Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Rules Committee 20240712

2020 meeting of the rules committee. I am supervisor Hillary Ronen, chair of the committee. With me on the call is rules Committee Vice chair Catherine Stefani and supervisor gordon an m mar. I would like to thank sfgovtv for staffing this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements . Yes, d clerk yes. Due to the covid19 emergency, city hall and offices are closed. Members will participate in the meeting to the same extent as if they were physically present. Public comment will be available on each item on this agenda. Both channel 26 and other various cable channels and sfgov sfgovtv. Org are streaming the numbers across the stream. Public comment and opportunities to speak are available via phone by calling 4156550001. The meeting i. D. Is 1468449547. Again, thats 1468449547. Then press pound, and pound again. When connected, you will hear the meeting discussions, but you will be muted and in listening mode only. When your item of interest comes up, dial star, three to be added to the speaker line. Best practices are you speak slowly and clearly and turn down your television or radio. Alternatively, you may submit your comments via email to me at victor. Young sfg. Org. Comments submitted to me will be included as part of the file. That concludes Public Comments. Chair ronen thank you. Can you please call items 1 and 2 together. Clerk yes. [agenda item read]. Chair ronen thank you so much, and well start with mr. Harrington. Youre back. Good morning, supervisors. Thank you so much for taking this up today. Chair ronen of course. Im happy to start with comments or questions, whatever you prefer. Chair ronen well start with your statements. Okay. I have a long history with the city. I have a history and a love for the organization. Just briefly, so if youre looking at the different values i bring to this, and i want to talk about three Different Things to talk about three different parts of the organization. One is the concern for the environment, and so clearly, when we impact so many lands and water ways, like the p. U. C. Does, theres always a bit of attention between trying to make sure were taking care of those lands and taking care of these water ways and our obligation to our kpust custom and some of that tension is bubbling up right now. But one of the things that i always prided myself being able to do was working through things like that. I hope to bring that to the organization. Another is environmental justice. We have not always been the best neighbors when you look at the having a Treatment Plant in the bayviewhunters point, before i left, whie started to put in digesters in that area in San Francisco. But we are still in their neighborhoods with a wastewater plant, so we need to figure out how to be better neighbors in terms of what we do. The third issue is kind of rate fairness on the power side. I think its pretty clear to most people, any way, that you can run a public power agency, you can have it cheaper, you can have a better green mix. They do it in l. A. And sacramento and silicon valley. The real problem is how do we get it there . How do we buyout pg e, and how do we do that without causing rate shock, which is something that i would be focused on. Again, im here today because i love the p. U. C. , the communities that we work with, the staff that are there, and im grateful if you would let me work with them again. Chair ronen fantastic. Its so good to see you again. I have two questions. One is to your last point, if you could tell us a little bit more. It sounds like youre very open to the city acquiring pg es structures to distribute energy, but of course we have to do so in a responsible way and address all those issues that you brought up. I just want to make sure confirm what i heard you say and make sure i heard correctly. Sure. When i was there [inaudible] until Something Else happened and delayed that for a while, and the only reason for doing that was on the way towards really running your own power operation. It is a better way to do for the people, it is a better way to do it for the environment, sure. Chair ronen fantastic. Couldnt agree more. And then, the second question that i had for you is, you know, because youve been the director of the p. U. C. , and now, assuming we confirm your your your appointment, we would have two former directors on the p. U. C. Board, and is that a little bit too many cooks in the kitchen . Thats my concern, is that wed have, you know, a general manager, and then two former general managers on the board. How would that affect you as a general manager, and do you think thats a little bit too much . Love to hear your thoughts on that. Its a very fair question, supervisor. When i was city manager, i argued with the mayor to appoint andy moranz. I guess theres a couple of things. One is ive always been somebody who has a job, and then, when you leave the job, you have faith in those that follow and theyre in charge, and youre not. Its great that i talk to Ben Rosenfield every once in a while, but i would never just butt into your world. Im really clear about that. Other thing is there are some departments in the city. The p. U. C. S Division Goes they go out 20 or 30 years. You just dont pick up the knowledge of the hydrology of the Public Utilities commission overnight, so i think theres a reason to not be as concerned in this case, but i totally understand why it could be a concern. Chair ronen do any of my colleagues have any questions . Supervisor stefani yes. Just to follow up on what youre saying to having led the p. U. C. , i thought it kind of an advisory council, you know, that people that leave are there to experience and guide. You are a former controller, manager of the p. U. C. I remember when i came here in 2007 and just remember hearing so many good things about Ed Harrington. Obviously, the concern for the environment, we cant say that enough, given the fact that the sky went dark, we cant go outside, we cant run. We need people like that in all sorts of places. Environmental justice. I think you were here when i worked for michaela, and remember we were so adamant we werent going to have those coal fired electric plants, and then, ive had constituents that have challenged that they werent my constituents, they were michaelas. So i think your ability to approxima serve on the p. U. C. , its undeniable. I have no questions, only the deepest admiration and support, and im thanking the mayor again for appointing you. Thank you, supervisor. Chair ronen supervisor mar, did you have anything to add . Supervisor mar yeah, thank you, supervisor ronen. Thank you, mr. Harrington for your years of service and highlevel service to our community, and thanks for your willingness to step back in to the Important Role at the p. U. C. I just had one question. As youre aware this year, weve been dealing with a number of crises in the city, unprecedented, but one of them has been around a crisis in in faith in our government, and, you know, as the the federal corruption investigation, you know, you know, has been playing out over the last seven months, and thats really lead to charges and directly impacting many of our key departments here in the city with documented evidence of corruption and and particularly around contracting, you know, the public works department, d. B. I. , and the Mayors Office of neighborhood services. And so even in july, you know, there was a federal subpoena that extended to the p. U. C. , and theres an Ongoing Investigation now, so i just wanted to see what your thoughts are around, you know, the federal investigation into corruption here, and thats now extended to the p. U. C. Sure, supervisors. So theres many different examples of fraud and corruption in several departments of the city. When i went to the p. U. C. , i added an audit function there because we were spending 3. 5 milli 3. 5 billion of rate payer money to upgrade the system, and we had had some scandals there. One of the things that i did was i set up a system of meetings and trainings for anybody in the Public Utilities commission to design anything time sheets, purchase orders, contracts, everything. And we went through and did training for about 300 staff in the p. U. C. To talk about the important of tone at the top for honesty, of how you do business with each other, that your signature means something, and if in fact you dont do right or you dont call out someone else thats doing wrong, thats your responsibility, and there will be consequences. Over the years, ive fired people, ive reprimanded people, and ive issued orders to stop doing people with the city. I think as we talk about these things, we have to be aware that we are actually, we have a lot of people that are honest, and we should keep their morale up by commending them and congratulating them. At the same time, if someone is working against us, then you take them out. Supervisor mar yeah, thank you for that. I appreciate that yeah, your past history on implementing controls and oversight practices but also your point about the need to support and and the you know, the vast majority of our and pretty much almost all of our Civil Servants that are doing their work at ethical and high standards, so thank you. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much. If theres no further questions, then we will move onto the second appointment, tim paulson. Good morning, tim. Thank you very much, supervisor ronen, my supervisor, as well as supervisor mar and stefani. So should i follow the same lead as chair ronen you got it . As the previous candidate and just say a few comments about what is happening today . So as you know, i have been appointed by the mayor, and it is now in front of rules, and i just am looking for your approval because as you, you know, approved me the first time, i ran around to come into this job because i went into a little bit kicking and screaming, i guess is what i tried to say because ive advocated in front of commissions but never sat on them. When people recruited me to come and sit on the Public Utilities commission, i accepted it, and i took it seriously. I have to tell you, i have learned more about water and power and sewer systems and public power and pg e and Environmental Issues than i ever thought i was going to learn, and ive taken it i just want you to know, ive taken it very seriously. Ive asked questions, ive engaged the staff and by the way, there are some incredibly talented professionals in the six different departments of the area. Every time i ask a question, theres a powerpoint its not like they made it up for me, theyre actually prepared for a commissioner to be fully briefed. As i continue to go into public service, im going to continue to take it seriously. All three of the different agencies and the six departments have been great. As you know, ive worked in the Labor Movement on behalf of working men and women for the past 25plus years. Thats been my job, and thats been my passion, and thats what drives me is the workers who make this city work, and the workers in both the public and private sector to move forward. So im going to continue to, you know, that is my advocacy in my day job, but in my life, id like to be able to bring that piece also to the to the commission as i continue. I do want to let you know something that i havent put in, and i think all of you know this in general, but, you know, i do come from the construction industry. You know, i have you know, ive been you know, ive run jobs back in the day, you know . I was a construction worker, you know, that ran as a foreman and whatever, you know, i ran many jobs. I know what a change order is. I know what a board foot is. In the trades, your college is your Apprenticeship Program where you spend four or five years of your life, and you dont have to pay money to go to a college, you actually get paid to learn your trade, and you can go to school at night or on the weekends or whatever else it is. I was an apprenticeship coordinator, also, for a few years. When i was also at the Labor Council and the Building Trades council, i worked on a lot of these project labor agreements. When we sit down with developers, public or private sector, its all about money, and thats where we fight to make sure we get the best bang for the buck. And as i think i said in the First Press Release when you guys first approved me, and the mayor nominated me, you know, the rate payers are the first priority. All the other issues are because this is an important and complex commission, and a major part of the structure of our city, that we have a lot of issues to deal with that. So, you know, i dont know if i should just stop right there. I really care about finance when it comes to things. During the downturn we had in 2007, when everything just fell to crap, and wall street kept putting money into work and housing and everything else, i actually had the silly idea of going with lennar and ed lee to china because they wouldnt invest in our city. It actually was a lot of union funds and trust funded that started putting money in the stuff. I was one of the teams that was invited to go, of all places, to main land china to fine some money. But i hope that these comments let you know that im honored to be on this commission, and i really want your support to be able to continue to do this work, and more than willing, gang, to take any questions that you might have, so thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much. I keep calling you tim. I should be calling you mr. Paulson or commissioner paulson, but ive known you so long, its hard. I just want to thank you for taking on this new role that is hard for you because youre so used to being on the other side of the podium. But i appreciate your willingness to serve in this capacity, and im excited that the mayor thats chosen to support you. Do you have any questions . Do any colleagues have any questions . Commission. Supervisor stefani i dont have any questions. Mr. Paulson, hes been a great member of the commission since last year. You will continue to do a great job in your first full fouryear term with this appointment. Youve done so much work for not only the p. U. C. But the labor community, and i have nothing but positive experiences and nothing but the greatest faith in your ability to really do the work necessary and advise the p. U. C. , based on your experience, and i just i cant sing your praises enough. So again, another great nomination that is so easy to support, thanks. Commissioner, im honored, thank you. And chair ronen, you just segued so fast. Thank you for this. Supervisor mar yeah, ill just add thank you, chair ronen. Ill just add to this, thank you, commissioner paulson or tim, for your decades of work supporting people in this city in the Labor Movement, and now for your service on the p. U. C. I just have the same question i would ask you the same question that i asked of mr. Harrington, whats your response to the investigation and now the prosecution thats been playing out in our city around misconduct, fraud, and corruption by city officials that has now expanded to at least the investigation looking into the p. U. C. Since july, and how does that relate to the important oversight role of the p. U. C. And for you as a p. U. C. Commissioner . Well, you know, ive been very briefly briefed by the City Attorney, that this was an expansion. I think what im going to say is former director harrington said, that all of us in the Labor Movement, whether were in government or any part of public life is going to be incredibly diligent to make sure that somebody, you know, that is cheating or taking public dollars or whatever else is going to be exposed, so, you know, as part of the oversight committee, we will you know, im going to take this very seriously. I dont know of anything, but somebody might or somebody might not. We know the most high profile pieces that have come out of this investigation, but im going to take the oversight very seriously, but to be honest, i havent seen anything. Its in the grand jurys hands right now, so, you know, but obviously, im curious as to if anything comes through. So i will be diligent. I dont know if thats the best way to put it, but just like all of you as supervisors. We hope that this department is as clean as ive seen it, but if theres something there, you know, well keep our i will keep my ears wide open. Supervisor mar thank you for that, tim, and yeah, i think right now that its really important for all of us, like the on the board of supervisors and members of important commissions like the p. U. C. To really focus on our oversight role and really to restore confidence and faith in our City Department and critical departments like the p. U. C. , so i appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you, supervisor. Chair ronen thank you so much. We will know open this item up for Public Comment. Any member of the public who wishes to speak on these two appointments, youll have two minutes to do so. Chair ronen vic tore, youre on mute. Clerk members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment should call 4156550001. The meeting i. D. Is 1468549547, then press pound, and pound again. If you havent already done so, press star, three to lineup to speak. Please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted, and you may enter your Public Comment. Mr. Qao, do we have any speaker for Public Comment. Operator yes, we have one caller. Hello. My name is larry mazzola, director of Plumbers Union 32. Im here to support tim, to reappointment him on the p. U. C. He has a long history of representing workers in San Francisco and well thought of in the city. Hes well respected in our industry, done a great job on the commission since hes been on board, and its very important to have labor on these commissions to have a invoice with the important decisions that are made on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. So i urge you, on behalf of the Building Trades, to reappoint tim paulson, and i appreciate your time today. Clerk thank you. Mr. Qao, do we have any additional callers . Operator madam chair, that completes the queue. Chair ronen then Public Comment is closed. I wanted to say how excited i am about both of these appointments. I think theyre terrific candidates at this time, and im happy to support them. I do want to mention to the mayor and staff since there is one appointment coming up, it would be great to see some additional diversity to this p. U. C. Its such an important commission in our city, and we want to make sure that people from different backgrounds and perspectives are able to have this power and voice on the commission, so thats the one request that i have of the mayor, but its hard to deny how wonderful, qualified, and committed these two appointments are, and so im happily going to be supporting them today and will make a motion to move forward with positive recommendations both Ed Harrington to the ive got to get out my notes here to fill seat one, and tim paulson to move that forward with a positive recommendation to fill seat three. Can we please have a roll call vote. Clerk madam chair, may we amend the motions to delete the wor wor words rejecting on both motions . Chair ronen yes. One day, im going to get this motion right. Victor, thank you. Clerk so on the motion to approve and recommend, on that motion [roll call] clerk the motion passes to amend and recommend the motions for the appointment of Ed Harrington and tim paulson. Congratulations on your appointments, and thank you, thank you, thank you for your willingness to serve the city and county in this way. Thank you. Thank you. Chair ronen mr. Clerk, can you please read item number three . [agenda item read]. Clerk we have six seats and 23 applicants. Chair ronen okay. Well, thank you so much. It is with great joy that we are hearing this item today. As you all know, i offered, together with supervisor matt haney and many frontline workers who serve people battling Mental Health and addiction every single day, and we wrote this law because our system has not been working, and we know that by what we see in the streets every day when youre walking in most neighborhoods, but especially in the mission near general hospital, in the tenderloin, and soma, which is why supervisor haney and i teamed up to create a system that works. Mental health sf is the vision of a new and hopefully innovative approach to serving people that need health care for Mental Illness and Substance Use, and hopefully in a few years, were able to say we have the best system in the country. We were able to fully fund the implementation in the budget that is before us tomorrow. It is a massive systems overhau overhaul, where coordination and collaboration dont exist today although. Theyre fabulous programs serving the population, they arent operating as they should, because in San Francisco, we have a belief that most Mental Illnesses and addiction is a curable illness. You can take someone whos very ill and get that person healthy and to a place where they can participate in society as a full and well, you know, participant. We have so many interest in these seats, and when i look at this list of people, i really already jumped for joy, and unfortunately, we only have six seats, but i just want to remind the candidates today that if you arent recommended to move forward, that the mayor will also be appointed six seats to the Mental Health implementation working group, and the City Attorney will be appointing one person, so there are other possibilities. And then, of course, once this committee is up and running, all their meetings will be public, and there are many ways to participate in making the vision of Mental Health sf a success and fully implementing this groundbreaking law. So with that, i wanted to call all of the applicants forward. We have many applicants today, so if you could keep your comments to three minutes, we would appreciate that. And then, well hear from the public, and each member of the public will have two minutes to speak. And then, of course, if either of my colleagues have any questions, feel free to chime in at any point. And with that, i just wanted to ask supervisors mar and stefani if they have any opening remarks or if we should just get into the presentation. Presentation . Supervisor stefani yes. Chair ronen okay. Fantastic. So we will do that, and well go in order as youre listed on the agenda, and we are starting with amy wong, if she is here with us. Hi, good morning, supervisors. Can you hear me . Chair ronen we can hear you. Yes, hi, good morning. My name is amy wong. Im member of iftte local 21. I have worked as a Mental Health Treatment Specialist for over 20 years at the San Francisco Behavioral Health center. I am honored to be considered for a seat with the San Francisco Mental Health committee seat. As a shop steward for local 21, i empower coworkers, clients, to standup for their rights to live with dignity. My empowering others with justice and dignity came when i was bullied by others at work. This ad advocacy started with becoming involved in the arts and Culture Commission through the very ordinance that supervisor Hillary Ronen and mat haney matt haney crafted and that all of you approved. Since the pandemic, our city has been hit with more homelessness, job losses, and services are often inaccessible to these folks. Many programs are running independently of each other, lack of oversight, and we need specialized programming and leadership to ensure these services are organized, coordinated, and accessible. And as a Mental Health professional, i am prepared to use my expertise and decades of experience to help shape policy that will provide Effective Solutions to the adjusting Mental Health conditions, Substance Use disorders and provide strategies to reduce stress accompany homelessness. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much, miss wong, and thank you for your decades of work, incredible work. We appreciate you. Thank you. Next, were going to hear from lucretia bolin. Good morning. Hi. Good morning, chair ronen and vice chair stefani and supervisor mar. Ive spent the last three decades working in Public Health. The majority of this time has been in direct Clinical Service in the field of addiction, Mental Health, family practice, Sexual Assault and sex trafficking. I do this work for a variety of reasons, and some of those reaso reasons are deeply personal. Many of the people that i work with rose from the similar ashes and are shaped by similar adversity. Im vested in protecting workers rights and vested in making sure that they can live in the city. I grew up in public housing, lived with my grandmother. We had no black dentists. I was part of the great Desegregation Movement in the early 70s, and this is when i began to have some visceral sense of difference and access, black and white, rich and poor. Following the 1965 debate with william buckley, about the age of five or six of seven, i learned to know the shock and the disaffection and the gap is based only on the color of ones skin. My grandmother never finished high school, and im indebted to to innumerable people. Should i be appointed to the work group, i will work to make sure that members have a voice and a seat at the table in the implementation of services that they may be working with. I want to represent the voices that may not have this platform. I have a tremendous amount of privilege because of my education. I want to ensure that elected and appointed servants in body and practice [inaudible] i want to thank you. Im happy to answer any questions. Appreciate your hard work, and please stay safe. Thank you very much. Chair ronen thank you so much. Appreciate all your hard work, as well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Chair ronen if theres no questions, then we will move onto shon bufor the record. Buford. How you doing this morning . Chair ronen fine. Thank you, papa. Basically, ive been a member of the San Francisco Fire Department for 27 years now. Most of my time has been spent working downtown in the bayview or Mission District where i was able to see the effects of stress first that has affected our society. During this time, by biological father has also been part of the system for many, many years, suffering for drug addiction, and ive seen how the type of resources can help people in and out and making sure they get the help they needed. Also moving forward in the Fire Department, i started to see how our Public Safety providers and service, those who work there are affected by it, and i wanted to make sure that we had thinged in place, not only for to help the citizens, but also to help the providers, whether theyre nurses, doctors, sheriffs deputies, firefighters. So i can bring a talent to work with people collaboratively. I have a personal and professional perspective. Im not afraid of constructive conflict, and also, you know, i wanted to make sure that our city understands the importance of that, as well, and know the stresses that affect our city, what are the challenges that affect our city, what organizations and resources are available, and if appointed to there, i believe i bring a leadership skill that will help bring everyone together on all sides and make sure that the city is healthy from all perspectives. From that, ill ask that you nominate me to this seat, and i thank you sincerely. Chair ronen thank you. We appreciate your time and service to the city, and we thank you for applying, as well. Anyone have any questions . Thank you. Thank you very much. Chair ronen next, well hear from c. W. Johnson. Are you here with us today, c. W. Johnson . Okay. We will come back to it just in case he joins us later. Next, well hear from darnell boyd. Is darnell boyd with us today . Okay. We will come back to mr. Boyd in case he joins us a little later. Next, we have john smither. Is mr. Smither with us . Okay. We will come back, as well. Next, we have liza murawski. Good morning, supervisors. Thi it is my honor to be among such committed applicants, and i share in your enthusiasm to finally implement Mental Health San Francisco. I have 16 Years Experience of living with Mental Health and suffering from addiction and Substance Abuse. I am a state certified drug and alcohol counselor and educator. Im applying for stage three, which is for an individual suffering from a dual diagnosis. My Life Experience spans from nob hill to the corner of turk and hyde. In november of 2019, i had the privilege to do my presentation on a blueprint to wellness and recovery with the Mental Health Association International conference. This outline, this blueprint outlines the needs and mimics the needs for the Mental Health San Francisco implementation group. Im currently a member of the tenderloins People Congress and also serve as a Health Justice leader. I hope youve had time to review my credentials as well as my history. I look forward to working in service and collaboration to create a Mental Health system that works for our diverse culture and systemic needs of our community. Thank you for your consideration, and if you have any questions, feel free to address me with them. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much for applying. Is there any questions for my murawski . Thank you so much for applying for the seat. Next, we will hear from peter thomas murray. Great. Can you see me and everything . Chair ronen yes. We cant see you, but we can hear you perfectly. Okay. Any way, my name is peter murphy, and i appreciate this opportunity to speak with you this morning. I mean, i think Mental Health sf is a wonderful project, and im really glad that its getting close to fruition. Im with the Mental Health association of San Francisco, and i would say that i well, i identify as an alcoholic and an addict. Ive been clean and sober for around 25 years, through 12step recovery, but im also very familiar with the principles of Harm Reduction and the the value of that. Im not somebody thats going to try to, you know, i dont know, foist a 12step recovery on somebody thats not ready or not interested in it, and i also identify with Mental Health challenges. Id say for my whole life im in my early 60s now, and its taken me that long to realize how my Mental Health and substance issues have impacted my life. I got clean and sober, didnt really address my Mental Health issues very well, so even though i was clean and sober, i would continue to still have issues and problems. And its only in the last, say, six, seven, or eight years that ive found Mental Health recovery thats been consistent. I believe in peer recovery, and the idea that a 12step recovery to me is about one alcoholic or an addict helping another. Mental Health Recovery or peer recovery is one addict or alcoholic providing a model of help for another. I think the idea of having universal access to Mental Health care is so important, and that a lot of our services now exist ive you know, ive heard the expression exist in silos, and i think thats true. I think we need to have a comprehensive service so we can best address how to serve our community. I look forward to it, and yeah, if theres any questions at this time, im happy to entertain them, and i thank you for the opportunity, supervisors ronen, stefani, and mar. Thank you so much. Chair ronen thank you so much. We really, really appreciate everything you had to say, and you applying to this position. Is there any questions for mr. Murphy . Nope . Thanks. Thanks again for being here. Clerk mr. Murphy, can i ask that you turnoff your camera, as its been on during most of the meeting. Oh, sorry. Chair ronen no problem. Next, well hear from phyllis jones. Hi, he have beeverybody. I just want to say thank you for this opportunity, and im really filled with gratitude, and it really helps the work that im doing to be in a position to be able to give back. So for my personal experience, i am a young person of color. I just recently aged out of the t. A. Y. System. I identify as African American and latinx. I spent my youth in and out of jail, Mental Health treatment facilities, and addiction facilities. I am formerly an i. V. Drug user, and i currently have five years of sobriety, so i directly relate to the populations that we will be trying to make an impact with in this position, and in the last recent years, i have overcome those things myself, and i hope to bring that perspective to this position. In my professional life, i have become rather successful. I am a student at San Francisco state studying in the social work program. I also am a willie brown fellow, interning with h. S. H. My current role, i am a case manager for jail services, working with populations that are affected by drug abuse, have cooccurring disorders, homelessness, and are trying to navigate the criminal Justice System. Before this role, i worked for ucsf doing very similar work. I worked at a drop in center at 850 bryant, and i once again worked with those populations. So personally, for me, i have dedicated my life and the greater part of my 20s so far to apply what i have learned and make an impact on people who are like me and going through similar situations. I hope that young people can see some of them in me, and it gives them hope and inspiration to per severe over what they are persevere over what they are going through. As a person of color and someone who experienced what i did early in my life, i offer a unique perspective and needed perspective to this position. I just want to thank you. All of the applicants have been amazing thus far, so im glad that we have some really good choices, whether its me or someone else, to make choices in San Francisco and all the communities that have been looked over. Thank you so much. Chair ronen thank you so much. You all are creating an impossible choice right now, but thank you for applying with your wealth of experience and understanding. Any questions . If not, thank you so much for much here and for applying for the seat. We really appreciate you. Thank you, guys. Chair ronen next, we will hear from charles ryan. Charles ryan . Not here, and i will give him another chance at the end. And next, well hear from kara chen. Good morning, supervisors. Chair ronen good morning. My name is kara chen. Chair ronen hello. I am a deputy public defender. Ive been working as a public defender for 30 years, and i am currently the managing important for the San Francisco Mental Health unit. Its an honor to advocate for miselfamongst the group myself amongst the group, and i think all of the applicants are so impressive. I serve as a member on the San Francisco Mental Health board, now its known as San Francisco Behavioral Health commission from 2012 to 2017, and from 2015 and 2017, i was the chair for the San Francisco Mental Health board. And also, i i serve on the jail reenvision jail replacement work group, and i also serve on the a. O. T. , assisted Outpatient Treatment Program on the implementation group. And currently, i am also working serve on the San Francisco sfpd crisis intervention work group with the community provider. And also, i cochair a work group from my thats work related, which is transitioning clients in jail, in custody, and inpatient from the acute facility or in jail into treatment. And i think, based on my work, i realize that the importance of participating in Mental Health sf in order to make sure that services and availability of services to be delivered to our clients and consumers in a dignified way, and i think that my Knowledge Base and my problemsolving skills will be enable me to serve the client population in a in an effective way. So i thank you for your consideration, and and i think this is a great opportunity to participate because i think if sf San Francisco, if we implement it in a way that is effective, i think we could be the model for the rest of the nation. So thank you very much for your time. Chair ronen thank you so much, miss chien. I just want to take a moment to thank you for all that you do. You are such an expert in the field in so many ways. Just feel so grateful for all of your works. Thank you. Chair ronen lets see. Who is next . Kate franza. She could not be present, but she sent an email, so thank you so much. Steve fields, are you here with us today . [inaudible] chair ronen we cant hear you, steve. Are you on mute . Not anymore, i hope. Chair ronen nope, now we can hear you. Good morning, supervisors. Its an opportunity to say a large thank you, supervisor ronen, for being a part of the leadership on getting this essential reform moving right at a time when its needed most, and the board of supervisors that supported the measure by 100 . Its this is an opportunity that working with the Mayors Office and the board may not come around again, and so im excited about this. [please stand by] whats been exciting in any career to get a chance to do programs that are based on the kinds of principles that i believe have to be core to the Mental Health if its going to be successful. I think the biggest challenge facing all Behavioral Health systems is the problem over recidivism. We have never seriously confronted that we have a cycling population of individuals who going into acute care, coming back to a community where there isnt adequate treatment, follow through and a dedication to recovery being a possible outcome if we build a continuum of care in the community. Were reliant inpatient. We have not made the deal we need to make to actually commit to a communitybased system of care. No jurisdiction has try to put together this effort on a policy level. No other jurisdiction has the wealth of agencies and services and providers that we have. If we just find a way to Work Together with a common vision of our outcome, we can attack recidivism and seriously change the course of what it means to a young person today who comes into an emergency room with a dual diagnosis problem that they need to have treated. I want to be in this from the beginning because ive been in it from the beginning. I bring to this group an experience of what it takes to stand up a program. What it takes to find the funding for a program, to leverage other resources. I have worked in the system of care my whole career and my dedication is to try to find ways to avoid the mistakest mistakes we made for decades to leverage the politics and the strategy and the resources for developing full articulated Community Treatment system of care, from the inside. Thats what im excited about working with the people i heard so far this morning this is really an opportunity. I dont want to miss it. I want to be in with this group working on solutions. Thank you. Any questions, id be happy to answer. Chair ronen i want to thank you so much. I started my 53rd year. Chair ronen thats incredible. Thank you so much. Very much appreciate you. I dont think theres any question. But thanks so much for being here today and for applying. Really appreciate it. Thank you supervisors. Chair ronen i understand that vitka eisen withdrew her application. Well skip over her. Next well hear from monique lesarre. Can you hear me . Chair ronen yes. We can hear you. Good morning. Thank you all so much. Im going to read my comments because theres so much that i can respond to. Good morning supervisors ronen, mar and stefani. Im deeply grateful to be part of this conversation today. It is my honor to apply for the seat 6, 7 and 8. I had sleepless nights dealing with Behavioral Health department in San Francisco, specifically around [indiscernible]. My frustration is lack of community that has been shown. Im excited to work as a team to engage Mental Health, substance and the community. As a longterm africanamerican resident of San Francisco i worked on equity for all people. Im the daughter of two parents that were impacted by Mental Health, ptsd, depression, anxiety and Substance Abuse, addiction, trauma, violence. As a survivor myself of trauma, i have dedicated my life to working to understand what my parents and family and went through and understand how to support and provide safety to people of healing. I work everyday to provide more resources for our community. I have my doctorate and masters degree in clinical psychology. My specific focus is on africanamerican Mental Health and wellness, especially intergenerational trauma and healing. In addition to my main job, where our mission is to eliminate health in black and marginalized communities. I worked as a clinician with moms and children and day treatment and psychological services. I worked as a director of children youth and Family Services and as a Mental Health Services Director at california mental studies. I continue to be a tireless advocate in the San Francisco and bay area that actually serves the community effectively with chair and excellence. My engagement has been a volunteer on projects for the community as a volunteerled [indiscernible] i volunteer regularly mentoring healings for communities. I thank you for your time and consideration. I agree with mr. Jones, theres been amazing applicants. We must find a way to address recidivism. I really want to be part of the solution. Thank you so much and if you have any questions, im here. Otherwise, thank you, amazing applicant and thank you so much. Chair ronen thank you so much for all your inspiration. Thank you for being here and applying. I dont think theres any questions. Next we will hear from aggie quinn. Aggie quinn is not here. I will call one more time to make sure. Next we will hear from andrea salinas. Good morning madam chair and supervisors. I will be honored to serve on seat 7. Im a clinical social worker. We are the largest contract partner with d. P. H. Providing services to 1200 individuals across our program. Our clients has severe Mental Illness, many use substance, have complicated medical needs and are diverse. We are also the Mental Health provider with program dedicated to serving the mentally ill. We also provide Substance Abuse treatment through our staff program. Up until the pandemic, we had a lively social Opening Monday through friday. I serve as the supervisor to our lgbtq focus team and oldest program, Community Focused case management. We are organized and culturally focused Team Including our africanamerican focused team and latinx and korean focused team. We meet our clients where they are at honoring their particular experiences. I have been working as a case manager in San Francisco for over 20 years. I always worked predominantly person of color. Over the years i developed expertise working with latino population. Im aware of the unique needs [indiscernible] thank you. Chair ronen thank you so much for all your work and applying for the seat. Really appreciate it. I dont believe theres any questions. Now asking for kathleen johnsonsilk. Is she present . Good morning. Thank you, madam chair and supervisors. Thank you for the opportunity to participate today amongst such an Incredible Group of applicants. My name is kathleen johnsonsilk. I was born and raised in San Francisco. Im a family therapist with focused on trauma and care. Im applying for seat 7. I worked for 17 years with people in criminal system in diverse capacity. Serving the Behavioral Health safety net and Community Organizing and prison rights litigation. I currently oversee 450 treatment beds in San Francisco and up until march, had the distinguished honor of spearheading the implementation of the Meth Task Force recommended Drug Sobering Center in district 6. I see Mental Health sf has a tremendous opportunity to improve the system. One major problem is that the public behavioral Health Treatment can perpetuate trauma and depression of the criminal system. This can happen without intention or awareness but it does happen as treatment can emulate and sustain damaging elements of the criminal system. I oversee treatment and Supportive Housing for people coming hope home after serving life sentences. Things like the behavioral surveillance, stigmatizing terminology can trigger lack of control, reinforced dependence and loss of identity which recalls the ways of feeling and being they experienced. Treatment is all too often another part of the poverty and incarceration cycle. Mental health sf is an opportunity to address the systematic fault. I see an obligation to overhaul Healthcare System to be less racist. As we move into a future where we are able to envision ways in which Police Departments can and should be defunded, how jail and prisons can quickly reduce populations instead continuing to overcrowd to deadly capacities where black lives matter truly mean something, sf can show the rest of the world how we do it. Thank you. Chair ronen thanks for applying. Next we will hear from veronica forbes. Good morning. Chair ronen we cant hear you. We still cant hear you. Can you hear me . Chair ronen now we can. Hi, im veronica forbes applying for seat 7. As formally homeless queer with mentally ill incarcerated father, i work to reduce recidivism, prioritize Public Safety and enhance victim protection, provide Trauma Services and efficiently use San Franciscos resources to divest from incarceration and depression. As lead medical social worker from kaiser Transition Team i know that Funding Program according to the positive outcomes pays for itself in fiscal savings by reducing high medical spending. I collaborated with Jail Psychiatric Services and jail Aftercare Services as Behavioral Health where rereduce the use of criminal justice and Mental Health services with a net benefit by stabilizing patients. My goal is to further increase saving by cutting unnecessary jail time and fund more case managers. My other goal is to extend our countys practice of neighborhood courts, Restorative Justice and use of social workers sentencing planners to defund our criminal Justice System especially in our schools. Juvenile criminality being the highest biggest predictor of adult criminality and males ages 15 to 24 having highest rates of arrest, its why i created a Pilot Program for ucsf citywide focus. As a Behavioral Health specialist and the First Program manager of navigation center, i know that federally funded employment, job training reentry programs, Mental Health team and protecting undocumented individual who report crimes can successfully reform our criminal Justice System. Ive also volunteered on campaign for the Mental Health sf to create a National Model for universal Mental Health care. It is for all these reasons that thank supervisors, ronen, stefani and mar and colleagues for their time. Chair ronen thank you so much. This is so difficult. You all are so amazing. Thank you very much for all your work and advocacy. Next, we will hear from aaron buchbinder. Are you here . We will hear from oiyee wong. Ms. Wong available . Then last but not least, sara shortt. Are you here . There you are. Good morning. Good morning. Im just super excited about Mental Health sf. Im passionate about being involved in the implementation. Ill tell you why. I think it was probably when i graduated with my masters in social work about 20 years ago when i first started to understand some of the challenges with our Mental Healthcare system. I knew a bit about it before that. I do have an uncle whos chronically mentally ill. Family has been working to get decent care for decades understood firsthand all the barriers and the challenges and the obstacles. But also how important it was for him to get decent care. Care that emphasized things like harm restructure, care that was sensitive coordinated, compassionate. Thats what were talking about with Mental Health sf. Im also excited about it because as a member of the treatment on demand coalition, weve been working on the issue of reform for Behavioral Health services for a few years now. It just so happen we were starting to talk to members at city hall about what can be done about this type of reform that was needed. It coincided with the ideas with Mental Health sf and we thought, this is wonderful and we jumped in and got involved with working with supervisor haneys use Supervisor Ronen Office and department of Public Health to actually craft something. Having involved crafting the legislation and help pass the legislation, i have a Real Investment in making sure that it works effectively. My other reasons are, i spent three years in skid row in los angeles. I ran a Homeless Outreach program there. We had multidisciplinary teams. The teams included nurses and outreach workers, Substance Abuse counselors. It included Mental Health clinicians. That was a big part of the program. I learned so much about the role that Mental Healthcare on the streets that will meet people where they are and will particularly work to integrate the issues of homelessness and Mental Healthcare how that played out, again some of the flaws and some of the amazing benefits that occur when people are approached not just by an outreach worker but someone whos trained clinicians and who can correct them to Mental Health services. Thats where i started to see benefits, the way that housing is a Mental Health intervention. The way that housing intersects with Mental Health and Behavioral Health needs, in a way thats almost miraculous sometimes. After working on skid row, i started here in San Francisco working at Community Housing partnership. Were a Supportive Housing provider. Im applying for seat 11 which is for Supportive Housing provider. Thats when i continue to see that Supportive Housing makes all the difference in the world. Its not a silver bullet. But, when you can get people who are mentally ill or dealing with Substance Abuse issues off the streets and into good permanent Supportive Housing where they have the services on sight and they have the connection, the case managers and clinical support, Mental Health issues are absolutely also being treated through that method. Its one of the most effective methods so that people with get the stability they need to then be able to be successful in treatment. Community housing partnership, we have 17 buildings across the city we primarily provide houses to homeless folks. One of our main goals is to provide that type of stability so people can work on Substance Abuse and Mental Health issues and link them to the services they need and provide housing. I will definitely bring that housing perspective and the intersection and will have an eye out for that. Other thing i can say, ive been on a lot of working boards and commissions within the city. Thats on my resume. Im member of the conservatorship working group. Its being now increased, expanded due to changes in the law. Just would like to say that everyone who has spoken today, seems so amazing and has great experience. Im so ready to roll up my sleeve and put my qualification and experience and expertise into making a great program. I know we can do it. We talked a lot about various ideas people have, weve looked at National Models. So many people come up with super resourceful ideas, based on direct experience, working in the system. Thats what we need to make this program work. We have such dedicated supervisors, leaderships at the helm, supervisor as supervisor ronen and haney. I know that the department of Public Health is fully on board. We had enough considerations to conversations to know they are ready to do this. This is an opportune time that we can bring all these amazing people together to work from different perspectives to make an new day in San Francisco. A new day with people with Mental Health issues and Substance Abuse issues will get treated with parity and will bring equity to the system rather than this whole long history weve had of segregation Mental Health and physical health. Thats not the way of the world anymore. Its about integration and this program will do that. Im just grateful for the opportunity to apply. Im grateful that this process is moving forward. Im excited to see what comes out of it. Chair ronen thank you so much. Appreciate you and all your work. Now were going to give one more chance for the people who werent present the first time around ill call all the names one more time. If you present, let us know. Aggie quinn, cw johnson, darnell boyd, john smither, charles ryan, aaron buchbinder, oiyee wong. Any of those applicants show up . Okay. Seeing none. Mr. Clerk, hoping you can open up for Public Comment and if youll excuse me for one minute, i will run to the restroom. Supervisor stefani can take the chair. I will be right back. Thank you. Clerk members of the public who wish to provide Public Comment on this item should call 4156550001. Then press pound and pound again. If you havent already done so, please dial star 3 to line up to speak. Please wait for the system to indicate that you have been unmuted and you may begin your comment. Do we have any speakers at this time . Yes, there are two callers in the queue. Hi members of the rules committee. I hope you pass supervisor ronen as soon as she gets back from the restroom. I really support sara shortt, i have all the confidence in world that you will appoint her. I also want to see liza muraws murawski. Shes my neighbor and i worked with her on issues. Housing is a component to Mental Health. We need someone not only experience with Mental Health [indiscernible]. Thank you very much. I yield my time. Clerk next speaker please. My name is joe wilson. Im executive director of hospitality. I got accused by the technology. I was trying to testify in support of darnell boyd for seat 3. Will acknowledge members of the committee and especially supervisor ronen for her leadership on this important issue to really help redesign the citys Mental Health system. Long overdue. Darnell boyd, i believe, is an accomplished both consumer, advocate and activist in the community for many years. Worked at power for a number of years. Hes been an activist and advocate to the coalition of homelessness. Hes a veteran. He is formall formally homeless. Former member of hospitality and board of directors. He has commitment to lifting up lived experiences in the community and with the struggle of Mental Health issues, i think reflects the need for us to recognize how important it is and benefit of viewing those who lived experience as assets, not liabilities. We need to invest in the least restrictive interventions possible. That often stimulates the unlimited possibilities of the individuals own potential. That has collective benefits for us all. I want to acknowledge incredible depth and breadth of experience clerk thank you. Speaker time has expired. Do we have any additional s