinquent revenue to provide special Collection Services for delinquent water, sewer and power charges. I have a question on that. I would like a better understanding how that will impact lowincome residents who may not be able to afford to pay and what that entails. This is an arrangement with the Tax Collector. Currently he is working with an assessment of fees and how it affects lowincome customers. Since this is a continuation i would ask maybe through the general manager, once he finishes that assessment we can understand that better because i do have some concern around the rate increases espescialr espec especially on lowincome folks and get payment but consider them. Thats the work were doing on affordability. Thank you. We had a motion. Second. I think there was a second. Any discussion . Public comment . All in favor . Opposed . Approved. Next item. The clerk item 16 authorize the San Francisco Public Utilities commissioner waste water enterprise to accept and expend the Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange in 29,000. Move for second. Discussion . Public collect . All in favor . Opposed . Approved. Next item. Authorize San Francisco Utilities Commission water en prize to accept the port for a 30year term. Second . Discussion . Public comment . All in favor . Opposed . Approved. Next item, please. The clerk item 18 authorize a general manager to execute a Second Amendment to the site license agreement dated october 6, 2015 between tri star Investors Llc and city and county of San Francisco and locate additional telecommunicati telecommunicating equipment and in the increase of subject to 3 . I move the item. Second. Any discussion . Any Public Comment . All in favor . Aye. Opposed . It passes. The clerk item 19, authorize the general manager to execute a memorandum of standing between the Treasure Island Development Authority and continue to provide Utility Services for the naval station at Treasure Island. Id like to move the item. Second. Discussion . Public comment . All in favor . Aye. Opposed . It is approved. Next item. Item 20, authorizing the general manager to execute 15 to 25 Grant Agreements to support San Francisco youth and young adults engage in projectbased learning opportunities. Each Grant Agreement will provide approximately 25,000 in grant funds per year to the grantee and have a duration of three years each. Id like to comment real quick if i could. So i wanted to make sure that my colleagues understood im supportive of the effort and i also wanted to thank staff, especially ag ellis for pa painstakingly go over the details and what are career and pathway programs and what is good work in the field. I think what excites me the most, is through the efforts well begin to compile data useful for both the efforts and the Career Pathway Development Proposals currently on the table. Specifically knowing what the wage rates are and the minimum qualifications and whether you need to possess a california drivers license or ged. Im excited about moving this item forward. Im excite about the dialogue im having with Agency Leadership and i support it but if theres something that you feel you should add please go ahead and do that. Im the acting Community Benefits workforce manager. I dont think i have anything substantial to add to that. This is a project learning grants is around our eco literacy strategy and linking concepted to projectbased learning that exposes youth to Career Opportunities around the puc and partnership with union so what youre speaking to is these grants support that firsttouch point and reaching youth 1117 on track to the Workforce Development programs. I would add from my seat i appreciate the work youre doing as well in this area from an Environmental Stewardship perspective. Its an Incredible Opportunity for careers Going Forward i support the program as well and thank you for your work on it. Thank you. One of my colleagues at my day job said it was a big moment to teach kids where milk comes from and where it goes eventually but the program is great work. Thank you. Ill move the item. Second. Any discussion . Any Public Comment . All in favor . Aye. Opposed . Approved, thank you. Okay. Were moving into closed session. Will agree closed session items. Item 23 is anticipated lake litigation with two cases as plaintiff. Item 24 is existing litigation versus the city of San Francisco and items 25 through 31 will not be heard today. So is there any Public Comment or matters to be discuss during closed session . Is there a motion to assert the attorneyclient privilege as conference for legal concert. Move to assert. Okay. Second. All right. All in favor . Aye. Opposed . Okay. Motion not to disclose. Second. Those in favor. Opposed . Passed. As we adjourn the meeting id like to officially do so in memory of mayor lee and if i may say so i think it is again all the priority of the commission and staff to continue the work of mayor lee and to support the acting mayor. With that the meeting is adjourned. Happy holidays, everyone. Clerk this is a reminder to silence all electronic devices. San francisco Fire Commission regular meeting december 13, 2017, and the time is 9 02. [ roll call. ] clerk announcements. The next Fire Commission meeting will not on january 10th, 2018 in city hall in room 416. The Fire Commission will resume their usual meeting schedule in 2018 consisting of the second and fourth wednesdays of the month. Item three, general Public Comment. Members of the public may address the commission for up to three minutes on any matter within the commissions jurisdiction and does not appear on the agenda. Speaker shall address their remarks to the commission as a whole and not to individual commissioners or Department Personnel. Commissioners are not to enter into debate or discussion with the speaker. The last of a response by the commissioners or Department Personnel does not necessarily constitute agreement with or support of statements made during Public Comment. Is there any Public Comment . Seeing none, Public Comment is closed. Clerk item 4, approval of the minutes. Discussion and possible action to approve Meeting Minutes on november 8th, 2017 and december 1st, 2017. Thank you. Is there any Public Comment on those minutes . Seeing none, Public Comment is closed. Commissioners, what is your pleasure . [ inaudible ] move by commissioner hardeman, do i have a second . Second. Second from Vice President nakajo. All approving . All in opposition . Clerk Environmental Health and safety. Director Anthony Boone to provide overview of duties, current findings and expectations for 2018. Welcome, mr. Boone. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Good morning commissioners, chief. Thank you for having me this morning. First, let me say its an honor and a privilege to be part of the department and provide an overview of Environmental Health and safety for the department. I think the over arching philosophy that i bring to the department is to use all my skills and resources and knowledge to make an inherently dangerous job safer, if that makes any sense. I was talking with chief hayeswhite yesterday about firefighters are not at a fire scene at all days, all times, but safety is a 24 7 job, so paying attention to things in the fire house and even offthejob safety is critical to maintaining a healthy firefighting force, so it is my over that the overarching philosophy is that the culture of safety is infused in the members of the department as well as the civilian employees of the department. As far as duties go, you probably surmise my duties as an Environmental Health and safety professional, and the anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of workplace hazards. Thats kind of an overarching description of what a fire safety professional does. There are a lot of Different Things that come to the table. Ive spent the First Six Months its been exactly six months since ive been here, trying to acclimate myself to department function, getting to know the nomenclature of what firefighters talk about. For example, knowing what a box is, knowing what a grader alarm is. Understanding the different divisions, the separation of suppression to support services to ems to Homeland Security to investigation and prevention, so getting to understand how that works, and then, really, just understanding the rank and file from the chief of department all the way to the assistant department chiefs, to the assistant chiefs, the batallion chiefs, the captains, so what i did was i spent a lot of time acclimating myself to that, as well. Ive visited approximately one quarter of the fire stations so far, introducing myself and what i bring to the table to members of the department and being able to answer questions. One of the biggest things that ive done since ive been here is from an environmental side, i brought our underground storage tanks and reporting system into compliance with the state, and i think thats probably the biggest success so far up to date. Ive spent a lot of time Reading Health and Safety Policies and assessing those health and Safety Policies to see how they can be made more robust to be improved so again, the members of the department can function and also maintain calosha and epa compliance, and thats what ive done so far. Going forward, i had a couple of bullet points that id like to read, and then, ill talk about them if you have any questions. Looking forward to 2018, continue assessment of policies and procedures and trying to upgrade them so that theyre in uptodate status for the department, so i wrote this as to assess and provide tools to improve as necessary the culture of Safety Awareness around the job of firefighting in all phases. Again, from prevention to suppression, investigation, recovery, with the purpose of reducing injuries as best we can. Once again, assessing Fire Department safety programs for calosha compliance, and updating them as necessary. Also, developing providing developing and providing health and Safety Training that is not only calosha compliant, but i think would also enhance the safety of the members of the department. Also, to provide Environmental Health and Safety Support within the framework of the departments fireyear Strategic Plan and act as a health and safety resource to the Fire Department, again, in any phase that i can support to make the job a little bit safer. And then, finally, kind of a cat catchall to provide whatever the Department Needs from me in the realm of fire safety, so thats what i hope to do Going Forward. And with the chiefs cooperation and all the deputy chiefs and assistant chiefs, assistant deputy chiefs, i believe we can make this job inherently safer than it has been, even though its not bad in the sense that its not safe, its just that its an inherently dangerous job, and id like to do my part to make it even safer. So that is what i do, and that is what i bring to the table, and ill entertain any questions. Thank you. Is there any Public Comment on this presentation . Seeing none, commissioners . Commissioner veronese . Thank you, commissioner. I would just like to say anthony has been a welcome addition to our staff in the field of fire safety and prevention, fire safety is all of our jobs, but to have a single point of contact and someone ultimately responsible for making recommendations and take i a look at each and every one of our facilities, our equipment and being that liaison, hes done a great job and off to a wonderful start and done quite a bit in six months, so thank you. Thank you, chief. Commissioner . Good morning. Good morning. How about now . Yes. Okay. Thank you. So what are the metrics that you are using to identify whether or not the job of a firefighter is safe . Thats a good question. My initial metrics would be to take a look at the osha recordable injury rate for the department overall. Im starting to compliile data from calosha injury logs to see and do an analysis to see where the major injuries are outside of the longterm, shortterm injuries, that kind of information, so those are the metrics that are commonly used in evaluating safety in reducing the osha recordable injury rate. What i heard you say physical injury. Are when you say physical injury, what what is calosha looking for . Theyre looking for by way of example, are they looking for broken bones, theyre looking for ways that people hurt themselves physically . Is there anything else that is part of the types of injuries theyre looking for that you can just further describe . There is some things in the calosha regulations about about stress, about theres actually a law on the books about workplace violence, and the ems personnel are part of that that regulation because theyre firstline responders, and theres a reporting system. And at this point, caloshas really just tabulating data on workplace violence, but there is an analysis on workplace violence, and calosha does talk a little bit about stress, but there is no compliance with regulatory stress management. How are you measuring whether or not an individual has sustained a stress injury . That remains to be seen. I dont have that in my purview at this point. That may be something that will happen down the road, but i dont have that data to support to answer that question at this time. Okay. And how about other physical ailments . What other physical ailments other than let me just give you an example. Ill cut to the chase here. What about cancer . Are you monitoring the cancer rate in the department . Not personally, not yet, but what impart of is part of the health and safety, and i will put my part when the health and Safety Committee requeens. Theres a lot of research and data thats out there already, and ive taken that data and ive reviewed a little bit of that external data. Theres a large study that involved i believe its new york city Fire Department, chicago Fire Department, and los angeles Fire Department. Ive taken those operations and look at how things are done. I havent made any commitment to the chief or any recommendations to the chief as far as cancer, but thats the longterm goal, to try to reduce that incident rate, as well. But as we sit here today i know you just started this job, and im excited about the opportunity that you bring to this field within the department, so i please dont take my questions as challenging you. I dont. Challenging what youve done, but instead, challenging where we can go as a 21st century department. Right. So as this day, do we have any idea of the cancer rate within active members of the department . I would probably defer that to the health and Safety Committee chair. I believe thats deputy chief colin beene. Yes, or department physician. Yes, or department 3 hysician, as well. But youre the health and safety guy of the department, right . That is correct. I look forward to working with you in the future because the health and safety of everyone in this room is important. I want to work with you to figure that out. Im in agreement with you. And not just figure out cancer generally, if theres a specific type of cancer, whether its lung cancer, whether its whatever type of cancer it is, lets figure out what type of cancer if it exists within the department, and i know its a big issue because poa not poa. The 798 just spent 100,000, their cancer presentation their people just spent 100,000 to test the people that just came back from the north bay fires, so this is an issue thats dear. We need to figure out what data points are out there. If theyre not out there, we need to, in my opinion, drill down and get to the bottom of it. I see chief colin beene standing up. Maybe he wants to Say Something on this issue. Commissioner, we do discuss it at Great Lengths in the health and Safety Committee. The health and Safety Committee is a joint group of union members, staff members, firefighters, and also, we do a lot of work with the San Francisco firefighters cancer foundation, so we look at everything all the documentation that comes in. What im being told by tony stephani, who oversees the cancer foundation, what were doing in regards to firefighting this time is leading the nation. I can get you that information at another meeting, but tony is new. He is coming on board and will be that point person for the department, but weve got a very Aggressive Group in our work with the union and the cancer foundation. I think what youre what youre asking. Yeah, no, absolutely. And as i mentioned, im not challenging tony. Im encouraging him to get more information. And i understand what youre saying about how were doing probably better than most departments, but he see what a lot of departments are doing on stress, and its actually pretty path particulaetic. Not to be too critical. Back on cancer, i would like to know the statistics not only within the department, but the statistics of the firefighters that have retired. We have to be sure that were not putting them in a position to be sick once theyre in their twilight years, where theyre enjoying time with their families. I would expect by this Time Next Year that the department has an answer for this, and not only has an answer for this, but has a program, an active program where we are meeting a much higher expectation, where were doing things. I know the department was spent some time i spent some time at station 49. I saw the new washing machines. Yeah. Were doing things to get the chemicals out of the uniforms. Maybe were doing it already, and maybe it exists, but id like to see getting a new program of mitigating the cancer risk. Not only now but for the