Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Rules Committee 20240712

Are streaming the number across the stream. And each speaker is allowed two minutes to speak. And the opportunity to speak during the Public Comment period are available by calling 1 408 4189388. And, again, that is 1 408 4189388. And the meeting i. D. Is 146 661 0524. Again, that is 146 661 0524. And then press pound and pound again. When connected you will hear the meeting discussion but you will be muted and in listening mode only. When your item of interest comes up, hit star, 3, to be added to the speaker line. Speak clearly and slowly and turn down your television or radio. Alternatively you may submit the Public Comment in either of the following ways. Email to myself, the rules Committee Clerk at bic. Org sfgov. Org. If you submit by email its forwarded to the supervisors and its included as part of the file. And finally items are expected to be on the board of supervisor agenda of july 7th, unless otherwise stated. Chair ronen can you call item one. Clerk item one is the Charter Amendment to amend the charter of the city and county of San Francisco to create the Sheriff Department Oversight Board to revise and report findings and recommendations to the sheriff and the board of supervisors regarding Sheriff Department operations, the Sheriff Department office of Inspector General, under the direction of the Inspector General appointed by the Oversight Board to investigate complaints of noncriminal misconduct by employees and contractors of the Sheriffs Department. And the incustody deaths and the policy recommendations for the Sheriffs Department and the finds and results and recommendations to the sheriff and the Oversight Board at elections to be held on november 3, 2020. Chair ronen thank you so much. And i wanted to welcome a bunch of guests to the committee, including supervisor walton and our District Attorney, and the public defender and the sheriff. And im going to ask supervisor walton, the author of this measure, to speak first and then well hear from the b. L. A. Report and then i know that the sheriff needs to leave at 10 20 so well ask to hear from him first. Supervisor walton. Supervisor walton thank you so much, chair ronen and i thank you all for attending this important hearing this morning. Im going to try to be as brief as possible and efficient in my comments. I do want to just start off by saying that we are at a pivotal time in terms of Justice Reform, not only here in San Francisco, but across the country. And prior to being elected in 2018, i met several times with public defender, and we had several conversations about the type of Justice Reforms that we would want to see if i were to be elected. And one of the most major and significant was how our people were being treated that were in custody. And all of the allegations of misconduct, abuse, that was running rampant to some degree in our jails. So thats something that we worked on right away, as soon as i assumed office. In fact, the public defender, his office and i began to immediately work on the appropriate sheriffs oversight. And one of the things that we focused after seeing all of the information about gladiator fights in the jails, lawsuits and allegations that were being heavily reported, we knew that it was a time for us to have independent oversight, particularly around investigations of certain assaults and misconduct in our jails. So i want to take the time first to thank the many callers and the ma many individuals who are incarcerated and advocate for the need for sheriffs oversight. And the stories they shared and the time they took to be sure that my office was continuing to work on this important issue is appreciated. And in particular i want to thank particular individuals who were in custody who called my Office Weekly to continue to push for their justice and share their story. Along with the stories of others who felt that they did not have a voice. Shortly after our initial work, unfortunately, our beloved public defender passed away. But today we remember him and his tireless commitment to Justice Reform. With the recent uprisings and calls for Justice Reform, due to the many instances of Law Enforcement attacks on black people and people of color, this Charter Amendment comes at the right time. Cities across the nation are rising up in protest and speaking up about the many injustices that have plagued us for decades. As a black man, i represent the African American community. My community has been hurt with the overcriminallization of our members, the lack of resources, and the institutional and Structural Racism that exists in our country today. And it is finally being acknowledged and it is time that we begin to take the steps to repair the harm. The moment is now to take a closer look at how we fund Law Enforcement and how we hold Law Enforcement accountable for all of the members of the community. This ordinance is a first step in rebuilding Community Trust and giving Community Members an opportunity to share and be heard. The cost of this Justice Reform and accountability is projected to cost close to 3 million. This is at a time when we are redirecting resources to invest in improving outcomes for people of color. This is the type of investment that we need to make. I believe that it is important to Work Together to build systems in which trust, transparency and accountability are ensured. During this process i have been able to work closely with the sheriff fro. From the beginning hes been open to Justice Reform and to proposed changes that many advocate for. Hes done amazing work and already committed to update the useofforce policy and reaffirm the departments 30year prohibition of the use of restraint and or chokeholds. I have also worked closely with the Sheriffs Union to share why we feel this is important. It needs to be implemented, especially now. It is my hope that it will serve as a tool that outlasts all of us here today and will give the community the assurance they need and that they can trust that we will always be able to be accountable and they will be heard. During our work on this topic, we reached out to experts in the field and was honored to work with robert atark, the founder of accountability associates, an oversight and Police Practices consultant whose career spans over 30 years in oversight and Law Enforcement. She is the author of Police Misconduct complaint investigations manual. And she worked endless hours helping my office to submit what you have before you today. I would like to also thank kathleen belts who has been instrumental in bringing her experience as assistant Inspector General at the Los Angeles County office of Inspector General. Whom i met with in Los Angeles County during my research. Miss belts helped to answer many of the questions that we had and helped us to put together what you see before you by using best practices to improve the oversight of corrections facilities. We had a great team of volunteers who worked endless hours on this policy. In particular, i want to thank former public defender and the current District Attorney chase bodine. Mr. Bodine helped to think this through and he continued his commitment to the work with our office on this. And i want to thank the public defender and his staff for the hours they have contributed to make sure that this oversight will continue long after all of us. And i have to thank mistracy browniarldo, an aide in my office who worked tirelessly with the entire community to work on this Charter Amendment to give us what i believe is the independent oversight that we need to make sure that we can protect individuals who are incarcerated. Last, heres a brief overview of what is being proposed in the charter. The proposed legislation will place an initiative on the november 3rd ballot in 2020 to amend the citys charter to create a civilian sheriffs Department Oversight board and office of the Inspector General to support the Sheriff Department Oversight Board. The Sheriff Department Oversight Board and the office of the Inspector General will be responsible for investigating complaints against the Sheriffs Department and other City Employees or contractors who interact with individuals in sheriffs custody. As well as making recommendations for disciplinary action and policy changes that are related to use of force. The sheriffs Department Oversight board and the office of Inspector General would have the power to have subpoenas or testimony, but the sheriff would have the discretion to impose discipline on the Sheriff Department employees with thorough thought out recommendations from the Sheriff Department Oversight Board. The board consists of seven minutes appointed by the board of supervisors and take a majority vote in november to pass. In the end i want to thank everyone for all of the work they have done to getting us here today. I think that this is great policy and a positive step forward to getting to the accountability for Law Enforcement that we all wish to achieve. Supervisor ronen, i know that you already called o on the sheriff, and if its all right with you id love to bring him up at this time. Chair ronen perfect. Yes, sheriff, good morning. Good morning. Sorry, i have hit the mute as we all know on these things, its part of what we have to do now. Good morning, everyone. And thank you very much for the opportunity to speak. I apologize for the accommodation that has to be considered for my time. Were swearing in a new assistant sheriff today and thats part of our process of change and looking forward to moving in a direction of making sure that we are responsive to the needs of the community. And this legislation represents exactly what supervisor walton mentioned. And as he also mentioned, we are a part of the collaboration in making this happen. I do want to make sure that everyone is clear though that my position as the sheriff in regards to the legislation itself and the work that we are doing to try to make sure that it is responsive but also responsible. And as i have mentioned earlier, i do support overall the concepts in regards to the creation of a Community Advisory board of an Oversight Board which would look to being a part of the transparency and the accountability that we hope to achieve in making sure that people are very clear on what our office does and how we do it. I want to though to make sure that were also responsible as elected and as an elected official myself included, that there are concerns about this legislation with regards to the cost as supervisor walton pointed out. I believe that we have an opportunity to merge both those plans which i had in place prior to covid happening and all of the Different Things that have occurred which have changed our perspective on how to get things dondone, and also put delays on some of the hopes and the goals that we have as newly elected official coming in. One of which was the creation of an advisory board. I shared that with supervisor walton and im happy to see that theres a board consideration here in the legislation. I want to say that im supportive of that. I am supportive of the creation of a board so long as it includes members of areas of concern for us with Mental Health, rehabilitation and reentry, and victims rights, equity and diversity, Restorative Justice and pretrial release, all things that we are very familiar with in the Sheriffs Office and want to ensure that would be part of the discussions. Not just a focus in terms of the behaviors of our staff, but also how we get things done. I also wanted to offer up that part of this process would include what we already have in place which is an office of the ombudsperson. And this office is actually responsible for the review of the grievance process, the review of what we would call a grievance process but would also be known as concerns or issues that are brought up by our incustody population in order for us to make sure that were responsive to any concerns they have about the process. I would want that to be a part of the language here. And we are continuing to work on the amendments to the language. So i want to say as we move forward that my comments, while were not looking to say completely no to this whole thing we want to make sure that its as responsible as possible in terms of the language. So were absolutely in support of that. The construct that is listed in terms of the participation of the board of supervisors and the mayor in determining who is on that board is something this we are also open to and look to, working towards the construct that we will use moving forward. The concern that we have in terms of the budgetary issues have to do more with the duplication of some of the things that we already have in place. As most of you know, we have an m. O. U. And a memorandum of understanding with the department of Police Accountability right now and both my attorneys and the people from d. P. A. Have been working on expanding on our current m. O. U. To cover some investigations and some constructs of things that we would anticipate falling under the purview. Which will expand more on what we have already have in place and also be a huge component of what were talking about here in this legislation regarding the creation of an office of Inspector General in regards to investigative body. Its my belief that in regards to review and investigating of complaints, both against our staff, complaints of misconduct and against all other people who interact with those in our custody and care, both out in the community and in an incarcerated setting, i think that we are duplicating a process that is already being addressed in terms of those investigations by independent investigative body represented by the d. P. A. And i would speak to this as we discuss moving forward making changes to this legislation or this proposed Charter Amendment so that we focus more on the Community Advisory board as opposed to the creation of a new investigative body. In regards to the office of Inspector General, i do know that these investigative components are part of that office that is proposed to be created under this amendment. I would say that we should look further into such an office being created without the Administrative Burden of the investigations, but with full access to and reports back on any investigations being conducted by d. P. A. So other than having the problem of being pressed for time now, i hope that i have been able to show this by the Sheriffs Office. Were looking forward to moving forward and making sure that we address the areas of concern by creating an advisory board, by creating a construct of a process, which includes the current processes, so that we can be more transparent and accountable as an office. And, you know, you mentioned trust, supervisor walton, trust and transparency and accountability. I want to just say that were working towards the transparency and accountability with these processes, but the most important thing to remember is that as an elected official my trust come from the fact that i was elected. And that i would still be making the decisions regardless of whatever final product that we have. Those decisions will lie with me in terms of discipline, in terms of followup on the recommendations and the advice of any of the bodies that we end up with as part of this Charter Amendment. So thank you for your time. I appreciate that youve been ive been given the opportunity to speak. I am going to have to go right now and thank you very much. Supervisor ronen. Chair ronen thank you, chair. So however you would like to run the hearing, should we hear from the d. A. And p. D. . Thank you, supervisor ronen, its find to hear from the b. L. A. And then i would say the District Attorney bodine. Chair ronen okay, thank you. Good morning. Good morning, chair, ronen and supervisor stefani and supervisor walton. We were asked specifically to provide a memo on the potential costs of the proposed office of the Oversight Board. We did submit a memo this morning. Our estimated costs are approximately 2. 8 million for the office of Inspector General per year. And another 240,000 for the oversight body. Totaling about 3 million per year. I do want to point out though that these are just estimates. We base our cost estimates on the composed staffing level in the Charter Amendment and discussions with the department of Police Accountability to understand their costs and workload. The Charter Amendment does specifically state that budget and staffing would be subject to the fiscal budgetary components of the charter so that the actual costs would be subject to the board of supervisors approval in the end in the annual budget. And im available for any questions that you may have. Chair ronen thank you. Any questions for the b. L. A. . No . Okay. Seeing none, good morning, District Attorney bodine, great to see you. You are on mute. Good morning, thank you for that. Like the sheriff i was on mute and were dealing with some technical challenges. But i appreciate you recognizing me, chair ronen and i want to thank supervisor walton for his leadership in this effort to develop a comprehensive oversight plan for San Francisco Sheriffs Department and really more broadly his efforts around San Francisco sworn peace officers. But particularly today were here to talk about the proposed Charter Amendment. I also want to acknowledge and thank supervisor ronen and haney and preston for joining as cosponsors and all of the other folks who supervisor walton already recognized for their hard work on this important initiative. The city and county of San Francisco is one of the few dual jurisdictions in the country. One of the few places where the county lines are continuous with the sole municipality contained therein. We have in part as a result of that just two primary Law Enforcement agencies. The San Francisco police department, and the San Francisco Sheriffs Department. Over time, we have seen the transparency and the accountability over the Sheriff Department compared to the police department. We know that theres plenty of room for improvement with regard to oversight and accountability of both departments. But in the wake of scandals over the past several years, including the gladiatorstyle filing ifile fighting in the jat resulted in a filing of criminal charges by my predecessor, and misconduct with incustody deaths and allegations of widespread physical abuse of inmates in the county jail, we have been discussing as a city and the former sheriff hennessey welcomed the oversight. And this is the next natural step towards fully realizing the priority to provide independent civilian oversight for all San Franciscos Law Enforcement agents agencies. Excuse me. The proposed Charter Amendment clearly acknowledges the relationship between noncriminal misconduct and criminal misconduct. To be clear, my office has and will continue to have the responsibility to investigate, and where appropriate to prosecute criminal misconduct that occurs within the city and county of San Francisco. My independent Investigation Bureau under the leadership of our newly appointed managing attorney and bayview native latif gray has two key responsibilities related to the proposed Charter Amendment. The first is to investigate and review all officer involved shootings and any incustody deaths within the Sheriffs Department. The second is to investigate and review all other types of Excessive Force cases. Now i want to reiterate that independent oversight is essential for both the criminal aspect, which i just described my offices role in, and the noncriminal misconduct that happens, unfortunately, from time to time. The proposed Charter Amendment on my reading of it honors the role of my office and handling the criminal side as well as creating a mechanism for noncriminal misconduct to be independently investigated and evaluated by a civilianled team. And the Inspector General can carry out those responsibilities. I support the resolution and i urge the board excuse the Charter Amendment and i urge the board to support placing the Charter Amendment on the ballot so that San Francisco voters may decide whether or not the city should move forward and make this procedure and this process part of our citys charter. Independent oversight of the kind envisioned in supervisor waltons proposed Charter Amendment will help to make our community feel safer. It will help to build trust at a time when its never been more necessary that we build trust between communities and Law Enforcement thats here to serve and to protect us, including all of those confined in our county jails. The vast majority of whom are presumed innocent and still ooh waiting prosecution. And the transparency are essential ingredients to Building Public safety. We must lead a deep structural change towards a criminal legal system that devotes resources towards the tools that we know that are essential to public safety. I want to thank you again for your time, for recognizing me, and i want to thank specifically supervisor walton for his leadership. Im happy to answer any questions that the committee may have. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much. Supervisor walton, i mean, any other member of the committee have questions for the d. A. . I have one question. I know that the d. A. Bodine but for my colleagues and anyone else who may have any questions. The charter for criminal Activity Still remains the District Attorneys responsibility . Thats correct. My bureau will continue to be the lead investigating agency and prosecuting agency for any criminal conduct that we believe that may have been committed by sheriffs, deputies, in San Francisco county. Thank you. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much. And any other questions for the District Attorney . Not seeing any. Thank you so much. Thank you. Chair ronen and now were going to hear from our public defender. Good morning, good to see you. Good morning, and good to see you. Thank you for recognizing me, chair ronen. At this moment people across the country are demanding justice and reform from Law Enforcement, including county sheriffs. But so much of what sheriffs do, including how and when they hold their deputies accountable, unfortunately, occurs away from the public eye. Which perpetuates the culture of secrecy and insulates them from scrutiny. And im speaking today as the public defender today but also on behalf of my clients. So many times when we did see someone in county jail we find out that theyre in administrative seggation and sed only allowed to leave their cell for half an hour a day. And we dont know why thats happened and we dont know when thats going to end and, frankly, that will often leave some people because they feel that theyre being not treated well and cant deal with being in sheriff custody anymore, to plead guilty to something they shouldnt. Over the last few years violence against those held in custody and serious misconduct by deputies is taking place by Sheriff Deputies inside of the jail. The Sheriff Department, which oversees the county jail, is responsible for the health and the safety of those held in county jail, many of whom as a reminder are awaiting their day in court and are innocent before the law. And the Sheriffs Department generally has dealt with those transgressions internally. And is it the Sheriffs Department sole to do this . And it is one of the many steps that are pursued to make sure that our Community Treat people in our jail and their loved ones to address any abuse and injustice they may witness, experience or hear about. And so the sheriff can now refer some internal investigations for the department of accountability, no mechanism exists for members of the public or a person outside of the sheriff to file a complaint with the independent agency against a deputy. Supervisor walton and i agreed that the public has a right to know and should have a window into how the San Francisco Sheriff Department operates. The public is needing that access. So thank you, supervisor walton, for understanding the importance of public transparency by bringing this Charter Amendment before the committee. And thank you for the supporting members of the board. We do want to make sure, however, that if the voters choose to create these bodies that they will be effective. To that end we implore this and future boards to hold such a body such bodies accountability and to not allow for the delays that may defeat their purpose. We as public defenders and indeed the public and those that we represent need meaningful and effective oversight which produces quick and timely transparency. And the Oversight Board is only effective as the members, the members who have shown a commitment and a record to holding Law Enforcement accountable. So thank you so much for this effort and thank you so much for your time. Chair ronen thank you so much. Are there any questions for the public defender . No. Supervisor walton . Supervisor walton thank you so much. No questions for the public defender. But i just really want to thank him and his entire office, and the other members of the Public Defenders Office who work tirelessly with us on this legislation so that it would be responsive, so we would have a place to hold Law Enforcement accountable, the Sheriffs Department accountable, and also allow for the transparency that we have been looking for. So thank you. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you. Supervisor walton, is there any other comments or presenters before we open this up for Public Comment . Supervisor walton so no other presenters. I did just want to add a few things. One, i want to thank all of my cosponsors on the board of supervisors. You, supervisor ronen and supervisor haney and supervisor preston, for stepping up with us to introduce this charter and to make sure that we do everything that we can in our power as policymakers to hold the Law Enforcement accountable and to make sure that our folks in custody are safe and treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve as members of our communities. I also want to say that i appreciate the sheriffs comments, and definitely understand that we are facing budgetary constraints at this time. But i also want to be clear that everyone is aware that people are dying unjustly at the hands of Law Enforcement across this country. We have made our own mistakes here in San Francisco that have been highlighted in the media, that have been highlighted in other hearings that we have held as members of this body. The lawsuits that we continue to pay out because of the Law Enforcement mishaps, particularly of people in custody. And we are at a pivotal time when were currently redirecting resources to achieve justice. Saving lives does not come at a cost and should not come at a cost. What is a life worth . Its a question that i want us to ask ourselves as we look at the cost benefit analysis of this policy. Now is the time for an investment like this. Our job is to use the resources for the appropriate form. And that is what we need to be focused on as policymakers. M. O. U. S in place are stronger, but as you heard from our District Attorneys office, as you heard from our public defender, there are several constraints of obtaining timely information under the constructs of even those m. O. U. S that exist. Now is the time for independent oversight and the department of Police Accountability, their job is to really investigate the allegations within the police department. I dont want us to further stretch their already thin capacity as they are responsible for sfpd, and theyre indiscernible with how they work with the Police Commission as well as the police department. And so i just want to say that its great that we allow this opportunity for the voters to make a decision on what they want to see for justice and accountability. We are fighting for Law Enforcement accountability at all levels, and this is just a start of many reforms. Our office likes to talk about the fact that were going to put forth many reforms in justice and equity packages over these next few months and the next couple years. This is one of them and, again, i just want to thank my cosponsors and the public defender and the District Attorney as well as the sheriff, for working through this together so that we can really fight for the true account thability we need and all of our bodies, this starts with the sheriff. Thank you, supervisor. Chair ronen thank you, supervisor walton. I just wanted to add my two cents. First of all, i want to thank you and thank your aide tracy brown as well as kevin gosen from the Public Defenders Office and our public defender and the sheriff and the District Attorney for all of your work on this. I know that this is has been a long time coming. And i just want to appreciate the fact that you have been working on these issues from the moment even before you were elected, supervisor. You have been thinking about and working on these type of changes. Your leadership on these issues, especially during this time, has been extraordinary. And it is just such an honor to support this measure, which is long overdue. I couldnt agree more. Especially when you look at whats going on around the country. Of course, were doing better here in San Francisco in our jails, but if you look at whats happening in san quentin just across a bridge from us, its shocking. And take away peoples liberty. And we put their life and their wellbeing in the hands of a department where they have so little power and say over how they protect themselves and how they keep themselves safe and alive. We have to have the tightest oversight bodies making sure that people are being treated with dignity and with respect. And i believe that you have done just a tremendous job putting this mother together and putting all of the checks and balances in place to do just that. Its somewhat shocking to me that this is a first time that Something Like this has been implemented in San Francisco. This seems like it should have been in place decades ago. But its never too late to do right by the people of San Francisco. And i just commend you so much for finally putting us pointing us and putting the structures in place to have us to be on the frontlines of protecting the most vulnerable, including those whose liberty is no longer their own, who are in our jails. So thank you so much for this, supervisor walton. And with that i will open this up for Public Comment. Mr. Clerk, are there any members of the public who wish to speak . Clerk the operations is checking and id just to say that the members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment on this item should call 1 408 4189388. And then the i. D. Is 146 661 0524. And then press pound and pound again. If you havent already done so, press star, 3, to line up to speak. And please wait until the assistant indicates that you have been unmuted and you may begin your comment. Operations, do we have any speakers on the line . I have one caller in the queue. Caller good morning, members of the board of supervisors. Can you hear me . Chair ronen yes, we can hear you. Caller good. My name is good morning. My name is barbara atard, im a Second Generation San Francisco native and i have been involved in oversight with the office of citizens complaints opened in 1983. I work for the San Francisco office of privacy complaints for 15 years and was the independent Police Auditor in san jose. Im a past president of the National Association for civilian oversight of Law Enforcement. And work with those who want to establish oversight nationally. I want to say as you have said, supervisor ronen, that we are long overdue for oversight of the Sheriffs Department. And as we all know that there have been very serious incidents in the Sheriffs Department. The time is now for independent oversight. Im very concerned that the San Francisco Sheriffs Department signed an m. O. U. With the department of Police Accountability. This m. O. U. Stands to dilute the oversight of the police department, the d. A. Has not fulfilled all of its mandate to have audits of the San Francisco police department. It really needs to focus on the police department. I think that the legislation that you have before you for oversight of the Sheriffs Department, the i. G. , as well as the commission, i think that is a really good model. Its based on models in los angeles and denver, which are Great National models. And i urge you to go forward and put this on the ballot for november and im available if any of you have questions. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much. And thank you for all of your work on this, barbara. Are there anymore speakers . Madam chair, that completes the queue. Chair ronen okay, then Public Comment is closed. So i would be happy to make a motion to incorporate the amendments. May you read out the amendments, supervisor walton . Supervisor walton give me one second, supervisor. Chair ronen sure. Supervisor walton yes, supervisor ronen, i dont believe that theyre substantive and maybe we could hear from our City Attorney. Chair ronen sure. Are there any amendments that were introducing today on this measure . Good morning. Deputy City Attorney ann pearson. My understanding is that amendments were prepared for today. Every amendment that is made to a ballot measure will trigger continuance to another hearing. Regardless of whether its substantive. So if amendments are made today it would need to be continued to the next meeting of the rules committee. Supervisor walton thank you so much. We dont have any proposed amendments. We actually worked out everything through legislation and so im not clear as to what amendments were talking about. Okay, i had had i had my understanding is that there were amendments. So just we want to make sure because of the timing that we get this right. City attorney ann pearson, you said that there were amendments prepared for today . Do you know what those amendments were . I can also just call another item and leave this one open while we figure this out. If i am mistaken and there are no amendments, then the committee can act on this. But you might want to do that, chair ronen, just to give us the time to confirm whether there are or not because of the timing issues. I think that is a good idea. Chair ronen okay, perfect, thanks. So youll be in touch and were going to just keep this item open while we call item 2. Mr. Clerk, call item number 2. Clerk yes. Item 2 is the Charter Amendment to amend the charter of the city and county of San Francisco to create a Public Works Commission to oversee the department of public works, create the sanitation and Streets Department to specific duties performed currently by the department of public works to create a sanitation and streets commission to oversee the sanitation and Streets Department, and affirming the planning departments determination under the California Environmental quality act, at an election to be held on november 3, 2020. Chair ronen thank you so much. And this is supervisor matt haneys measure and im wondering if hes joined us yet . Are you here, supervisor haney . He is not here yet. I will wait for a minute. Here he is. Good morning, supervisor haney. Youre quicker than they told me. Sorry about that. Chair ronen no problem, feel free to introduce this Charter Amendment. Great. Give me one second. All right. Well, first of all, thank you, Committee Members and chair ronen and supervisors mar and stefani for giving me the opportunity to present this Charter Amendment today. I also want to thank the cosponsors of the Charter Amendment, supervisors ronen, walton, preston and mar. So i want to start by stating some facts which i think that are incontrovertible at this point. One, our streets, especially downtown, are still covered with trash and feces and needles. They were that way before this pandemic, and in many way things have worsened in past few months. Several of our high density and high traffic sidewalks they are covered in waste and soaked with urine. And despite more money into street cleaning in the past few years, things have not improved and in many ways things have gotten much worse. We have Illegal Dumping that continues to happen throughout our city. Especially on the eastside of the city. And its also worsened in recent years. On top of that our city lacks Clear Service baselines and there are broken trash cans when you can find one and not nearly enough when you need one. Theres little sidewalk deep cleaning that happens in our city. We talked about this many times. The public bathrooms are insufficient and inadequate. And despite all of this theres no regular accountability or transparency as it relates to the state of our streets or the progress that needs to be made. Nationally San Francisco has become literally the butt of jokes because of the state of our streets. And little has been done to change this. This weighs most heavily on the people who live and work in the most impacted neighborhoods, it affects their quality of life, their connection to their community, their dignity and their health. But this is something that impacts everyone in our city. And when i took office a year and a half ago, like many of you i promised my constituents that i would get to the bottom of why the state of our streets have been allowed to deteriorate and what are the solutions. The real solutions, not just more money into a failing approach, but what can be done to actually to solve this problem. As a part of that for last year my staff and i have been meeting withs d dozens can dozens of people, and weve held hearings that many of you have been part of. We have met with all of the c. B. D. S and we have thought about trash cans and bathrooms and Pressure Washing and every piece of what d. P. W. Itself does. As many of you know that d. P. W. Is a department that really is a Massive Department in terms of its scope of work. And its something that has grown. It often tends to be used as a kind of a catchall for the different work that the executive branch has wanted to be done. So here are a few things that we found that has led to us bringing forward what is in front of you today as a solution. One, as i said, d. P. W. Is a massive Sprawling Department. Most of its work actually is not street cleaning or even street facing. The Department Director is not required to have expertise or demonstrated experience or knowledge in the area of street cleaning or maintenance, in part because most of the work that the department does is actually in the area of Public Infrastructure. Theres a disconnect between what the residents of our city think that d. P. W. Does and what they actually do. So for that reason it can be hard for us to even hold d. P. W. Or the d. P. W. Director accountable for the cleanliness on our streets because his or her job is largely related to Public Infrastructure and building, which is obviously very important. Second, the laws of our city are out of date and they dont actually require the city to do a lot of the cleaning and maintenance that needs to be done. Nowhere in our charter does it actually outline that the city has a responsibility or d. P. W. Has a responsibility as it relates to public bathrooms, street and sidewalk sorry, sidewalk cleaning. And this creates a lot of confusion as to who is actually responsible and accountable for these things. Third, theres no real oversight, citizen oversight, or accountability of the department of public works. Unlike other large departments, they dont have an Oversight Commission. They are the only chapter 6, which is a sort of the larger construction department, that lack a commission. And ill talk about that as it relates to contracting and corruption, but also that means that there isnt a public process for setting strategy, for requiring innovation for solutions and holding the department accountable and giving input for the public to get answers. I think that the results on our city streets demonstrate the consequences of that. Fourth, there are no baseline standard systems or metrics in place for keeping the city clean. And the head of the department as we have seen before can decide on their own what to do and where and when for trash to be picked up and street cleaning to happen. And this approach has failed us entirely. We need a clear set of baseline and a body to hold our city accountable to make sure that they are provided for. And i think that during covid19 this need for addressing these issues has only been highlighted further. Coronavirus we know can be present in human feces, and the virus can be spread by coming into contaminated surfaces. The need for these type of effective cleaning are only heightened during a time of a pandemic. So the conclusion that we have come to is that we need to undertake a broader restructuring of the citys role in streets and sidewalk maintenance and sanitation to ensure that our city has a clear focused and an organized approach to keeping our streets safe and sanitary. I am 100 sure that we are not going to address this problem that is so well known to so many now by utilizing the same structure that we have, and just pouring more money into it. We are not going to address what has become one of the most endemic challenges that our city faces. I want to underscore that all of this was true even before this Corruption Scandal that has rocked our city. Another set of facts that are now incontrovertible. The former director of d. P. W. Is under charge by the f. B. I. , which now is extending and the u. S. Attorney is extending across within d. P. W. And across our city department. Literally the problem within d. P. W. Having set the larger City Government. And there are structural reasons for that. The controller today is going to issue his first report on city corruption. And one of the key findings in there is that d. P. W. Is uniquely lacking in oversight as compared to other city departments. This massive Sprawling Department took on more and more and put more concentrated and more and more power within the director. And it continues to be one of the only large departments without citizen Oversight Commission. Or the clear lack of process and standards that are expected as it relates to the prevention of corruption. As a part of our process to determine the actual reform that was needed, we met with dozens and dozens of employees from street cleaners to Truck Drivers to architects, to engineers. And what i can report back to you is that the frontline employees in d. P. W. Will tell you unanimously that this structure is broken, and that there needs to be massive structural reform. The people who are doing the work are the ones who have been saying for years and years and years that there needs to be change, there needs to be oversight, and they overwhelmingly agreed with the Charter Amendment that we put in front of you today. I recognize that there are concerns from the people at the top, but the people on the streets believe that this is right approach and it will put them in a position to to solve this challenge both as it relates to accountability and transparency and as it relates to actual clean streets. Which theyre the ones who are doing the amazing work trying to deliver that every day. So heres what our legislation will do. And then i want to put to address the amendments which are significant, which i think that address some of the questions and concerns that have come up. So our legislation will address the structural problems in three ways. One is that we are going to update our laws to actually require that the city clean what needs to be cleaned and provide the services that need to be provided. We do believe that people who own property need to do their part. But a modern city has a role in cleaning its sidewalks and its transparent and accountable about that. And maintains its trash cans and bathrooms in a way that is clear, that the public can give input to, that has enforceable baselines. And those responsibilities should be a part of the charter responsibility of the department and our city. Second, our Charter Amendment provides a real look at the state of our streets. Currently, d. P. W. Really has two large functions. They act as the citys engineers, architects and project managers which make up the bulk of their work. And on the other hand theyre also responsible for the boots on the groundwork of maintaining our sewer system and urban forestry and street cleaning and maintenance. Our legislation will split the department into two distinct bodies by removing the bureau of operations from d. P. W. And creating the department of sanitation and streets. Most other cities in the country have a department of sanitation and streets. This is not a new concept. We have done this before with the creation of the department of homesness and d. P. I. , to put a specific intentional focus on Something Like street cleaning that has become such a huge challenge and is not being addressed by the structure as we have it. This will allow somebody to actually to have the expertise in street cleaning, to be held accountable for the state of our streets, to have management and direction from a commission, and for us to be able to go to as if its their singular job to get that done. Right now respecting to our new director, its not the majority of the directors job. And for that reason it lacks the level of focus and expertise and intentionality that is needed to do it effectively. Third, our Charter Amendment will create the commissions over d. P. W. And the new department of sanitation and streets. They will set legally enforceable baselines of street cleanliness and make sure that its under a system under which one person can use their power, sometimes inappropriately, and instead, will actually have a level of input, setting baselines, with due processes and with contracts and making sure that the departments and their work are accountable to the public. I hope that well see real innovation, that well see new ideas. And that theyll be able to hold the department respectively accountable to the results. The i want to address im going to share the amendments, but i want to address a couple things that i know that will come up and i want to address them directly. Some folks may say that this is not really an issue for their neighborhood or that things are working fine where they are. I want to be clear that things on the eastside of the city are not acceptable and this affects everyone in our city. Our citys communities, the bayview and the mission and the tenderloin and the soma are largely people of color and these are communities where people have to walk out every day and step on trash and feces. Theyve been underserved by the Public Infrastructures. They have been blatantly failed. And this is an equity issue. And it is shameful i believe to expect them to continue to live in the conditions that they are and to have a structure that has clearly and obviously failed them when it comes to results. And also now has failed them when it comes to allowing for selfdealing and actual bribery and corruption rather than delivering and doing their jobs. We are also a city that relies in large part on tourism. You know, on people visiting our city. And if youre worried about how much this is going to cost, think about the loss of revenue. If we attempt to open our city back up to the rest of the world at a time when we still have trash and feces and broken trash cans, no accountability of the department that is supposed to get this done, this affects every Single Person in our city. It affects our city coffers. It affects business in our city. And we cannot accept business as usual when it comes to this department or the street the state of our streets. I also want to address the costs directly. For those who would push back because of the cost, you know, the estimate that the controller has now, which i believe that will actually change, you know, puts this somewhere between 4 million and 10 million. 4 million to provide increased oversight and cost efficiencies to a department that has been rightfully abused, and with corruption and waste. 4 million to create a structure that can actually deliver what has been one of the most embarrassing failures of our city. I think that it is a cost that is fully worth it. We cannot keep spending more and more money into this. And 4 million is. 0003 of our overall 12 billion budget. I also understand though that this is a tough fiscal moment and money is a concern. So we are introducing amendments today that would not only make this measure cost neutral for the next two fiscal years, but to also make it possible to cut administrative costs almost entirely. We have worked these out with the controller and we, you know, we hope to see there will be a revised fiscal analysis over the next week once this comes back to the committee hopefully after the amendments. Again, we, you know, i have a lot of respect for the new director of d. P. W. This is not about one person. Whether the person before or the person now. This is about an entirely flawed structure that is not going to protect the public dollars effectively and it is not going to get the job done. And we cannot go back to or to keep a situation where the state of the streets are what they are. And this measure would put us in a position to be able to finally create a structure that can get the job done. So with that, there are a set of amendments that i know that i think that most of you have seen. I just want to go through them real quickly because this is what im going to ask you to take action on today. And then this will come back. The amendments are the following one, we are going to ensure that the public works projects are reviewed by the appropriate city departments and submitted to the commission for review. This is also something that was very important to our labor partners. Two, increase the cost efficiencies by requiring the annual cost and waste analysis of both departments. For people who are worried about costs, 4 million is a lot less than what was lost to our city through corruption and its a lot less than what was what i believe that has been unnecessarily wasted. Third, adding job qualifications to the directors of both departments to reflect the experience necessary to run the department. The reality is that if you are responsible for ensuring our streets are clean, thats something that you should have expertise in and i should have to demonstrate getting that job done somewhere else or within our own city to be able to run this department of clean streets or sanitation and streets. Fourth, to make sure that the commissioners overseeing the public works include those who are licensed architects and engineers in the state of california, and also adding Civil Engineers to the list of eligible qualifications. Fifth, we will add commission feeds for environmental and Forestry Services to the department of clean streets. Sixth and i mentioned this, to allow for economic recovery and the costs for the next two fiscal years by pushing the start date the official required start date to july 22, 2022. So for the next two fiscal years, this would have no impact on our city budget. Seventh, an amendment adding pest control with the duties of the department of sanitation and streetth. And eighth, allowing the board of supervisors to a super majority to remove or reassign the duties of the department of streets and sanitation. This allows in case theres some sort of changes of the responsibilities or tweaks that need to be made, that the board would be able to do that. And ninth, an amendment requiring that the department of sanitation and streets must act first to complete the work within its jurisdiction before it can be contracted out or assigned to another department. I want to be clear about this one as well, because the reality is that our departments across the city Work Together all the time. And these two departments will continue to need to Work Together. This is not an unusual idea. We dont need everyone to be within one department to continue to allow some facilitation of work. But we do want to be clear here that there will have to be work from public works to the department of streets and sanitation and we want to reduce all and any of the barriers that are there in order to be able to ensure that there are no bureaucratic hurdles to that. So the work has to either be done by the department of public works or it has to be given to the department of streets before its bidded out or anything like that. That makes sure and this was something that came up from the director that because it can no longer be done in public works for some reason they now have to go through a whole complicated process and get it out. We have conferred with the City Attorney and others that by adding this amendment that is not the case. And lastly, an amendment to allow the board of supervisors by ordinance to allow the department of public works or any other department to have administrative support to the new department, significantly reducing the cost of a new department. This, again, is something that we hope that will bring the costs down even further. And it will help to clarify that there will continue to be administrative support from the city administrator. We are very very, you know, grateful for the support of many of the frontline workers and the labor unions and my colleagues who are the cosponsors for where we are on this. We think that these amendments address some of the issues that have been brought up. We understand that change is hard. It is complicated. But we can be absolutely clear that keeping this structure the way that it is is utterly unacceptable and it will lead to the results that we have on our streets continuing. This amendment, if approved by you all and approved by the voters, i and many others believe, including the frontline workers will give us a real, real shot, a real hope, to making sure that our city is healthy, clean, safe for everyone who lives here, works here or visits here. So with that i will turn it back over to you, supervisor chair ronen. Chair ronen thank you so much, supervisor haney. As the supervisor of district 9, i just have to say amen. Amen. Our streets in the Mission District particularly, but also in the portala and somewhat in bernal are filthy, they are filthy constantly. Its the number one complaint along with the huge homeless tent encampments in the district that i hear from my constituents on a daily basis. That, supervisor haney, is not exaggerating. When he said that his district because i can attest that the streets of my district are filled with feces, urine, trash, needles, dirt, everywhere, during the worst Health Crisis that we have known as a country, to have this level of filth in our streets is absolutely unacceptable. And it was that way prior to this crisis and its continued to be that way during this crisis. I have to say that in San Francisco we are famous and we are known for the first of its kind things that we do. You know, mandatory sick leave. Healthy San Francisco, the first universal health care program. You know, the first office of Racial Equity and Sexual Assault and harassment prevention. I mean, all of these innovative ideas that we create are amazing and were known for it. But, guess what . We have to do the breadandbutter issues well before we earn the right to innovate on things that dont affect the daily life of our constituents when they walk outside of their door. When we havent been doing that. We have been failing when it comes to the basic breadandbutter cleanliness of our streets. I hear it daily. I hear from travelers who come to San Francisco and are shocked, literally shocked by the state of our streets. And something has got to give. Supervisor haney, thank you. Thank you to you and your staff for taking on this issue seriously, for studying intricately the systems that we have, for working with all of your creativity to come up with a design and with a frontline workers to make the type of change that we must see in San Francisco. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard when it comes to the basics. Like, i can walk out in the morning and there wont be feces and trash and needles on my front door. That is the fact and the situation for so many of my constituents in district 9 daily. And the fact that this has been ignored for so long is just outrageous. So i could not be prouder to be a cosponsor of this measure. I cannot wait to see this on the ballot. My constituents will be cheering from their windows to finally see the type of change that they have been begging for from this city for years and years and years. And i just implore all of my colleagues, whether you have to face the filth that we face in district 9 or not, i think that supervisor haney has made the case that this is a citywide issue and that this is an issue that we should all care about deeply because its about the health of the constituency and our wellbeing and every neighborhood of San Francisco. So, supervisor haney, thank you so, so much from the bottom of my heart and from every single constituent of district 9. We cant thank you enough for caring about not the sexy issues but the issues that make a massive difference in our lives every single day. I salute you, i really do. And with that i wanted to see if any of my other colleagues have any questions before i turn it over to the current director of d. P. W. , im sorry if i am butchering your name mr. Director, but i wanted to see if any of my other colleagues have comments first. Supervisor stefani, did you . Supervisor stefani no. Chair ronen supervisor mar, any comments . Looks like youre frozen. And i am assuming well, we can get to you after we hear from the director if you have any comments. Mr. Director, welcome. And thank you, chair ronen. I am the acting director here at public works. We have not had a chance to see the amendments yet so i dont have a prepared presentation but id be happy to address any questions that will come up. I will address some of the points that were raised. In many of the issues that were that as you will see that will be addressed in the proposed measure before us, and we have put processes in place that have addressed some of the deficiencies that were here at public works. In large part they seem to be isolated to the issues regarding and the homelessness issue with the response to the homelessness and in the Navigation Centers and things like that in place. In large part those issues have been addressed. I think that is not necessarily stated in the proposed report. And the one thing that i would like to also point out is the one thing that, you know, that needs to be addressed is, you know, certainly in our job to keep the streets clean and things like that, however, we also need to recognize that the street behavior also needs to be addressed. Thats one of the things that id be happy to work with the supervisor and the supervisors and the community to make sure that happens. I mean, i think over the last week or so specifically in the tenderloin, and going about executing the tenderloin plan, i think we have seen a difference there as we have been able to reduce the number of tents in the tenderloin. And its made a big difference. Its not one thing that one department can do, its going to take the whole of the city and the City Government, and the residents and the supervisors and everyone involved. So, again, i completely hear and understand the frustration that the supervisors have. I get the same emails and phone calls daily from the residents and the Business Owners not being happy and im trying to solve those problems. But the one thing that i have learned in my relative short time of being in this role, is that its not something that the public works can solve by itself. There are some structural things that we have been addressing. But, again, its not something that is just a singular public works issue. As i said, we have not had a chance to indiscernible and we will be happy to comment more. Chair ronen thank you so much. I appreciate that. Supervisor mar, did you have any comments before i open up to Public Comment . Supervisor mar yeah, i just im sorry, im having connection problems so ill keep my camera off for now. But i wanted to just thank supervisor haney and his staff for their work on this really important Charter Amendment measure. Yeah, im really pleased to cosponsor it. And i think that its very much needed. Not just, again, not just as you said for the district that are seeing a crisis in sanitation and health, but for the entire city. Including my district where this measure will go a long way towards ensuring that our city and our departments provide much better sense on important issues, basic issues, like filling potholes and maintaining and planting more trees. And even the important Infrastructure Projects that are under d. P. W. So i think that the reform and the increased reform and the increased oversight that will be provided by this measure will be beneficial for our entire city. So thanks again, supervisor haney, for all of your work on this. Chair ronen thank you. And i will now open this up for Public Comment. Mr. Clerk, are there any speakers on the line . Mr. Clerk, are you there . Clerk sorry. My turn to have to turn on my mic. The members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment on this should call 1 408 4189388. The meeting i. D. Is 146 661 0524. And press pound and pound again. If you havent already done so, please dial star, 3, to line up to speak. A system prompt will indicate that you have raised your hand. Wait until the system indicates that you have been unmuted and you pay begin your comment. Chair ronen, i wanted to confirm that yourself and supervisor mar would like to be add as cosponsors on this item . Chair ronen oh, yes, i have been a cosponsor the whole time so i dont know why i wasnt on. But, thank you. And, yes, add me. Supervisor mar me as well. All of the correct cosponsors should have been on the new amendment. Clerk any speakers on the line at this time . There are currently four callers wishing to speak. Ill unmute the first caller. Chair ronen thank you so much. Each speaker has two minutes to speak. Thank you so much. Caller hello. Can you hear me . Chair ronen yes, good morning. Hi. Caller hello. Good morning. I was calling in because, you know, i used to work at d. P. W. And i no longer working there no more, but im a homeowner in the city of San Francisco. I have seen so much dirt and so many Homeless People all around my area too. And i am very, very happy that they are willing to fix that department up and to make it an individual department, an individual department inside of the department. Because we have this really needed to be done. And i applaud the supervisors that are willing to do that. Thank you very much. And i applaud you for that. Thats all i am going to say and im all in for that. And i will when the votes come in. Chair ronen thank you so much. Next speaker. Thank you. Are you done with your comment . Caller yes, i am. I just wanted to say that. He said basically the things they wanted to say. So thats all i wish to say. Thank you very much. Chair ronen thank you so much. Next caller, please. Caller hi, my name is gabby, and im a policy and planning manager at pnpc and were here to provide support for supervisor haneys for the acoincidentability of our department of public works. We experience firsthand the impacts of the Current Conditions of our streets and sidewalks has on our residents and neighbors, both housed and unhoused. We all struggle to safely navigate our streets and sidewalks. For those of us who live and work in the tenderloin, soma and mission and bayview, it seems as though the city has accepted that our neighborhoods will be held to different standards than other parts of the city when it comes to basic necessities like cleaning the streets. Especially during a time of covid19 and heightened fears about the spread of this Infectious Diseases we need Bold Solutions to keep our cities clean with real accountability and oversight. We need to be dedicated to making sure that our streets and sidewalks are clean, and we have trash cans for litter and public bathrooms available for people to use. Solving the crisis of street sanitation and bringing real oversight to the issue will make a huge impact on our streets and the quality of life for all citizens of San Francisco. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Caller good morning, supervisors. I am a business agent and a city representative for labor 261, representing over 5,500 workers and 1,200 city and county employees. We thank you for your leadership and we strongly support these measures and urge you to do the same. In fact, this morning we issued a letter calling for an investigation into the public works and the p. U. C. Corruption because its gotten that bad. And we need your support on the legislation before you for both the division of public works and the Commission Oversight as well as the public advocate legislation. We have seen firsthand the lack of transparency and corruption has done to our city. The workers have filed many complaints over the decades that were never addressed and seen seemed to vanish in the wind. Our system is broken. Some city leaders would like you to believe that the cost of these pieces of legislation is too much with our present fiscal reality. But we believe that its the exact opposite. We cant afford to not pass these fixes. And the biggest cost is that of public trust. And we have a responsibility to the taxpayers to lower corruption by providing transparency and accountability and oversight. Please pass these pieces of legislation so that the citizens have a voice. Thank you for your time. Clerk thank you. Next speaker, please. Caller hi, good morning. My name is mary wilke and i live in the south market. And i have been working at the equity center. And im calling in support of supervisor haneys Charter Amendment, because having a department of sanitation and streets will have a great impact for the clients that we serve. And i have two statements from two longtime San Francisco residents. And so one is a 92yearold filipino world war ii veteran who uses a motorized wheelchair. And he would ask how he feels about being downtown, or around downtown, he says that it is too dirty and its hard to navigate with a wheelchair. It is hopeless. And an 85yearold resident says that i feel discouraged to go outside due to the dirty streets. Especially now that there is a pandemic. I am afraid that the dirty streets will cause more health concerns, especially for seniors like me. I am a senior with eyesight problems and i visually cannot see what i am stepping into and i worry that i might step into human waste. Thats why i am always careful whenever i walk the streets. And the statements that our clients have provided at the equity center. And we support supervisor haneys Charter Amendment because we believe that clean streets mean accessibility and safety for seniors that we serve. Thank you very much. Chair ronen thank you. Anymore speakers . Caller yes, this is David Elliott lewis. Im a 36year resident of the city. And i have been sad to see the state of the decline of our streets actually over those 36 years. With realworld consequences. Ive had friends who ride bicycles and bicyclists who have been severely injured because of unsafe potholes. Ive had friends who have had broken axels because of unfixed potholes. I live in the tenderloin for the last 14 of the 36 years and i have suffered a decline with the streets in terms of dirtiness and cracked sidewalks. Its been gross mismanagement of this department. And its been kind of a National Embarrassment for our news. Matt haneys Charter Amendment actually promises to fix this in so many ways and i think that the Oversight Commission over both new resulting departments and streets and sanitation, i really think that it will help to solve some of the the embarrassment for our city recently. And that embarrassment is not new. Its been going on for decades. So i hope that you will support this. And i will vote for it. I think that it will pass unanimously. I think that most voters anyone who has lived in the city for a few years will vote yes on this. So im really grateful for matt haney for introducing it. And ill be a supporter. And i thank you for your time. David elliott lewis, community resident. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much. Next speaker. Caller hello, im the executive director for the Tenderloin Merchants Association and i help to operate two different restaurants. The measure that is being proposed, you know, i took the day yesterday to speak to different Business Owners about this and were all pretty much in agreement. Its hard to make the argument that these departments wouldnt benefit from an Oversight Commission. The streets have been slightly improving but that really is not going to take care of the problem that we have seen as a whole. I wanted to speak about the state of the tenderloin and the streets. Even before the pandemic. So the pandemic is really not an excuse to use here. Theyve been in a state of disarray for many years. And with the resources that our city has, i dont think that is appropriate. I dont think that its appropriate to send that message out to the rest of the country since were, you know, one of the best cities in the country. So i think that the businesses are fully supportive of this with matt haney. And we thank him for helping to bring a lot of the this automated trash cans to the tenderloin are really helping. We need to clean our streets. I realize that due to the budget, the budget problems that the city is facing, we have to have to priorities. And its involving the death health of the people in the city and the tenderloin. And we have the most kids in the tenderloin so they cant walk through dangerous needles and whatnot. Thank you so much. Thithis is rene colorado. Chair ronen thank you so much. Next speaker. Caller Linda Chapman speaking as a Property Owner, 50 years as a Property Owner. And indiscernible on larkin street in the neighborhood commercial district. Which is at least a bit better than it used to be. I just wanted to thank you, supervisor haney, and that concludes my remarks. Thank you. Next speaker, please. please stand by i dont know how this city could expect people children, families, seniors, disabled to live like this. Especially in the tenderloin, its unacceptable that the city has held us to different standards than other parts of the city, so thank you, supervisors, for introducing this. Honestly, we need an Oversight Committee. The idea of separating the two is fantastic because that way, we actually can really have all the departments can be dedicated to their work. Itll improve the conditions of our street and just restore the trust in our system, and its just i mean, we need we need it because itll make such a huge impact on the streets and the quality of life for our residents. I say conditions are bad in the tenderloin right now, but thats an understatement. I had never seen it this bad precovid. Thank you for this visionary solution, and thank you, and i support it. Clerk thank you. Next speaker . Operato operator just like to say, before we get to the next speaker, we have three callers left in the queue at this time. Next speaker, please. Hi. Im a member of the healthy gardens student trees initiative. Im calling to speak on behalf of matt haneys movement to revive d. P. W. S scope of work. Clearly, the Department Needs more scrutiny to put resources where they belong. We need clean streets and oversight if money is nnt bei used the way it should. The tenderloin cant lose trees. The whole city is in great need of more urban canopy, and this is an area where changing the structure of d. P. W. Could really help the city, so sanitation, and i also just want to thank matt for all of his great advocacy on behalf of the neighborhood. Thank you. Can we have the next speaker, please . Hi, everyone. Thank you thank you so much for having this call. My name is john mccormick. I am an activist at tndc, and i have lived in the tenderloin for five years. I am calling to support this legislation from matt haney. Like other callers, i definitely do find it unacceptable that were one of the richest cities in the world, and we cant figure out how to deal with trash, feces, and urine. How do we expect our most vulnerable populations to live like this . Something i wanted to bring up i havent heard so much in the Public Comment is how do clean streets affect our economy . You know, our our our politicians, our legislators are so gung ho about getting things started back up, but when our streets are dirty, our streets arent clean, were seeing our business conferences cancelled, were seeing our tourists decline. Theres so much beyond keeping people healthy, and i believe that should be the reason for creating this legislation, but theres other factors to consider, as well. Tourism San Francisco has a lot of schools. People are seeing a lot of news about our streets not being clean, and they want to go to school somewhere else. I think this is one of the few cities in the World Without public sanitation, and i think we can pull this through. Thank you very much for everything, and i hope this goes through. Thank you. Can we have the next caller, please . Do we have any other callers . Good morning, supervisors. My name is raquel. As you know, soma filipinas is an organization of children, youth, families and seniors. Remember, one source of discomfort and shame is the state of our streets. Its not only for our visitors, as the previous caller, you know, mentioned that, you know, its a concern for people were trying to draw into the neighborhood, but its also quality of life issue when our kids 18 years have to watch every step they take. And then also, in this time, its a Public Health issue, and we have to worry about bringing disease into our home. Having a separate Sanitation Department would help this problem, and i appreciate supervisor haneys initiative. Having a separate department focused on keeping our streets clean could make a huge difference. Its also important to make sure that theres no selfdealing, to have more transparency over issues and contracts, but i think its also an issue of equity when not all neighborhoods get the same level of street cleaning as we deserve. And as we know in San Francisco, the more affluent neighborhoods have better conditions on the streets. So thank you very much for hearing this item, and we hope you pass it out of committee today. Thank you. Are there anymore speakers . Hi. My name is gem. I live in the tenderloin. Ive been here since 2009. I work as a mentor with ihss, the public authority. And i feel that if this goes through, and this oversight can help cleanup the tenderloin, it can make a huge difference in the Mental Health of our community, and our elderly and disabled will be able to walk outside with their walkers. I walk on a walker, and it is so hard to be able to walk on our streets with my walker and not track it on my floors. Many people are afraid to go out on our streets. Not only that, we have children that walk the streets every single day when theyre here. This should be unacceptable to all, and this Neighborhood Committee to possibly bridge a communication gap between the department and this community, if they are really willing to listen to us and what we need. If this Oversight Committee would be really willing to listen to our needs and help us cleanup this neighborhood, it could increase the Mental Health and just overall improve the whole city because of the mental ability. Thank you, matt haney, for this. I hope this gets out of committee, and i hope this neighborhood gets the help it really needs. Thank you. Thank you. Can we have the next speaker, please. Can we have the next speaker. Hello, good morning. Hello . Hello. My name is lorenzo hello . Yes, hello. My names lorenzo my name is lorne, aenzo, and ive live the tenderloin for 15 years. In my 15 years, ive never seen the streets so dirty. And were one of the richest cities in the world, and we cannot figure out how to get trash out of our streets with this situation. It is very frustrating, how can a city which has the most number of millionaires and billionaires cannot provide the basic necessity of cleaning the streets. Weve been a leading story on the newspapers and news for so long, and if i remember, this story was even featured in the United Nations newspaper. If we create this, it will help improve the life of all san franciscans. I urge you to support matt haneys sharper initiative. Thank y because this is the right thing to do. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi. Thank you so much for all your support in this, matt haney. I think its an incredible move for accountability and oversight. I dont feel that this is a budget issue, its a health epidemic. Our filth is at an unprecedented amount. We are seen, and San Francisco is seen as being one of the dirtiest cities in the country. We are one of the major cities without a department of sanitation, so i believe that a department of sanitation makes common sense. It shows that it will prove to have accountability and oversight with a data driven decision, so i urge everyone to vote and help cleanup our city, and thank you so much for your time and your progressive movements on this. Thank you. Thank you. Can we have the next speaker, please . Operator madam clerk, thha completes the queue. Chair ronen so thank you so much. So Public Comment is closed, and i will or supervisor haney, did you have any last comments before i make a moment to incorporate the amendments . Supervisor haney well, i wanted to definitely thank everybody who called in, and as you can hear, there was a huge amount of support from the people that i represent, but i and i really want to thank everyone who called in. They see the failures every day. They know whats happening now isnt working, but i think theres a lot of support for this across the whole city. This is a huge concern of residents, and again, i respect the new director of public works, but really, this is a structural issue, and it needs to be fixed, and we need someone whos really taking responsibility for clean streets and for the state of our streets and is accountable for that and has the support and oversight and direction and standards and services that in order to do it. And we dont have it that right now, and i think this is a solution that will put us in a position to be able to solve this this challenge with innovation, with data, with accountability, and i just think its it would be really awful if we told the residents of district 6, of district 9, of 10, of our whole city, that were going to keep doing things the same way that weve been doing it, and theyre going to have to accept these conditions. I cant imagine a bigger failure of our imagination to actually try to do Something Better and new, to give the type of attentionality and concern that not only are we seeing dirty streets, but corruption in departments at a level that weve never seen. This will help restore the public trust as well as the public rightofway. So i hope youll take the amendments, and well be back at least once next week. Theres for the further amendments, and if there are further amendments next week, and then, for a final vote. Chair ronen thank you so much. Any other colleagues from my colleagues before i make a motion . No . Okay. Then i will make a motion to incorporate the amendments as supervisor haney laid out. Supervisor walton, did you have any comments on this . Supervisor walton no, i dont. I just would say i am in support of this. Chair ronen mr. Clerk, can we have a vote on the motion . Clerk on the motion to accept the amendments [roll call] clerk the motion passes without objection. Chair ronen thank you so much. Thanks, supervisor haney. Take care. Mr. Clerk, can we clerk do you want to continue this to the call of the chair . Chair ronen thank you. I would like to make a motion to continue this to the call of the chair. Can we please take a roll call vote, and thats on item 2. Clerk yes. On the motion to continue to the call of the chair item 2 as amended [roll call] clerk the motion passes without objection. Chair ronen thank you so much, mr. Clerk, for keeping us on track here. And if we can go back to item number 1, supervisor walton, do we have any amendments to the legislation . Supervisor walton we do. Thank you so much, chair ronen, and to the entire committee for your patience. We do, and we actually just sent you all the entire committee diversions with all the amendments that are proposed. I would just go over a couple of things and just spell out where the amendments are and some of what they outline, but i wont read exactly what the amendments call for. On page 2, lines 2, it talks about labor representation and how we would include that in the charter. Page 2, lines 17 through 23, talks about the District Attorney and talks about the training and clarifies where we got the training from. Page 3, lines 8 through 9, about Holding Public meetings and soliciting input and make sure we include individuals that are incarcerated. Page 3, lines 12 through 13, talks about by through the first of march each year, talks about presenting to the supervisors or a Committee Designated by the board, a prepared report that outlines a summary. Page 8, we outlined investigations and the fact that the District Attorney will deal with the criminal investigations and clarify that page 4, lines 11 through 15, we added editions to provide notice of and a copy of recommendations, and the reason for recommendations and supporting records to the extent permitted by state or federal law to be employee and make available to public any record information regarding the office of Inspector Generals disciplinary recommendations to the extent permitted by state or federal law, so this is about transparency. Page 5, lines 1 through 3, we added monitor sfsd operations including the providing of services for incarcerated individuals. Page 6, lines 1 through 6, the sheriff or anyone testifying may require the testimony of anyone in the Sheriffs Department. Promptly produce all information requested by the sheriffs deputy Oversight Office or office of the Inspector General, and it includes all of the types of records that should be available for the Sheriffs Office Oversight Board and office of the Inspector General. Page 20, in carrying out their duties, sheriffs deputy and Oversight Board shall cooperate with the department that provides service to incarcerated individuals. And we added adding the ability to investigate complaints against the Sheriffs Department and the jails. Chair ronen thank you very much. Im happy to add those amendments. If theres no comments from my colleagues, ill ask you to take a motion, mr. Clerk. Clerk on the motion on the amendments [roll call] clerk the motion passes without objection. Chair ronen thank you so much. And then, i will make a motion to continue this item to the call of the chair. Clerk on the motion to continue the matter to the call of the chair as amended [roll call] clerk the motion passes without objection. Chair ronen thank you so much. Thank you, supervisor walton. Supervisor walton thank you. Chair ronen mr. Clerk, can you please read item number 3. Clerk this is an item to create the office of public advocate, authorize the office of the public advocate to review city programs and services, including services transmating information to the public and to receive, investigate, and attempt to resolve complaints regarding City Services and programs, authorize public advocate to receive and investigate specific complaints and to provide for the Public Advocates election, removal, and salary at an election to be heard november 3, 2020. Chair ronen thank you. Supervisor mar, would you like to start us off . Supervisor mar yes. Thank you for allowing us to hear this today. Colleagues, this is before us for a simple reason. We need to make our City Government more accountable, effective, and transparent. We are reminded by the breadth of investigation into our department of public works, building inspection, three city contractors, and a billionaire developer. It shouldnt take an investigation by the Trump Administration to root out corruption. We must address this locally and structurally. In light of the covid19 Public Health and economic crisis, its important its more important than ever that our City Services are effective, accountable, transparent, and trustworthy. We need to be proactive, not reactive. If we had a public advocate, it wouldnt have taken decades for mr. Nurus wrongdoings to be addressed. This Charter Amendment will create the San Francisco public advocate, a system addressed at eliminating public corruption abuse of taxpayer money, and abuse of the taxpayer trust. The public advocate would review the administration of city programs, including the distribution of programs and services throughout the city, the effectiveness of the Public Information and Service Complaint programs of city agencies, and the responsiveness of city agencies to request for data or information. In this way, its focused on citywide oversight and structural reform. The public advocate would investigate and attempt to resolve complaints from members of the public concerning City Services and programs. They would have Investigative Authority to resolve these complaints, and its specified that the purpose of this office is to root out corruption, fraud, and abuse. It would authorize the public advocate to receive and investigate confidential whistleblower complaint concerning ineffective, unreasonable, or unfair treatment of City Employees. The public advocate could also introduce legislation at the board of supervisors to propose Structural Solutions to the problems they find. Its important to note that the city currently does not have a particular official or Central Office responsible for overseeing how city advocates address and deal with the public. Id also like to speak to fiscal impact and emphasize that this is very much a cost savings measure. Corruption costs taxpayer money. Fraud and wasteful spending costs us money. By directly addressing those issues, the public advocate can help save us money over time. Lets look at new yorks advocate, for example. In just three years, they saved taxpayers more than three times what it cost to operate her office by uncovering bloated spending and corrupt city contracts. This measure will cost less than 1 million a year, with the Controllers Office estimating a cost between 725,000 and 925,000. That modest investment pales to the cost of public corruption. Between 2007 and 2017, the city lost 11 million in americas cup because of bad contracts negotiated behind closed doors, by some city officials who then went to work with the contract beneficiaries. And the city lost 60 million to intentional overbidding and undercharging by a contractor for instructiconstruction on t francisco airport. In consultation with stakeholders, weve prepared amendments to this measure that are available to you today. I just want to briefly summarize the amendments. In terms of the policy changes, an amendment states that the public advocate will defer to the District Attorney or City Attorney investigations where theres overlap, rather than allowing concurrent investigations. An amendment adds process for referring complaints related to Sworn Police Officers to the department of Police Accountability and sfpd. Another amendment requires referral to d. H. R. And for the agency for which an employee works for employee misconduct complaints that may require disciplinary action. And an amendment changes the qualification requirement for candidates. They must be licensed attorneys, but they must no longer be licensed attorneys for ten years. In terms of clarifying language, a clarifying amendment rephrases part of the office from investigating, uncovering, and eliminating the waste of taxpayer money to the fraudulent use of taxpayer money to better reflect the policy intentions. An amendment to clarify restrictions on the Public Advocates jurisdiction removed reference to collective bargaining agreements, and rephrases the restriction for legislation the public advocate can introduce. And finally, an amendment clarifies that the public advocate has no authority to impose discipline on City Employees or offices. Finally, i just want to thank, first of all, chair ronen and also supervisor haney for cosponsoring this. I want to thank City Attorney jon givner for drafting this matter, attorney david campos. I want to thank the harvey milk lgbtq local Democratic Club and local 261 for their endorsement, and all the Public Sector who provided input so far. The result is a stronger and more focused measure. Colleagues, this is not only a worthwhile investment for our city, its a necessary one. San francisco is ready for change to address our culture of casual corruption. San francisco deserves a watchdog with teeth, and San Francisco needs a public advocate. I urge you to support this measure today. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much, supervisor mar. Is there any other colleagues who want to make any comments . Supervisor stefani . It doesnt seem like it. So i would like to. First of all oh, sorry. Supervisor stefani sorry, im sorry, chair ronen. My camera wouldnt turn on for some reason, but i understand theres amendments made today, so ill just wait for Public Comment and make comments next week. Chair ronen okay. Sounds great. Thank you. I just wanted to thank you, supervisor mar, for taking the lead on this important measure. I am having one of those days where im so proud of my colleagues on the board of supervisors from everything these are the issues of our day Law Enforcement reform, cleanliness of our streets, corruption in San Francisco, and theres these three incredible ballot measures that are so thoughtful, taking on these issues that have plagued this city for decades, and i just want to take my hat off to you, supervisor mar, as well as supervisor haney and walton for really working in such a thoughtful way on addressing these really entrenched problems. Reading the news this past week, where the the u. S. Attorney is saying that they are following lines of corruption in the city that has been going on since 2004, i mean, you cant make this stuff up. The stories that are coming out left and right from not one, not two, but three Different Department heads, and it looks like many more to come are, quite frankly, shocking, and clearly, the accountability mechanisms that we have in place now are not working to root out this corruption and to ensure that we are making the most of taxpayer money and handling it in an ethical and responsible way. Supervisor mar, you have been a leader on government ethics, and i just cannot thank you enough for that, and working hard and working out in a detailed and thoughtful way to make sure that every time we use a dollar of our taxpayers money that it is going to support the Public Benefit and the public good, and that were doing a good job of it. We need this this this work and this oversight now more than ever, and i am so proud to be a cosponsor of this measure. I did have one question for you, supervisor mar. When reading it over last night with the amendments, i wanted to know when its very confusing language, and i wanted to know when the first election for the public advocate will happen, and i was wondering if that will be in the same year that all the citywide elected officials are on the ballot . Supervisor mar well, thank you so much, chair ronen, for those words. So proud to have you as a cosponsor. Regarding your question on when the first election for the public advocate would happen, it would happen in the next citywide or general election in San Francisco, and right now, that would happen in november 2022, or perhaps if theres a special election before then. But the charter also specifies then the next regular election of the public advocate would happen in november 2024, so that would be when, you know, theres other other citywide offices are being elected, as well as aaa, you know, other major elections. So the first election that happens before then would be for an interim period, and thats just because of the urgency in creating this office to root out corruption. And waiting until november 2024 would be a long time to wait to start that important work. Chair ronen got it. So i have a suggestion well, before i make my suggestion, i have a question. Ive heard fr ive heard, from some of my colleagues, a concern about the cost; the same concern about supervisor waltons and haneys measures. You look at new york, and how its saved so much more than its spent, but of course thats after its been up and running. And i so want this measure to get on the ballot because it is so the right thing to do at the right time, but im wondering if youd considered starting it a little later, similar to what supervisor haney had done for the d. P. W. So it doesnt cost money right away for the city budget where were not facing an unprecedented deficit. I just want to assuage some of my colleagues concerns so that it will get on the ballot. At least thats my hope. Supervisor mar just like all my colleagues, i share a concern over our huge budget deficit unprecedented budget deficit, as well as the important other proposed measures that we heard today. Again, i you know, the actual cost, based on the Controllers Office fiscal analyst is very modest [inaudible] supervisor mar so i think that given that its a modest cost and its going to save us money, even in the shortterm, by finding out wastes of money. Thats why i would still strongly prefer to create the office, to have the election as stated in the measure right now, at the next citywide general election. But then, looking ahead up the line, the regular election of the public advocate, when were electing other citywide offices, that would be november 2024. Chair ronen i thought the election where that would i thought the next genercitywide election for all offices is 2023. Could we ask ann pearson for that . I dont have that information, but ill get back to you for that. Chair ronen okay. Could we open this up for Public Comment . Does that make sense . Okay. Mr. Clerk, could we please open this item up for Public Comment . Clerk yes. Members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment on this item should call 40841893 8. Meeting i. D. Is 1466610524, then press pound, and pound again. If you havent already done so, please press starthree to wait to speak. Wait until the system prompts that you have been unmuted to begin your prompt. Mr. Ho, do we have any comments at this time . Operator yes. We have three callers in the queue. I will unmute the first caller. Hi. This is debra garfinkel. My hand was raised from the prior discussion, but im happy to speak. I was just finishing an email to matt. Im a resident of the eastcott and district 6, and i just want to thank matt and the other supervisors who are working to end the endemic corruption that i am seeing and getting the justice that we as taxpayers are do. I work with the rincon hills dog park, and in that respect, ive had to deal with d. P. W. And just organizations, and ive just seen how difficult it is to get anything done despite the fact that we wait, and we were willing to work in conjunction. I tried to get a stopping point because people are relieving themselves in the dog park, which in a city like ours, is shameful. But im concerned about Building Inspections and other types of possible corruption, that this type of an organization, an entity, would prevent. What ive seen as a Property Owner in the eastcott is that a lot of building a lot of construction is signed off on thats shoddy, and h. O. A. S have to bring the developers and the contractors to court after ten years, the statute of limitations, for work that should never have been signed off on, and im really hoping that this kind of an agency will stop this. It doesnt look good that were doing business this way. Its dangerous for tenants, its dangerous for owners, and it makes it difficult for owners to sell or finance. Ive never bought or owned anything before, and when we bought our place in eastcott, it was something that really surprised me because we were in litigation for four years over my father was a civil engineer. I couldnt believe the construction that was signed off on in our building. And i just really think its the way of doing business because of the fact that these agencies are corrupt. And i just want to thank the supervisors who have acted on this. I want to thank matt for the other issue that youve discussed prior to that, and i just hope that were going to move to a city where we can be proud of ourselves, so thank you again. Chair ronen thank you so much. Next speaker. Hi. Thank you to the cosponsors of this Charter Amendment, supervisor mar, supervisor ronen, and supervisor haney. My name is hope williams, and i am a board member of the harvey milk lgbtq Democratic Club. We believe government can and must be a force for public justice, for righting wrong, but the ability to do that is irrepairablely damaged when government officials are lining their pockets instead of fixing them. The milk club voted unanimously to support placing this Charter Amendment on this ballot. The choice here is between upholding the broken and corrupt status quo or supporting structural reform. Complaining about costs is a red herring, and public corruption costs us hundreds of millions of dollars. The red herring, when we spend more on overtime pay for a couple of Police Officers than this entire measure would cost. We urge you today to support the public advocate and be a part of the solution instead of the problem. Thank you. Thank you. Can we have the next speaker, please . Linda chapman. This is absolutely a critical measure, and i did contact the offices of the two sponsors and ask to talk to the aides who are involved in this, because in my profession and working for the army and the navy, i worked for the Inspector General, and i conducted investigations. When i looked at the measure originally, obviously, people dont understand that these restrictions that are being placed on what information is being released and federal investigators and [inaudible] and that also, you know, there are many provisions where they would be sending somebody packing often, the person comes to them from some other agency prematurely. Those are matters that are handled very differently [inaudible] i think that the sponsors know this. For example, the i. G. Will investigate, it may turn out [inaudible] and turned away because its a crime. Now, i would like to if i can access to email, id still go, but i have wifi and no computer. When i asked it of the two aides, one of them hung up in my ear, and the other one didnt get back to me. I did work for the commanding general, and did work with the i. G. And then, i worked with the consolidated Personnel Office which deals with almost all of the Armed Services in the area. Madam chair, that concludes Public Comment. Chair ronen okay. Then Public Comment was closed. I was wondering if we got any clarity on when this citywide consolidated election, the next one take place. Yes, deputy City Attorney ann pearson. My understanding is that the next general election will be in 2022. The next election where citywide offices will be elected will be 2023. Those citywide offices would include the mayor, the District Attorney, the sheriff, the City Attorney, and the treasurer. Some citywide offices will be on the 2024 ballot. That would include the assessor and the public defender. Theyre not all on the same ballot. Chair ronen oh, i thought we consolidated them all. Interesting. So that is my understanding, is that 2023 will feature an election for the mayor, District Attorney, sheriff, City Attorney, and treasurer. 2024 will feature reelection of the odd seats for the board of supervisors, the assessor, and the public defender. Chair ronen all right. I had mistakenly thought that they were on the same all the citywides were on the same year, and we had been working on that for a while. Supervisor mar, did you have any response to that . Supervisor mar yeah. Well, i appreciate the interpretation by deputy City Attorney pearson because yeah, i was a little confused about that, too. I think the other consideration of why we wanted to have the regular election of the public advocate in 2024 is because its a president ial election four years from now. We would expect the highest turnout and engagement in this decision. But i understand the budget deficit that were facing, so im up to considering amendments on this question, yes. Chair ronen okay. This is deferential on this. What would you propose . Again, this is so urgent, and im so excited youre bringing this forward. Im just worried were not going to have the vote this work, put it on the ballot. So one suggestion i had, was, you know, pushing it off making sure its on, but pushing it off for two years and starting on 2023, but im really deferential to you on this. Supervisor mar mmhmm, yeah. Well, again, with the current [inaudible] the modest cost of the public advocate wouldnt happen until 2023, after that election. I guess my suggestion would be to keep it as proposed, but we can consider possibly one final amendment. Chair ronen okay. We wont consider any amendments other than what supervisor mar originally considered. Would you like to do the motion . Supervisor mar thank you. So i would move that we accept the amendment. Clerk on that motion to accept the proposed amendments [roll call] clerk the motion passes. Chair ronen and then, i can make a motion to continue this item to the call of the chair . Clerk yes. On the motion to continue the item to the call of the chair as amended, on that motion [roll call] clerk the motion as amended is continued to the call of the chair without objection. Chair ronen thank you. Is there any further items on the agenda . Clerk there are no further items on the agenda today. Chair ronen thank you very much. The meeting is adjourned. Roughly five years, i was working as a high school teacher, and i decided to take my students on a surfing field trip. The light bulb went off in my head, and i realized i could do much more for my students taking them surfing than i could as their classroom teacher, and that is when the idea for the city surf project was born. Working with kids in the ocean that arent familiar with this space is really special because youre dealing with a lot of fear and apprehension but at the same time, a lot of excitement. When i first did it, i was, like, really scared, but then, i did it again, and i liked it. Well get a group of kids who have just never been to the beach, are terrified of the idea, who dont like the beach. Its too cold out, and its those kid that are impossible to get back out of the water at the end of the day. Over the last few years, i think weve had at least 40 of our students participate in the city surf project. Surfing helped me with, like, how to swim. Weve start off with about two to four sessions in the pool before actually going out and surfing. Swimming at the pool just helps us with, like, being, like, comfortable in the water and being calm and not being all not being anxious. So when we started the city surf project, one of the things we did was to say hey, this is the way to earn your p. E. Credits. Just getting kids to go try it was one of our initial challenges for the first year or two. But now that weve been doing it three or four years, we have a group of kids thats consistent, and the word has spread, that its super fun, that you learn about the ocean. Starting in the morning, you know, i get the vehicles ready, and then, i get all the gear together, and then, i drive and go get the kids, and we take them to a local beach. We usually go to linda mar, and then occasionally ocean beach. We once did a special trip. We were in capitola last year, and it was really fun. We get in a circle and group stretch, and we talk about specific safety for the day, and then, we go down to the water. Once we go to the beach, i dont want to go home. I cant change my circumstances at home, but i can change the way i approach them. Our program has definitely been a way for our students to find community and build friends. I dont really talk to friends, so i guess when i started doing city surf, i started to, like, get to know people more than i did before, and people that i didnt think id like, like, ended up being my best friends. Its a group sport the way we do it, and with, like, close camaraderie, but everybodys doing it for themselves. Its great, surfing around, finding new people and making new friendships with people throughout surfing. It can be highly developmental for students to have this time where they can learn a lot about themselves while negotiating the waves. I feel significantly, like, calmer. It definitely helps if im, like, feeling really stressed or, like, feeling really anxious about surfing, and i go surfing, and then, i just feel, like, im going to be okay. It gives them resiliency skills and helps them build selfconfidence. And with that, they can use that in other parts of their lives. I went to bring amy family o the beach and tell them what i did. I saw kids open up in the ocean, and i got to see them connect with other students, and i got to see them fail, you know, and get up and get back on the board and experience success, and really enjoy themselves and make a connection to nature at the same time. For some kids that are, like, resistant to, like, being in a Mentorship Program like this, its they want to surf, and then later, theyll find out that theyve, like, made this community connection. I think they provided level playing fields for kids to be themselves in an open environment. For kids to feel like i can go for it and take a chance that i might not have been willing to do on my own is really special. We go on 150 surf outings a year. Thats yearround programming. Weve seen a tremendous amount of youth face their fears through surfing, and that has translated to growth in other facets of their lives. I just think the biggest thing is, like, that they feel like that they have something that is really cool, that theyre engaged in, and that we, like, care about them and how theyre doing, like, in general. What i like best is they really care about me, like, im not alone, and i have a group of people that i can go to, and, also, surfing is fun. Were creating surfers, and were changing the face of surfing. The feeling is definitely akin to being on a roller coaster. Its definitely faster than i think you expect it to be, but its definitely fun. It leaves you feeling really, really positive about what that kids going to go out and do. I think its really magical almost. At least it was for me. It was really exciting when i caught my first wave. I felt like i was, like it was, like, magical, really. When they catch that first wave, and their first lights up, you know their face lights up, you know you have them hooked. I was on top of the world. Its amazing. I felt like i was on top of the world even though i was probably going two miles an hour. It was, like, the scariest thing id ever done, and i think it was when i got hooked on surfing after good afternoon, welcome to the land use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco board of supervisors for today, monday, june 29th, 2020. I am the chair of the Committee Aaron peskin joined by supervisor safai and supervisor dean preston, our clerk is ms. Erika major. Mrs. Major, do you have i in announcements . Clerk yes, due to the covid19 Health Emergency and to protect board members, to the employees and the public the board of supervisors legislative chamber room are closed. How many, members will participate in the meeting