Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Government Audits And Oversight Committee 20240712

Good morning. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the october 29, special meeting of government audit and oversight. I am the chair of the committee joined by vice chair and Committee Member haney. Thank you to the clerk and i would like to thank sfgovtv for staffing this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements. To protect the public, Board Members and City Employees the board of supervisors legislative chamber and Committee Room are closed. This is taken pursuant to all various local, state orders and directive. Committee members are participating in video conference. Public comment is available for each item on the agenda. Sfgovtv has the calling number on the screen. Provide comments by phone calling 4156550001. Once connected into the meeting id is 146 6994959. When prompted press pound twice to be connected to the meeting. When connected you will hear the meeting discussions but your line will be in his senning need only. When your item comes up dial star three to be added to the speaker line. The speaker prompt will indicate you have raised your hand. When you are unmuted you may begin. Best practices call from quiet location and speak clearly and turndown television or radio or streaming device. Behind full of potential time delays that we may even counter between live coverage and streaming. You may submit Public Comments through email john carroll, the clerk of the government audit and oversight. John. Carroll at sfgovtv. Org. If you submit by email it will be included in the legislative file you are commenting on. Written comments may be sent by the u. S. Postal service to city hall. 1 doctor carlton b. Goodlett place room 244 San Francisco california 94102. Eye tomorrows today will appear on november 10, agenda unless otherwise stated. Thank you, mr. Clerk. Please call item 1. Agenda item one. Reenactment of emergency ordinance 10420 and 15920 to create a right to reemployment for certain employees laid off due to the covid19 pandemic if their employer seeks to fill the same position previously held by laid off worker or substantially similar position as defined. Call the Public Comment number. 4156550001 enter the meeting id. Press pound twice to connect to the meeting and press star followed by 3 to speak. Finally i am in receipt of memo requesting this be agenda as Committee Report at next weeks Board Meeting november 3, 2020. Thank you. Colleagues this will extend for further 60 days the back to work emergency ordinance. Groundbreaking policy we enacted earlier this year provides right to ferry employment for laid off workers impacted by the pandemic. This ensures Large Businesses forced to cut employees because of pandemic rehire rather than replace laid off workers when they reopen. Over 500 laid off workers have been rehired through this policy. The city continues to reopen more of the economy, i feel strongly we must keep these Labor Protections in place. I urge support for this item today. Before we go to Public Comment, do you have any questions or comments . Mr. Clerk any callers on the line . Operations is checking for callers. Please let us know. If you have connected press star 3 if you wish to speak for this item. Those on hold in the queue please continue to wait until you are prompted to begin. You will hear prompts that your line is unmuted. If you are watching on cable channel 26, or through sfgovtv please call in by following instructions on the screen by dialing 4156550001. Enter meeting id1466994959. Press found and star three to speak. Could you let us know if we have any callers. There are no callers in the queue. Thank you, operations and mr. Hearing no further callers Public Comment is now closed. I would like to move we recommend item 1 as a Committee Report for the november 3rd meeting of the board of supervisors. Mr. Clerk please call the roll. On the motion offered by chair mar this be recommended as Committee Report vice chair peskin. Aye. Haney. Aye. Chair mar. Aye. Mr. Chair, there are three ayes. Thanthank you, mr. Clerk. Please call item 2. Reenact meant of emergency ordinance 7420 to require Grocery Store and drugstore and restaurant and on demand Delivery Service employers to provide health and scheduling procedures t to employees during the Public Health emergency related to covid19. Please call the number now to comment. 4156550001. Enter the meeting id and press pound twice and connect to the meeting and press star to speak. Prompts will indicate you raised your hand. Please wait until you are unmuted. This item has been agendized as Committee Report at your request. Thank you, supervisor haney for your leader ship and sponsor ship of this additional job emergency legislation supporting workers in the city. Supervisor haney, the floor is yours. Thank you, chair mar. Very brief. This proposed emergency ordinance reenacts the previous ordinance to expire on november 8. For an additional 60 days. It has Worker Protections covered by Health Officer orders and gives workers an additional level of protection and mechanism to file complaint with the office of labor standards and enforcement. It has been an essential protection for many of our most vulnerable workers during this crisis. Thank you, supervisor haney. Are there any callers on the line . If you have connected by phone press star three at this time if you wish to speak for this item. If you are on hold please continue to wait until prompted to begin. You will be informed your line is unmuted. Any callers for 2 . There are no callers in the queue. Thank you. Hearing no callers, Public Comment is closed. Supervisor haney would you like a motion on this . Yes, i move to have this sent to the full board as a Committee Report. At the november 3rd meeting. Please call roll. On the motion this emergency ordinance be sent as Committee Report with recommendations. Vice chair peskin. Aye. Member haney. Aye. Chair mar. Aye. Mr. Chair, there are three ayes. Thank you, mr. Clerk. Please call item 3. Amending chapter 28 to add probative provision of gifts or money to public official to revising de barment procedures. Amend definition of contractor by including grant applications and grantees and to add provisions authorizing suspension from procurement process, entering into city contracts or applying for grants if subject of charge alleging that the contractor committed byvation of law or regulation against any Government Entity relevant to the ability or capacity to perform under or comply with the terms or conditions of the city contract including de barment set forth in 28. Members of the public who wish to comment should call the comment number. 4156550001. The prompt will indicate you have raised your hand. Wait until you are unmuted. That will be your opportunity to comment on agenda item 3. Thank you, mr. Clerk. I want to start by expressing my gratitude to City Attorney and his office for bringing this forward. It may beings several corrections to contractor oversight and closes a loophole in our ability to suspend city contractors indicted not yet charged. My office is in receipt of amendment to this item which i intend to introduce which has been shared in advance with members of the committee. First to speak on this item i would like to welcome mr. Ronald flynn from the City Attorneys office. Thank you, very much, i am ron flynn, chief City Attorney. Proposal to amend chapter 28 of the administrative code related to debarment and suspension of city contractors. De barment is administrative determine that a contractor is not a responsible party entitle to enter city contracts and disqualified from participating in procurement for a period of time up to five years. It is a serious determination, one that requires the contractor be given notice and opportunity to be heard before the de barment is final. As this committee is aware in january of this year United States department of justice filed criminal charges against d. P. W. Director and a San Francisco restaurant. In the criminal complaint there were unnamed contractors alleged to have participated in the criminal enterprise to provide money for favored treatment in the contracting process. This does three things. It clarifies the grounds for de bar net be to include failure to include the campaign and government conduct not simply ay administrative code. It includes grants and provides order of suspension to prevent contractor from seeking new contracts or grants during the suspension. It has cleanups which i am happy to discuss. The suspension is critical. Federal government has the power of suspension which allows it to immediately place amas on new contractors when a contractor is indicted for committed fraud against government. Under our Current System when a contractor is indicted for committing fraud against the government even against San Francisco the city must do one of two things. Initiate its own investigation and bring and proof independent charges or wait until the contractor charges are resolved. This under mines public confidence. I will explain how. Recently hernandez a former City Employee was dated for bribery of a local public official. He was the chief Financial Officer and Vice President of a local Contracting Company he started. He was also a responsible managing officer and held one of the contracting licenses. Mr. Hernandez met with the fbi on january 27. He was confronted with gifts and personal services he provided over the years. Indeed as recently as the weekend before that interview with the fbi he paid for hotel and dinner. Mr. Hernandez was not criminally charged until june 4 of this year. While the City Attorneys office was building the case against mr. Hernandez, a contractor number two or three in the complaint. It did not have the facts by that day. Incredibly, in may 28, 2020, works submitted a bid to be a subcontractor for a new project for the city a new multimillion dollar contract. They did this knowing the fbi had evidence mr. Hernandez bribed city officials. The public, city officials and reporters rightfully asked. How can an indated contractor seek new work with the city . In that case the charging documents had admissions the fbi called as lies. Such as that mr. Hernandez said he only gave 20,000 worth of goods and services. He die understood several hundred thousand worth of services for a vacation home. We were able to use the admission of 20,000 and not sufficient to have him charged with a crime to seek de barment. If that were not in there, in the charging documents we would not have been able to prevent the works from continuing to seek work while the criminal charges were pending. Mind you, most charging documents dont contain such admissions. They are alleges which cannot be the basis. As it is. Her flandez and work hernandez and works asked to protect the fifth amendment right against selfincrimination. We were able to stipulate to suspension and works was not able to seek new work until the verdict is entered. The contractor cannot get work while the chief Financial Officer is under indictment for fraud. We can de bar them assuming a guilty plea. Not guilty three could seek to have the suspension lifted. Because this is serious and fifth amendments right against selfincrimination are raised. We ask for an amendment the ordinance be amended to add that the point of hearing officer shall be an attorney licensed to practice law with not less than five years of experience. The constitutional issues are the ones that come up. One other thing to light is the clarification giving a gift to a public official where it would be unlawful for that public official to accept the gift is an express ground for de barment. We treated it as such but learned in this case one contractor gave a rolex watch, another a tractor, another at least 20,000 worth of construction work. Each of these contractors say i did not give it to him to get any favors. I did it because he was my friend. Under the government code and the campaign government conduct code it is unlawful for nuru to accept those gifts. It is only unlawful for the contractors to gift the gifts if they intended to get a favor. The excuse given is that this isnt for a favor, this is my friend. This may beings clear if you are giving a 37,000 rolex to a city official who is giving you a contract, you no longer are entitled to get contracts. You dont have excuse this is my friend and i am giving it to him or her. That is one of the loopholes that it closes. Another is that it may beings cleanup work. For instance. Ordinance now talks about the direct or of Administrative Services one that would appointer the hearing officer. There is no longer the thing in the city it is city administrator. There is cleanup work in addition to what i talked about. We think this will discourage contractors from continues to try to give gifts to city officials and if they continue to do so it will be easier to take them off the books while the criminal process plays out. I am happy to answer any questions that the committee has. Thank you for the presentation and all of your work. This is a necessary and crucial step to root out corruption and restore the faith of the public. As you mentioned, you have introduced an amendment and i am happy to make the motion on this amendment. They appear on page 9. Again they would require officers who preside over department and suspension hearings be an attorney licensed to practice in california with at least five years of experience. Before we go to Public Comment, colleagues, do you have any questions or remarks you would like to make . Chair mar, i would like to be added as a proud cosponsor. I will make you primary sponsor of the item. I dont want to cause any consternation with my friend the City Attorney, why dont we let this be the City Attorneys work and i will vote for it at committee and at full board. Thank you, supervisor peskin. Supervisor haney. I want to thank you, mr. Flynn, and thank the City Attorneys office for their proactive and necessary work on this and the broader investigation. This is a very awful time for our city when we are continuing to have these kind of allegations of corruption. It seems to me that we clearly need to be able to take action against individuals and companies who are charged with corrupt behaviors and ensure that they are not getting further contracts with the city during that time. One question i had was about another maybe it is a slightly different category. The situation that involves rod regoes santos. He has been charged. He is not exactly a contractor in the same way but there were reports of mr. Santos continuing to pull permits and engage with d. B. I. In various ways. Would a situation like that be covered under this ordinance . What is the scope of engagement that is included that could be suspended while somebody is under investigation or has been indicted . That is a great issue. De barment is a process by which someone who gets money from the government is determined that they are no longer entitled to do that. A grant or contract they are no longer allowed to do that. Sorry about my dog. People who apply for permits are not getting contracts, they are getting permits. It is different to come up with parallel regime. If you are not an honest broker with a department while seeking a permit for others, is there something that can be done . The de barment process comes from a long line of from the federal to local to state government. We want to clean it up. It has never come over to the permitting. There are different issues to look at in terms of that. Wyou are correct. That is the example in how we can do that. If we know someone is not truthful, what we currently do is we put we advise departments to put additional bells and whistles on that permit process. If someone is not being truthful to look at every application, follow up, to do checks, to make sure this is truthful. There is not in our code a process to say you cannot walk to the counter and get a permit. This would not cover it, unfortunately. I appreciate that. I do hope that this is something that we can look at if somebody is under indictment, accused of a crime of fraud or corruption. I do not believe they should be getting contracts with the city and i also do not belief they should pull permits from the city. It obviously damages the public trust but brings up the possibility that they are continuing to do the exact same thing they have been charged or indicted for. I think in the case of mr. Santos. We are going to have concerns and we dont want to give somebody a contract engaging in corrupt behavior or facilitating corrupt behavior by allowing them to directly pull permits from d. B. I. You know, i hope that is something we can look at closely and address. I dont think it is right for our City Government to be giving money out or permits out to people who are engaged in corrupt behavior and are under indictment or investigation for it. My staff is delling me i may be telling me i have a hearing on this upcoming. Maybe supervisor peskin was involved with. I hope we can find a similar solution to prevent that behavior as well. Thank you. Thank you, supervisor haney for that. When we go to Public Comment, mr. Clerk, any callers on the line . Please let us know if there are any callers. If you have connected press star followed by 3 to speak. On hold please continue to wait until you are prompted to begin. You will hear prompts to inform you your line is unmuted. On cable channel 26 or through sfgovtv if you wish to speak please call in now by following the instructions on your screen. Dial 4156550001. Entered d1466994959. Press pound twice and star 3 to speak. Do we have callers for item 3 . Mr. Chair there are no callers in the queue. Thank you. Public comment is now closed. I would like to move we amend the item as presented and send the item as amended to the full board with positive recommendations. Mr. Clerk, please call roll. On the motion the ordinance be amended and recommended as amended to the board of supervisors. Vice chair peskin. Aye. Member haney. Aye. Chair mar. Aye. Mr. Chair there are three ayes. Thank you, mr. Clerk and thank you for all of your work on this. Please call item 4. Agenda four administrative code to establish the Work Force Education and Recovery Fund. Members of the public who wish to comment shall call now. Public comment is 4156550001 enter meeting id. Press pound twice to connect and star followed by 3 to enter the queue to speak. Please wait until the system indicates you are unmuted and you may then begin your comments. Thank you. Like item 1 the back to work emergency ordinance this is in response to those unemployed due to health pandemic. Most of the more than 200 san franciscan who filed over the past 8 months will not return to previous jobs. Supporting them to upgrade skills to get back to work with will extremely important part of the economic recovery. One of the key recommendations of the Sf Economic Recovery Task Force is for the city to provide culturally accessible job training with career connections for marginalized aplaid off workers. This will recrate the Work Force Education and Recovery Fund to provide Financial Support to city college of california. Student Wraparound Services and social justice, Lifelong Learning and enrichment classes. We recognize the role of city college as largest provider of workforce training in Adult Education in the city with all programs tuition free to San Francisco residents. It is a strategic investment to expand the vocational classes leading to Career Pathways at this time of meed. The city budget includes 200,000 to work to create a Pilot Program in the Spring Semester to create at least 10 career Technical Education classes for unemployed workers in key sectors such as health education, nursing, emergency responders, Information Technology and building trades. I thank my cosponsors haney, ronen and preston and leaders who we worked with on this measure sft2121, student leaders, trustees, and interim chancellor. I want to thank City Attorney clark and the department of children, youth and families. Last but not least my staff for all of their work on this. Before we go to Public Comment, do you have any questions or remarks, colleagues . Okay. Mr. Clerk. Any callers on the line . Thank you. Please let us know if there are callers ready for those who connected by phone press star 3 if you wish to speak for this item. Those already on hold in the queue please wait until you are prompted to begin and you will be informed your line is unmuted. On cable channel 26 or sfgovtv please call in now by following the instructions on the screen. Dial 4156550001. When prompted enter the i id1466994959. Press pound twice and star followed by 3 to enter cue to speak. Do we have callers for agenda 4 . There are no callers in the queue. Thank you, operations and mr. Public comment is closed. Colleagues. I would move we send this to the full board with positive recommendation. Mr. Clerk please call roll. On the motion offered by chair mar to recommend to the board of supervisors. Vice chair peskin. Aye. Member haney. Aye. Chair mar. Aye. Mr. Chair, three ayes. Thank you, mr. Clerk. Is there any further business . There is no further business. We are adjourned. Take care everyone. President yee of the 26 neighborhoods we have in west portal, its probably the most unique in terms of a small little town. You can walk around here, and it feels different from the rest of San Francisco. People know each other. They shop here, they drink wine here. What makes it different is not only the people that live here, but the businesses, and without all these establishments, you wouldnt know one neighborhood from the other. El toreador is a unique restaurant. Its my favorite restaurant in San Francisco, but when you look around, theres nowhere else that youll see decorations like this, and it makes you feel like youre in a different world, which is very symbolic of west portal itself. Well, the restaurant has been here since 1957, so were going on 63 years in the neighborhood. My family came into it in 1987, with me coming in in 1988. My husband was a designer, and he knew a lot about art, and he loved color, so thats what inspired him to do the decorati decorations. The few times we went to mexico, we tried to get as many things as we can, and wed bring it in. Even though we dont have no space, we try to make more space for everything else. President yee juan of the reasons we came up with the legacy business concept, man eel businesses were closing down for a variety of reasons. It was a reaction to trying to keep our older businesses continuing in the city, and i think weve had some success, and i think this restaurant itself is probably proof that it works. Having the legacy business experience has helped us a lot, too because it makes it good for us because we have been in business so long and stayed here so long. We get to know people by name, and they bring their children, so we get to know them, also. Its a great experience to get to know them. Supervisor yee comes to eat at the restaurant, so hes a wonderful customer, and hes very loyal to us. President yee my favorite dish is the chile rellenos. I almost never from the same things. My owners son comes out, you want the same thing again . Well, we are known for our mole, and we do three different types of mole. In the beginning, i wasnt too familiar with the whole legacy program, but San Francisco, being committed to preserve a lot of the oldtime businesses, its important to preserve a lot of the old time flavor of these neighborhoods, and in that capacity, it was great to be recognized by the city and county of San Francisco. Ive been here 40 years, and i hope it will be another 40 year [ ] i just dont know that you can find a neighborhood in the city where you can hear music stands and take a ride on the low rider down the street. It is an experience that you cant have anywhere else in San Francisco. [ ] [ ] district nine is a in the southeast portion of the city. We have four neighborhoods that i represent. St. Marys park has a completely unique architecture. Very distinct feel, and it is a very close to holly park which is another beautiful park in San Francisco. The Bernal Heights district is unique in that we have the hell which has one of the best views in all of San Francisco. There is a swinging hanging from a tree at the top. It is as if you are swinging over the entire city. There are two unique aspects. It is considered the fourth chinatown in San Francisco. Sixty of the residents are of chinese ancestry. The second unique, and fun aspect about this area is it is the garden district. There is a lot of urban agriculture and it was where the city grew the majority of the flowers. Not only for San Francisco but for the region. And of course, it is the location in mclaren park which is the citys second biggest park after golden gate. Many people dont know the neighborhood in the first place if they havent been there. We call it the best neighborhood nobody has ever heard our. Every neighborhood in district nine has a very special aspect. Where we are right now is the Mission District. The Mission District is a very special part of our city. You smell the tacos at the [speaking spanish] and they have the best latin pastries. They have these shortbread cookies with caramel in the middle. And then you walk further down and you have sunrise cafe. It is a place that you come for the incredible food, but also to learn about what is happening in the neighborhood and how you can help and support your community. Twentyfourth street is the birthplace of the movement. We have over 620 murals. It is the largest outdoor Public Gallery in the country and possibly the world. You can find so much Political Engagement park next to so much incredible art. Its another reason why we think this is a cultural district that we must preserve. [ ] it was formed in 2014. We had been an organization that had been around for over 20 years. We worked a lot in the neighborhood around life issues. Most recently, in 2012, there were issues around gentrification in the neighborhood. So the idea of forming the cultural district was to help preserve the history and the culture that is in this neighborhood for the future of families and generations. In the past decade, 8,000 latino residents in the Mission District have been displaced from their community. We all know that the rising cost of living in San Francisco has led to many people being displaced. Lower and middle income all over the city. Because it there is richness in this neighborhood that i also mentioned the fact it is flat and so accessible by trip Public Transportation, has, has made it very popular. Its a struggle for us right now, you know, when you get a lot of development coming to an area, a lot of new people coming to the area with different sets of values and different culture. There is a lot of struggle between the existing community and the newness coming in. There are some things that we do to try to slow it down so it doesnt completely erase the communities. We try to have developments that is more in tune with the community and more Equitable Development in the area. You need to meet with and gain the support and find out the needs of the neighborhoods. The people on the businesses that came before you. You need to dialogue and show respect. And then figure out how to bring in the new, without displacing the old. [ ] i hope we can reset a lot of the mission that we have lost in the last 20 years. So we will be bringing in a lot of folks into the neighborhoods pick when we do that, there is a demand or, you know, certain types of services that pertain more to the local community and workingclass. Back in the day, we looked at mission street, and now it does not look and feel anything like mission street. This is the last stand of the latino concentrated arts, culture and cuisine and people. We created a cultural district to do our best to conserve that feeling. That is what makes our city so cosmopolitan and diverse and makes us the envy of the world. We have these unique neighborhoods with so much cultural presence and learnings, that we want to preserve. [ ] watching. Youre watching coping with covid19 with chris manners. Todays special guest is julie kirschbaum. Hi. Im chris manners. Youre watching coping with covid19. Today, im speaking with the executive director of the sfmta. Thank you and welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. Can we begin by talking about the services that have been suspended and there have been changes to the services that are still running . Absolutely. Weve had to make really significant changes to our services in response to covid19. Initially going down to as few as 17 routes. These are routes that people use to get to work or the hospital, Grocery Stores, really to make the most essential trips that are needed throughout this process. Weve been fortunate over the last, say, five or six weeks, that our Staffing Levels have gotten better, and as weve increased our cleaning capacity, that weve been able to add some Community Services back. Weve added a shuttle on pacific avenue, which is helping seniors get to Grocery Stores in chinatown. Weve added a community inline bus in ingleside, and weve been adding more service to our core network. Our corridors like mission street, potrero near s. F. General, and really needing increasingly more and more service in order to prevent spacing and keep spacing and prevent crowding on the bus. Thank you. What measures have you been taking to prevent passengers on the bus . Your safety has been our top priority and is guiding everything that we do. The most critical thing that were doing is the mask requirement, where were requiring people, if youre going to ride muni, to do it safely, protecting yourself and others from germs. Weve also implemented back door boarding, so except for our customers with disabilities that will need the support of the front door, the ramp, or the leader, were asking customers to enter from the back to give extra spacing to our operators. Weve provided operators with all of the protective equipment that they need to do the job safely, including gloves and masks, and were really fortunately that our bus fortunate that our buses are equipped with a plexi glass door that creates an operating space for our operators. And some of Services Like the cable car historic trolleys we dont have that same protection, we suspended early on in this process. We want our operators to have the physical separation that they need to stay safe on the road. Absolutely. So how have you been managing physical distancing on Public Transportation . What happens if a bus gets full . Great question. We have reduced the number of people that we consider a bus to be crowded, so heading into this, we might have had 70 or 80 people on the bus. Now, its closer to 20. We also are monitoring our passenger loads. Both our operators are monitoring them as well as were monitoring them remotely from our Transportation Management center. If the bus does get too crowded, the operators have a dropoff only sign, and they stop picking passengers up until enough exit the vehicle. It might be a little bit inconvenient if youre waiting for a bus and it doesnt stop to pick you up, but theres another one coming behind it so we can make sure that you have social distancing throughout this process. What other ways have you been letting passengers and residents know about these changes and new policies . Weve been using all methods to keep customers informed about all of these changes. Weve put up almost 2,000 signs and posters at our bus stops in multiple languages, letting people know when routes have been eliminated, when hours have changed, when service has changed. Weve also been putting it up through social media and neighborhood groups, and also really relying on the media and press to notify customers about changing. We want the public to know what to expect in this really unique and unusual time to make things as convenient as possible. Quite right, yes. Other than the operators themselves, i know you have a very large support staff. Have you made changes at your muni facilities, as well. Sfmta has 29 facilities, and enhancing safety at those facilities has really been a team effort. We have an amazing custodial crew thats been doing deep cleanings. We were able to take staff that had been cleaning the subway stations and dedicate them to our facilities. We have also seen staff at every level jump in and help with daily cleanings in places like common areas, desks, tools. Everyone is pitching in to wipe stuff down, which makes a big difference. We are proud of the fact that we havent had any clusters of staff who have had the virus or really any examples of staff catching it from each other, and we feel its because of the steps that were taking to keep people safe at work. Were also taking ideas from everywhere in the organization. That includes safety briefings, rather than doing them in a small room, doing them outside, in a parking lot. In order to get to job sites, staff had previously taken three or four people in a city truck. Now, were taking them in a bus so they can actually space out during the trip to the site. Oh, thats great stuff. When we look at the Transportation System as a whole, what additional steps have been taken to encourage people to consider alternative forms of transit. We have been looking at it as a system in part because the bus system is doing less than it has in the past because we have fewer routes and because we have fewer people riding. One example is our e. T. C. Program, which is a taxibased program that seniors and people with disabilities can sign up for and use a taxi for essential trips at a highly discounted rate. Were also looking at a Transit System that people can get out walking or biking. How are we planning on next steps as restrictions ease and we move into phase two and eventually phases three and four . I think probably our biggest thing that were getting ready for right now is the start of school in august, and make sure that were ready, not only to accommodate all of the general activities, like going to restaurants and recreation, but also getting kids to school safely. Were also looking at what are other cities doing around the world that we can learn from, and thats where we are forming our work, as well. We are really fortunate that we had an opportunity to skype with taipei, a city thats had a lot of success addressing the virus. The mayor actually joined the skype call, and one of the things that they shared with us, their biggest success has come with 100 compliance masks on mass transit. In other cases, monitoring for temperatures and really making sure that people were riding, that they were riding healthy, so were trying to model and apply those best practices to our system and learn as much as we can through this process. Well, thats fantastic information. I really appreciate you coming on the show, miss kirschbaum. Thank you for the time youve given us today. Thank you. Thanks again. Well, thats it for this episode. Well be back with more covid19 relates information shortly. Youve been watching coping with covid19. Im chris manners. Thanks for watching. San francisco is surrounded on three sides by water, the fire boat station is intergal to maritime rescue and preparedness, not only for San Francisco, but for all of the bay area. [sirens] fire station 35 was built in 1915. So it is over 100 years old. And helped it, were going to build fire boat station 35. So the finished Capital Planning committee, i think about three years ago, issued a guidance that all city facilities must exist on Sea Level Rise. The station 35, Construction Cost is approximately 30 million. And the schedule was complicated because of what you call a float. It is being fabricated in china, and will be brought to treasure island, where the building site efficient will be constructed on top of it, and then brought to pier 22 and a half for installation. Were looking at late 2020 for final completion of the fire boat float. The historic firehouse will remain on the embarcadero, and we will still respond out of the historic firehouse with our fire engine, and respond to medical calls and other incidences in the district. This totally has to incorporate between three to six feet of Sea Level Rise over the next 100 years. Thats what the citys guidance is requiring. It is built on the float, that can move up and down as the water level rises, and sits on four fixed guide piles. So if the seas go up, it can move up and down with that. It does have a full range of travel, from low tide to high tide of about 16 feet. So that allows for current tidal movements and sea lisle rises in the coming decades. The fire boat station float will also incorporate a ramp for ambulance deployment and access. The access ramp is rigidly connected to the land side, with more of a pivot or hinge connection, and then it is sliding over the top of the float. In that way the ramp can flex up and down like a hinge, and also allow for a slight few inches of lateral motion of the float. Both the access ramps, which there is two, and the utilitys only flexible connection connecting from the float to the back of the building. So electrical power, water, sewage, it all has flexible connection to the boat. High boat station number 35 will provide mooring for three fire boats and one rescue boat. Currently were staffed with Seven Members per day, but the Fire Department would like to establish a new dedicated marine unit that would be able to respond to multiple incidences. Looking into the future, we have not only at t park, where we have a lot of kayakers, but we have a lot of developments in the southeast side, including the stadium, and we want to have the ability to respond to any marine or maritime incident along these new developments. There are very few designs for people sleeping on the water. Were looking at cruiseships, which are larger structures, several times the size of harbor station 35, but theyre the only good reference point. We look to the cruiseship industry who has kind of an index for how much acceleration they were accommodate. It is very unique. I dont know that any other fire station built on the water is in the United States. The fire boat is a regionalesset tharegional assete used for water rescue, but we also do environmental cleanup. We have special rigging that we carry that will contain oil spills until an environmental unit can come out. This is a job for us, but it is also a way of life and a lifestyle. Were proud to serve our community. And were willing to help people in any way we can. This meeting is being held by web ex during covid19 emergency the Fire Commissions regular meeting room is closed and meetings with the Fire Commission will convene remotely. You may watch live at 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] tenderloin is unique neighborhood where geographically place in downtown San Francisco and on every Street Corner have liquor store in the corner it stores pretty much every single block has a liquor store but there are impoverishes Grocery Stores im the cocoordinated of the Healthy Corner store collaboration close to 35 hundred residents 4 thousand are children the medium is about 23,000 a year so a low Income Neighborhood many new immigrants and many people on fixed incomes residents have it travel outside of their neighborhood to assess fruits and vegetables it can be come senator for seniors and hard to travel get on a bus to get an apple or a pear or like tomatoes to fit into their meals my my name is ryan the cocoordinate for the tenderloin healthy store he coalition we work in the neighborhood trying to support Small Businesses and improving access to healthy produce in the tenderloin that is one of the most neighborhoods that didnt have access to a full service Grocery Store and we california together out of the meeting held in 2012 through the Major Development center the survey with the corners stores many stores do have access and some are bad quality and an overwhelming support from Community Members wanting to utilities the service spas we decided to work with the Small Businesses as their role within the community and bringing more Fresh Produce produce cerebrothe neighborhood their compassionate about creating a healthy environment when we get into the work they rise up to leadership. The Different Stores and assessment and trying to get them to understand the value of having Healthy Foods at a reasonable price you can offer people fruits and vegetables and healthy produce they cant afford it not going to be able to allow it so thats why i want to get involved and we just make sure that there are alternatives to people can come into a store and not just see cookies and candies and potting chips and that kind of thing hi, im cindy the director of the a preif you believe program it is so important about Healthy Retail in the low Income Community is how it brings that health and hope to the communities i worked in the tenderloin for 20 years the difference you walk out the door and there is a bright new list of fresh fruits and vegetables some place you know is safe and welcoming it makes. Huge difference to the whole environment of the community what so important about retail environments in those neighborhoods it that sense of dignity and Community Safe way. This is why it is important for the neighborhood we have families that needs healthy have a lot of families that live up here most of them fruits and vegetables so thats good as far been doing good. Now that i had this this is really great for me, i, go and get fresh fruits and vegetables it is healthy being a diabetic youre not supposed to get carbons but getting extra food a all carbons not eating a lot of vegetables was bringing up my whether or not pressure once i got on the program everybody o everything i lost weight and my Blood Pressure came down helped in so many different ways the most important piece to me when we start seeing the Business Owners engagement and their participation in the program but how proud to speak that is the most moving piece of this program yes economic and social benefits and so forth but the personal pride Business Owners talk about in the program is interesting and regarding starting to understand how theyre part of the larger fabric of the community and this is just not the corner store they have influence over their community. It is an owner of this in the department of interior i see the great impact usually that is like people having especially with a small family think liquor store sells alcohol traditional alcohol but when they see this their vision is changed it is a small Grocery Store for them so they more options not just beer and wine but Healthy Options good for the business and good for the community i wish to have mo this is the regular meeting of the commission. I would like to welcome the public and the staff. Following the guidelines set forth by local and state officials during the health emergency, the members of the Economies Commission are meeting remotely to ensure safety for everyone including members of the public. Thank you, all, for joining us. Please call the first item. Thank you, mr. Chair. The first order of business is item 1, roll call. Commission members please respond. Commissioner brackett present