Good afternoon and welcome to the september 17th, 2019 regular meeting of the San Francisco board of supervisors. Madame clerk, please call the role please call. [roll call]. Thank you, mr. President. [roll call] mr. President , you have a quorum thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, would you please join me in the pledge of allegiance. [pledge of allegiance] on behalf of the board, i would like to acknowledge the staff at San Francisco government television, michael and kalina, who record each of our meetings and make the transcripts available to the public online. Madame clerk, are there any communications . I have known to report. When you reach reached the Consent Agenda. Item one through four are on consent. They are considered to be routine. If a member objects, and i do maybe removed and considered separately. Colleagues, would anyone like to sever any items from the Consent Agenda . Okay. Then, madame clerk, please call roll call. [roll call] there are 11 aye. Without objection, these ordinances are passed unanimously. Madame clerk, lets go to the regular agenda. Item five is an ordinance to levy property taxes of taxable property on the following agencies. The city and county of San Francisco, the Unified School District, the county office of education, the Community College district, the Bay Area Rapid transit, and to establish a pass through rate of the assessed value for residential tenants pursuant to administer each of code chapter 37 for the fiscal year ending june 20th, 2020. Colleagues, carries take this item same house, same call . B yes. Colleagues, can we take this item same house, same call . It is adopted unanimously. Please call the next item. Colleagues, can we take this option same house, same call . This is adopted unanimously. Please call the next item. [reading items] supervisor mar lee. I am incredibly excited to bring this ordinance in front of the board today along with my cosponsors. We know that the path to a more Responsive Government and a fair , more just future is through a stronger democracy. With our democratic norms under assault in 2019, it has never been more important to do the work to strengthen our democracy the ordinance before us as is a greatest expansion it is based in a simple idea, public official should be accountable to the public and this accountability must start with how we are elected. For Public Financing of elections allows candidates to compete in campaigns, increasingly flooded with private funds from super pacs. It amplifies the voice of our constituents and it provides greater regulation and accountability for those who seek office. This is not a controversial idea most importantly, it increases the amount of public Funds Available to qualified candidates. Increases the matching ratio from 21 to 261 while limiting a matching contribution. This will significantly amplify the overall impact of the program was specifically amplifying the impact of grassroots small donor donations from individuals because the value of your voice in our democracy should not depend on the value of your bank account. It also increases the initial individual expenditure sealing by the same amount of the increase in public funds, and includes some code cleanup on inconsistent fundraising periods and reporting thresholds. I am proud of the incredibly collaborative process that brought us here more than a year in the making. By working closely with the Ethics Commission, Community Stakeholders and civic groups, we build consensus for these reforms. Im also proud of Public Financing 2. 0 has a support of the aclu, common cause, fair vote california, the Brennan Center for justice, the camping legal center, the Ethics Commission and my colleagues. I want to thank every member of the community who worked with us through this process and especially steve hill, esther marks, pedro hernandez, peter keane and john gallagher. I also want to thank the Ethics Commissioners for their unanimous support and Ethics Commission policy and the deputy city attorney. Colleagues, can we take this item same house, same call . Without objection, this ordinance is passed on First Reading. Madame clerk, please call the next item. Im sorry, supervisor brown, did you want to speak on nine . No, ten. Item ten is an ordinance to amend the administrative code to amend heart trouble and pneumonia presumptions for firefighter and Police Officer industrial disability and deaths as a result of duty Retirement Benefits pursuant to the charter section 88. 500, this matter requires nine votes of all the members of the board of supervisors to approve passage of this ordinance on First Reading. Supervisor brown . Thank you. We are considering an ordinance to amend the ministry of code that affect First Responders ability to seek disability and Retirement Benefits. Last week, many of us in this chamber stood to honor the brave First Responders who lost their lives on september 11th. Today, we have an opportunity to honor First Responders who put their lives on the line every day on the streets of San Francisco. Due to this inherent nature of their jobs, the stressful conditions they work under, and from exposure to harsh chemicals , our firefighters and Police Officers are more susceptible to developing Heart Disease and suffering traumatic heart attacks in the general public. This ordinance will bring our administrative code into alignment with the state labor code, codes of other municipalities in the bay area, area, and our own administrative code governing disability benefits. San francisco firefighters and Police Officers must prove that any heart trouble or pneumonia they suffer from as a result of being on the job. Under this proposed change, those disabilities are presumed to be a result of the conditions First Responders work under. Essentially, if a firefighter or Police Officer suffers from heart trouble or pneumonia, and then applies for disability benefits, the workmens compensation will if theres no evidence of those conditions that existed at the time of higher. This change will have a minimal fiscal impact and prevents a cause of a disability to any prior existing disease if no evidence of heart trouble or pneumonia are identified in the physical examination of the member conducted at the time of their initial higher. I want to thank all of my colleagues for cosponsoring and joining me, and giving back to our firefighters and Police Officers who risk their lives every day for the people of San Francisco. Thank you. Thank you. We got to see a simulation of what firefighters go through firsthand. Many supervisors joined us to observe and see how things were happening. It was a very amazing experience i just say that this is now more important than ever, the fiscal impact is fall small, recognizing the amount of stress and what they expose themselves to on a daily basis, that is what this piece of legislation recognizes and in many ways, it is long overdue. It brings us in line with state policy. Supervisor ronen, you had your name on there . Yes. Thank you. I also wanted to thank you for bringing this forward. It is a nobrainer piece of legislation. [please stand by] i just wanted to thank the Fire Department for really putting in an alarmist amount of resources into giving us that experience. It was an experience i will never forget, and i just want to thank our firefighters and our paramedics from the bottom of my heart for everything we do every day. It is extraordinary work. It is terrifying work, and it is hard work, but we need to. Thank you. They sacrificed so much to serve our communities. I learned a lot not not just on the physical aspect of what they did, but also learning about everything that they do to respond to Vulnerable People on our streets. Often they are the First Responders for people who are experiencing drug overdoses and i had the opportunity to talk at Great Lengths with them about what that experience is like and so i think it is important that we, as a city, step up and be there for them, supporting them with all of the possible benefits, and this is a conversation we had before, but also there is not his physical impacts, with the emotional and the tremendous dramatic aspects of their job that we also really have to be there for them in ways that they are there for us only people in our community. I appreciate that we are stepping up and this is just a good time to remind us of the continued responsibility that we have two them even after they have performed their service to make sure that they are supported in their Health Minutes benefits after and during retirement. I just want to add my one tone to the course in terms of the challenges that our firefighters face every day and what we got to experience the full morning on saturday. Theres so much thought that goes in to one single call, so many things that our firefighters have to remember, which are really about life and death, both for firefighters and for the communities that they serve. I just want to continue to command commend our firefighters and say that even though i had a strong appreciation for firefighters before saturday, it definitely was a very enlightening experience. Thank you to supervisor brown for bringing this forward. I also wanted to thank supervisor brown for bringing this forward. I didnt get a chance to duplicate what supervisor walton did this weekend, but three of my Staff Members did go and told me it was a wonderful experience i think this is the least we could do for our First Responders. At that, lets see, lets take this same house, same call . Okay, without any objection, the ordinances passed on First Reading. Okay, madame clerk, can we go to item 11 through 14 together . Items 11 through 14 together constitute four resolutions that receive and approve for annual reports for fiscal years 2017 through 2018 for item 11, a Fishermans WharfCommunity Benefit district and the Portside Community district. For item 12, the noe valley district, for item 13 the, the top of broadway Community Benefit district in item 14, ocean avenue benefit district. Colleagues, can we take these items same house, same call . Without objection, these resolutions are adopted unanimously. Madame clerk, please call your next item. The ordinance to amend the environment code to acquire all known residential things of 50,000 square feet or more to provide all onsite electricity demands from 100 Greenhouse Gas free or renewable forces and to authorize the director of the department of the environment to adopt rules and regulations for implementation and to affirm the sequel determination. Supervisor brown . Thank you. First off, i want to thank my colleagues who have joined me as cosponsors for this legislation. As a supervisor, i have done my utmost to continue my work to reduce San Franciscos Carbon Footprint that started with my years of work as a legislative aide on clean power s. F. To achieve our goal of net zero emissions by 2050, we need to use less energy and we need a clean or Renewable Energy supply when we think Greenhouse Gases, we are right to think cars, but we also have to think buildings. Transportation is responsible for 40 6 of our emissions, but just behind it is the building sector, which produces 44 of our Greenhouse Gas emissions. That is why am proud to introduce Energy Benchmark legislation earlier this year to help buildings become more Energy Efficient better management. That is why i am proud to be primary cosponsor of this clean, electricity legislation to require all commercial buildings over 50,000 square feet to use energy from 100 Green House Gas free or renewable resources. This legislation will be supported by significant investments from clean power s. F. And Renewable Energy, including building new facilities. Those commitments a Climate Action and the environment are some of my longest and deepest held. We must change, we will change, and im committed to do this and to help lead the change along with my colleagues here at the board. Thank you. Okay. Colleagues, can we take this item same house, same call . Without objection, his ordinances passed on the First Reading unanimously. Please call the next item. Item 16 is a motion to appoint individuals to the commission of animal control and welfare, terms ending april 30 th, 2021. Colleagues, can we take this item same house, same call . Without objection, this motion is approved unanimously. Could you please call item 17 and 18 together . Item 17 is a motion to approve the mayor to do nomination for appointment of chris foley to the Historic Preservation commission, term ending december 1st 301st , 2020, in item 18 is a motion to approve the mayor to do nomination for appointment of lydia so to the Historic Preservation commission for a term ending december 31st, 2022. Supervisor peskin . Thank you. Colleagues, i rise to tell a couple of stories from years ago these are in the days of 2004, i believe it was when there was no Historic Preservation commission in San Francisco. Unlike many cities around the United States of america, we didnt have a Historic Preservation commission, we had an antiquated body from the late 1960s at the dawn of the Preservation Movement called the landmarks preservation Advisory Board. In those days, this body, the elected board of supervisors, could not vote to designate a landmark unless the preservation Advisory Board had recommended it to the Planning Commission and the Planning Commission had recommended it to the board of supervisors. Supervisor maxwell was interested inland marking the old shipwright his cottage at 900 innes street today earlier on our agenda, item number seven , i believe it was. We allocated some money to clean that sight mac up. And the good people of india basin and up on the hill wanted to see that area preserved, but a developer bought it out of bankruptcy and wanted to rip that thing down. Years later, in 2004, because of politics, because the mayor at that time appointed all the members of the landmarks board, even though the community wanted it, even though it was worthy of preservation, they deadlocked 3 3, and it cannot come to the board of supervisors. Later on, we went to the voters for the Charter Amendment that created the Historic Preservation commission, and only then were we able to landmark the shipwright cottage which is now part of india basin Shoreline Park and i want to tell that little piece of history. When we created section that section of the charter, it was embraced by the voters of San Francisco. We looked at the best practices of other cities relative to qualifications for a number of different seats, and two of those seats were for preservation architects, other seats had other qualifications, some of them more general in scope, but what i im going to rise today to ask the board to give this and the mayor treaty office, to give this a little bit more thought, and before i get to that, i want to tell a second story. There are a number of different ways that commissioners and up on commissions. The vast majority of appointments and indeed, they are appointments, or where the mayor appoints, in her sole and absolute discretion and pursuant to section 3. 100 of the charter, this body has 30 days to affirmatively, by a supermajority vote, reject that commissioner. They are there are also a handful of commissioners, important ones, the police commission, the Planning Commission, the board of appeals , the Historic Preservation commission, where the mayor does not appoint, the mayor nominates. In the same way that the president of the United States nominates somebody for the Supreme Court and United States senate may affirm or deny that nomination by a simple majority vote. This is one of those. The story i want to tell, sorry for being longwinded, because it is seldom or rare that the legislative body rejects the nominee, is the story that before the summer recess, we approved an individual that the mayor nominated for the board of appeals. I am sure many of you sat with that individual. We voted for that individual in and use unanimously. We made a mistake. The board of appeals is a body that is there to correct manifest injustices by other decisionmaking bodies in the city. There was a case in the Northeast Corner of San Francisco where a family that had lived there for 27 years, a monolingual, cantonese family, was constructively evicted. They were threatened with eviction, they ultimately took a buy out. They consulted with the Chinatown CommunityDevelopment Center and there was a record of it. They were pictures of them with their belongings on the sidewalk after 27 years, and the developer who constructively evicted that family had a development proposal, and the Planning Commission did the absolute right thing consistent with the policies that we espouse unanimously on this board of supervisors. They took discretionary review, and unanimously denied that project because they did not want to reward the developer for his behavior. The developer appealed that to the board of appeals. Mind you, our side, the people side, only needed, and supervisor mandelman is smiling because he knows, is a former member of the board of appeals, you need four out of five votes. Fortunately, it turned out okay. We got the number of votes. What the individual that we said yes to argued to overturn the Planning Commission in a way that would have of what awarded this individual for terrible behavior, as we are working to preserve affordable housing. The reason im telling you this story is not to cast dispersions on either of the nominees for the Historic Preservation commission, but to say that we have to be careful, and respectfully, to say to the office of the mayor when it comes to appointments like this, an appointment or a nomination that was made during our summer recess when most of us were not around but still within the time clock that is before us today, that it would be it would behoove the administration, particularly when they know that the author of that Charter Amendment is mostly elected members of this body, to do affirmative outreach. Not only with the supervisors, but with the community. By the community, i anybody reach out to the Chinese Historical Society . Did anybody reach out to the Historic Preservation professionals to vet these individuals . No. Did anyone reach out affirmatively, until late in the game, to the only Nonprofit Organization that does and has advocated for Historical Preservation in San Francisco for almost a half a century . No. Is the political pressure on . Yeah, it is. As we go forward, not only in the instance of this or preservation commission, but in all of these that we have to have a much better process. I am absolutely more than bothered about the lack of diversity on Historic Preservation commission. I also know, a somebody who has been working in this field now since i first got elected in the year 2,000, that there are qualified people of color, asian women, who would covet this seat , who have actually practised preservation architecture and are licensed architects that the Mayors Office could reach out to and he would take the job in an absolute second. With those things in mind, i would like another week to continue this conversation with not only my colleagues or less than a majority of my colleagues , but with the chief executive branch of this city and county. I would like to make a motion to continue both of these items. Items 17 and 18, and thank you for indulging me in that little piece of history as we talk about the Historic Preservation commission. Thank you, colleagues. There has been a motion made to continue this item, these two items to our meeting next week. Is there a second . Seconded by supervisor mandelman before we take a vote, i think supervisor ronen wanted to make a comment. Yes. Thank you. At the rules Committee Meeting, we had this discussion, and i had actually made a motion to continue the eitan because i too hadnt had the opportunity to meet with everyone. I subsequently had a chance to meet with lydia, we had a great meeting, and i really appreciated that, but i do it is just a very important, many of us did not have the opportunity to fully vet the candidates, talk to the organizations that are experts in this area, to find out where they stand or why they had issues, and so despite our great meeting, i have to let my colleagues have a week, to have the time to feel like that they are meeting with everyone that they need to meet with in order to feel comfortable enough moving forward, you know, i am going to be supporting the continuance, and wanted to just explain why. Supervisor mar . Thank you. I just wanted to also share my current thinking on this item. Is a member of the rules committee, along with supervisor ronen and walton, we had to quickly consider this at our rules Committee Meeting last week, and i think i learned a lot through that hearing and through a lot of communications that i received from a wide range of people in the community , and within the Historic Preservation field about the important work of the Historic Preservation committee and the role of the commissioners, so through the hearing, you know, again, and through the commune occasions i have received, and also my direct interview and communications with her, you know, i found there was a wide range of Diverse Voices in support of her qualifications to serve on seat number two on the commission, and i was convinced that she is qualified, and i do support the mayors appointment of lydia so to see number two. Not only issue qualified, but i feel like it is an important step forward to bring more diverse perspectives and experiences to the Historic Preservation commission and to the important field of protecting our Historic Resources in San Francisco. In respect to supervisor peskin s long commitment professional and personal commitment to these issues, and his work specifically on creating Historic Preservation commission, you know, i do support the motion to continue this to allow more time for all of us to really be able to consider this item. Supervisor walton . Thank you. I was basically going to say a lot of what supervisor marr said she is highly qualified and a highly educated woman of color. I was happy to support moving her nomination forward from the rules committee, but there is also something to be said about giving the Mayors Office and the colleagues the opportunity to have a continuing conversation with community on best on how best to move forward. With that said, i will be supporting the motion to continue. I would like to echo the same statements. For me, i think i will be supporting the motion, and it is not because of the story of the person that we appointed for the board of appeals, i dont think we should be drawing parallels with these individuals. In deference to supervisor peskin, who i know is passionate and has worked on this issue for much longer than most of us on work dont ive worked on eddie it any issue, i would be supportive of a continuance. Colleagues, so there is a motion that has been forwarded and seconded to continue items 17 and 18 to our meeting on september 24th. Do we need to take a roll call . [roll call] there are eight time mac and three knows there are eight aye and three in the negative. The motion passes. Okay, we are now at 2 38 p. M. Madame clerk, can we go through our 2 30 p. M. Special commendations . We have commendations to be offered by supervisors fewer and president yee. I will go ahead and give the first commendation. Colleagues, today i have the pleasure of honoring the very reverend father [indiscernible] who has been the parish priest at Saint Gregory Armenian Church in San Francisco which is located in district seven. This was his first officials at the parish and as priest. And his time here, he has been leading a large but also a very active parish. Just this past weekend, they organized their 62nd armenian food festival, which brought together people from all the areas to build relationships and honor the culture of mania. I was there to enjoy the food and company of the parish. It is one of the events they look forward to every year. He has a unique focus on supporting youth. He has been an instrumental part of the students Armenian School and serving as a spiritual advisor and mentor. In his own personal journey, he has also taken seriously the advancement of his own studies. He earned his master his degree in religion in berkeley. We have been so thankful to you, father, for all the work you have done to strengthen Community Ties to our community and citywide at large. You were a large part you were part of a larger interfaith of commendations that our city is facing, and your thoughtfulness will be missed. On behalf of your sand of San Francisco, i want to thank you for your service and wish you the best in your next chopper chapter as you move on to another assignment. You will always have a home here in San Francisco and we welcome you back any time. Father, would you like to say a few words . Members of the board of supervisors, i would like to take a moment and wholeheartedly express my gratitude for this recognition and the board of supervisors. The community of San Francisco is always grateful to you all for always showing love and support towards our community and people. Thank you for your service to the city and county of San Francisco. I had the honor and privilege to serve in the Armenian Community of San Francisco at saint gregory church. This past three and a half years provided a great experience, which is not only experiencing the uniqueness of our community in San Francisco, but the and reaching experience of leading and being part of the San Francisco culture. My experience proved that San Francisco has special charm and accepts people for the way they are, supporting and encouraging individuals, giving a put voice to the people who are struggling to make their voices be heard. Most importantly, establishing the human and graceful equality within the people so everyone in the city enjoyed gods blessings our city has many difficulties to overcome, but we should always look at the blessings and be thankful. The armenian people during the Armenian Genocide lost their homes and land. Their homes, churches, and schools were destroyed by the perpetuators. San francisco accepted us. We tended to this city after the genocide and build a new life. We build built our church, our fulltime school kids, our community center, youth organizations, and created a new armenia in San Francisco. We became the caretakers of Mount Davidson cross because we know the feeling of losing heritage. For over a hundred years, the Armenian Community here has been part of the multicultural fabric of San Francisco. It has been an honor to serve this city and Community Every single day, and it will be cherished forever. I ensure that the community and the city will continue their strong relationship for years to come. And author and San Francisco resident once said, if you are alive, you cant be bored in San Francisco. If you are not alive, San Francisco will bring you to life San Francisco is a world to explore, and it is a place the heart can go on a delightful adventure. It is a city in which the spirit can no refreshment every day. Thank you and may god bless you. [applause] [applause] supervisor fewer . Thank you very much. Could i have resources please come up to the podium . Colleagues, today im excited to recognize spee resources. In 1979, after a violent incident at a San FranciscoUnified School District high school, p. Resources was founded to give students the tools, resources and trainings to be First Responders, advocates, and allies for each other. They have been committed to institutional change, restorative practices, and putting love in action. On september 28th, 2019, resources will celebrate its 40 th anniversary where they will be honoring 40 changemakers for the impact for our communities engaging in advocating for their peers and asking acting as champions for leaders. They become spaces for students to build communities. During my eight years at the school board can conduct is a schoolboard schoolboard commissioner, i have an opportunity to work closely with these people. Their students wrote a resolution that i sponsored, requiring the School District to install signage in different languages and schools with newcomer passageways. They train youth to develop leaders as systemic change, working across 14 Public Schools as restorative mediators, mentors and serving 16,000 per year. P. Resources is also a Founding Member in agencies with the San Francisco pathway coalition. They are committed to supporting educator leaders of and for San Francisco that was black respect the student population of the district. On a personal note, my office would not it would be without them, they provided invaluable resources and training for district one legislative aids and changemakers. Thank you to my colleagues for joining me in recognizing september 28th, 2019, as the changemakers day in San Francisco, and thank you for your four decades of tireless work saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Thank you supervisor walton . I just wanted to throw my two sense in as a former member of the board of education. It really is exciting to see the work that you do with young people and preparing them for leadership, preparing them how to focus on social justice issues and advocate for themselves as Young Leaders in working with their peers, we have an opportunity to work on so many things together with the educator pathway, Career Pathway , resolution, so much systemic change and work this still exists today and even now in this role, being able to work with some of the students at my district that are working on transportation equity across San Francisco. I just wanted to congratulate you on 40 years and thank you for the work you continue to do with our young people. It is good to see you all. For those of us who are on the board of education, we miss you and we feel like theres no doubt that the School District is in great hands as long as you all are there and the 40 years as supervisor fewer said is an extraordinary contribution and an exponential contribution to our schools and our city. Theres there so many Young Leaders like chelsea, who was shaped by her peers and have shaped our city because of what you all have taught them and the way that you have empowered them to really step up themselves and make sure they are heard and their leadership is centred in decisions that are made about them. I really want to thank you and say it was such a privilege to be able to work closely with you all when i was on the schoolboard, and im just so glad that you all are still there and still doing what you are doing. Thank you and congratulations. Okay. Would you like to come up and say a few words . Thank you so much, board of supervisors, for recognizing resources today, especially as we have our 40th birthday. As you all have mentioned, p. Resources is an organization that creates safe spaces for young people to see themselves as leaders, activists, empathetic communicators, some even finding their passions in doing education work. I myself, i am an alum of the program. Ive had the fortune of tilting in this program. I participated in p. Resources as a student in school of the Arts High School back in the day i also was able to participate in the Youth Council where i got to work with other students who were part of other schools in sfusd. We got to Work Together on a weekly basis on trying to to make a difference is in our high school and finding ways where we could collaborate and Work Together to have meaningful change for our peers. Growing up in the late nineties, live and in section eight housing, being a student at school of the arts was isolating for me. Having p. Resources as a safe space, where i could connect with other people who looked like me, who had similar stories and backgrounds to mine, was really meaningful. After high school i was hired as an alumni intern where i got to work at balboa high school, and essentially, be part of the balboa. Resources program where i got to see what it would be like to teach during the school day. I was able to run the mediation program. I got to develop support groups for students who were getting, who are disappearing in the ninth and tenth grade years. I was able to work with them and i continued im connected with them today as they are doing really great work, and living their lives, some of them still in San Francisco. After that, i was able to then start running my Resources Program at marina mills school. I was there for a couple of years i really got to see young people being their best selves. I really got to see them find their purpose. It is really incredible watching young people when you really believe that they are able to do beyond what is expected. I just got to see them stand in their best selves and just create incredible change in their schools and in their lives some of them now in the youth work field, working with young people themselves. [please stand by] resisting against the current president of the philippines who has displayed sexism and misogyny during his presidency. By reaching out to their families and helping to support groups for the campaign to get justice and historical recognition in japan and the philippines. This sunday, there will be a special event commemorating the second anniversary at the comfort women at the memorial in San Francisco. Joan has been instrumental in the work on behalf of the International Solidarity against human trafficking. On behalf of the board of San Francisco severs, we want to thank you for your leadership and visiting our city. [ applause ]. Thank you to the board of supervisors and San Francisco, and the recognition is im honored to be recognized here. I also want to say that i would like to accept this honor on behalf of the women of philippinea despite old age and illness. Someday they will get justice and they will be recognized by the japanese government and the philippine government. At the same time as their experience as victims of sexual slavery will not be experienced by other generations of women. I would also like to thank the board of supervisors for your superior of human rights in the philippines. I know that you have been supporting and had a resolution to stop the killings in the philippines. We are living in a fearful society in the philippines. Every day we wake up this that one of our people will be killed or our office or homes will be raided by the police. But we get home from many people around the world for solidarity and giving us support always and every day. Hopefully together we will be able to fight and defeat my j misogyny, sexism in the