Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20240714

Justice system to keep young people from coming to the system. Partnership with the school personnel, problem solving with young people who are in crises, direct engagement are also some of the things that we have seen can be beneficial to youth when theres a schoolbased probation officer. It does sound liking for youre 12yearold meetin meetih a probation officer it seems stigmatizing. Is there i dont know. Im not doing that work. Are they identify as probation officer . It varies by setting. When we had this in place the probation officer became and almost seemless addition to the staff in that environment. They brought with them their expertise of the juvenile Justice System problem solving with young people in crises and offering referrals. Supervisor mandelman do you have data on outcomes, success of that particular intervention . It was a very shortterm program. I can look and see if we had any evaluation that was conducted. I can share that information with you. Im also aware there are other schoolbased probation officers in other jurisdictions. Supervisor mandelman that would be interesting. What does a probation officer facilitating cognitive Intervention Group mean . Thank you for that question. This is rethinking probation. I wish i can say this is relatively new concept. It is not. Its a concept thats existed for the better part of last two decades. Essentially these are probation officers that are meeting with groups of young people in are on probation. Having conversations about their choices that they make. [please stand by] and so our anticipation was at some point, we may need to have the capacity to fill that gap and utilize those resources. Since we did not immediately return those young people back to Log Cabin Ranch, i would agree at this point maintaining the positions in the budget is certainly not necessary. However, in light of the conversations that weve been having and about the Blue Ribbon Panels to juvenile having, reinstating those positions at some later date may be of value. Supervisor mandelman and how hard would that be . Is it hard to create a position . Nope . Creating a new position just requires the approval of the mayor and the board, which i dont want to emphasize that is not always an easy task. We had instructions from the mayor this year to not add new positions to departments. Supervisor mandelman and in a future budget, the positions already exist. But its certainly available to the mayor and the board. Supervisor mandelman and how are you thinking about youve got a lot going on now, but how are you thinking about Log Cabin Ranch . How are you going to come to conclusions about Log Cabin Ranch . Do you think its going to go to a panel or what are you thinking around the use of Log Cabin Ranch . I think Log Cabin Ranch is a unique conversation in and of itself. Supervisor mandelman and we had a whole hearing on it, right . I think that beyond its most recent utilization post dispositional residential facility for youth in the yufl Justice System, that there is an opportunity to think more broadly as to what purpose Log Cabin Ranch could serve to the city. I think spending 9 million a year to service 8 or 9 young people in that facility was not sustainable. So i would love to see Log Cabin Ranch be maximized for its utilization for whatever purpose it might serve in the city. And if there is a role for young people in the juvenile Justice System and there are a sufficient number of young people who would benefit from that environment, i would love to see that, as well. But at this point, our position is we want to see what the recommendations are that come out of the Blue Ribbon Panel. And to the extent that there is some value with respect to Log Cabin Ranch in those recommendations, we would certainly be interested in pursuing them. Supervisor mandelman okay. Thank you. Youre welcome. Chair fewer yes. President yee thanks, chief nance, for waiting. Certainly. President yee in regards to the Pilot Project you talked about at the middle school, what year do you know that was approximately . Was it a long time ago or something . It wasnt that long ago, and we were partnering with viz Valley Middle School at the time. And it was between i was to say between 2014 and 2016, i want to say, but dont hold me to that. I can certainly check and get the accurate dates for you. President yee and do you remember the principals name here . What. President yee was that vincent chow . Durkee. I think it was principal durkee, and that was part of a grant that we received from the state. President yee i guess would you describe what this individual who moit be going ingoing mighti be going into middl school be doing . Whats the purpose of somebody else whos more knowledgeable in terms of skills and truth dynamic interaction . I dont know without understanding whats going on. What ive seen is when schoolbased probation officers are present is because they understand the nature of the kinds of situations and behaviors that land a young person in the juvenile Justice System, and because of their knowledge and expertise of some of the programs, services, and resources that work specifically with youth in the juvenile Justice System, that they have been of tremendous value to not only the teachers, but the counselors and school investigators. And being able to sit around the table and consult on truancy behaviors or behaviors in the classroom or borderline conduct has been extremely valuable, especially when those problems can be solved at the lowest level without resulting in a young person being referred to the juvenile Justice System. So that is where that value has been tremendous. And again, i think that when we look at the middle school ages young people that come through the juvenile Justice System, in looking at the patterns where some of these young people are being referred from, that that is absolutely something that we should do. And i might also add that we had folks from the community that have reached out to the Probation Department asking for a schoolbased probation officer being able to them in that capacity. Obviously, its not something we can do at every school, but if its something we can do for certain young people that attend certain schools, it would seem thats consistent with our goals and perspectives with respect to prevention. President yee yeah. You know, i dont know much i havent seen Much Research im sure theres been some research in terms of that particular situation. We do so much of our work, social justice issues, and whether its systems that we want people to be knowledgeable about, we do that work through nonprofits, and they find staff thats probably knowledgeable in those areas and again, i dont know if its more effective, less effective if a bona fide probation officer that shows up is this something that shows up in uniform. No. President yee it doesnt matter for the kids to see an adult and know something. Correct. And our work is not at that level. It is not limited to young people who are active on protection. And while there may be president yee no, im and while there may be people on probation in that same school, and to the extent that they are, that person serves as a liaison between that school and the juvenile justice people that are involved in the system. President yee well, im going to go out on a limb because i dont understand the issue and its presented by supervisor ronen that im not so sure that im going to come to any conclusion, but the question that i have is this this but the impact of having somebody describe some of the stuff that youre talking about is useful. I can see another pathway to that, which is to maybe use some of those resources is since you didnt hire anybody that, use some of the staff savings to actually contract out to some nonprofits, when organizations that maybe some organizations that may have some expertise or not. Maybe they could hire some probation officers so theyre coming from the community. I dont know if that makes any difference. Im just thinking out loud and not having any conclusion. So if thats the direction then that this group of people here sitting next to me would like to take it, is it possible in terms of restructuring the finances to do that . I can certainly have that conversation with our team. Im not clear to the extent that we can take salaries and benefits and redirect them in that way when they were originally allocated. Although i would imagine to the extent that the board is interesting in reallocating the resources, that there could be a pathway to get there. I think most importantly what ive heard in the question is whether or not theres an opportunity to identify someone other than a probation officer to perform the tasks and serve the role that i described. And while i think that perhaps there are some of those roles and responsibilities that could be effectively served by a Community Based person, that there are others specifically as they relate to the juvenile Justice System, the juvenile Probation Department and its work that would be better served by a probation officer. President yee and ill just leave it at that. I think im just trying to be open to the concept of yes. President yee one of the most difficult age to work with is Students High School students. Ive taught at every level, and i find that middle School Students are sort of grownup to be adults, but theyre not quite there. And sometimes, some of the kids that have the most challenges at middle school, they tend to also unfortunately drop out by the time they go to high school. So its really, to me, a crucial age to reach these students. Yes, i would completely agree. And to the earlier point with respect to the schooltoprison pipeline, we want to have a chance to engage those students in crisis before they end up in the juvenile Justice System. Unfortunately, for far too many of them, that is precisely what happened. President yee thank you. Youre welcome. Chair fewer supervisor ronen . Commissioner renn supervisor ronen yes, colleagues, kind of continuing with supervisor yees comments around the budget, we are the last line of protecting the taxpayer dollars. Over the last few years, the amount of children that j. D. P. Is responsible for has declined by 67 , and yet, the staffing has only declined by 7 . Thats a 60 difference, and i feel like we have fallen asleep at the wheel here in terms of being fiscally prudent in overseeing this organization. I never want to cut where it leads to a layoff, so were looking at where are the vacant positions in the budget where we can do something here . Of course kids in middle school need extra support. Its one of the worst times in a childs life. Los angeles just pulled all of their probation officers out of the middle school precisely partially because of that the stigma that supervisor mandelman was talking about, but because thats not the best entity to provide that nurturing, that mental support at that really, really tender age. We decided as a board i know supervisor stefani wasnt in agreement, but we want to do a radical reform by closing down city hall. If we do it all at once, thats a really irresponsible way juvenile haull. If we do it all at once, thats irresponsible. The person that were contracting with to oversee our Blue Ribbon Panel, david mohamed, a nationally recognized expert is saying probation officers should never be providing its cognitive therapy, its crazy were considering this new position in j. P. D. S budget before this Blue Ribbon Panel has a chance to make its recommendations. So i would ask that you support this today. We know perhaps the budget and lemgs lay tiff analyst can speak legislative analyst can speak to this. We know that Juvenile Hall is grocery overstaffed, and we know that we have a very big undertaking in front of us in 2. 5 years that we should not do in one fell swoop but that we should prepare for over time. So i would again ask the Budget Committee to support this proposal. Chair fewer supervisor mandelman . Supervisor mandelman and im hearing more from the department about this proposal after you digest it more as to whether this is the best idea and why. Can you make address the observation that supervisor ronen has made about the disconnect between a declining is that right, the number of youth youre responsible for in Juvenile Hall has declined on a great magnitude, but the staffing of j. P. D. Has not. What are your thoughts about how that would come into better alignment and how these positions relate to recognizing some kind of savings as the responsibility as the department seems to have shrunk. I think its an excellent and legitimate question, supervisor mandelman. I think the best way to describe and the most succinctly way to describe what appears to be a disconnect between the staffing and the numbers has a lot to do with now you is specific our work has become over the past decade. And if you were to look at what the standards were, even with respect to how services are delivered to people in custody, there has been tremendous expectations in the way that service is delivered. There have been substantial changes in the regulatory requirement associated with running a Juvenile Hall. So for example, a decade ago, young people probably spent far more time in their rooms than they do today, and as a result, the level of engagement required of the staff was far less significant. Whereas you fast forward to where we are today, where young people spend the vast majority of today out of their rooms, with the exceptions of two hours during the waking hours and ten hours overnight. So as a result of that, these officers are much more interactive, far less observational. We have multiple programs in agencies simultaneously. Weve maintained that San Franciscos Juvenile Hall is unique in a variety of circumstances, first and foremost, the level of supervision in our schools and c. B. O. S, but the fact that were not operating remotely with cameras, and the staff are carrying pepper spray to dispel conflicts and other problems that young people may have. So i would say that as the numbers have gone down, weve been far more selective in the way weve focused our attention and resources and quite honestly, the risk assessment. The lowrisk people are not finding their way to Juvenile Hall, so what is left are young people that require a high degree of management, psychiatric care, and behavior management, and that simply cannot be done with fewer staff. So to conclude as the standards have changed, as the regulatory commitment has changed, as our services have changed, so has the left of engagement and Staff Required in order to deliver that high level of care. Supervisor mandelman but you can understand tof skepticism, and you would probably expect, i would think, reduced costs, quite frankly. Yes. Supervisor mandelman of those four positions, it looks like at least two in the halls. The two probation officers none of the positions are in the hall. Supervisor mandelman are in the haul. And it represents a separate division. Supervisor mandelman and what is the balance of budget and employees in the hall, out of the hall and you dont have to answer this for me right now, but id be curious. So in our budget presentation, and id have to look back at the slide. Im going to consult with my staff. Do you have the breakdown by division, the percentage of our budget . [inaudible] supervisor mandelman you can get this to me. We can get this to you. Supervisor mandelman thank you. But there are currently 35 probation officers whose responsibility it is to work with young people who are not in custody but to work with the youth and to work with the youth as they are detained. I know theres been a lot of discussion about the cost of operating Juvenile Hall, but at the end of the day, that cost equates to about 42 an hour per hour per juvenile. Thats what were spending to service San Franciscos youth in Juvenile Hall. Chair fewer oh, im so sorry. Paying attention. I was listening and i wanted to just mention, chief so chief, i want to say having been on the school board for 8 years, and then also having been an advocate for the schools in the southeast part of San Francisco, you know, im sorry, but i dont agree. I just dont think probation officers should be in middle schools. Students start middle schools sometimes at 10 years of age. This is why were looking at putting our peer counseling into also, i dont believe that Police Officers should be in our schools. We used to have Police Officers in all of our schools. But it is because Police Officers and probation officers are really associated with the juvenile Justice System, with a Justice System, and i think that what were looking at is at the school district, weve invested a lot in counselors, weve invested a lot in Wellness Centers, weve invested a lot in i think a lot of these types of support around especially for our lgbtq use also which we find through our studies also are three times, four times more likely to have depression and be suicidal. These issues that come out around that middle school age, it is a very odd age. They come in 42, they leave 52. If any of you have had middle schoolers, you know the transformation is tremendous. And so i dont believe that probation officers should be in middle schools. I think it might have worked at one time or maybe in a different area, but i think in San Francisco what were looking at is more of a holistic way of looking at it. With San Francisco kids, the problems and challenges that they have, its sometimes not one simple issue, its many complex issues that even we dont have control of. Its about generational also poverty or things that i think society actually intensefies. I just think with social media, there is no forgiveness. You know, i think we all mess up. And with social media, it is not just out there to your school, but to thousands and thousands of people, and its forever. I think the idea of a probation officer really understandtion or being skilled to do understanding or being skilled to do or meet those needs, i just kind of dont think it should be there. So i just wanted to say that. Having been in these schools, and i think supervisor yee was sort of probably thinking about all the supports that weve put in for counselors, and we do that actually funded through the city money that the city so generously gave us through a charter amendment, that most of that money goes to counselors, it goes to peer counselors, but it goes to our Wellness Centers where the staff have degrees in family counseling. And ive seen this group. They choose this group that with really communicate with youth and communicate with them. These people, ive seen them in the schools, and theres a level of comfort and trust, and i think that is super important. So i just want to say even in the positions to facilitate wellness groups, they do that at the Intervention Centers and beacon centers. I think that i have to say that i strongly say that it is not the place for them, and yeah, and im sorry that we disagree. No, thank you for that feedback. I appreciate it. Chair fewer and i appreciate you actually trying to make a difference here. So thank you. I just wanted to tell my colleagues how i was feeling about that. Thank you. Thank you. Supervisor ronen yeah. I just wanted to mention if you why havent you considered repurposing or why doesnt this committee consider repurposing some of the staff at Juvenile Hall that they can then use for this purpose if it i mean, i still think it doesnt make any sense to start these new programs, and its contrary to the evidence and what experts in the field say is the best practice, but they have i mean, 19 of the staff from log cabin were sent to staff Juvenile Hall above and beyond the staff that was there when the population declines 60 . So this makes no sense whatsoever why we would be adding new positions is just beyond me. Thats all. If i may respond to supervisor ronens comments, i think its important that we move these Log Cabin Ranch counselors in Juvenile Hall into vacant Juvenile Hall positions, which is why theres an opportunity to talk about cutting positions from Log Cabin Ranch. At the same time, as a result of doing that, we have reduced our reliance on asneeded employees, cutting that cost by close to 50 . Weve reduced overtime costs in Juvenile Hall, as well, and so well probably fall close to 900,000 instead of the 1. 2 million from last year. And thats only in the short period of time that weve been able to have those Log Cabin Ranch counselors online. They had to be trained, they had to perform observations before they could perform as fulltime employees. So i anticipate that over the course of the next fiscal year that we will realize even Additional Savings by having made that transition. And so it isnt as though that chair fewer would that be okay with you . Okay. Supervisor ronen, would that be fine . Okay. Thats great. Chief, would that be okay . Absolutely. Chair fewer would we require the chief to come back in attendance . Im happy to be here. Chair fewer are you . Okay, sir. Youve been here all day . If you can put me first . Chair fewer why are you making a face, mr. B. L. A. . I dont know that well have those at the beginning of the meeting, but i can talk to the chief i will defer to the controller. Chair fewer thank you so much for your patience, chief. Sorry, mr. Mandelman. Supervisor mandelman well, i was wondering, we want to get this done by tomorrow rather than giving them until monday or tuesday. Chair fewer yeah, tomorrow because then we know what were dealing with because we really dont know. Okay. So i would make a motion are there any other items before us . No, this is it. Okay. Than thank goodness. I wanted to make a motion to continue items 1 and 2 to the budget and finance Committee Hearing tomorrow. Do i have a second . Thank you. Supervisor mandelman. And theres no further business before us. This meetings adjourned. Thank you, everyone. Go. Shop and dine the 49 promotes local businesses and changes san franciscans to do their shopping and dooipg within the 49 square miles by supporting local Services Within the neighborhood we help San Francisco remain unique, successful and vibrant so where will you shop and dine the 49 this is regular meeting of the Small Business Commission Held on monday june 10, 2019. Call to order at 5 32 p. M. Small Business Commission and sfgov tv for televising the media can be views on sfgov tv 2. Members of the public please take this opportunity to silence your phone and other electronic devices. Public comment during the meeting is limited to three minutes per speaker. Speakers are requested to state their names. Please place speaker cards in the basket. Speaker cards will be called in order. Theres a signin sheet on the front table. Welcome. Each Small Business meeting with the reminder that the office of saw business is the only place to start your new business in San Francisco and the best place to get answers to your questions about doing business in San Francisco. The office of Small Business should be your first stop if you have questions what to do next. You can find us online or in person here at city hall for our service is free of small. Small Business Commission is here to address your concerns that affect the Economic Vitality of Small Businesses here in San Francisco. If you need assistance with your Small Business here, start here at the office of Small Business. Item 1 call to order. Roll call. [roll call] mr. President , you have a quorum. President adams next item please. Item 2 [agenda item read]. President adams do we have any member of the public like to make comment on item that is not on todays agenda . Seeing none, Public Comment closed. Next item please. Item 3 [agenda item read] president adams thank you adam straus. This is kind of sad im doing this. Im fighted for you adam. On this monday june 10, 2019, the Small Business commission is honored to recognize adam straus owner producer of straus events for his ten years of service and project management of the official San Francisco Small Business week. Adam began working with Small Business Week Committee in 2009, which is my first year and managed it through 2019. Adam is to commended for his excellent skills and talents in producing and managing a week long occasion that has over 60 events and workshops. This was an accomplished about his amazing ability to coordinate and manage consisting of nearly 20 Small Business community organizations. Adam was instrumental in maintaining partnerships with sponsorships which resulted in San Francisco Small Business week being the largest and most comprehensive in the united states. For these reasons and many more that the Small Business commission is proud to recognize adam straus for his contributions to celebrating Small Business in San Francisco and San Francisco Small Business week. Without adam straus Small Business week would not be what it is today. Hes a d. J. And whole lot of other stuff. Adam, congratulations thank you very much for everything that you have done. You want to say a few words . Thank you guys. Its been a pleasure working with you guys over the last ten years. Its been a lot fun. Im going to miss getting to work on that. Im sure you guys will be able to pick up where i left off and continue to make it even better. Thank you very much for the recognition and for the opportunity to get to do that. President adams commissioner comments . Its been a pleasure working with you. Best of luck to you in your new place and new endeavors. It wont be the same without you. Well miss you. Good luck with your new endeavor. President adams can we get a picture with everybody . Lets go with the flag. [applause]. President adams with that, do we have members of the public who like to make Public Comment on adam straus . Seeing none. Public comment is closed. Congratulations adam and thank you again for everything youve done for the city. [applause] next item please. Item 4. [agenda item read] president adams is carolina morales here . I didnt see her. Shes in route. President adams do you want to go to number 5. Commissioners while were waiting for carolina, lets go to item number 5 approval of draft meeting minutes. Move to approve. President adams procedure as i announce it and do we have a second to go to number 5 before number 4 . Do we have a second . Second. President adams all in favor . Go ahead with item 5. [agenda item read] theres minor correction to the minutes. I did not include that commissioner irene riley was in attendance. You move to approve the amendment with the corrections . President adams any members of the public like to make comments . Seeing none, Public Comment is closed. I move to approve the minutes with the minor correction. Second. Voice vote. President adams all in favor . Aye. Motion passes. Did carolina come in . There she is. Lets go back to item 4. Thank you for waiting. Good evening commissioners. Thank you so much for having me here. Im carolina morales. Legislative director for supervisor hillary eronen. Im here to talk about the active space building on 18th street. This legislation was introduced back in february when we found out that close to 100 businesses were going to be displaced at the same time in the mission neighborhood. Specifically at 3150, 18th street. And they would suffer fines due to violations and regulations. This businesses are very small. Their owner operated enterprises and most of them are hosting personal services. We believe that close to 100 businesses on the same block, one will be economic crisis for the mission. They are facing displacement of hundreds of Small Businesses and thousands of working class residents due to gentrification. The ordinance supervisor offered will be displaced for businesses in ten years and provide amnesty under the planning code. It will allow the businesses currently operating at active phase to be considered legal conforming use and remain in the building for a permit application with 30 days. Were trying to protect art and manufacturing spaces in the district specifically the neighborhood. We must protect these hard to find spaces. We believe the solution that we have introduced that is before you today strikes a right balance between protecting Small Businesses in the shortterm while ensuring art and manufacturing space remains for the longterm. I know the commission, the Planning Commission had some ideas around amendments specifically around office space. We know this item after its heard at your commission will go to the Land Use Committee and will have to discuss basically what the supervisors what version of the legislation that the supervisors will support. We have difficult situation in terms of the intention of having office space not stay there for a longer time which was the suggestion of the Planning Commission. Then centering a lot of art businesses calling us about this amnesty and feeling like its unfair that were getting special treatment to the businesses that are there. I wanted to present a different position that have been discussed and i look forward to hearing your recommendations and your vision voices for the Small Businesses that were trying to support. Thank you. President adams thank you. Commissioner questions . You want to hear Public Comment . Well open this up for Public Comment first. Aaron starr is also here. President adams right. Wile wait for him. I know we have lot of members of the public here and theyre all Small Business owners. Theyre going to be affected. Were the Small Business commission. Wenwe want to hear what they hae to say on this. You have the cards . Ill call you up, if you want to line up on the right side of the wall, that might be easier just for crowd management. [reading Public Comment names] president adams were going to make Public Comment two minutes for tonight. Good afternoon. Im david lloyd. I may differ from the speakers in that im an office space tenant. The decision to move my business to San Francisco in 2017 was made because active space was an affordable art friendly space. Im performing arts and music booking agent. Ive been working in the performing arts field for 35 years my clients includes grammy winners and honorees. Its my belief that i qualify as p. D. R. For the city use. Ive been led to believe that i should be expecting to be evicted as an office use, which is im here today with my colleagues. My office space is is on the fourth floor. Its approximately 10 feet by 1. It has one window and small sink and only cold water. Most units do not have hot water. The temperature in the room is hot. The space has no airconditioning, or exhaust system other than the window. It is a no frills office. It is not a production space. Currently there are roughly 8 to 10 spaces that are open on my floor. It appears theres a similar number of units empty on other floors. I applaud the instinct to protect the p. D. R. Space. I question the wisdom replacing the existing Small Businesses that they will be filled by p. D. R. Uses. I encourage your commission to see the layout of the structure of this facility and examine the practicality of renting the upper there ar floor for p. D. R. Thank you. President adams thank you. Next speaker please. Team member of the Small Business commission. Thank you for holding this hearing today regarding legislation. Im wendell. Since 2012, ive been offered Massage Services to people of San Francisco bay area. Some of the reasons important for me to stay there, i ask for your approval the proposal decision today are security, privacy, accessibility and autonomy. Here we are 11 years later. Its entrepreneurs of all sorts have been able to establish their craft in this space. It seems the demand for services such as mine other than p. D. R. 1g has facilitied necessary of necessity of our practiceses. The city of San Francisco attracted, uber, lyft with financial incentives in ordered to drive its economy. Which it has. However, the people who work at these companies are human beings too. Many of them have found themselves on my massage table. Its more essential that my practice be allowed to stay in active space building to meet the needs of San Franciscos people and keep this economic power house of ours thriving. I ask for your support of this legislation. Thank you for considering my reasons to continuing offer my practice in active space. Hi. Im a practitioner of skin care i have a wholistic clinic. I help people clear their skin naturally with nutrition. I moved in the active space building in 2012. I consider myself to be a very responsible business owners. I went through 30 hours of core business classes. I took the half day course about the tax. Im willing to do what is needed to be right. This never came across to me as anything weird. All of us here cant afford to work with a realtor. Realtors dont work with us. We dont get the kind of information about zoning, p. D. R. , these steps we need take with the city. Im not blaming them, im telling you what my experience was when i walked in there, they have a Bulletin Board of postcarded, all victimming advocating businesses like mine in the building. Ive been there since 2012. Ive been looking for new space since 2015. I currently pay 1000 for 125 square feet. Im willing to pay up to 1700 or 1800 a month to go somewhere else. I cannot find it in the city. Im having problems finding spaces. Carolina morales said theres hundred businesses displaced. I counted on the legislative paper its 190 actually. Theres lot of vacant spaces available. I think longterm zoning needs to be looked at. Donald trump than president adams thank you. Next speaker. My name is austin. Im a