Transcripts For SFGTV Fire Commission 20240712

Www. Sftv. Gov. To participate by phone you can callin and use the access code 148 9208779. Someone is making background noise. Members of the public will have an opportunity to participate during Public Comment. The public is asked to wait for an agenda item before making a comment on that item. Comments will be addressed in the order received. When taking public commit members can press star 3 and you will be queued. Callers will hear silence. They will have the standard 3 minutes to provide Public Comment. Make sure you are in a quiet location, speak clearly, and turn off any tvs or read yos around you. Item one, roll call. [clerk reads names of senators in attendance] [clerk reads names of members in attendance] general comment. Members may address the members for three minutes. Speaker shall address the remarks to the commission as a whole and not to individual personnel. They cannot enter into debate with the speaker. The lack of response doesnt constitute agreement with or support of statements made during Public Comment. There are no callers on the public commit line. Thank you, ill close Public Comment and go to the next item. Item three approval of the minutes. Approving the Meeting Minutes of october 14, 2020. Thank you madam secretary. To my fellow commissioners i made a few comments to the secretary regarding the minutes. There is nothing that changes the meeting the meaning of the minutes. Ill entertain a motion to approve. So moved madam chair. Thank you commissioner cleveland. Is there a second please . I second. Thank you Vice President feinstein. President covington, how do you vote . I vote yes. Commissioner nakajo. I vote yes. Commissioner rodriguez. I vote yes. There is no one on the Public Comment line. Next item. Chief of Department Report to nickelson on issues and activities within the department in the meeting including budget, academy, special events, communication with other agencies and report from Administration Deputy chief jose on Administration Status and update. Support, services, and training within the department. Thank you. You said there is no Public Comment . There is no Public Comment. Okay, very good. Are you there . I am. This is my report for wednesday october 28th 28th. I would like to thank everyone, commissioners for your support for checking in with us online and president covington for being present with us. It was an emotionally challenging time and id like to thank all of the folks on here that really steppedup to make it happen. Assistant deputy chief eric just came in and organized a whole lot of it for us. I know the assistant deputy chief had her handful with lodgistics as well. I know, our chief down at the airport picked the family up. Thank you to the chief. Thank you everyone for your help. I appreciate it. Holding services during covid19 involves more work. I couldnt be more proud of everyone for stepping up and getting the job done so, thank you. The cortez family felt the support. I just received another thank you letter from them today and they really felt the support and love. I know their go fund me account is still open as well. Thats been really good to see so many people stepping up for them. We are of course following up with all of our members there at the incident with our brother to make sure that they have the things they need. We are a strong group of people but sometimes we need support. At this time id like to introduce my new deputy chief, our new deputy chief bryan. Hes been in the department for a long time. He was a division chief. Might you announce yourself and say a few words. Thank you, chief. Hello, everyone. I think i know most of you. Im very excited about this opportunity. I look forward to working with all of you and im available 24 7. Its good to see you. Thank you. Yesterday we held a town hall. We held it virtually with the chief to provide a forum for our medics and emts and rescue captains. We spoke about policy changes and procedures, openings, your Critical Response teams. Its a wonderful thing and we support them. They are the ones that know how to follow the problems. We will be stepping up again for the next several visits. All of the command staff will be visiting a certain number of stations like we have been doing since the administration started. Its been real good to go out and talk with them. I know its been good for others on the command staff. Well continue that in december. Through december. We have a few different employees we met in october and the chief association as well. Its good to have ongoing dialog. I know the chief will be with us next month to speak on the new team that we are putting together with the department of Public Health and support person to respond to Behavioral Health crisis on the streets. He will be providing all sorts of detail on that in the priority of the Mayors Office and department. Really, we are looking at 21,000 calls that the police went to last year and we went to many of them as well. Not all of them. We are looking to takeover the burden of the calls where there arent violence involved. That team of people, paramedics from the department and advanced healthcare practitioners and peer support person, someone thats experienced addiction or Mental Health issues. They are working on the changes and well talk to you next time about that. We are almost squared away on getting an Level One Academy up and running. We are getting emts onboard. We are also bumping up some current emts and paramedics. We will take a bunch of the paramedics. We are hiring people now to get that squared away. They solidified and chosen and going through background and medical. And then, last time we spoke about a grant. It was accepted from fema of 14 million and it will allow us to hire and cover 36 people for the next three years. It will be no cost to the department. The only caveat with the grant is that when we accepted it, a few weeks ago, whatever i staffing was at that time we need to basically keep similar pretty much the same over the course of that Grant Funding over the next three years. If we hire 36 to what we had three weeks ago. We will have to hire again. We are looking pretty good there and we are looking at having a class in february. More information will follow on that. We are selecting some people people. There are way too many good people to chose from and thats a wonderful problem to have. Also the training center. We had a meeting yesterday and we still cant tell you where it is. There is a possible aquisition. We put together the department of real estate. There is a private owner and we are doing everything we can and more to follow on that. Its trending in the right direction. So, thats the good news. Then, you might know we sent more folks out on leave. We did preposition because we knew the winds were coming. We went out and prepositioned and nothing lit off out there. They were sent down south to the blue ridge fire. So, they have an act of saving peoples housing and doing all sorts of good work. They were on the news. I know the commissioner got a letter from someone thanking them for for their great work. So, with that, i will conclude my report for tonight. Thank you so much. I wonder, chief, do you have anything to add to the report . Shes not on. Chief tong, is she on . Yes, she is. Do you have anything to add. Good evening, president. No, not right now. Okay, thank you. Okay, then. Is there any Public Comment on the chief reports . There is no one on the president commitment line. Ill go to my commissioners. I cant see everyone at the same time. Let me start with commissioner nakajo. You are not on the camera at all president covington. Really, wonder why . Madam president i beg your pardon. Did you turn your camera off . Not intentionally. Okay, let me see. Is that yep, you are back on. I didnt see myself but assumed everyone else could. I was wrong in that assumption. All right, commissioner. Madam president , i do not have any questions for the chief at this time. Okay, thank you, commissioner nakajo. Commissioner cleveland. No questions at this time. Okay, thank you, sir. Commissioner rodriguez. Thank you chief for your report. At this time i do not have any questions. Okay, madam Vice President. Thank you, madam president. Chief, i have one question and i cant quiet tell if its based on the fact that we as commissioners get notification of some events and no notification of other events. I dont know why we get selected for certain things. That seems to be what beeps on our cell phones. Im going with what i get. It sure seems to me that shark rescues are way up. I dont know if im right about that conclusion or somehow, you guys have programmed me to only be notified of shark rescues. Boy, do i see a lot of them. Do you notice anything going on. Is there anything going on or just what they chose to send me. The powers that be, the computer powers out there. Vice president , thank you for the question. Antidotally, yes, we have seen a increase in shark rescues and water rescues as a whole. So, yes. We would have to rundown the data but from what we are all seeing and im sure many folks on the screen here shaking their head yes, as well. Its not the only thing we get though but quiet a few. I realize that but is there im not asking for any particular reason other than is there that explains that all of a sudden. Yes. So, there are a number of factors. I would say that, you know, we definitely seen an increase in covid19 people cant get out to many places and they are going to the beach. There have been a lot of people we lost one man earlier this summer that was from out of town. Folks coming from out of town dont understand that we have one of the most dangerous beaches in the country. So, yeah, we have seen a lot more people from out of town and, you know, you have random sort of whatever the weather and tide is doing. There are a number of things that play into it. Its the most dangerous beach in the country and we had the most deaths over the years. Yes, its been quiet busy of late. Thank you, that makes sense. Thank you. I appreciate comments from all of the commissioners. I see that the captain is on. Ill let him Say Something as a member of the public. Well, as a surfer for the last 30 how long have i been surfing . Since 1983 there has been a huge influx of surfers. With covid19 and people not working and working remotely and also being able to learn a new hobby at ocean beach instead of going to pacifica thats a starter beach. They have tried to learn at ocean beach and its not a beach to learn at. So, with the influx of new surfers, good weather, and covid19, its most crowded then i have seen it in 15 years this weekend every peak 20 to 30 people. We are also experiencing, usually the waves are bigger but keeping the beginning outofthe waters but the waves have been historically small and gives more people trying to get into the sport. Well, thank you for the information, captain. Thats really interesting. Thats really interesting to me. It seems to make perfect sense. Growing up here i was taught about the undertow at ocean beach. My spouse grew up in Southern California and was a surfer. He always told me remember the ocean is not your friend. It will kill you. So, please. Please be careful. We have enough risk in your daily job. Please be careful with your sporting activity. Wed like to keep you around. All right, thank you madam Vice President. Are there any additional comments from commissioners as a follow up . No, okay, thank you you all. Thank you all. Okay, lets see, we have the report from administration. Good evening, president , Vice President , commissioner, chief nickelson, and marine. This is my report for the month of september. Id like to share my presentation. Are you able to see anything . Not so far. Chief, we depend upon you. You are our go to guy for this stuff. I apologize for that. Id like to give you an update we had, as you recall. A busy season up north. Now we are switching operations down to south we had a team deployed on the assignment. This is a program the governor started two years ago. Funding a program where agencies and counties can ask for resources before the fire strikes. The deployment is much faster and proven to be effective in many instances. We were called to assist across the county for that. We also had an engine assist in that. Mobbed night they were both deployed to the blue ridge fire. As of 10 00 a. M. Its 14,000 acres and 16 containment. Yesterday it was zero percent contained as of this time yesterday. The chief said on channel 2 and right behind the reporter our fire truck with our crews out there. I have seen it report and crews out there and the fire was coming down the hill. We got a lot of good feedback on social media for our department being there. If you think this fire season has been busy let me give you the stats from cal fire. They put out a report every year. This is just by size. In 2020 five of the top fires in the history of the state have happened in the state of california. Since 2000, we are seeing something here. We know what it is. Climate change and disease of the trees. Its been a busy season. Its not over yet. This is the prime of the season. We went to a fire in med to late december a few years ago. We hope it doesnt get worse. Its a significant trend. Update on training, we hosted three Leadership Series at the fire academy. We hosted for some of our investigates and chiefs. This was from our office. We hope this will help us do better investigations. We selected captain julia as it new captain. He returned after three years. We continue to do multiple drills. Chief johnson is here. We did a water rescue. We continue to do drills all of the time and even with covid19 we have to continue to do the drills. Our teams have been quiet busy. They have been reporting every month. This is National Preparedness month. Our teams provide personnel to food banks and testing sites we are proud of their efforts. The mayor selected an Emergency Response team. On the 17th it was the 30th anniversary of the founding of nerd. It came after the earthquake city hall was very proud. Our chief of health has been quiet busy. Like the chief said ill speak about the memorial we held. This required canceling the plans. We will continue to develop our curriculum. We are looking for a new member for the Behavioral Health unit. They have been promoted soon to prevention. So, we need to fill that spot and we are testing for that. We have been busy with the flu clinics. We hope everyone on the call has taken a flu shot. The goal is to achieve 70 of the data. We will continue to provide feedback for the covid19 safety plans. We are working on our stations. Many locations will be polling stations. We will have a plan for that pretty soon. Our Regional Planning bureau, we have a vacancy there. Every year members can bid for open spots this takes place every year. Also different shifts took effect on october 3. One of the busiest divisions under my command. The fleet, we have the bids due after thanksgiving. If you recall the last meetings they will have to bid again. We will get them back after thanksgiving. We were granted five new mini pumpers from oes. This is liken begin 361. If they need them we will staff them. We will pay for them to be deployed. They will go for support and the bigger begins we send arent as good. We are also lucky enough to get grants. So soon enough we will have nine new mini engines that will assist us in brush fires. The new engines coming out we will do an early inspection. We will take covid19 precautions we will get better there and its not what we want to be the completion date is the fifth. The middle panels continue to be installed. We have dry wall in both levels. Its not finished yet but its there. Also the anchoring of the station. Some of the first floor pictures in the progress. Also the exterior. This has been built at treasure island. This is the work thats been done on the peer make sure they have the anchors for that. Its been installed and rooms near completion. The warehouse for all of the equipment. We will see pictures on the exterior of the division. Thats basically all of the storage for the medical equipment so we can give it to them. Our human resources, we had two retirements. All of those promotions and captains. This is for our family. Thank you for those that put this together. Do you recall we are able to have companies to help cover the city. This is the project that was the operations chief and a lot of work was put into the project. We have numerous calls and offers for help that wanted to come and pay respects and help us out. That came from across the county. Multiple engine trucks and they were able to come in and pay respects at the end of their shift. This was from 2 30, 3 00 p. M. Until 10 30. Everyone and could pay respects. Alameda county cameraman put this video together. [ music ] that ends my report, thank you. Can you hear me . Yes. Thank you very much for your report and showing us the video. Its still quiet moving to see thank you for mentions people coming from the out lying areas to help. Thats very good. I think the go fund me page is still up any member that would like to donate feel free to do so. Are there questions for, im sorry are there any Public Comment on the chiefs report . There is no one on the public callin line. Okay, thank you. Since there are no members Public Comment is closed and ill go to fellow commissioners. Ill begin with Vice President feinstein. Thank you, madam president. Kind of knocked me off my feet there. That was really that was a lovely tribute. I know that everybody appreciates it and, you know, well always be able to respond when other departments need us that was lovely. I have a few issues to bring up. I know the fire marshal is not here and i hope you can answer for me we spoke last meeting about what i have noticed Walking Around i dont mean to be trite about this but the rigged up lightning system. In areas that have plastic canapes in some cases i think aluminum canapes. They are extension cords coming out of windows and wrapped around trees they light up the Big Christmas lights there. It just, i think from everything you taught me i see danger, danger, danger. I know, the fire marshal has been really on top of it and im just wondering, you know, where we are with that and how involved the department is getting. It cant be safe. They have heaters and all sorts of things. Im not sure how many are permanent or not. There is no permit posted but you can envision a tragedy occurring. I dont know if you can address that or not. Its unfair to spring it on you. I didnt know the fire marshal wouldnt be here. What i can address and this is under it too. He has inspected 700 of these out of those 30 came back with issues that had to be corrected. We have the most active supervision for the shared space we are on top of that. Thats when they applied for the permit. If we see it and our chiefs on the field if they see something we have expected 700. So, we are very active. Our team is very active and make sure they comply with access and comply with anything we mention about flammable or heating devices that could be close to flammable devices. They are very active. If they have issues they come back and work with the owner of the restaurant to make sure they are addressed. We work with them and make sure it happens. They are very active from that. Okay, thank you. My second comment that came out of your written report. I wanted to say when i look at what our volunteers are doing. Its really the same thing for the fire preserve and the service they provide. Boy, ill tell you. If they are straightening up the basement of the tower due to recent flooding, bless them. Its just, i think we need to do a shout out to those who volunteer their time and services. I did take note of that in your report. Thank you for bringing that to our attention. Those are my comments. Thank you, madam Vice President. Commissioner cleveland. I dont have any comments other than i do believe the memorial tribute you put together was very good and moving. I had one comment. You mentioned 70 of the firefighters received their flu shots. I believe thats wonderful compared to past years where we barely got to, you know, 30 to 40 40 percent of the membership. Id love to see it at 100 but thats really good. I wanted to congratulate you on that. Thank you. I didnt say we achieved that. Thats our goal. We are Getting Better than last year but thats our goal. We have another event coming up this week. Thats our goal. Okay, well, keep me posted. I will. Thank you for your report. Iran across something that said red cap exercise i dont know what that means. I also have a question about testing the Fire Department would like to test their own members. Im not sure if thats extended to the public. The report on injuries. Is there were 12 head injuries that were higher than any other type of injury. I wonder what are they involve and why so many . Thats all of the questions i have. Thank you commissioner. A few things the red cup drills, i can have Chief Johnson explain more of that. This is a company drill by faa regulation. Widow it more than required. They do multiple scenarios. Its not the same thing. They do things with fire on an airplane. Its a major deal and id like to see Chief Johnson explain more about that. In regards to the testing the issue we are having. Its for our members. They authorized to us to make sure we can test. As soon as we have an exposure we want to test and this doesnt allow members to be offduty for a long time or protect them in a way, if they are testing positive protect their families. We are looking into that and we are pretty close to have trained our rescue captains. A few months ago we had eight members on the strike team thats policy. When they come back they are also tested too. This will expedite the process we can test them right there we can do it for odd hours when they might be closed this will provide an opportunity to do it on a expedited bases. The last question was about head injuries. There weird situation 12 of them ill have to see what they are. Chief johnson, if youd like to explain about the red cup rules. These are multiagency drills. We have partnerships from the coast guards we will have an elevated train derailmentment. We are doing our yearly disaster drill. We will have 100 victims we did a smaller scale one last week. Thats because the army for the support team wanted to recreate the drill last year. Its something we puton and identify any shortterms that we have. Okay, well, thank you for answering my question and your report. Thank you. President , you are muted. Sorry. Thank you for your report. Excuse me, thank you for your questions commissioner rodriguez. I think it would be helpful if the new members were able to get mass casualty bus and fsfd. We can make that happen for sure, president. That mass casualty bus and information about our cooperative. Chief nickelson if you could include that in your comments at our next meeting. I know commissioner nakajo hasnt spoken. Thank you, madam president. First of all, i wanted to welcome chief reubenstein to your position. I havent had the personal interaction many times in the field. It will be a great experience and the department will benefit greatly with your skills and expertise and support. I definitely wanted to welcome you. I also wanted to thank the former chief of operation victor for all of his contributions and for a career that contributed to our department. I also wanted to thank you for the retort. We havent experienced the visual. Its very meaningful to see that and perhaps id like to see that again at some point. Thank you for that as well we have been able to look at Takeaway Services for members activity and service. We respect the families wishes and understand it was very appreciative. It wasnt easy and im speaking for myself in terms of knowing full well we had a visual of the service and whats going on. I thought i would be able to see something but i didnt. I just wanted to comment on that as well. Chief, i noticed in your report that september i just wanted to find out as an inquiry what the status is in terms of of response teams. Commissioner, we had three applications go out. Can he can hewe will make sure we select the right candidate. We have to apply for that job. Okay, thank you, chief. Also do you have an estimated timeline for when the position will be filled . As soon as possible. The next few weeks. Thank you very much, chief. The only other that was all my comments and questions. The only other thing, Vice President feinstein, in terms of your questions its important, chief. In the parks, its a shared space. That will help us as well. Chief nickelson wanted to share this with you. So, what i would suggest is we have them come they are calling it open spaces. We can speak to everything Vice President feinstein asked about. I suggest we do that at one of our upcoming meetings. Okay, dually noted. We brought up that subject matter at the last few meetings part of that is desperation. Many of my friends and colleagues cant even get a shared space inside their restaurant. There is no outlet. Its been really hard. This is from Police Barriers and up to 10,000 for their shared space. They told me they wont make it in the future with the restrictions i think thats a matter that still will occur. I just wanted to comment on that as well. Thank you madam president for my allotted time. Thank you, commissioner. Yes, chief. I know we spoke about it a little bit. We are very much working with restaurant owners, bar owners because we understand the situation they are in. They will have to figure it out right away. We are giving a little space to and time to get everything in order. We know that we need the businesses to open up. We all do. So, we are doing everything we can. The fire marshal can speak to that but this is a december pat situation. Thank you, chief nickelson. Commissioner cleveland. Commissioner cleveland. Madam president we didnt hear you. No questions. Okay. All right, thank you. I agree that the parklets are shared space or whatever they are called. If people see a dangerous situation what they think might be a dangerous situation. I think that are very safe. Everything is by the book to me. Food banks run on such shall, you know, little funding and they really, really depend on the volunteers and now more than ever, we need the food banks. People who have never utilized food banks previously now are making the part of their, you know, their route to go out and so the Fire Department, in this way, weve never had this situation before. Its wonderful. I thank every nert volunteer for their Office Participation and also i would like to thank the chief for putting together a Robust Program for the department and for the community. Did you have to say anything chief. You want to add something, please do. Thank you for coming and the department and thank you. I appreciate the opportunity every time. The work they do from their hearts. Its an incredible commitment to a testament and what we pictured for ourselves and. Very good. Are there any additional comments from any commissioners . Oh, yes, ok. I see a commissioner rodriguez. So, just to be clear, this could be for chief nickolson. Basically, he will get a list what are has been issued because just like Vice President feinstine, i see him all the over the place but its not knowing if they have permits or not. I just act on those you receive a list and you would go out and check them, correct . Thats correct, commissioner. Thank you. Thank you, commissioner rodriguez. Still, the average citizen can make a phone call regarding a situation they considered to potentially be unfazed. Have we already called for Public Comment, madam secretary. Clerk yes, we have there was no one on the Public Comment. Clerk presentation from a black Firefighters Association, sherman tillman, president of the black Firefighters Association will provide an overview of their employee organization. Thank you. Welcome, captain tillman. Madam president covington, fire commissioners, chief of the department, jeannie nickolson and command staff and id like congratulate the chief to their promotions. I can only speak from my own dealings with them. Theyre welcome members of the staff and im sure theyll do us very proud. So, last time, i had a great video presentation when we were all together and it had great music that i took the time to do. Today, im just going to read. I dont know if i can upload a video presentation. I should have talked to chief vello ahead of time and he would have told me i could have done it and i would have figured it out. So, my apologies. Usually the black Firefighters Association would do about two to three events a month in the community. Because of covid19, in all of the restrictions, that has been cut down. Weve still found time to do various, Different Community activities. So what ill do is ill just read off some of the things weve been doing and then ill go into a brief comment and then ill take any questions if there are any. Before covid19, weve planned in zoo day, december 17th. And we cooked for the participants and different members were at different they had different activities and so we participated in that as we have done under my presidency for the last three years participating once again with the toys for kids program. We have the Creative Arts school in january and did a presentation. We do probably four to five presentations a year to different schools, mostly junior highs, talking about Fire Prevention and getting them into bringing the rig out, letting them touch it, let the parents take pictures with the rig of the just Customer Service and just spreading the court of the San Francisco Fire Department. We have our yearly Martin Luther king march with many of the command staff participate in and we open it up inform anybody from our government and we did another presentation and Mission High School is now one of the schools in San Francisco that has a fire program. It was the onl only one. It was a Pilot Program and we helped them participate in that and in march we visited el doradao Elementary School and thats been a yearly visit, because, i guess, the teachers like us. We keep going back to el doradao and this is the third year that weve seen the school so thats great. Covid19 hit and there was quite a few unusual requests from our community to help with rent and for food and normally thats not something that the black firefighters do. Obviously we dont have the budget like 798 has. We did ask for donations from our memberships and we did pay for rent for two families from the western edition and we delivered bags of grocery to elderly and they had problems with the eed payments. Theres been a huge backlog and people getting their payments from the government that are on assistance. So, some people have been backlogged six months into getting their payments and so, they have problems feeding their families and they got in touch with one of our members and we provided food and for those families. We september sent a group to pn las vegas. These young ladies have participated in dance contests through out the year and their parents didnt have the funds to send them to las vegas because they made it to the finals but the finals were in las vegas. They had no way to the teacher was going to drive them there herself but she couldnt pay for the Sponsorship Fund of getting into the contest and helping with lodging. So i mean, this is what were about. This is if we can help out, so, we just paid for it for them. We felt this is what anybody who is trying to accomplish their goals in life and it just would be so sad that not to continue that pursuit because that could kill the dream. So we voted unanimously to support them and i just get choked up about this. You know, you just some people have no place to go and if we can do something to help children in need, i think we should do it. And we did that. We gave out 100 bags to the community and set up the table around the corner from our office and we had bags of grocery from the community and we set this up from shaman walton and we gave out gross reese to thgrossreese to the co. We participated in the rallies for the tragedy that happened with george floyd and were at city hall and participated in those rallies and you know social distancing and mask and we helped give out masks for the people that were coming to those rallies that didnt have masks and sanitizer so from the Chinese Community who helped provide those resources i used to the captain in the china town station and the collaboration between the black community and the Asian Community is so important nowadays with all the various violence that is happening from not sit sense in San Francisco from outside gangs and such and that i preying on our asian brother and sisters and i just its just wrong. And i dont want the perception that just because one bad apple is doing something, dont put that on the whole group of people or that whole race so ive been working with diana bang and dixon lee over in the chinatown communities to help bring collaboration in a dialogue, you know. A positive dialogue. In july we donated masks to the mega fraternity and they passed those masks out at city hall and we have members participate with them and just passing on masks to people who needed it. In august, we did a collaboration with the justice of Diversity Center to provide access to free legal help with living wheels and powers of attorneys for our members because its expensive and i have a living will myself and it wasnt cheap. And so, im blessed i can afford this but i can see younger members couldnt afford Something Like this and so, i was lucky to be talking about this at some meeting and one lawyer said we can help you guys out and we made a collaboration with them and we provided this the first black firefighters in San Francisco and when i ascended and to celebrate this man that was the first and without him there would be no me or and its a worldrenowned artist and he is going to make a threestorey mur alf earl age and when that piece is finished, well have a celebration for earl graves junior our first black firefighters and everyone will be welcome and well give out those invitations when that is completed and it looks like the complete date is some time in january, unfortunately, because of covid and all these other Different Things and different insurance that we have to acquire. Its quite a undertaking that i didnt know. [laughter] but, its all taken care of now and january is what were shooting for. Recently, we collaborated with the Mayors Office and they had testing for covid19 in the filmore district and we handed out flyers informing there was free testing. In october beef been working on Voter Registration so weve had two participated and one just Old Fashioned put out and handed out and have people sign up to vote. Also, just going back into last month we participated in the census. I wrote to the command staff of chief nickolson allowed me to make, in collaboration with the government, a video on getting out the getting the neighborhood and specifically people of color into filling out the census, its very important and i think the chief and her command staff for allowing me to do that and its very important to get people who are supposedly under represented represented. And so, we participated in that video and got it out to members of the community. So that is what weve been doing this past year. Taz my presentation on the black firefighters in collaboration with the community and collaboration with staff and the collaboration with members of the Chinese Community. Now, i can go on to one thing i want to talk about but all take on that. Thank you captain. Did you want to talk about the Youth Academy. Sure. Were slated to start now. We have to follow the rules of the sfus, the School District and all of our kids are i remember school age and thats the collaboration and the commitment weve made to the parents and the School District. It looks like we can start in march and usually we start during the school year as soon as the School Year Starts and every saturday thats when we start. Its because of covid we couldnt because we changed our schedule so we can do more things outside, which can honor being a compliance with the rules. And so obviously we had to change and go out and raise money for that because obviously going outside and entails the could you telyouthacademy from e money. The chief is there earlier and weve been in touch with the chief and weve been in touch with chief on getting some equipment for the Youth Academy and updating the equipment that we currently have had and it was kind of old and outdated and we had a couple tay shouldnt visits and we visited state 4 in february and covid hit in march and in march we had to shut down and we are incollaboration currently with not only the ymca in the bayview but we expanded it to the fill moore center and we have interest with that collaboration that i made with dixon lee and diana fang to get more asian students in it. As you know from the last time weve done our presentation, the Academy Started out 20 years with mostly African Americans and asian, latino, caucasian, we have people from all walks of life in the Youth Academy and im very proud of that as a pathway to the Fire Department and i can say that because of the work that mayor breed did that we have one of our graduates come to the San Francisco Fire Department. After all these years where they were going to other departments, we have one and i think chief nickolson has made that commitment, also, to continue to make that a pathway and were pretty proud of that and were really happy of the collaboration that it happening between command staff and the black firefighters and these last couple years and being more cohesive and being on the same page instead of the friction that was the past. Well hold questions until the entire presentation is done. Ok. Our biggest concern and something beef been beating the drum about for a real drum about is the numbers in the San Francisco black Firefighters Association. The black firefighters in the department in general. Ive been in the department 22 years and usually the average has been in the high 180s and the 180s for black firefighters this is going back to Consent Decree numbers and you know, for me, its anna living room bell while all the other eth necessities, numbers are going up and our numbers are going down and some people will say, in San Francisco, theres not that many black people anymore and you have to look at the numbers of the bay area and San Francisco and African Americans, black people are 14 to 15 of the population and right now, currently, we have 7. 8 of firefighters that are black. And even the lowest number is black women, which is only 1 and i have all the data and im sure i hope everyone out there does, theres classes where theres no black women at all and theres been two or three classes under chief joe anne haze white were there were no black people at all. When you hire 52 to 54 people like there are now instead of my time when it was only classes of 20 and 24, that is really unacceptable and we have talked about this ad nauseam and the great thing and im hoping the chief nickolson has talked to us about this and shes committed to turning this around and we cant say that San Francisco is this great place of adversity when the numbers like this are going down and other municipalities they have these numbers that can you see here on a board. You know. And so when they see like in the military, when you see a certain segment of your population or your work force going down they thwarted that. Im sorry to interrupt. Yes, it seems that the way fie hawifi thats gone down at headquarters. Is that what you were going to say . Yes, madam president. I want everyone to know. Im still here. I was getting a call saying the way fie ithe wayththe wifi. Everybody who is now located at headquarters cant join the meeting. Including the secretary. Yes. Someone said they could join via phone. They should be able to join through their phones and from the network. The only problem is that we dont know who is going to be able to join. Rosanne a was right its always something. Its always something. [laughter] i tell you oh the chief is going to connect by telephone. So we will wait a few moments. How are my commissioners doing . I see. Madam Vice President and i see the commissioner and rodriguez. Madam president , i want to tell you that my screen is jumping and its almost making me motion sick. All the though i can hear captain tillmans presentation, his words and his gestures arent aligned and its been true for the last few speakers and what is going on and chief nickolson is gone. Im back ok, you are on the phone. And so i feel like im back on the computer. This ser i can a. Hello. Is this th the wifi went down and everybody is jumping back on now. Ok. Is the commission asked back with us . Lets see when they return and we can continue with captain tillman. Madam Vice President , do you think theres some power problems in your area . Not that i know of. I dont have the best luck because i keep breaking it up but im not aware of any problems particular to me. Ok. And i have lost chief were back on. Ok, there. Were going to wait for you, madam secretary. Our wifi went out. I know but i meant we were waiting to say do not answer the phone during meetings and i saw, oh, headquarters. Weve lost commissioner cleveland. We have weve lost commissioner cleveland. Im here. Ok. All right. Well carry on. Im not offended, Vice President. [laughter] i think your camera is off. Commissioner cleveland. Its good you can hear, please. Yes. Do you have an idea of when we lost the power because ive been saying this one thing so many times, i dont have a problem saying it. Welcome. Why dont you give us a condensed version about what you are saying in terms of black representation within the department. And i can, captain, if this is a help, write before th the i went doubt, there you are on the screen, you were talking about the very low numbers of black women in the department. Ok. Taking notes here so that was my last note. Well, just to be clear, maybe going back to former figures, of the high 180s [please stand by]. Weve been doing a National Test for eight years, meaning that people from idaho, people from michigan, people from oklahoma can get hired here. Nationally, the numbers are 14. 5 to 15 of the population, so thats double what we have currently. So we all want to see our department thrive and see it the way we came in, we want to see it improved, not backwards, and right now, thats where our numbers are going. Women, black women in our department, its 22 at this time. That is the lowest of all the other groups, by far. As a matter of fact, its less than half of some of the other groups, and its way we low most of them have twice below. Most of them have twice the number, and there have been classes with zero black people in it, and i think thats unacceptable when you have classes with 64, 65 people. Youre telling me there arent any African American people with qualifying criteria . I know there is. I cant blame this current command staff because all of the black people in the rampgs are because of the current command staff. But its ready to push and blame the command before. Just like in the navy, the army, the marines, to have this report not only on their desk, but they have this on a board, so any time the numbers are dipping, theyre alerted to that, and then, they can target that group to make sure those numbers stay alive, and that those people are represented in a place that says they value diversity. Right now, we have six chiefs down from 15. Just to give you a comparison, theres [inaudible] that are African American, but theres four or five times as many in other races. [inaudible] and weve been engaging and collaborating with this command staff. And i think chief nicholson is committed to making those numbers rise, and now, we just have to wait and see. But all the collaboration with this command staff has been very positive, and i thank them for being very engaging with us and taking on that challenge and making that commitment. But i do hope that every commissioner gets this report and should ask for this report. Its the race and gender report, and it comes from h. R. You can get this report. Its easily accessible because you get the retirements, and you can see how the numbers are going to be and it affects how many members that age group has. So thats my presentation and my talk about that, and i thank you. And if theres any questions that i can answer about the black Firefighters Association or black people in San Francisco today or black fighters in the San Francisco Fire Department. President covington okay. Thank you very much for your presentation, and im sure that our commissioners do have questions for you, so i will begin with commissioner cleaveland. Youre muted, ken. Commissioner cleaveland sorry. Can you hear me now, madam president . President covington um h. Commissioner cleaveland thank you, commander tillman, for your report. You say you have 152 members of your department. How many of those are members of the black Firefighters Association . 110. Commissioner cleaveland 110. Do they have to pay dues . Yes, sir. Commissioner cleaveland how much are they . Well, every group pays dues. Whether youre in asian firefighters, hispanic, los bomberos, you pay dues. But were the only one with a building, and we have to upkeep the facilities. Under my presidency, thats been kind of the big thing for me. New paint job, new back stairs. We have rot, new bathroom. Just making it more presentable to not only the youth that use that building, but to the neighborhood. Now we have a big firefighter on the building, and other firefighters from other departments come by to take a picture because its about two stories, so yeah, its awesome. Our dues are a little bit less than the dues from 798. Commissioner cleaveland so what is that . So its about 50 a paycheck, so about 100 a month. Commissioner cleaveland okay. A little closer to that, probably 98. 50, somewhere around there. Commissioner cleaveland how did the black Firefighters Association get a building . So this came, i guess, around the Consent Decree when they were meeting at different venues, trying to get a rat gee on, you know, the Consent Decree strategy on, you know, the Consent Decree, and they got tired of going from here to there to the other. So a couple members actually got together, bought the property, and, you know, if Chief Johnsons on here, im not going to say he was around at that time, but i think he would have a better insight into i know the members who bought that building, but he would have a better insight about what exact year that was. Im pretty sure that was in the 80s. I believe it was in the early 80s when they decided they wanted to make that leap from being more of a social organization to an organization that wanted to effect change in the departments. I believe it was the early 80s when that happened. Commissioner cleaveland is the building still owned by those individuals or is it actually owned by the black Firefighters Association . So the building is owned by the black Firefighters Association . Commissioner cleaveland okay. So they deeded it over to the black Firefighters Association . Yes, sir. Commissioner cleaveland well, thats good. Thats a great asset to have. Its a great asset to have, but it puts us right in the community. You can see the building every day. You can go by. You know our hours. We have it posted, and they can come in and get advice for joining the Fire Department. A lot of times, they come in because they want somebody to talk to, and firefighters, were more i always tell my guys or my people, were more than firefighters. When youre a firefighter in your community, people come to you once they know youre a firefighter for all different kinds of advice. When somebody knows that youre a firefighter, people are knocking on your door for all kinds of stuff. I wish i didnt know sometimes i think that, but it comes with the territory, so to speak. But the great thing about having that building is that in that area, unfortunately, theres been a lot of shootings. Unfortunately, right across the street, a couple people recently had been shot, and we can work with the supervisor in targeting those areas, question can work with the Police Captain at the third street station and helping mitigate some of the situations, that people dont know them, and were there all the time. We can go through those waters, so to speak, and make the dialogue at least a little bit more civil than friction. Commissioner cleaveland thank you. Captain, how long have you been the president of the black Firefighters Association . Three years now. Commissioner cleaveland through years . Some of you mentioned that you were committed to bringing new members into the department. Would that be the top priority of the black Firefighters Association or is it blah, blah, and blah . What are the top three goals of the black Firefighters Association . Our goals are always equality, diversity, and making sure that our people are trained and promoted, so those are our tenets, and we expect all of our people to abide by the rules. But more importantly, we want our people to be treated fairly, and i can only speak from my career, it hasnt if you took my whole 2 years career, i would say theres 20 years of them when i see that African Americans havent been treated fairly, and we have blips of time where things were quiet and handled even keeled, but its unfair that you say you know four people [inaudible] and for some reason, theyre coming after one of your members, when somebody else or you know a [inaudible] whos done the same thing, and nothing was done. Its just fairness, its just opportunity, and its just being able to get the same thing, no more or no less, than other people are getting. Like i always said, we wouldnt need a black Firefighters Association if those things happened, but time and time and time and time again, its been proven that thats not necessarily the case. And, i mean, unfortunately theres not a week that goes by that i dont get something that happened in a fire house. Being the b. F. A. President is that other people who are not in our organization see that thats what we stand for, and they call up, asking for advice. They dont call 798, they call up myself, they call up chief johnston because they know that were just straight down the board. Whats good for you is good for everybody, and so thats how we deal with things, so theyll come to us, soandso, this happened, and can you help me . Theyre not dues paying members, so obviously, i cant represent them as president of the black Firefighters Association, but i was a steward for 14 years and always a member with a union background, so i represent them in that way. When all is said and done, we should be treated equally and fairly, and not only getting in the Fire Department, but once were getting in the Fire Department and ive talked to chief nicholson about this, and ive obviously talked to Chief Johnson about this, and ive had the opportunity to talk to chief velo about this, there was the chance with the command staff that people always got to get them prepared to get into certain positions, but African American members never got those calls. And im sure those calls happen now. Lik like, calls to get people ready to get them in another position. Its always a friend. It shouldnt be that way. Opportunity should be for everyone, and everyone should have the chance to promote, and everyone should have the chance of venues of education, and everyone should have the chance to get out and make those connections thatll help their career and further it and add to the diversity of the San Francisco Fire Department. But in the past and i can only speak for my time as the president , and before that, i was a station steward. And before that ive been pretty involved my whole career. Before that, i was on the cancer board. Before that, a lot of latino members havent gotten those calls that a lot of people get, and thats not fair. Thats what we stand for. We just want fairness, to get the same calls that everybody else is getting. We want to be promoted and get the calls that everyone else is receiving or that we see that everyone else is receiving, if that makes sense. I hope that answers your question. I know i went into a long did a diatribe of a worm hole, but i hope that answered your question. Commissioner cleaveland so the organization wants fairness in terms of training opportunities, advancement opportunities, promotions, that kind of thing, and the ability to be part of the Fire Department. Yes, sir. Commissioner cleaveland and be a part of the Fire Department. Does the black Firefighters Association spend any time out as ambassadors, really i know you cant with covid, but prior to that, did you do a lot of outreach to the community as far as schools, when they have job fairs and that kind of thing . Did you do that or does the black Firefighters Association wish to participate in job fares around the city when they start again, i guess, probably in 2021 . So i can i can i cant speak to the past, i can only speak to under my presidency. So we go to junior highs, we go to high schools, we participate in job fairs, we participate at the mayors hbcu, getting kids going to college. I was at the end of chief joanne hayeswhites tenure, and ive talked to chief nicholson. Under my administration, thats what we have done consistently, and i can say that, unfortunately, there were times where we gave 15 names, and not one person because there was two classes in a row, that not one black person was in it, and that was a slap in the face to me because that meant that you hired 110 people, two classes, 54 people. Some people dont make it, so lets say 50. So you hired 100 people without one black person in it. Thats unacceptable. I mean, thats just unacceptable. And matter how or what excuse you want to give, thats unacceptable. And so i wrote a letter to that was chief joanne i wrote a letter and said to her, thats unacceptable. I give you 15 names, and how can you not pick one person . And so i just im hoping, and im praying, and i think with the collaboration and the engagement and the communication that we have with this command staff, that will never happen again, and it shouldnt happen again. Commissioner cleaveland we get your letters at the commission when you send letters out, and we take them seriously. Just know that we are listening to you. Yes, sir. Commissioner cleaveland in your letters. One thing you talk about, your Youth Academy and the success. Its probably one of the few Fire Departments in the country that have youth academies. I wonder how you recruit for that and how do you prepare for that . Normally, its word of mouth because we can only safely have a maximum of 30 because in previous years, we didnt have the funding. Last year, by the grace of god, i wrote a grant, and we got a grant from the collaboration that weve done with the Asian American community, we were awarded a grant, and that allowed us to actually go above that 30. And, you know, i really had an edict from the mayor, and she told me, i want you to expand your program. I said, give me the money, which is the bottom line. If you want me to expand the program, youve got to give me more money. So i think theres been more doors opening to more funding, and with more funding, we can get more recruits. Its word of mouth. Were in the schools, and like i said, probably outside of covid, probably six schools a year. Inside covid, weve already done four, so were inside the schools. We have a couple people that chief ballesteros trained very well that are on the nert side. We train them to give presentations. Some of our members are trained in nert thanks to chief arnesteros. Since shes on here, ill just take the chance to say that nert program is great, built from the ground up. Im sure shes gotten awards for it, but its a fabulous program, and thank chief balleceros for all the work that shes done, for taking the ball and run with it. Thats one of the things thats helped us because weve had members trained in that. So we can go out and help the schools, and it ultimately helps the mission of the San Francisco Fire Department. When we go out and talk to these schools, we are members of the Fire Department, we are representing the Fire Department, and thats how we look at it. We have different facets, and we can get into some things that maybe the other intraers cant get into, if that makes any other trainers cant get into, if that makes any sense. Commissioner cleaveland nert is a great program, and im glad to see it grow. Thank you for your presentation tonight. Thank you. President covington thank you, commissioner cleaveland. Commissioner rodriguez . We had job fairs that we went to. I found that mainly the high school job fairs and the and the city college, high schools, and city build but that was for construction, but i would think you would have a good avenue there, also. But any way, besides being a person of color myself, its always i was always impressed when id see people of my race succeed. So i think when young adults see that, they say if you can do it, i can do it, so i would the job fairs, to me, are really important. We did junior high schools, and they arent really on anybodys radar what they wanted to do for a living. It was mainly when they were in high school, getting ready to graduate, or city college, actually. My church does a program where we deliver food during the holidays. We have a program where they can call the rectory and get food. Its so satisfying when you can actually help people and see their faces when you give them something that they really need. As for the other thing about see, i really dont know about the how you you would have lists of people that were given over to the administration of the Fire Department, and they werent put in. I guess thats something that we need to look at and see why that happens or that doesnt happen in the future, but you mentioned women, and ill tell you, i was out on the field for 25 years, and another 12 years as an aide. And i think in the whole time, there were only four women that became sprinkler fitters. Its a mechanical trade, and youve got to pass a test to get in, and theres a physical u interview. And we were getting hammered by the state all the time about not hiring women, even though we had them apply for the trades. But like i said, ill go back to, i think a good way to try to get people is the job fairs and city colleges. And i just want to where is your building at . Thats another question that i want to know. Its on third street. 1468 third street. Its right across the street from Wells Fargo Bank over there. I know where thats at. Its on third street, so its on the right, so that would be on the north the northside. So if you go that way, like youre going to candlestick park, in Fire Departmenttype colors. And i was going to touch on how the public, if they applied for the Fire Department. But really, i dont think thats the case if you had a list that you get from the administration, so thats a different type of a problem there. It wasnt really acknowledged, so but i want to thank you again for your work. It seems youre doing so much for the community that i just want to commend you on that. And before i go, id like to also give congratulations to chief rubenstein and chief arturo on your promotions, and i look forward to working with you. President covington thank you, commissioner rodriguez. Okay. Madam Vice President . In terms of stations and programs, you guys run a real tight ship where youre going to let me in and where youre not. Thats the whole department. It has nothing to do with any Employee Group or anything. The more command staff than anything else, but i appreciate the protection, so let me ask you about your academy. Thank you just tell me a little bit about it, since i dont know about it . Sure. Its typically from ages 12 to 18 commissioner feinstein im taking notes when youre doing this, so dont think that im not paying attention. [please stand by]. I just feel like this is what i was born to do when i was a little kid i would make up performances and daydream it was always performing and doing something i feel if i cant do that than i cant be e me. I just get excited and my nickname is x usher my mom calls me i stuck out like a sore thumb for sure hey everybody im susan kitten on the keys from there, i working in vintage clothing and chris in the 30s and fosz and aesthetic. I think part of the what i did i could have put on my poa he focus on a lot of different musical eras. Shirley temple is created as ahsha safai the nation with happens and light heartenness Shirley Temple my biggest influence i love david boo and el john and may i west coast their flamboyant and show people singing cant be unhappy as a dr. Murase and it is so fun it is a joyful instrument i learned more about music by playing the piano it was interesting the way i was brought up the youth taught me about music he picked up the a correspond that was so hard my first performing experience happened as 3yearold an age i did executive services and also thanks to the lord and sank in youth groups people will be powering grave over their turk ill be playing better and better back la i worked as places where men make more money than me i was in bands i was treated as other the next thing i know im in grants performing for a huge protection with a few of my friends berry elect and new berry elect and can be ray was then and we kept getting invited back you are shows got better we made it to paris in 2005 a famous arc we ended up getting a months residencey other than an island and he came to our show and started writing a script based on our troop of 6 american burr elect performs in france we were woman of all this angels and shapes and sizes and it was very exciting to be part of the a few lettering elect scene at the time he here he was bay area born and breed braces and with glossaries all of a sudden walking 9 red carpet in i walgreens pedestrian care. Land for best director that was backpack in 2010 the french love this music i come back here and because of film was not released in the United States nobody gave a rats ass lets say the music and berry elect and performing doesnt pay very much i definitely feel into a huge depression especially, when it ended i didnt feel kemgd to france anymore he definitely didnt feel connected to the scene i almost feel like i have to beg for tips i hey im from the bay area and an artist you dont make a living it changed my represent tar to appeal and the folks that are coming into the wars these days people are not listening they love the idea of having a live musician but dont really nurture it like having a potted plant if you dont warrant it it dizzy sort of feel like a potted plant laughter im going to give San Francisco one more year ive been here since 1981 born and raised in the bay area i know that is not for me ill keep on trying and if the struggle becomes too hard ill have to move on i dont know where that will be but i love here so so much i used to dab he will in substances i dont do that im sober and part of the being is an and sober and happy to be able to play music and perform and express myself if i make. Few people happy of all ages ive gone my job so i have so stay is an i feel like the piano and music in general with my voice together i feel really powerful and strong we continue our celebration, our Community Celebration here for bubble upper yard. I would like to introduce our executive director from Mission Housing, and hes joining us via video. Thank you so much. Hello, everyone, i want to say thank you for letting us to share this fantastic day with the community. My name is sam moss, from Mission Housing development corporation. One of the developers for the balboa park upper yard. Were standing on the future site of 130 lowincome family units for the community and throughout San Francisco. I really want to thank supervisor safai, the Board Directors of Mission Housing, the bart board of directors as well. Were also standing on land that will eventually be a Brandnew Community center and new bart station and plaza. And its things like these, collaborations like these, that are the most important work that we do in the Affordable Housing community. Its important to take advantage of sites like this. They dont come up very often. With the construction that is as expensive as it is and the Uncertain Times right now, im honored to personally to be able to say thank you for allowing to us help to deliver this Vital Community center. Most importantly, cuhj and the community for sticking together and working together throughout the last five years to make this a reality. Without the tireless work that cuhj has put forth since 2008, i dont believe that wed be here. Its important for everyone that is watching to realize that the standard for affordable Housing Development and Community Organization has been set at the balboa park upper yard. This will be the new norm, engaging everyone that will benefit from the property, and not just those that live at the property, its at the heart of Mission Housings mission and im honored to stand here today and to say how awesome its going to be. And, finally, i want to thank the Mission Housing deputy executive director. I know it looks like i run the company but without marcia, Mission Housing would not be where we are today. Thank you, marcia. And im honored to welcome mayor london breed. Thank you so much, sam. Im mayor london breed. Im so excited to be here with all of you today for the balboa park upper yard groundbreaking. Now this is really a groundbreaking project for the lake view o. M. I. Community. Its one of the second 100 Affordable Housing projects in the lake view community. And that has no small part to do with the people of this community who have fought for years and years for their fair share of not just housing, but 100 Affordable Housing. 131 units. Right here at balboa park. And let me just talk a little bit about how amazing this project is. Not only will there be an onsite child care, there will also be wrap around services for families. And whats so amazing about this project is that we will be using neighborhood preference. So the people of this Community Get the right for the units built in their community. Its time to change how we provide Affordable Housing in communities. It cant just be that we build this housing and then no one who grew up and was born and raise in regard this community has access. We have so many incredible leaders who are going to be working with us to make sure that the people of this community apply for the Affordable Housing and that they get in. Its going to be up to you. But let me also tell you about some of the great amenities of this project because this is how housing should be built. Very close to transit corridors. And were lucky to have a bart a partner in the sfmta, so i want to thank sfmta and i want to thank bart and thank all of our transit agencies for the work they have not only done to work so we could use this property for 100 Affordable Housing, but the work thats going to be provided around reimagining what this plaza looks like. There will be additional bart trains. There will be traditional resources. 30 million from the state invested in this project. Which is just one of the many things that we know that we need to do as a city to make sure that we are building more housing along transit corridors. Its not only efficient for the people who rely on Public Transportation every single day but its good for the environment also. And let me just take an opportunity to really thank Mission Housing and sam moss for the work theyve done on this project. I want to thank bill white and related for what they have done and our sfmta department for working with us to transition this property for Affordable Housing. And i want to thank bart for their partnership. I want to thank our Mayors Office of housing and the work that they have done. It really does take a village. These projects are so expensive. Because its not just about building housing, its about building the infrastructure to maintain this housing for generations to come. Its about redoing the plazas and making it work. Its about the fact that there will be families moving into this particular development and we want to make sure that children have a safe place to play. So so many incredible things. Such an amazing project. And let me also just give credit to where credit is due where credit is due. The leader of this community, supervisor safai, when he first stepped on the board of supervisors, he said that it is really unfortunate that no Affordable Housing has even been built in this community. And he wanted to change that. We are breaking ground on the second affordable Housing Development in district 11 since hes been in office and thats an absolute amazing accomplishment. We are so grateful for his leadership, his partnership, and the work that he has done, not only to provide Affordable Housing but the job center, the library, and the parks, everything that matters to people and families who actually live here. Because of this supervisor, the Lakeview Community is no longer the forgotten community of San Francisco. So, ladies and gentlemen, i would like to introduce supervisor safai. [applause] thank you, madam mayor. This is an historic day and were really excited to be here. I want to start off by saying that rather than keeping this site and just as an empty parking lot or used as parking, we went she doesnt like when i say this but we marched into the Mayors Office but we marched slowly and we said what can we do creatively on this site while were waiting for Affordable Housing to be built. And we came up with a plan for safe parking. There are individuals in this city that are unhoused and that are living in their vehicles and she did not even hesitate. She supported us, myself and the supervisor brown at the time and we were able to create something that has never been done in San Francisco. And thats safe parking for those that are unhoused, living in their vehicles. Were coming up on about a oneyear anniversary of that work and it has been extremely successful. So i want to thank the mayor for supporting us and believing us and allowing us to do something positive with this site while we waited for the housing to get built. Another thing that the mayor did when she was on the board of supervisors that i dont want to i want to underscore, is neighborhood preference. Neighborhood preference says that if you live within proximity, if you live within the radius of this site, you will have first crack at getting into these apartments. That is something that had never been done in San Francisco before, and that is extremely important to the Lakeview Community. About 20, 30 years ago this community was over 50 African American. Today its down to less than 20 . But the children and the families of those families that have grown here and been raised here and prospered here are still connected to this community. They will have the ability if they live in these homes and their families and other neighbors will have the ability to apply for these. And i want to give a special recognition to miss gwen brown who runs our job opportunity center, shes also going to be working on our Employment Opportunities for this site. Shell be someone that we work with at Mission Housing and the Mayors Office works with to ensure that we do the outreach in this community so people apply. Thats a very important thing. Another thing again to thank the mayor, this project would have not been at the top of the pile. We came in and we made the argument that this district has never seen any family Affordable Housing built on any scale. Mayor breed put us at the top. She listened to us and she heard the community and she heard our voices and filled that gap, an additional 20 million to 30 million, first out of the eraf funds and now out of the propa Affordable Housing bond fund. That is what closed the gap for this project and were here celebrating today, a major grant, a transportation grant, that was awarded to this site. Another 20 million. This site is special. This site is important for this community. And we would not have been able to be celebrating this without mayor breed and her leadership and support. So thank you, mayor breed. [applause] Mission Housing related have been wonderful partners. I dont know how many times i had to pick up the phone and call bill witty and work through problems to make sure that this project is going to stay on track, that its going to be built, that it will be family. And then let me make one last point before i end. Another thing that the mayor and i worked on together when she was board president and along with supervisor jane kim, along with supervisor aaron peskin, we updated the conversation about what is affordable. And affordable for whom. So many times in this city people are talking about housing and Affordable Housing just for extremely lowincome families. And you know what, we do a pretty good job of that in San Francisco. And we need to do more. But what we havent done, and what this community has always been has been a community of working people, a community of working families. Im talking about nonprofit workers and im talking about teachers and im talking about muni drivers and educators and im talking about people that get up and to make this city run every day. And because of the work that we did, we have been able to expand the definition of affordable. We have been able to ensure that working families will also be included in this conversation. So that when a janitor applies or when a nonprofit worker applies, they will also be able to qualify for this housing. Now thats not at the exclusion of lowincome families, because what we did we expanded the pie. Instead of having 80 to 100 units we went up to 130, and we did that with a community process. So im very proud of the results here today. Im very happy to be here. I want to thank again related Mission Housing, mayor breed, the Mayors Office of housing and Marion Harris from the district 11 council, thank you for being here. Phylicia thibedeau from one of the institutions in lakeview o. M. I. And i see the folks from community, united for health and justice. I want to recognize all of the Community Work that went into making this possible. This is years in the making. This is something that will be special and lasting and thank you very much, everyone. [applause] oh, sorry, and, yes, our other partner that is very important because were sitting on their land is bart. Bartd has been a partner bart has been a partner in helping us to solve the pusonl the puzzle n reimagining this plaza here. And sfmta was also a part of that, but i would like to bring up miss alicia trouse from bart. Thank you. Hello, welcome. Im alicia trouse, im the bart communications officer, and welcome to our bart station. I love this station. I love how easy you can jump off a train and get on a muni bus. Its a great partnership. And our business is moving people, right, but its also gaining lifetime riders. You do that by building housing right across the street from your station. I want to briefly talk about something that were very concerned about at bart. Its the mobility divide. Youve heard of the digital divide, right . Well, theres a mobility divide. And its perpetuating inequality and the way that you tackle is to build 100 Affordable Housing right next to transit, right next to bart and right next to muni and you make it easy to go to your job and Health Care Appointment and school by doing that. And this partnership is going to tackle that divide. And next i toss it to our bart board of director bevin duffy, who represents district 9, so lets roll the tape. Im proud to join you this morning virtually on behalf of the bart board of directors and my colleagues simon and director jantzidirectjanice lee. We are proud to be here to recognize the Community Leaders that i have known for so many years here in San Francisco who had a vision for what could be done and that we could take this site and develop homes for families that need them and to create a vibrant Meeting Place that brings the Community Together and also to recognize the importance of transit oriented development. What were trying to do at bart around the bay area, which is to build complete communities that have housing and retail and sometimes commercial and great bike and Pedestrian Access and Public Meeting and gathering places. And so i really want to congratulate the Mayors Office of housing and Community Development and also Mission Housing development corporation. And related companies. And sfmta and our transit partner. And so many great things will come as a result of this that well have better seamless transit access and that individuals, including bart at balboa park, you will find a Great Community space where we may have farmers markets and other things that really bring our Community Together. I really want to say that we are extremely grateful to the community and i also want to add to mayor london breed, supervisor safai, supervisor avalos, and the previous supervisor for this district, and really just to say that that the city has really come together to create an amazing t. O. D. Project. Thithis is an important milestoe and were gratified to be part of it and to show the bay area that we can develop muchneeded housing and help to have a more complete community. Thanks. Now id like to introduce bill witty, the chairman and c. E. O. Of related california, one of the Largest Developers of Affordable Housing based here in this great city of San Francisco. Everyone, please welcome bill witty. [applause] thank you, alicia. You know, as the mayor and supervisor safai said, i have been working both in government and in the private sector in San Francisco since the early 1980s. This is the first time the first year that i can remember a big push for Affordable Housing in this neighborhood, which has long been needed. And i think that whats really made this happen you have already heard is that weve gotten to work along with Mission Housing with two of the most Effective Advocates for Affordable Housing, not only in this city but in california. With mayor breed, if you mention Affordable Housing and are about to ask for something, she will typically say yes. Now the answer is yes. Now whats the question . You cant do any better than that. And supervisor safai who has become a friend and colleague over these years, working on this project, and every month i know that im going to get a call from him saying, whats going on. What can we do . Oh, we have this technical problem. Lets figure out a way to solve it. Oh, we have to lobby the state to get funding, what can i do to help. Hes really helped, along with our partners at Mission Housing, in bringing the community into this so that this is not just about bricks and mortar. This is about holistic housing, you know, and youve heard all of the components of that in working with the community. I would also like to thank our staff and silver berg and nick wilder here today for all of the Technical Work needed to work with our partners at bart to make this technically feasible. This is a very challenging site. We have to deal with barts legitimate questions. We have to deal with issues of inaggress and egress to have the services and the site work and the child care, all on a very complicated site. We have a great architect in methune partners and a great partner in cayhill contractors and its all come together to make it happen. And i would like also to acknowledge the Mayors Office of housing who on behalf of the city has worked with us throughout to make sure that all of the funding works together and that as supervisor safai said to close the gap to make the financing feasible. So i look forward to the day when we open this development. In a few years from now we will welcome the residents of lakeview and others for whom this housing was intended. So thank you very much. And now i will bring back marcia contrares of Mission Housing. Thank you, mr. Witty, thank you for joining us and thank you for your kind words. I would like now to introduce jesse fernandez, the Program Manager with Communities United for health and justice. Jesse . Buenos dias, good morning. Im jesse fernandez, im with Communities United for health and justice, were a multireliant program across the district. We are celebrating Affordable Housing, Community Serving here at balboa park upper yard station. This project represents the very best in collaboration between the community and the decisionmakers. And i want to invoke all of the Community Planners who for 10 years have rolled up their sleeves and time and again made the case to make this project possible and have done so guided by a heartfelt communityled process. Our success at the balboa park upper yard should set an example for peoplefocused planning for our ever changing city, to always keep people at the forefront of decisionmaking. I would like to acknowledge the hard work of our former Supervisor John Avalos for working with the community and advocating for necessary resources that are long overdue across our district. Thank you very much. Thank you, jesse. Well, we are at the end of our Community Celebrations. Thank you to all of the partners that joined us today and to everybody that joined us virtually. Thank you to cuhj, for [speaking spanish] the ymca of San Francisco, mayor london breed and supervisor safai, and all of the representatives from bart and their team for their support while coordinating this event. And, of course, our development partner, mr. Bill witty from related company for their understanding and being able to work with us and identify the needs of this community and the families of district 11. We also want to thank our team at Mission Housing for reaching this milestone and a special thanks to our board of directors for always supporting us. Last but not least i would like to send a special thank you to our Senior Communications manager for working on all of the logistics and to make sure that this event was a successful and safe one for everyone who participated. Thank you again for joining us and until the next one. Hell oh everyone. Thank you so much for joining us today. Well, covid has changed our lives. The fact it is has changed how we go to work, how we go to restaurants, how we interact with each other but this year will change how we vote. We want to make sure here in San Francisco, we make it as simple as possible. Im excited to be here to announce that although we cant do what weve done in the past, and provide early voting in city hall, we are going to be doing early voting right outside on grove street in what looks like a Beautiful Party at the present time. I want to thank the department of elections, and he will talk about more about exactly the steps that his team has taken to ensure that we not only make voting accessible, we make it safe. We want to make sure that people feel comfortable if they need to vote early. They can come to this Voting Center and it will be opening on monday. If they want to vote on election day or drop off their ballots on election day, well have 588 locations all over the city. And, what is dont be alarmed if you dont receive your ballot you wont be able to vote. This department of elections has received everything. If you didnt receive it in the mail can you provide replacement ballots. If you are going out of town and you need a ballot mailed to a different location, theres a system in place to do just that. For whatever reason, you are not certain or uncomfortable accessing a paper ballot, theres just a lot of options. Theyve been sending things in the mail, sending things online to say our goal is to make this as easy as possible. In the last president ial election, sa san franciscans tud out in record number. It was a 80 turnout. In 2008, it was 81 . This is a city that prides ourselves on making sure our voices are heard. Were not going to covid stop us from making sure that you have access to vote in San Francisco at your convenience. Im excited and i know that theres a lot of confusion out there but this department of election has done everything it can to make sure that its easy to call the department of elections, call 311, go online if you need information for where to pick up a ballot or a replacement ballot. We thought of everything. So, theres no excuse for anyone in this city who is a registered voter not to vote. And in addition to that, if you are not registered to vote, and you would like to register to vote, you have until october 19th. So, make sure that you take the opportunity to go online and this center is open and you can come here and register to vote and you can vote on the same day. In addition to the dress up locations on election day, and this Voting Center right across the street from city hall, we will have a number of of drop off ballot locations the weekend before election day. Linda brooks Burton Library and the branch library. Because again, were trying to make it easy as possible and its ballots inperson or on election day. If you need more information, please visit the department of elections website at spelections. Org. Call 311 or call 415 5544375. So with that, i just want to again thank everyone for their cooperation, the work they do. I really want to express a special thank you so john arts and the department of elections staff because they have been working very hard to make sure that no question is unanswered. Anything or any scenario that could occur, they wanted to make sure they were prepared to support and address the public. And they work with the number great Community Organizations and to get out the vote and some of those organizations are with us today, including George Chance from the chinese Newcomer Service center, jackie flynn, the ex you director of and these are organizations who make sure that communities all over San Francisco have accessed to vote. And we appreciate the work that theyve done for many, many years. I also want to thank martha cohen, the director of special events, for taking such time and care with creating a warm and inviting space. Thank you, martha for your work. And with that, i want to turn it over to our special guest, joining us here today, you probably recognize him because the tallest person here. Our state senator, scott wiener. Thank you, madam mayor. And i also want to thank martha and also our department of elections and john arts for once again really stepping up to make sure that san franciscans can vote and vote easily. Thats one of our core values in San Francisco that we want people to vote and we want to make it easier for people to vote so i have complete confidence in our department of elections that we will run a beautiful election here and that we will it will just be a really strong showing and a really difficult period of time. This is a partnership between the state and our counties including San Francisco we took action at the state level to people being able to vote during a pandemic and we authorized global vote by mail o so everyone gets a ballot even if you are not signed up as a permanent absentee and not put barriers in order to get an absentee ballot and normally, it has to be post marked byelection day and i do want to ask people please, try not to rely on post marking on election day and sometimes you can mail it after whatever the pick up is at that particular box and there are unfortunately thousands of ballots each time where people just mail it too late in the day. It doesnt get post marked. Make sure you are going to mail it, please, troy t try to mail tractortrailer dait theday bef. Even if theres a problem with the post office, which i dont think there will be. You have plenty of time if you mail it right up to election day. It has 17 days to a arrive instead of three and that is a huge change in stay law that weve made to just make sure that every ballot can be counted. What this is really about is auctions. We want people to make choices that work for them and people can drop it off in different locations and of course, we have absolutely amazing voting facility here which will respond to our health needs in terms of allowing people to show up and vote safely. And to be able to do it efficiently. The capacity here, as you can see, is huge. Its going to start on monday and also be opening two weekends before the election. Were making it so easy for people to vote in a way that works for them and their family and their own health situation. I have a digital town hall last week with our secretary of state, alex padilla and with con on cause and a representative of the American Postal Workers Union and she was very, very clear that she has confidence that the mail is going to work well for this election. Despite some of the turbulence we were saying, theyve been able to move through that and she assured us our postal workers, who are some of our front line essential workers, who are putting themselves out there during this pandemic so we can do what we need to do as eye society theyre going to work incredibly hard and they will deliver the mail and people can have confidence in the mail. So, again, thank you, madam mayor, thank you to our department of elections and lets just run a great election as always. Thank you. And now, i want to invite up our director of elections, john arts. Thank you, senator werent. Thank you mayor breed and also for organizing this event. This is a great timing for an event like this, just before early voting begins. Early voting will begin october 5th here at the Voting Center located outside bill graham auditorium. This is an example of the mayor and the senator wiener have indicated and the department and city have take ep steps to make sure that voting is safe and healthy experience for all voters in San Francisco. The ballots we mailed actually tomorrow and voters will start receiving ballots on saturday and then theyll most will receive ballots on monday going through the election week. We have a full compliment of polling polic Police Station ple want to drop off or they dont want to mail their ballot back, just before elections day, is they are outside the voting area so voters dont have to go mud the voting area. They decrease the amount of traffic that voters would experience at election day. And everything that weve done since really the end of the march election going through the cycle for november, has been to plan in relation to conduct an election, while trying to respond to a pandemic. So everything that is happening here at bill graham auditorium, is organized so that people can maintain social distancing and theres ppes that our personnel are wearing and useing and the public has provided ppe and hand sanitizers and sanitizing wipes, face shields and things like that and the same for the polling places. The voters and coworkers can maintain social distancing as they go through the election process on election day. Weve had p. P. E. S available for the voters and the poll workers on election day. And the inperson voting here at the bill graham auditorium and the polling places theres a cleansing of the areas and materials and the commonly used items throughout the day so voters will go into a clean voting environment when they go to cast their ballot on election day. Also, i want to echo the comments about the post office. Weve had conversations and meetings with the post office before this election and to make sure there was no issues and with the processing and to support the conduct of this election for november. The post office of senator wiener noted, has put tremendous men does attention and focus on their abilities and their requirements to give ballots up to vote and he is get ballots to voters to elections here in San Francisco. I want to share the city and the departments of elections has put much time and thought into this and so theyre safe and secure and everyone has a good experience on election date ill turn it over to george chan. And even we call chinese and were helping everyone. So this year were happy to be receiving support from the city to continue the registered people. So, this year, we see the ballot we mailed to you and we help people register. We follow that many times they dont know if you change your address, make sure you update it, ok. So also, if you do know your status, we can help you to check it as well. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is jaclyn flynn. Im the executive director of the a phyllis randolf of San Francisco and were working with the department of the elections in the city to really get out of vote this year. So i ask you, how important is your vote . 2020 is a challenging year as a nation. We have lost over 200,000 american lives from covid19 and these fires, as you can see, continue to raise and scorch our state and homes and businesses and and the california economy and our air quality and and they leap gap in time with racial tension zoos tie that they spilled into our streets. So i asked again. How important is your vote . This year and you can help redefine our jail system you can help reform our Law Enforcement system. You can help fund our parks, you can vote for housing and healthcare and your vote is a vote for change. I ask you, what can you do to effect change and if you can, do it early. Send it in my mail. Drop it directly into a ballot box and thank you to the city for creating an accessible space for folks to do that safely. And if you must safely head to your poll, please wear your mask and vote. I encourage awful us to ask our families, our friends, our work colleagues, our neighbors to do something important, vote. This year has been hard on all of us. And as i think about why its so important, i think about my own kids. And i realize that i have the power to set a clear example that im not satisfied where were at in this nation today and im not going to sit back. I will be an element of change. The a phyllis randolf institute will be on the frontlines reaching out to our seniors and over 5,000 units of low income Family Housing across is this city. Well be facing this year of covid, hitting the streets to ensure education and access to voting. You can help us in that fight. Im inspired by San Francisco. A city that votes for change. Im inspired by inspired by a t looks like me. When i vote i celebrate my skin, my lips and my determination to be represented by someone that understanding my perspective. To all my asian brothers and sisters and to all my latino brothers and sisters, we need you. We need bilingual folks and to my caucasian allies, we are all in this together. I challenge everyone to get education and make a plan and vote. Thank you. Thank you to the press and the immediate why for getting the word out and most importantly, we want to make sure that voting is easy. If you have any questions or concerns, what is interesting this past weekend, i heard from a lot of folks that said i didnt get my ballot yet, what is going on . What is happening. So people seem to be very excited about voting. We also want to make sure that folks are able to get their ballots and theyre able to get their questions answered and we make it as simple as possible and we also keep everybody safe. When were showing up to our polling places, or our Dropoff Center or this particular center here across the street from city hall, were all using the wash center to wash our hands and were wearing our masks and complying with our Health Orders because thats how were going to be able to continue to not only get through this but adapt to the needs to make sure that we are able to not only vote but vote safely. Thats what this is all about and so thank you all so much for joining us here to the today. As a woman of color who grew up in San Francisco i understand how institutions can have an impact on communities of color. I think having my voice was important. That is where my passion lies when the opportunity to lead an office in such a new space came up. I couldnt turn it down. I was with the District Attorneys Office for a little over nine years, if you include the time as an intern as well as volunteer da, all most 13 years. During the time with the das office i had an opportunity to serve the community not only as the assistant District Attorney but as director of community relations. That afforded the opportunity to have impact on the community in an immediate way. It is one thing to work to serve the rights of those without rights, victims. It is really rewarding to work to to further the goals of our office and the commitment we have as City Employees and advocates for people who dont have a voice. I dont know of anyone surprised to see me in this role. Maybe people have an impression what the director of the office of cannabis should be like, what their beliefs should be. I smash all of that. You grew up in the inner city of San Francisco. My career path is not traditional. I dont think a person should limit themselves to reach full potential. I say that to young women and girls. That is important. You want to see leadership that looks diverse because your path is not predetermined. I didnt wake up thinking i was going to be a prosecutor in my life. The city administrator reached out and wanted to have a conversation and gave me interest in the new role. I thought you must not know what i do for a living. It was the opposite. She had foresight in realizing it would be helpful for somebody not only a former prosecutor but interested in shaping criminal Justice Reform for the city would be the right person for the space. I appreciate the foresight of the mayor to be open how we can be leaders in San Francisco. I was able to transition to the policy space. Here i was able to work on legislation, community relations, communication and start to shape the ways our office was going to reform the criminal Justice System. It is fulfilling for me. I could create programs and see those impact peoples lives. I am the change. It took truants youth to meet with Civil Rights Movement leaders who fought to have access to education. Being a young person to understand that helped the young people realize this was an important thing to give up. What we find is that young people who are truanted have a really high homicide rate in our city, which is a sad statistic. We want to change that. Coming from a community we are black and brown. I dont reach out to other people. I dont think they feel the same way. I had the great opportunity to work on Prison Reform issues and criminal Justice Reform issues. We created a program at san quentin where we brought district opportunities t to lifs and talk about how we are all impacted by the criminal Justice System. We brought over 40 elected das to san quentin for the situation. Now we are inviting the police department. Our formerly incarcerated group born out of this programming asked for the opportunity to work on a project where we could bring the men in blue on the outside to come speak to the men on blue inside to start the healing dialogue around how the criminal Justice System specifically in San Francisco impacts the community. I was attracted to the role. There was a component of equity that was part of this process. The Equity Community here in San Francisco is a community that i had already worked with. Before i took steps to visit cannabis businesses i thought it was important my team have a chance to go inside and speak to men who ha had been impacted. That conversation needed to happen so we know how we are making an impact with the work that we are doing. The das office as we were leading up to the legalization of marijuana in the state we started having conversations on the policy team what that could look like. The District Attorney was really focused on the right side of history for this. We realized it would be quite a heavy lift for individuals who have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs to expunge the record. It was important to figure out the framework to make it seamless and easy. They put their minds to it after some time and many conversations the data analysts and other policy walk throughs on the team came up with the idea to engage the Tech Community in this process. Code for america helped us developed the rhythm to be used for any jurisdiction across the state that was important to create a solution to be used to assist all jurisdictions dealing with this matter. The office of cannabis is the first office to have a completely digital application process. We worked with the digital team to develop the online application. There are going to be hiccups. We are first to do it. It is one of the most rewarding parts to offer a seamless to offer a seamless approach. That is how they can find solutions to solve many of the community challenges. The best way to respond to prop 64 was to retroactively expunge 9,000 cannabis related records for San Francisco. It feels like justice full circle for my personal experience. In the past i was furthering the war on drugs just as my directive. Really coming from a place of public safety. That was the mandate and understanding. It is nice to see that pass a society we are able to look at some of our laws and say, you know what . We got it wrong. Lets get this right. I had the privilege of being in the existing framework. My predecessor Nicole Elliott did an incredible job bringing together the individuals superpassionate about cannabis. The office was created in july of 2017. I came in early 2018. I have been able to see the Offices Development over time which is nice. It is exciting to be in the space, stickily in thinking about her leadership. Looking for the office it is always we might be before my time when i was working for the board oforboard of supervisors. I learn new things every day it is challenging and rewarding for me. We get the privilege to work in an office tha that is innova. We get to spearhead the robust exprogram. I am excited she came on board to leverage experience as a prosecutor 10 years as we contemplate enforcements but approaching it without replicating the war on drugs. I was hired by cam laharris. I havent seen a District Attorney that looked kind of like me. That could be a path in my life. I might not have considered it. It is important that women and certainly women of color and spaces of leadership really do their part to bring on and mentor as many young people as they can. It is superimportant to take advantage of as many opportunities a as they can when they can intern because the doors are wide open. Plans change and that is okay. The way this was shaped because i took a risk to try something new and explore something and show that i was capable. You are capable, right . It was about leaning in and being at the table to say my voice matters. You find your passion, the sky chair fewer good morning, everyone. The meeting will and to order. This is the october 28, 2020, regular budget and finance committee meeting. Im sandra lee few are, the chair of the committee, and im joined by the members, supervisor walton and mandelman. Our clerk is miss linda wong. I thank sfgovtv for