Included the committee should be submitted to the clerk. Items will appear on the september 17th board of supervisors agenda, unless otherwise stated. Thank you. Please read item number one. Appointing supervisor Rafael Mandelman for a twoyear term to be to the bay area executive government regional committee. Great. Im going to make a motion to continue this item one week to september 16th rules committee meeting, per the request the from supervisor mandelman. Before i take a vote on the motion, i want to open up this item for Public Comment. Is there any member of the public who would like to speak . Please come right on up. I recommend he be appointed. By the same response, i want to guarantee that redevelopment rules pertain to 15 of all Apartment Building complexes, that comes out of the Mayors Office on housing. Its suppose to be to very low and lowincome bracket people. Youve been violating this rule for well over several sets of administrations. Thats one of the reasons why you got over 8,000 Homeless People out on the street. We have budget hearings. You want to incorporate rules and regulations pertaining to redevelopment and use those sections of the rules that apply to people in highincome brackets. Its a violation of the constitutional rights, per taping to due process and equal protection under the law, pertaining to the 14th amendment of the most vulnerable people. And by the same response, over 98 of them and us have a combination of both mental and physical disabilities, amputees, and people in wheelchairs and are veterans as well. Its disgusting that you want to use that part of the rehabilitation rules and regulations pertaining to redevelopment for people in highincome brackets, but not the people in the very low and lowincome brackets. And you campaigned that you want to help those people, but the most you want to do is build a shelter bed and Navigation Centers, which is not Supportive Housing. And i object to the words Supportive Housing being used in a Navigation Center. Thats not Supportive Housing. [bell ringing] thats the type of Living Conditions that you have when youre in custody, when youre in jail. Its disgusting. And another good example of that for you, your grandmother. You brag about your grandmother taking care of you and your brother. How would you like it if youre in the Navigation Center and 60 days is up and told your grandmother that you and your brothers got to be kicked out of the Navigation Center and go to the other side of the city and reapply to get in. [bell ringing] thank you so much. Is there any other member of the public who would like to speak on this item . Seeing none, Public Comment is closed. [gavel] i would like to make a motion to continue this item to the september 16th meeting. Can i take that without objection . Without objection, that motion passes. Clerk item number 2, is a hearing appointing team members to the Animal Commission on animal control and welfare. Please note that seats number 1, 2, 3 and 7 are currently occupied and not open for consideration today. The only seats open for consideration are seats 4, 5 and 6. My apologies for the mislisting. Wonderful. Thank you so much. So today we have five applicants for three positions. And were going to hear one by one from the applicants, if theyre here. First, can i call up michaelangelo torres. Good morning, mr. Torres. If you can let us know why youre applying to the position and your relevant experience. Can i ask a question before i start . Of course. This is my first time applying for something of this sort. Is there a time i was a little confused as far as two to three minutes just listing qualifications or is it basically just as a whole . I believe chair usually sets a general time limit for applicants at about five minutes. Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Supervisor ronen, supervisor walton and supervisor mar, i really appreciate it. My name is michaelangelo torres. I have lived in San Francisco for about 33 years. I was born in los angeles, grew up mostly in orange county. But have lived in San Francisco since that time. I have been living in union square for the last ten years. I worked follow the local university, ive been there for over 25 years, various positions. But during the last 15 years, ive been the operations manager. As operations manager, i assist in all of the administrative areas, to include security, overseeing Health Security staff, as well as manage our contracted security and also help with purchasing programs and all kinds of just different administrative things. Because its such a small university, you kind of have your hands in all the different areas. I wanted to talk about my community tcommunity involvement and what ive been involved with, before i go into animalspecific stuff. Originally i was very active with the two unions i belong to, when i first moved up to the city. I was part of union two. When i first joined golden gate university, i was part of union three, to include will be a shop steward. I was one of the people who was asked to assist with Needle Exchange when it was brought into the mission. I was asked basically at the time there was it they wanted to bring in more people from the community, because there was a little bit of misunderstanding on both sides. They wanted a more Diverse Group of people to assist in this group. I spoke out to the police sweeps that were happening in the 90s, especially after the police were acquitted in the rodney king beating case. I was picked up a at that time and i spoke at a hear. I have also helped volunteer with Community United against violence, Domestic Violence and assistance for those who are survived it. I was a crisis hotline person for two years. That was every tuesday night from 7 00 p. M. Until 7 00 a. M. As you can imagine, you get all kinds of different phone calls. Even now i sometimes shudder when the phone rings, in the middle night, even though im not part of it. It was rewarding. I have helped with political campaigns, including work for Kamala Harris when he was running for district attorney. I was pretty active younger and i guess that kind of was gradually going into my older age, if you will. But then i wanted to be involved again. I think right now as a pretty interesting time, where i think a need to be involved in a lot of different things. And also, too, for someone who is getting odor, see a lot of older people also getting involved. So i think thats very encouraging and very inspiring for me. I read about Commission Seats coming and cakecies. I went to the list and reminded there was an Animal Welfare and care one as well. Im sorry. Animal control and welfare one. And it excited me. I thought this is maybe something where i have a current passion about, that i could get involved with. I spoke to a couple people involved in various commissions, as well as one that was a previous member of the commission and they encouraged it very much. That i thought i would be a very good fit for it. As far as like my experience with animals, i wasnt always in a position to actually care for animals, although i have always loved animals. I was a renter for years. For the last ten years, i have, though, been able to adopt and care for animals. I have adopted a number of animals, particularly dogs, many of them seniors, special needs, some of them hospice. In addition, i have also fostered as well. I wrote about this as well on a facebook page. I have devoted to my dogs, we have about 8,000 followers. In addition im also in the process of creating a website, which i would go over the issues involving animal, raising animals in the city and senior animals and what happens. I have also volunteered for various rescues and shelters within the city. I helped specifically with i have done everything from, you know, from sweep to do laundry, to help with dogs, pick up dogs from hospitals. What ive been doing mostly right now is ive been helping to write bios for dogs. I have written hundreds of bios for the dogs in the city. These are what come up and are displayed along with the pictures on the adoption website. In addition to helping with those throughout the state, not just in the city, i have also been asked recently, for example, by someone who was coming into a shelter in tennessee, who showed me a dog who showed me a picture of a pet, who had not been who had not shown a lot of towards her adoption. I was able to offer some suggestion and photography. And hopefully help them. She was very grateful for me doing this. [bell ringing] the open houses and animal rescues such as the doris day animal foundation. My partner and i created a doris day bingo night, which was held at her hotel in carmel. We were able to create cards and we brought in a lot of money and we also had some of our costars as well assist with the actual program. It was really fun and very rewarding. So thats a little bit of my background. You know, im not really im not, you know, associated with the shelter or rescue. I dont work with one. I come more i come more from a perspective of just someone who loves animals and wants to do something concerning it. I have attended some of the commission meetings. I have enjoyed them very much. I have a lot of respect for those who are on the commission, including those who are also in the hearing room right now. Id like to be involved with them. Id like to work on that. Theres a lot of interesting and very important issues coming up right now, concerning things such as feral cats, licensing of animals. Someone is talking about tethering and the issues involving that. And theres other issues as well. Id like to work with that as well. I have given Public Comment upon some of these and how i think also stumbling blocks, for example, to licensing. I would also like to bring into that the number of dogs on leash off of leash, im sorry. Id like to bring into the discussion as well. In addition to this, id also like to assist with the commission, working with other commissioners, especially like the environmental one or the pedestrian and safety. Because so much of this is just so interrelated. And it would be nice to do that. And i guess thats pretty much it. Again i really appreciate you giving me this chance to speak. And thank you so much. Supervisor ronen thank you so much for applying. You have incredible experience and quall physicians for qualifications for this . Thank you. Thank you. Next, if we could hear from cindy arnold. Yeah. Sorry, after cindy were going to hear from russell pinofski. You are my supervisor. Anyway, thank you for considering my application. My name is cindy arnold. Ive been a san franciscan since 1976. I currently live in the Mission District on 22nd street, near harrison, just seven blocks from the animal shelter. And ive been a volunteer at sfacc since 2004. And ive had two dogs, you know, personal personally. And i currently now only have a cat. But ive had multiple cats in the past. Ive been volunteering at a. C. C. Since 2004. And ive become increasingly interested in our public policy, as it relates to how we coexist with our animals. I have taken many of the free courses offered through the shelter about dog behavior. I have mentored other volunteers and participated in special events, like pet pride day, the sfacc earthquake drill. We used to have a regular contingent in the pride parade. We havent had that for several years. But i used to participate in that and other outreach events as well. Along with three other volunteers, im sure all of you have been to the shelter. And youve seen those beautiful tiles, the tile project. Myself and two other volunteers, we actually created that project. We came up with that idea. The animal shelters doggy play yard used to be just grass. And during the winter time, it would muck up, you know, the dogs would run around and dig up the grass. And so we started the now and forever tile project as a fundraiser to get funds for the artificial turf, that is actually in the yard now. So, you know, that was a major event. Also as well as being field trip certified, i participated in doggy play groups. And i currently stepped up my participation by going into the fetch program, which these are the dogs that come into the shelter, some of them are from the safe pets program. We have custody dogs, that are up for hearings. We have dogs that weve taken in from folks who have passed away and their dog hasnt been the disposition of their animal hasnt been adjudicated yet. So the fetch program is extremely important in giving simulation and affection to those dogs. So lets see. With regard to me personally, i have an easygoing temperament and the ability to look at all sides of an issue. Im a thoughtful and rational person, having volunteered at sfacc for 15 years. I understand the complexities of managing a shelter. I can see how law and regulations affect how we interact with our pets and the extent to which we can help them. The peaceful coexistence between us and our pets help make the city, a kinder, gentler place to live. Thats why im interested in this position. I didnt get a letter, but deb campbell, who is a volunteer coordinator at a. C. C. Knows me quite well, since riff been going in there for years. And i actually gave her a copy of this, which i submitted to you folks. And she read it and said the essence is all there. I also am an avid believer in civic participation. And as my predecessor mentioned, i, too, have been volunteering for Community United against violence. I was part of their Speakers Bureau contingent. We would go into Public Schools and talk about the lives of lgbt people. I also was a member of the golden gate business association, which is like the gay chamber of commerce here in the city. And i also volunteered with project open hand for about four years in the mid80s. And delivered meals to some of the really rough cases. My turf was 5th and 6th streets, between mission and brannen. All of those s. R. O. Hotels. So that was also quite eyeopening. I am retired. [bell ringing] i was a Small Business owner. And i care deeply about a. C. C. And i care deeply about animals. This is a certificate. I took a course from the Humane Society of silicon valley. Im getting i gave some of these to victor. I also wrote lets see. I used to write articles. This is an article from 2006 the woofer times. Its about auxiliary group raises funds for a. C. C. Dog park. And i also wrote oh, mood my goodness. Let me just get this one more thing and ill get out of your way. I also wrote an article for abatement woof and this is from 2007. March of 2007, walking shelter dogs is a labor of love. So its about to encourage volunteerism. So thats yeah, pretty much it. You know, i really i still volunteer at the shelter. I go in on thursday mornings. You can find me there between 8 30 and noon. And i volunteer on sundays as well, between around 9 00 and 1 00. Supervisor ronen wonderful. Thank you. Thats my presentation. And thank you so much for your consideration. Row thank you to you. And thank you so much for applying. I can already tell we have an impossible decision in front of us. I just wanted to say that its so interesting that two of the applicants volunteered for cua one of my favorite organizations in my district. And has nothing to do with Animal Welfare. Its amazing. Oh, yeah. Supervisor ronen theres something an incredible coincidence that i think that type of heart to care and to volunteer in these extraordinary organizations. Yeah. Well, thats one of the unique things about San Francisco. Is everybody has their thing. I can remember, you know, act up and this and that. And every were all encouraged to vote and be smart voters. And encouraged to participate. Because we make the city a better place. Supervisor ronen without a doubt. Is there any questions . Thank you so much. Great, thank you. Supervisor ronen thank you. Russell pinofski. Hi, thanks very much. Yes, you did pronounce my name correctly. Thanks. Good afternoon. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity. I am russell pinofski, a 14year resident of district 5, a proud old fifth guardian. For the past four years, i have served on the commissions vice chairperson. As a commission member, i have proposed six action items, all of which have passed unanimously through the commission. Two of which were picked up by the full board of supervisors and both of those passed through the full board unanimously. One of which is actually since becoming california state law. In addition to my Current Commission experience, the combination of my education, work and volunteer experience makes me precisely the type of san franciscan one wants on the Animal Welfare commission. I have a masters degree in applied ethics with an emphasis on Animal Rights and welfare. I was the director of communications and the Program Coordinator for the Guardian Campaign at indefensive animals. My responsibilities included attending countless animal control and welfare meetings in San Francisco and berkeley, which gave me great insight as to how the commission operated and functioned. My efforts included introducing the guardian language that was codified in both San Francisco and berkeley official city language. And is still in use today. My volunteer experience, however, that im most proud of and yet another reason why im extremely qualified to continue to serve on the commission. I first encountered pets are wonderful support, paws, while at i. D. A. And immediately became supportive of their work. I volunteered at paws weekly for four years, i like the way they impact humans and their animals. The enormous success paws have and assisting the lives of san franciscans and their companion animals, both of whom are in dire need often. I answered and understands inordinate variety of questions from a wide variety of san franciscans. The Animal Services in San Francisco, at the local laws and regulations regarding companion animals. Part of my desire to continue to serve on the commission of animal control and welfare stems directly from my volunteer experience at paws. Clients fuel my desire to assist people and animals. I have many issues i have yet to tackle as a commissioner. And im constantly in contact with Community Members asking me to bring concerns and action items before the commission. I have been committed to Animal Welfare and protection my entire life. I will continue to do so whether you decide to accept my bid as a commissioner. I will continue to volunteer and dedicate my life to Animal Rights, welfare and protection. However, if you decide to nominate me once again, ill continue to work as hard as i can to protect animals and educate the public about their welfare and San Francisco. I can promise you that i will work diligently and tireless to ensure San Francisco lives up to its reputation as a city of st. Francis, patron saint of the animals. Having said that, that little brief statement about me, a little background, i would absolutely be remiss if i did not take this very opportunity very quickly to reach out to you as supervisors, as part of the commission. As i said, ive been on the commission for going on six years, it will be going on six years. We have turnover obviously. This is i would say the best commission i have been on. We worked together the best. We have a very clear vision and worked together as activists and commissioners, trying to achieve one goal for the people and animals of San Francisco. However, we are in a bit of a conundrum here. Were kind of a wayward soul as a commission. And we dont have a board of supervisors sponsor actually. And, as a result, we dont have a clerk and because of that, we cannot do our Due Diligence as a commission. We cant, for example, post our information on our website. Cant post our i know youre looking at me strangely. This has been an ongoing problem for quite a while, that were trying to solve and are working with people to solve. But its just something that while i was here, like i said i would be remiss if we didnt bring that up. And i think it kind of shows you were working on it, three or four people on the commission working diligently to resolve this with supervisors and the clerk. [bell ringing] so hopefully we can all kind of put that out there and let you know that reporter railroad if you need help resolving. Its actually not me thats working on the issue per se. But like i said, i would feel remiss if i couldnt reach out to you while i have your attention to bring that to your attention. Because like i said, just the most basic things, as were required by statute, to put our information and our meeting notes, our agenda, our action items on the website. [bell ringing] were kind of unable to do that. Its just very small little technical kind of issues i think. Part of it we dont have a sponsor and a clerk. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Supervisor ronen thank you. Next well hear from jane tobin. Hi. If i can read this. Thank you so much for considering my application to renewny role as a commissioner. I came to the commission in 2015, with over 25 years of experience volunteering, fundraising, and advocating on behalf of the animals of San Francisco. I began as a volunteer at animal care and control in 1992 and eventually in 2000, along with handful of volunteers, formed the nonprofit friends of animal care and control. I served as board president from 2008 until the end of my term in 2015. And during that time, i became familiar with the nonprofit rescue organization, along with a. C. C. , that call San Francisco home and formed this incredible support network. I have worked both sides of the issues, both human and animal. And have a deep understanding of the balance needed to share space and resources equitably. I consider both when listening to issues before the commission and seek recommendations that reflect that dual perspective. Specifically id like to address the relevancy of this commission and how important it is that government organizations provide a forum to openly discuss with the public whats at stake for them, for example, when new Animal Welfare policies or a new shelter is proposed. Also for city agencies to listen and to respect the input on these matters. The past three meetings have been standing room only as members of the public have voiced their concerns over longstanding policy, with regard to feral kittens. You know, im not going to speak to the details of that policy. But instead towards the function of the commission in that policy decision. Commissioners came prepared with inciteful questions. We reminded attendees and presenters that this is a place to speak openly, honestly, to be heard and to be respected. We arent done with this discussion from this forum. But we hope the board will be able to provide the board of supervisors with thoughtful summaries and board of recommendations, leaning on our diverse backgrounds and serving the Animal Welfare community. Like russell, i see our immediate goal, because its right in front of us right now. To clean up our website, so we can share this information thats been provided to us by the public. And for the public to know that we are a resource out there, that can be used on these issues. So thats where i see our immediate goal. But certainly theres some pressing issues we have to deal with, specifically as russell said, having a sponsor for our organization, so were able to provide this information to the public. Thanks so much for considering my application. If you have any questions, id be happy to anticipate them. Supervisor ronen thank you so much for all of your work so far and reapplying. Next well hear from leo. We were informed via email email that she has a previous work engagement and unable to attend. However, shes still interested in applying for the position. Supervisor ronen okay. Well open this item up for Public Comment. Any member of the public would like to speak, please come forward now. Good morning, supervisors. Im anne marie forte. Currently serving as the chairperson of the animal control and welfare commission. Im here in support of our Current Commissioners, russell and jane. Both of whom did a great job of outlining their qualifications. What i would like to add to their comments is that these two commissioners have been reliable in their attendance, which has been, in fact, quite critical at times when weve had Commission Appointments vacancies. We have been required to cancel some meeting at the very last minute, due to lack of a quorum, as im sure you can understand. Jane and russell are always present and reliable, which is a big factor for us. Also i would like to state concerning the issues that we have had within our commission, our technology issues. We are working on it. I agree with russell and jane that our commission does Work Together well. We have a variety of skills and talents that we are able to draw from. The issue at stake is i will give you a brief example. As you saw on the agenda, your agenda today, it stated there were several vacancies which, in fact, were not. Those commissioners had been already appointed. As a volunteer, we are all volunteers, my colleagues on the commission have accessed to a public database, which we verify for accuracy regularly, quarterly, in fact, when a grant asks me to. Another database or some sort of information that we as volunteers do not have access to, which leads to this very type of confusion. Not a big deal in this case. But these are kind of constant issues that not only prevent us from doing our work, but being completely resident with the public. So we can continue that conversation later. I just wanted to offer my support to our Current Commissioners and thank you very much for your interest in our commission and continued support. Supervisor ronen thank you. Thank you. [bell ringing] mr. Ray. Well, candidates sound real good. Pretty impressive. But i want to add to the conversation that i think it should be mandatory that especially pit bulls, dogs should be muzzled, especially when theyre inside of Apartment Building complexes and also when around little kids. People are not aware of it. But a pit bull dog is a wild animal. They originated from the netherlands. Okay. They used to be used to herd cattle. Okay. Then from there they were brought into communities from the netherlands, overseas, from there they were imported into the United States. And every year and a half or two, you hear about a pit bull attacking somebody. Either theyre in the backyard or either in the neighborhood or in an Apartment Building complex. We had a female that was killed by a pit bull. And, as a result, the openers were placed in jail. So i think it should be mandatory that not only these types of dogs, but other dogs as well, who are biting and rushing up on people on who they dont know, it should be a requirement to have a dog with a muzzle, when youre in the public areas and areas where children are around. And on the inside of Apartment Building complexes. In fact, i want to add that a little small dog was coming up to me in a place where im located and barking and biting on my pants leg. If i kicked the dog, then youd be saying its cruelty to animal. But youre not saying that now that a dog is barking and coming up on me. I dont appreciate that. Supervisor ronen thank you. Thank you, michael. Any other member of the public who wishes to speak . Seeing none, Public Comment is closed. Once again this Commission Finds itself in the impossible situation of having more incredibly qualified candidates than we have open seats. And i do want to let all of the candidates know that there will be new open seats in april 2020. So if your name is not moved forward today, please reapply, because if we had if i had my druthers, i would appoint all of you today. With that, i wanted to see if any of my colleagues had any comments or would like to make a motion . Briefly i just want to echo the sentiments of chair ronen and i want to say thank you to everyone who took the time to apply. And for all of your work with animals over the years. There are times when we have a lot of qualified applicants that come up with and makes our job difficult. But its also something that we appreciate and look forward to seeing so many qualified folks come before us. We do have to make a decision and decide who we want to move forward with. So i just want to say thank you to everyone who applied. This is not always an easy decision for us up here. Yes. I would just echo the comments of my colleagues in thanking all of the applicants for all of your work and your contributions to Animal Welfare in our city. And your and your willingness to serve on this important commission. For me this is this is really important. These are really important issues personally. You know, ive been a lifelong animal lover and pet guardian. Like i said, the proper term these days. And so i really important how important especially pets are to the quality of life for so many in our city. Thats certainly the case for my family. You know, we have two cats that we adopted from a. C. C. So i really love, you know, to see the importance of such an Important Role that a. C. C. Plays in our city. Im so glad that the rebuilding in creating a new modern facility is moving ahead. And even this morning, you know, just walking to the bus in my neighborhood, i crossed two very healthy coyotes walking by me. [laughter] it was really startling. But i think theres also the important issues around the wild animals in our city, rapidly increasing developed city. So thanks again for all that you do. And i guess we do need to sort of move ahead and decide on three appointments appointments for the three seats that are open. Do one of you guys supervisor ronen okay. Im happy to do the difficult honors. So i would make a motion to move forward the two incumbents, because wed like to see continuity when people are doing a great job on these commissions. And both russell and jane have been doing a wonderful job. So id like to put forward russell for seat 4 and jane tobin for seat 5. And then for seat 6, id like to put forward michaelangelo torres. I do think its important that we have someone from the latin community, who is able to reach that population in the city, which, you know, might have some specific issues around animals and to have that cultural connection, someone from the mission especially who is able to connect with them that way. I think its important. Having said that, cindy, this was an impossible decision. You are overly qualified for this position. And i really encourage you to thank goodness thats what i wanted to hear. [laughter] supervisor ronen thank you. I hope to still be here as chair and cheering you on. So thank you so much. So again just to repeat, to make sure our chair got it, i would like to make a motion to put forward russell for seat 4, jane for seat 5 and michaelangelo for seat 6. And to move that forward with positive recommendation. Can i take that without objection . Without objection, that motion passes. [gavel] thank you again. Thank you so much. Thank you. Supervisor ronen thank you. Thank you so much. Okay. Mr. Clerk, can you please read item number 3. Clerk the ordinance many of the administrative code to reenact and revise the Tourist Hotel conversion ordinance, restricting the conversion of hotel in large burst hotels or condominiums. To condominiums. Supervisor ronen so before we open this up to Public Comment, i wanted to mention that i was able to speak to supervisor peskin, who is the sponsor of this legislation. And he has some amendments that he wanted to put forward today. But theyre not ready from the city attorneys office. So he has asked that i continue this item to im going to do it to the call of the chair. Well figure out later what date were going to do that. First, open this item up for Public Comment. If theres any member of the public that wants to speak in ill make a motion to for this to continue this item to the call of the chair. Without objection, that motion passes unanimously. [gavel] mr. Clerk, can you please read items 4 and 5 together. Clerk yes. Item number 4 is a motion approving the appointment of chris foley to the Historic Preservation commission, for a term ending december 31st, 2020. Item number 5 is a motion approving rejecting the mayors nomination of for appointment of libya for a term ending december 31st, 2022. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. As many of you know, i just wanted to put this on the record, the Historic Preservation commission was established by the voters through a charter Ballot Initiative and passed very substantially in the city, as a matter of fact, to advise on matter of Historic Preservation and to make recommendations on city landmark and Historic District designations. Historic preservation is a highly specialized and technical field. With guidance and standards set by multiple jurisdictions and detailed investigations and evaluations, to determine historic significance and appropriate treatment of historic property. The seats are defined to ensure that specific skills and experiences and perspectives are represented on the commission. Our committee will be hearing from two mayoral appointees today. In addition to the specific requirements for each of these seats, we are looking to seat appointees who are in the words of the charter, quote, specifically qualified by reason of interest, competence, knowledge, training and experience in the historic architectural, aesthetic and cultural traditions of the city. Interested in the preservations of the historic structures, sites and areas and residents of the city. And with that wed love to hear from our two nominees, starting with mr. Chris foley. Your interest and experience and qualifications for this seat. Thank you, supervisor walton, supervisor mar, supervisor ronen. I was nominated for this because i did the renovation of st. Josephs at 10th and howard. That was a very interesting project. It was actually vacant for 31 years. The building was actually failing. The whole north side of the building had been leaking for over 25 years. And it was collapsing. And in that transaction, what happened was we actually got denied from the National Parks service for initial renovation. And we had the National Parks service, we had to go back to washington, d. C. To reapply for our rep. And what we had to do, we had to take the bridge, that is connecting the two mezzanines, and make it from 8 feet to 6 feet. And once we did, that the National Park service approved our tax credit application for that project. The project itself is a new market tax credit, historic tax credit, transaction in the United States, only six done in the year that i did that. Its a very complicated transaction. Its about 24 inches tall, just to sign the documents. Theres five different sources of funding for it. Then what we did is doug ross and i actually started the project together. Hes a large general contractor, the only reason we did that job, because we partnered with a general contractor. But ken full came in as our partner. As we were getting ready to start, when we first met ken focus, i love the building just the way it is. Never believed that from a designer. They lie to you. Actually ken folk took our basic, wonderful design and made it spectacular building. We had to do eight different amendments to our historical tax credit application. In general, in california you only do one amendment, maybe two. And the reason we do amendment or two, 90day cycle before it goes through the state process, the federal process, comes back to you, whether they approve or disapprove it. When you do eight different amendments, youre at risk the whole time to go back and redo something. Luckily we had preservation architect working with us and the ken foaming team and we felt very confident making the amendments were fulfilling all the standards. Since i started working on that, ive been inundated with groups asking me to help them with other nonprofit or other historical properties. And the most interesting one im working on right now is reverend amos brown called up the archdiocese and said who did that church, st. Josephs. And the reverend calls me, i want you to do my church, what you did for your church. And its hard to reject someone who is running the Oldest Baptist Church west of the mississippi. And so i started work with the board chair and the board of directors about 18 months ago. And were actually at the point where we think well be able to start a Capital Campaign by the end of the year and renovate that building next year. Very interesting working on that project, because as you probably know, the Western Addition was really destroyed by redevelopment. And a lot of those congregations were basically shredded apart. This congregation is the largest congregation still there. So i feel that its im fully proud to work on it. Again weve been doing that work pro bono. We brought in Payton Turnbull to do a bunch of work pro bono. Were getting a bunch of work done, its not like they have lots of money to try to renovate the building. The goal for the renovation is to do a seismic upgrade, all a. D. A. And all of the same things we did to st. Josephs, including not adding an mezzanine. We would like to try to add some other, gosh, addons to the facility and make it a stateoftheart facility for kids and youth. They do a lot of things around music, which i think is a really critical a critical thing. Other than that i have done a lot of work in the community, which most people know. I have got united way is here. I helped them buy their building. Theyve been my partner, gosh, forever. And i guess thats it. Any questions . Supervisor ronen i have a couple of questions. So based on your experience, what you see as the most urgent issues facing the Historic Preservation commission, that you would like to talk about . Yeah. I have two really very interesting stories around that. I talked to heritage about it. And i have talked to multiple supervisors about it. A, we have to talk more. We have to get everybody talking about it. At my church, because the Planning Department did not get a piece of paper from page and turnbull in a timely manner, they red tagged my building. It becomes a lien, which means i have to do a construction draw, in general you cannot do. Luckily we had a great relationships with all of our lenders. Maria, who runs the tax credit buying for u. S. Bank, and so she said to me, foley, i would never sign off with a lien on title, but i know youre not doing anything crazy. I gave her all of the documentation. I think the critical issue that is we all have to talk. The community has to talk. Preservation planning has to talk. Planning has to talk. We all have to talk. If we talk, we dont have things like that happen. And luckily we were able to get through it. We were able to get the building renovated. We have a great relationship with historic and preservation. The other interesting story about preservation, im personally focused on, is when you look at the Small Business rules that we have done around legacy businesses, thats really super great. What we havent done, we havent helped those businesses that are legacy businesses or current businesses actually operate in an easier way in San Francisco. And my perfect example is so my daughter and i go to como sushi once a week. She loves, i love it. Corner of polk and post. The people that run it and operate it live in the tenderloin. They have great fish. Its great priced. And again my daughter love decision. So asked them one day, you know, it took them nine months, multiple meeting withs d. B. I. And planning to put a silly sign up on the building. We have to figure out a way. I dont know a solution. We have to figure out a way to allow these Small Businesses to actually go run their business. Because the Big Companies they can big out the lobbyists and the people they need. Weve really got to figure out how to help these businesses, that are really the fabric of our community operate. And if we do that, were the winners. And the community is a winner. But we really have to Start Talking more. And thats what that is. Thats about getting Historical Preservation planning, d. B. I. , all together and saying what are we going to do about these people getting the mixed message about the sign. And i think those are the two things that i think are really important for the commission to be thinking about. My not necessarily be their job. But i think its something we can talk about and we can actually talk to planning about how we can make that better. Supervisor ronen and then, you know, youve done two of these projects and youre obviously you like these projects and are passionate about them. Do you anticipate any future projects and any conflicts of interest . Im actually working on potentially one project that will actually be for a nonprofit. So im doing two things around nonprofit work. Well, a bunch of things around nonprofit work and Early Childhood education and mental health. So i am working with a large nonprofit that trains 25 psychologists and put them in a Historic Building. It would be very noncontroversial. Wed actually renovate the building, kind of the same which we did st. Josephs and keep the whole for sod, the whole facade, might add a little bit of mezzanine. It would be a very, very, very straightforward transaction, that i think everyone on the commission and the city would be very happy about. Thats kind of my the biggest thing i have to recuse myself from. Supervisor ronen okay. 125 psychologists, thats music to my ears. Its really important. Supervisor ronen any other questions from my colleagues . No. Thank you. Thank you very much. Supervisor ronen and now can we please hear from lydia south. Good morning. Welcome. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, chair ronen and members of the committee. My name is lydia south. Im honored to be nominated for serve on the Historic Preservation commission. I moved to San Francisco from portland, oregon, in 2000. My daughter and i have been living in the mission for over 11 years. We enjoy one of the most vibrant, diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco. Every day we experienced a rich history of the city. As an immigrant from hong kong, i know what hard work means. It requires me as an immigrant woman to work 500 harder, just to demonstrate that i can do the job. This is a challenge that i have stepped and relished, because i know that the future will be bright for my daughter and for my community. Im nominated for seat 2 of h. P. C. , which requires a licensed architect who meets the secretary of interiors professional qualification standards. These standards require either one year of graduate study in architectural preservation study or closely related field, or at least one year of fulltime professional experience on Historic Preservation projects. I meet and exceed these standards. I have much more experience working on Historic Preservation projects, preparing plans and specifications on Historic Buildings. I have worked in San Francisco as a licensed architect in San Francisco and nearly 20 years total in architecture. In San Francisco, nearly every building you work would require interaction with some aspect of the citys Historic Preservation standards and guidelines. If not, the secretary of the interior standards. It is a requirement that as an architect, i think it is invaluable, because architecture is fundamentally about creating spaces that enhance the cultural and social environment. And cities thrives when the environments blend the old and the new. I would like to share with you some examples of the work that i have done, as an architect that demonstrates my experience and knowledge of the secretaries of the interiors standards. In San Francisco, i was the staff architect on preserving and revitalizing the historic baker and Hamilton Building at 601 townsend street, over a year. It is on the National Register of historic places. I worked meticulously to study and restore this building in accordance to and interpreting the secretary of the interiors standards for this building, as macro media offices, with i is now adobe headquarters. In the category of building features and system standards, i study the the context, building facades, canopies and roof signage from historic footages to identify and interpret the best approach to preserve the character of the building. I worked out the details to rebuild inkind of the roof signage and the support system, windows and canopies were restored and replaced with custom materials, that imitate the original look. The loading dock canopies were restored as canopies for new outdoor seating areas. For the building exterior and interior standards, exterior bricks were restored and painted the original color and shape. The regional timber frame structure and loadbearing walls were seismically upgraded and the features were exposed in the interiors. For the reversibility standards, i designed a new campaign and ramp at the entrance for independent support systems, so that it will minimize the impact for the Historic Building facade. And should these new additions need to be removed, the facade can be reversed back to its original look. So designing all of these components required me to understand and interpret the secretary of the interior standards, since i was not the principal of the farm or an attorney, i personally did not present in front of the h. P. C. It is the staff who prepares and researched the materials. And that work should not be discounted. I also held a retail Design Management position at apple. Before that i was a senior Technical Architect associate at the firm, where i designed skyscrapers and landmarks. Through my work at jackson, where i was honored to be involved in the adaptive reuse of the first Nine Apple Stores in the urban sites. For almost every one of these stores, we had to consider the impact of new structure on the surrounding historical environment. I was the architect of the first apple store on south street, a project that involved Historic Buildings, as well as the downtown preservation district. I worked on the apple store in soho, new york, located in post office and the apple store on Regent Street in london. The worlds oldest Retail Shopping street. [bell ringing] these projects require me to apply the standards, with regards to materiality and storefront window and facade patterns. As a matter of fact, in 2016, the new york landmarks conservancy presented its chairman award to apple for their work in adaptive reuse of Historic Buildings. I am extremely proud of the work i did in making these Historic Buildings engaging to the public. Most recently, as a parent of presidio, i serve on the Master Planning Committee and led the efforts to rehabilitate a building. This building is a contributing structure to the historic landmark building next door, the st. Josephs church building. This work involved applying to secretary of interior standards to making decisions about retaining and replacing historical windows, rebuilding the historic corners as its defining features and creating a new entrance by interpreting the standards. I have worked on other projects with historical buildings throughout this country and in china. I understand that work outside of the United States might not include applying to the secretary of interior standards, but i think this experience is important and provides context for the architectural, historical work that happens in San Francisco. As a chineseamerican woman, im proud that our Chinese Community has contributed so much of the city. Chinese helped build San Francisco. And my community will continue to play an Important Role in this future. Fundamental to my culture is a respect for history and tradition. While embracing change. Three years ago, i founded my own company. My work touches on historical site contact and exterior treatments. Since im familiar with the issues at hand, i offer decline solutions that meet the requirements and with my clients approval meet designs that appropriate. So far my projects dont need to apply for certificate of appropriate or of any other exemption from h. P. C. Back in 2017, i was appointed by the mayor to serve on the Arts Commission. My duties are to review the buildings. To allocate funding, fiscal funding and serve as the liaison. I appreciate and have indepth understanding of the complexity involved to get a building built purposefully. I frequently review Civic Projects an urban master plan with historical landmarks, as it relates to history of the artwork and the architectural elements, including how to appropriately restore them, so they are resilient to natural hazards. Through my work with the Arts Commission, i have been working with local communities to create Cultural Heritage work. I work with tndc and other projects to ensure the work complies with the transgender cultural district. I work with project sponsors to enjoy to ensure that the design of the eagle plaza met multiple City Department requirements and was consistent with the lgbtq district. I led the multiple Design Review process for having the plaza redesigned, with multiple holders, including the city, the c. B. D. And the residents, as well to ensure compatibility with the significant and landmark buildings at the plaza. This work may not be about our architecture and buildings. But it is critical to ensure the Cultural Heritage of San Franciscos communities are recognized going forward. The Cultural Heritage work is incredibly important to me. And another way of which i have found to make Historic Buildings and neighborhoods reflect the community that we lived in and around them. So through my work in San Francisco, as an architect and a commissioner, i have found my calling to serve our beloved city and represent the women and minorities voices that are often excluded in art, architecture and preservation. When youre trained as a Technical Architect, as i am, you are trained to work in applying your skills to any and all technical guidelines, including Historic Preservation. And the secretary of interiors standards. I hope that i have demonstrated not only my technical qualifications, but that i will bring compassion, advocacy, Community Representation to the Historic Press advise commission. And thank you for your time. I would be honored to serve on this commission. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. Is there any questions . A couple questions. First, i just want to thank you for all of your amazing work with the city and with the Arts Commission so far. Im a big fan of yours. And really know that you have provided invaluable, sort of incredible insight work to the Arts Commission. You know, whenever youre considered for everything, its exciting for me. I just wanted to ask you specifically a little bit more about your experience in Historic Preservation, just because its such a highly technical field, which, of course, youre capable of. But were looking for someone especially for the seat, who has had tremendous experience in Historical Preservation. Because we are a city a historic city that has incredible landmarks that we have to often fight to preserve. So have you ever been or related with the Historic Preservation commission or been before it or talked to anyone there or testified before the commission . Have you any interaction with the commission at all directly . Directly i dont have to go in front to testify on the cases. For San Francisco what i am always able to do is to just knowing what we have to work with. We look context and i was able to convince my client because its a complex solution. Its schedule, time and money and also the ability and the willingness to be patient, right. So a lot of my clients theyre smaller project sponsors. So usually we take an alternative interpretation approach to just to do the right thing and without needing to actually testify and deviate away from what we have to do for the