Transcripts For SFGTV Health Commission 20210313

next president of the board of directors. i would also like to support my fellow a.t.u. 1575 brother, francis gleason, another native san franciscan of the richmond district. during this time, we've had sometimes just one vote passing on layoffs, so it's important that other supervisors of the san francisco step in. hopefully, supervisor chan can help in and one more supervisor, so we can get a full san francisco representation on the board of directors. my own personal reflections, after observing meetings for a few months, director grosboll has been absent a few times over the last few months. he's done a great job, but i think it's important that the a.t.u. transdrivers are the biggest union, have the most members and employees at the district, and we're underrepresented at the board. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. holden. are there any other members of the public for this item number three? >> clerk: i.t., could you please confirm if we have any additional speakers at this time. >> operator: i believe we have one more. operations, can you unmute user nine. >> hello, supervisors. this is kim cavaloni with the san francisco labor company. we proudly support the incumbents, grosboll, hill, hernandez, and theriault for the openings on the golden gate bridge board. they have done an excellent job, and the labor council would ask that you allow us to continue to work with them. they've been great advocates for san francisco, and we respectfully ask that you confirm them for a full recomm. >> clerk: on that motion -- [roll call] >> chair peskin: thank you. mr. clerk, please read the next item. >> clerk: item four is an appointment to the public utilities revenue bond oversight committee. there is one applicant. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. clerk and for applying, mr. kamt. it sounds like you are qualify in terms of you have the qualifications and expertise and experience, certainly, in the field of economics, and with that, mr. kamp, the floor is yours. mr. kamp? >> can you hear me now? >> chair peskin: we can hear you now. >> perfect, thank you. chair peskin, supervisor chan. good morning. the bulk of rain in san francisco occurs in just three months. december, january, and february. this three-month window is why a reliable water infrastructure is so important to san francisco, and it's why i'm interested no joining the revenue bond oversight committee: to contribute to the infrastructure of san francisco. my name is lars kamp. i've been a resident of san francisco living in district two. i worked for 12 years for [inaudible] as a founder of a software company and members of the board, i've raised both debt and equity and understand financial markets. my experience includes the auditing of annual financial statements and reports. i believe this can be a significant contribution to the arba, and i'd like to thank victor young for guiding me through the application process, and it would be my honor to contribute to san francisco infrastructure. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. is there any question from committee member? seeing none, is there any public comment on this item? >> clerk: yes. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call 415-655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 187-725-3857, then press pound and pound again. if you haven't already done so, press star, three to lineup to speak. please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted and you may provide your comment. operations, can you confirm if we have any public comment? >> operator: i don't believe we -- [inaudible] >> chair peskin: next speaker, please. >> i'm sorry. is this for item five? >> chair peskin: no. >> okay. i'm sorry. >> chair peskin: no worries. you can come in on the next item. are there any speakers for this item number four, the rboc appointment? >> operator: no further speakers in public comment? >> chair peskin: mr. kamp, we look forward to seeing your report, although you're welcome to report on it more than annually. i see no questions from supervisor chan, and i'd like to excuse supervisor mandelman from this item. mr. young, roll call, please. >> clerk: on the motion to excuse supervisor mandelman from item number four is approved. [roll call] >> clerk: the motion to excuse supervisor mandelman is approved with supervisor mandelman being excused. >> chair peskin: and then i'd like to make a motion to approve mr. kamp. >> clerk: on the motion to approve mr. kamp -- [roll call] >> clerk: the motion is approved. >> chair peskin: congratulations, mr. kamp. next item, please. >> clerk: item 5 is appointments to the sugary drinks distributor tax advisory committee. we have seven seats and 12 applicants. >> chair peskin: thank you. i've read the applications, and this is going to be a difficult selection because everybody is so superlatively fit to serve on this board. why don't we just take them in order as they appear on the agenda, and i do have a cheat sheet here as to what was able to attend. i think pretty much everybody or most everybody was able to attend, so why don't we start with vanessa bohm. if you just want to make -- if each of you want to make a brief -- given that there's a lot of folks here, try to keep it to two minutes if you can. miss bohm. and if she is not available, we can move onto sonia banks. >> clerk: i believe that miss banks submitted a request withdrawing her application. >> chair peskin: okay. that is correct. i do remember seeing that. so now, we have 11 applicants for seven seats. with that, miss francis -- frances abigail cabrera. >> hello. good morning. time to unmute myself. can you hear me? >> chair peskin: we can hear you and see you. >> okay. thank you. good morning, supervisors. i'd like to share that i'm a proud daughter of filipino immigrants. first and foremost, i am a proud filipina and working deeply within my community and would really like to have the opportunity to represent both my personal and professional experience. i have a deep passion for improving health equity, disparities. i attended school in philadelphia where i obtained my master's degree. i was the hospital liaison to the community school funding from philadelphia sugary drinks distributor tax, and as a bay area native and san francisco resident, i'm happy to be back working in the communities that raised me and would love to give back. i'm currently a program manager with the excellence in primary care at the university of san francisco, and i've had the pleasure to be a project manager with a program called stop covid. i would really be honored to serve in that capacity. thank you for your time, and i well come any questions. >> chair peskin: thank you so much for your application and your experience. why don't we -- if miss bohm is all with us, although i do know she is confirmed. why don't we go onto dianna cavagnaro, and miss cabrera, you can go ahead and turn your camera off. >> thank you, supervisor peskin. you are close. i am dianna cavagnaro. i'm most interested as the parent of an sfusd student, that seat. i have lived in san francisco since 2007, and i have invested a lot into the city both through my career and volunteering, and from 2016 to 2019, i worked with the san francisco chamber of commerce where i was the vice president of investor initiatives and events, and i coordinated over 250 events for the community's largest business advocacy organization? there, i was able to put a lot of people on the stage and contribute to the community here in san francisco? this would be my first foray into something like this, but i am on the board of the marin food bank and have been for almost a year. food scarcity is such an important issue for people in the bay area, especially in these unprecedented times? i would like to participate in this committee because i have full personal and professional experience. when i was pregnant with my daughter, i had gestational diabetes, which i'd never had before, and i was confronted with what i put in my body and what that means. i've lost over 75 pounds in the past year, so i think this would be an integral part in deciding how these funds are distributed? i also have worked for various art and nonprofit organizations in san francisco, where i focus on fundraising efforts for everything from community engagement and arts education. now i'm the c.o.o. of an events company, and unfortunately due to the pandemic has been furloughed, so now have a greater depth of understanding for the need to look at your funds when it comes to food and food scarcity and diversity. and i thank you for your time and welcome your questions. >> chair peskin: and just for seat seven, which had to be nominated by the parent advisory committee, were you nominated or not? >> no, i didn't know. this is my first time doing this. >> chair peskin: okay. i think there's only one person eligible for that seat as they were the only person nominated by the parent advisory committee. i'm making a note that 15 does not apply to you, although i understand why you want that. all right. thank you so much, and if ms. bohm is not here, why don't we go to maureen guerrera. >> clerk: before we go on, i just wanted to let you know that we had an emergency message from miss bohm, and she will not be able to attend today. >> chair peskin: okay. thank you. miss guerrero. >> hi, everybody. i'm applied for seats 1, 2, 3, and 16, and i'm currently a director of programs at ymca. has program has the ability to serve all programs across the community of san francisco. i've also, through the family resource center, have been able to design programs for children five and below and their parents. a large part of my work has been focusing on families and reaching their goals around employment and housing, and with that, i saw that health and financial well-being go hand and hand, and as soon as i noticed that, i would start to bring as many resources as i could to those communities to [inaudible] per year, free workshops, health screenings, and resources, just resources in general, and that was all in partnership with ucsf nursing students and walgreens. i also was able to bring healthier tools workshops, and currently with partnership with d.p.h., we're doing covid-19 screenings at our sites. currently, i'm also working on a masters in public policy program. a large part of my study has been looking at sugary drinks tax and what's been working in other cities, and trying to find out what components can be duplicated other places and what shouldn't be duplicated. one of the things that i have noticed that this committee has focused on is the food insecurity piece, and one thing i would like to achieve is increasing support with neighborhood markets? they have also been greatly impacted by the covid pandemic, and oakland has a model where they're actually working with markets, making sure that they keep investing in nonperishable foods to, you know, decrease the cycle of food deserts in our communities, so that's one thing that i was just looking at, and yeah, open to any questions. >> chair peskin: thank you, miss guerrero. great presentation. really appreciate it. i see no questions for you. why don't we move to maysha bell. >> thank you. >> are you able to see and hear me? >> chair peskin: able to see and hear you. >> great. thank you. i just wanted to say happy women's day to all of my women colleagues. my name is maysha bell, and i am a san francisco native, and i am the mother to four san francisco natives. i have come to live in san francisco about 14 years ago, and i just want to say that my purpose is dedicated to the heart and life in this city. i have [inaudible] in san francisco for 14 years. my current and new role is executive director of out of school time program? during this time, i've had the opportunity to become a trainer in evidence based practices that was developed for active schools and out of school program staff to support healthy outcomes for youth and their families? i also help inaugurate our diabetes program at john muir in western addition beacon in 2019. it was so important based on what we know of the impact that diabetes and sugar sweetened beverages have on the african american communities, especially those coming into that 30 to 40 age group for african americans, which is really high in the city of san francisco. and also, i was able to support our youth campaign. before the program was initiated, we had a group of young people with the ymca in san francisco that was [inaudible] and so they went through a variety of initiatives and activities just to engage the community in dialogue and to really get people to understand why is this something that should matter and why it is something that we can put our support behind. what i'm most eager to bring to this committee, this body, is my ability to get to the heart of the matter. one thing i know is that what people eat, what they choose to eat, yes, it has a lot to do with access, it has a lot to do with resources, grocery stores in your neighborhood, yes, all those things are a factor, but another component that can be missed at times is really the handing down that comes, the cultural aspect. what makes me decide to feed my kids what i feed my kids, and the fact that a lot of habits that i have are things passed down to me of things that i love and trust, and so when we're looking at making changes to this system, we want to make sure that we're giving space and celebrating and acknowledging that context. i think that's the thing that helps people to get on board with whatever recommends and recommendations that we're bringing forth, if we really can find a way to celebrate that experience and not make one party feel challenged or wrong. so that's what i continue to bring to my work, and i see an opportunity to uplift in space. i just want to thank you for your time and giving me the opportunity to speak today and being here, and once again, happy women's day, and see you soon and bye. >> chair peskin: thank you, miss bell, for that presentation. our next speaker will be diana lau. miss lau? . >> hello, supervisor peskin. thank you, everyone, for the opportunity to be here. my name is diana lau, and i work at ucsf, also, and my job is i'm the director of asian health institute at ucsf. i've been in this job for many years now, and my basic training is i'm a nurse, and i obtained my ph.d. about ten years ago from ucsf in the school of nursing and major in cardiovascular nursing. one of the main pet peeves is i am an immigrant, and i am aware of the difficulties that immigrants have in navigating our complex health care systems, and my specialty is language access, health care access equity, and trying to raise the choice level so that they do not have so much disparities when they need to utilize our health care system. so i also serve as a board member [inaudible] on the side as a volunteer, and impart of the reviewers for the grants for the asian research center for minority aging research. we call it rcma. so any way, i am pleased to be able to do that as you hear a lot of good ideas when people present their grant projects to you. i also have served on the san francisco immigrant rights commission. you might not have remembered me, supervisor peskin. >> chair peskin: i do remember you, miss lau. >> i served -- go ahead. >> chair peskin: no, no, i remember. >> okay. i served for eight years and chaired four of it, so i am kind of aware of how the city health system works, but then, i went to [inaudible] school, so i drop off because i was working full time and going to school full time and my hair was falling out and i was itching all over the place, and i didn't understand why. but any way, i got through it, and so that's good, and so now, i think i'm ready to come back and serve now, and i would be happy for the opportunity to do so, and thank you so much. if you have any questions, i'll be happy to entertain. >> chair peskin: thank you, miss lau. i see no questions from committee members, so why don't we move onto marna armstead. >> good morning. thank you. can you hear me? >> chair peskin: we can hear you, and we can see you. >> thank you. good morning, supervisor peskin, supervisor chan, and supervisor mandelman in his absence. my name is marna armstead, and i submitted an application to the sugary drinks advisory tax committee. >> chair peskin: miss armstead, i will tell you how to make that echo go away. mr. young, what's the trick? >> i think that was someone else's line. >> yes, i believe there was another participant echos. >> thank you. again, i'm going up for the sugary drinks tax committee advisory committee. i'm a founder of a black led and community led nonprofit committed to providing doulas for the community in need. we also have partners and provided food, food vouchers, and gift cards, and we really try to provide wraparound services for our clients during the perinatal period. as a black woman, i've struggled through health conditions with the poor conditions marketed to me in san francisco, and for decades i struggled to learn about nutrition with very well awareness of the damage being done to my body and find proper nutrition and adapt it in a way that i could consume, literally consume. so in the past three years, i've learned the tools needed to help me lose over 50 pounds. over the course of that time, i've learned ways to manage my health condition and i seek ways to be healthy and have weight reduction and eventually the elimination of sugary drinks from your diet. i'm a san francisco native, a lifelong district ten resident, and i'm committed to my work through sister web, through megablack s.f., to the latina task force, through ucsf black health initiative, through s.f. black, and the s.e.c., the southeast community coalition, and the healthy southeast coalition, and a couple of other things that i will endow because i just like to be in the know. my passions are addressing racism as a root cause and addressing health disparities in communities of color. by nature, i'm a facilitator type and a team player. i plan to lend my experience to the efforts to affect the impacts of health disparities on those in my city. i want to continue to make sure that a voice for san francisco's black communities continue to have a seat at the table and to be recognized and flunl in systems that affect our livelihood, and i believe i'm the person to hold that voice. also talk about a couple of the other things i do. i work with all of the hospitals in san francisco. that includes many doctors, nurses, mid we've beens, dietitians, you name it, and i also work with a number of community-based organizations. i have a number of natural organic relationships with neighborhood communities, so at this point, i'm going to end my presentation and ask if you have any questions of me. >> chair peskin: miss armstead, i do not have any questions, though dare i say that you may be overqualified for this position, so thank you, and why don't we move onto nicolle elmore, and dr. mendoza, if you could just turn your camera off, we are going to get to you next. thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. i want to apologize for my mask and the background, but i am here at collective impact in the western addition, getting some work done for our youth, and so i just want to share a little bit about myself. i am applying for the health equity seat, number three, for the sugary drink distributor tax committee, and so again, my name is nicolle elmore. i'm a first generational college student. i recently started my quest for my doctoral degree at [inaudible] university in naturopathic medicine. the -- san francisco's black community supports and acknowledges my efforts and advocacy for my employment. i currently act as the program coordinator for opportunities for all, mayor breed's workforce initiative, san francisco's human rights commission, and i have dedicated to my short life span and life experience to the ethical implementation of health equity for our disenfranchised community. i have had the opportunity to work for my community, becoming a voice for voices around mental health and mental health resources. through these mental health disparities that have plagued our community members, we have figured out ways not only how to survive but to thrive. i work as a student liaison community organizer, and we have launched over three policies and wellness centers at the schools, which is a huge accomplishment for the youth, and we are really proud of that? and we have really worked on figuring out how to navigate through the devastating road blocks of health disparities happening in our community? and i would also like to share that as a youth advocate, i have worked with countless community members in all of our districts in san francisco to acknowledge the monumental role of lack of access to health pathways as well as naturopathic medicine? and within the sugary tax committee, i seek to work with community members as well as the board to create essential framework to recommend -- not only to create intention but to recommend community based education, nutritional education as well as equitable school nutrition around food securities? i also hold positions with the megablack san francisco coalition task force, the japanese community youth council. i am an active member and do a lot of work through collective impact, through community development, and around san francisco, and i know i don't have as much life experience, and i just want to uplift dr. armstead, who went before me because she's such an inspiration because it's my goal to have that catalog and give back to the community. i'm really committed to the drivenness and the essential framework that we need in our community and the black community around food security, nutritional education, and wellness. so thank you all, and now, i will pass it over to you if you have any questions. >> chair peskin: thank you, miss elmore. i see no questions, but sincere appreciation for everything you do in the community and for application to this body. i said at the outset, this is not going to be easy because we have 11 superlatively qualified individuals, and the selections are getting tougher by the minute, but with that why don't we go to dr. mendoza >> hi, everyone. can you hear me? sorry for the technical difficulties. [inaudible]. >> great. so my name is rosalia mendoza, a latinx doctor working in the community since 2008. most of the chronic diseases that i'm working with patients to manage include diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease that, as we know, are directly tied to the negative consumption of sugary drinks. i trained as a research fellow and faculty members with the department of family and community medicine with ucsf, providing family care through the family health center and immigrant health clinic. research with the ucsf center for addressing oral health disparities, we focused, and my roles were generally around writing other n.i.h. grants, doing analysis, doing community feedback in the study design as well as data recruitment and as well as doing quantitative and qualitative research with our focused groups. our interventions that we focused on in those studies involved the improvement of education to parents and physicians around oral health and primary care, which, in the last ten years, has started to expand thankfully. fluoride dental clinics in san francisco, reducing sugary drink consumption, and trying to include fluoridated water in bottled water in san francisco. my experience includes a long history of representation of underrepresented minorities, doing continual education with our ucsf medical residents, and a long-standing relationship with community based organizations. the longest affiliation i have is with clinica martin [inaudible] providing health care to immigrants and day laborers in the mission district [inaudible] which has made it challenging for people not able to navigate some of the traditional health care systems that we have in place. the pandemic has shifted a lot of our efforts. all of those aspects have taken a huge highlight and probably a bit [inaudible] so that people can continue to manage their chronic diseases. my aim in applying to this seat is really to kind of bring my expertise in data analysis, chronic disease management as a family physician. community engagement with our existing c.e.o.s and serving the low-income and communities of color in our city. it would be an honor to work alongside many of the people that we heard from today, and i'd be happy to take any questions from supervisors or anyone else. >> chair peskin: thank you, dr. men dose a, and thank you for your time in the community and in public health, and i see no questions from members, so why don't we move onto carolyn or caroline fichtenburg for seat four. >> clerk: chair peskin, i'd just like to let you know that we received a message from caroline withdrawing her application for the seat today. >> chair peskin: okay. so with that, that takes us to ten applicants for seven seats, and that takes us to laura derosier for seat 15 from the district's parent advisory committee, so please proceed if you're here. and sounds like maybe she is not here. >> clerk: i am double-checking to see if she is logged in. i do not see a log-in at the moment, but it is a long list, so she may not be logged in at the moment. >> chair peskin: okay. why don't we go to general public comment on this item. >> clerk: yes. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call 415-655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 187-725-3857, then press pound and pound again. if you haven't already done so, please dial star, three to lineup to speak. a system prompt will indicate you have raised your hand. please wait for the system to indicate you have been unmuted to begin your comments. i believe we have nine callers and two speakers at the moment. >> chair peskin: okay. first speaker, please. >> good morning, same supervisors, members of the rules committee in san francisco. my name is roberto vargas, and a former member of the [inaudible] had the opportunity on behalf of ucsf to convene scientists, public policy makers, and health advocates in the development of the soda tax policy and other policies to help reduce chronic disease disparities and recently served on the s.e.d. tax. i'm calling to support dr. rosalia men dose -- mendoza and frances abigail cabrera. i know both of them to be dedicated to this work and know both of them to be dedicated to staying connected to and serving the interest of the communities that they are part of, both latinx and latinax communities that they are involved in. i also wanted to support vanessa bohm, sorry she could not be here today. she is one of the only members that is reapplying for her seat, and i know it is a challenge for all of our members to sustain anything during the pandemic, and i deeply appreciate the fact that vanessa is willing to serve again san francisco in this capacity. she has done an amazing job in her role chairing the community input committee -- subcommittee, and i hope that she is able to continue serving san francisco and the broader community in this role. thank you for your time. >> clerk: your time has elapsed. >> chair peskin: next speaker, please. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is rodney chin. i'm the executive director of the [inaudible] ymca in district five, and i'm calling in to support maysha bell, who i've worked with for the last 13 years. she is a resident of d-5, and like she had mentioned earlier, about four or five years ago, she was instrumental in aiding our community at the john muir beacon center in that community [inaudible] sugar diets and how that adversely affects our population. so again, i'm calling to support maysha bell. i think she'll be a wonderful addition to the committee. thank you. >> clerk: i believe we have at least one more caller at this time. >> chair peskin: please proceed. >> hi, there. can you hear me? >> chair peskin: we can hear you. >> great. good morning. my name is -- >> clerk: i believe you have your t.v. on in the background or computer. i believe we're having an echo. if you could turnoff your t.v. or radio, it would be appreciated. >> okay. i don't have a t.v. or radio on. it may just be a connection. how about now? >> chair peskin: sounds good. >> okay. as i mentioned i'm [inaudible] parker, the director of the bayview-hunters point ymca. i'm calling in support of maysha bell who is a tremendous leader within our organization, not only our organization but our community. for many years, she has served our community and the organization by helping to ensure that youth and families in san francisco who have historically been marginalized or disproportionately impacted have a space and place to gain resources, to gain skills, and have access to opportunities. i believe that maysha's leadership, she is passionate and committed to the work of supporting families in san francisco. she has demonstrated leadership in a way that has really gone beyond what, in most cases, many consider a 9-to-5 in that she goes above and beyond to provide for families. she intimately understands how food beverage impacts not only the health and wellness of youth and families in san francisco but also the cognitive abilities and learning in terms of development and achievement. i believe that her experience is well rounded from a professional perspective as well as her personal experience, and i am calling again to support her taking that seat. so i truly thank you for your time and again want to support maysha bell in this opportunity. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. are there any other members of the public for this item? >> operator: we have two callers in queue. >> chair peskin: please proceed. >> hi. this is cameron smith, a resident of district one. also work for the [inaudible] as the director of community programs. i was just calling to show my community support for maysha bell. throughout the years that i've been working with her, i've seen her care for the community in working to fill the equity gaps for communities of color. i believe she would be perfect for this seat, and just through her passion and her support of the community, she would be a great advocate for the city and for all the people involved, so i'll keep it nice and short, but again, my community support for maysha. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you, sir. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors and members of the rules committee. i am [inaudible] gardner, vice president of social services [inaudible] for the ymca of san francisco. i am calling in support of maysha bell. through her professional and community volunteer experiences, mrs. bell has the proven ability to work collaboratively through a system lens approach. mrs. bell is deeply rooted in youth and community development. she has not only advanced healthy eating and nutrition collaboratives throughout san francisco but she has also done this nationally on behalf of many different organizations. i am putting my full support behind her application in hopes that she can further advance the work of this commission on behalf of all san franciscans. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. are there any other members of the public for this item? >> operator: there are no more callers in queue. >> chair peskin: okay. public comment is closed, and i was remiss in not starting with some comments. if d.p.h. would like to make them, from christina get, if she's able, and i hope i pronounced her name correctly. >> good morning, supervisors. i did not actually have any prepared comments. i think you are all well prepared with respect to the work of the sugary drinks tax advisory committee, and the only thing that i would add is i know that dr. jonathan butler is trying to get through and make public comment, but i'm not sure if that's going through. >> chair peskin: i'm happy to reopen public comment. if you have anything else to add, please feel free, and then, we -- i'll make a motion to reopen public comment if the good doctor would try to get back on. >> no, i'd just like to add that it's a great commitment, and we're very grateful to those who have been in these seats over three years and very excited to welcome new members. it sounds like there's a good crop of candidates. i'll answer any questions if you have any. >> chair peskin: thank you so much. mr. young, why don't we reopen public comment? >> clerk: operations, have we received any additional calls at this time? if you're on the line, waiting to speak, you do need to press star, three to raise your hand to speak. we can give them a moment. >> operator: a caller just came in. >> clerk: okay. >> good morning to -- can you hear me? >> chair peskin: yes, sir. >> hi. my name is dr. jonathan butler, and i have been able to serve on the soda tax committee since the inception of the committee, and my seat was seat number five and am currently has -- have served for the past two years as cochair, and my purpose for calling is to highly recommend vanessa bohm to seat number one. she has been my colleague on the committee since day one, as well. she has been certainly an important vote for the latino, chicana, and indigenous community, but she has been exceptionally beneficial in providing the entire committee and the community with a strong recommendation, a strong supportive community, and i just simply wanted to acknowledge that she would be most important in ensuring that the work of the committee continues, and i wanted to highly recommend her and continue in her seat, seat number one. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you so much, doctor. are there any other members of the public for this item number five? >> operator: no more callers in queue. >> chair peskin: okay. public comment is closed again. let me start by making a motion to excuse vice president supervisor mandelman. on that motion, mr. clerk, can we have a vote. >> clerk: yes. on that motion to excuse vice president mandelman -- [roll call] . >> chair peskin: and then, supervisor chan, would you like to make some comments about ten remarkable people wanting to serve in seven seats? supervisor chan? >> commissioner chan: thank you, supervisor peskin. i think for some us wanting to pay attention to this committee's accomplishments the last couple years, me as a mom of a public school student, a second grader in this city, really have noted some of the decisions that this committee has made in terms of funding allocation and support program and messaging really around this town, and to really support, really, in the spirits of what the sugary tax was about, so i really appreciate everyone's work here. i think that it is always great to see new members, you know or applicants that are -- that could be potentially new members to a committee, but it's also good toe zoo that there are folks or at least in this case, at least one that is incumbent that has -- that's really, you know, my preference at times is to have a mix of institutional knowledge of what has been done and welcoming new members on board to just mix it up and with fresh perspective. so i, again, this is great to see people willingness to serve. definitely tough decision ahead of us, but i think i have some idea. i think this is really a good mix of people with perspective -- diverse perspective, so i look forward and eager to make our appointments today. thank you, chair peskin. >> chair peskin: thank you, supervisor chan, and let me just start by reminding everybody that while we have the seven seats before us today, this is actually a body that consists of 16 members, so there will be more opportunities over time as we see in the seats that are before us today. in the seats of those that have served, six have opened up, so there will be some openings over time, and i encourage folks, all of whom are superlatively qualified, to keep an eye on this body for future vacancies and appointments. with that, i concur with supervisor chan and the doctor who just spoke, and even who, due to an emergency, vanessa bohm, was not able to speak this morning, i think she has served with distinction and would like to suggest, with residency waiver, she fill -- continue to fill seat number one and be reappointed. to seat number two, i would suggest maysha bell. to seat number 3, i would suggest marna armstead. to seat number four, frances abigail cabrera, to seat five, [inaudible], and seat 15, laura derosier. supervisor chan, i defer to you. >> commissioner chan: chair peskin, i would love for you to repeat your appointments for seats four and five so that i understand -- i think i missed those two names -- or i think i do know those two names, but i just want to make sure i heard it correctly for seats four and five. >> chair peskin: for four, who has to be held by an individual that is employed at a medical institution in san francisco and has experience in the diagnosis of diabetes or other diseases linked to the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages, i was suggesting francis abigail cabrera. and seat five, which has the exact same requirements as seat number four, miss diana lau. >> commissioner chan: got it. i think i understand, which is what i thought i heard. thank you, and i concur, so please do the roll call. >> clerk: chair peskin, i missed seat 16, if you do have a recommendation for that. >> chair peskin: i do have a recommendation for that, and that is maureen guerrero. >> clerk: thank you. >> chair peskin: on that motion, mr. clerk, a roll call, please. >> clerk: yes. i'd just like to repeat to make sure i have it correct. >> chair peskin: yes. >> clerk: seat one, we have miss bohm, with a residency requirement waiver. seas two, maysha bell, seat three [inaudible] and seat 16, miss guerrero. >> chair peskin: yes, that is correct. >> clerk: on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: the motion passes with supervisor mandelman being excused. >> chair peskin: and that concludes the business before this committee. my apologies to those who we were not able to accommodate, but as i said, please continue to monitor this committee. there will inevitably be opportunities to join and now this committee knows you and wants to appoint you, and with that, we are adjourned. >> supervisor melgar: welcome to the march 8, 2021 meeting of the land use and transportation committee meeting of the san francisco board of supervisors. happy international women's day to everyone. i am supervisor myrna melgar, chair of the committee, joined by supervisor dean preston and supervisor aaron peskin. the clerk is erica major. we also have sfgov staff at this meeting. thank you for that. madam clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes. due to the covid-19 health emergency and to protect board members, city employees, and the public, the board of supervisors legislative chamber and committee room are closed. however, members will be participating in the meeting remotely. this is taken pursuant to the mayor's order and any federal, state, and local directives. public comment will be available on each item on this agenda. either channel 26, 78, or 99 and sfgovtv.org are streaming the public comment number across the screen. each speaker will be allowed two minutes to speak. comments or opportunities to speak during the public comment period are available via phone by calling the number on the screen. that's 415-655-0001. again, that number's 415-655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 187-711-5980. again, that meeting i.d. is 187-711-5980. then press pound and pound again. when connected, you'll hear the meeting discussions, but you'll be muted and in listening mode only. when your item of interest comes up, please press star then three to be added to the speaker line. best practices are to call from a quiet location, speak slowly and clearly, and turn down your t.v. or radio. alternatively, you may submit comments in either of the following two ways. you may e-mail myself, erica.major@sfgov.org or send public mail to san francisco board of supervisors, 1 carlton b. goodlett place, san francisco, california, 94102. items acted on on today's agenda will be heard at the board of supervisors meeting scheduled for march 16. >> supervisor melgar: yes. madam clerk, will you please call items 1 and 2 together? >> clerk: yes. items 1 and 2 is an ordinance amending the planning code and zoning map to rezone and reclassify a portion of the 542-550 howard street project side and as shown on figure 1 of the transit center district plan, specifically to rezone a portion of the project site from the split p downtown office special development district and adopting appropriate findings. item number two is approving a development agreement between the city and county of san francisco and parcel f owner, l.l.c., for certain role property known at 542-550 howard street, also known as parcel f. item three is a resolution acting in its capacity as the legislative body to the successor agency to the former redevelopment agency of the city and county of san francisco, approving provisions of a variation decision by the community on commission investment and infrastructure, modifying the on-site affordable housing requirement and adopting the appropriate findings. members of the public wishing to make public hmm should call 415 -- to make public comment should do so by calling 415-655-0001 then entering the meeting i.d. 187-711-5980, and pressing pound and pound again. >> supervisor melgar: miss ort. >> supervisor peskin: and if i may, madam chair? >> supervisor melgar: yes, supervisor peskin? >> supervisor peskin: madam chair, i want to go back to what i spoke to two weeks ago, which is i in no way want to impede development of parcel f but very much want to do everything that we can do as a legislative impact to minimize the shadow impacts on parks that will be impacted by this decision, specifically willie woowoo wong playground, which will be impacted and that we just spent $14 million improving that. i'm glad that the project sponsor is on the verge of entering into a p.l.a. that is good news, but i want to drill down into the issues, and respectfully, i say to the colleague to the south of my, supervisor haney, that i would never affix my name to an instrument that adversely impacted anything in his district, and i am somewhat chagrined that he has done so in this case. >> supervisor melgar: thank you, supervisor. miss orse, if you could speak to supervisor peskin's comments and address the issue, i would really appreciate it. >> thank you, chair melgar. thank you for allowing me to present these items again, and i'm joined by nick foster from the planning department as well as [inaudible] from the office of economic and workforce development, and we're ready to answer any questions. moving the parcel f project forward is important by providing 35% of low and affordable housing units. we are on track to immediate that much sooner based on all of our collective efforts based on the city's acute need for housing. also -- [inaudible]. >> supervisor peskin: through the chair, miss orr, can you drill down to that where you are in that gain because you and i spoke to this personally, and we spoke to it at the last meeting, which is why are we saving the best for the rest? why is it taking this long? we should be ahead of that john burton seth law? why are we this far behind? >> through the chair, i do have a slide that addresses our current progress, which we can pull up, but if the chair prefers, i can just continue at least on the item and the amendment to make sure that these are on the record. >> supervisor peskin: i would defer to the chair. >> supervisor melgar: supervisor peskin, if we could let miss orr proceed and address the issues. >> supervisor peskin: my apologies. >> thank you. supervisor peskin, as you recall, at the last hearing, you raised questions about the shadow impact and how that analysis was done. the project sponsor is here and can address how removing those floors does not make a feasible project, and they can address that with you. nick foster and staff are prepared to answer questions, as well, in how the study was done and any regulations. i'd like to call your attention, though, to amendments -- >> supervisor peskin: if i can interrupt, madam chair, the question that i just posed that miss orr has not answered is not about shadow impacts, it was about affordability and the percentage of affordability and the failure to meet those goals or exceed those goals was the question that i raised, and i said i would stand down, but miss orr has not answered those questions in any way, shape, manner, or form. >> supervisor melgar: okay. and miss orr, if you could answer those questions, and supervisor peskin, if you could let miss orr finish her presentation, i'd appreciate it. >> supervisor peskin: i apologize, madam chair. >> supervisor melgar: if you could answer the question as to affordability and why we're behind, that would be much appreciated, and then introduce the amendments, please. >> okay. then i'll need to ask my colleague nick to pull up that slide. >> supervisor peskin: and if i may, just as a matter of [inaudible] still under the realm of planning, is that correct? >> the parcel f project is in the planning department's jurisdiction as it is a zone two project within the transbay redevelopment project. >> supervisor peskin: and can you describe the difference between that which is under ocii and that which is under the board of supervisors? >> yes. the transbay redevelopment project area has two zones. zone one, which is primarily oriented along folsom, where the majority of the caltrans owned parcels were located with the exception of, of course, parcel t and parcel f. t being salesforce tower and f being the subject of today's hearing. we're also state-owned parcels, as well, at one point. the way the project was drawn out within the transbay redevelopment agency, ocii, now the successor to that agency, is a grouping of state parcels along folsom street and one more parcel to the north in block five. that follows in other redevelopment areas like mission way, where ocii has previously land use controls through a design for development document and other requirements in the redevelopment plan. zone two is like other city governed projects, and the planning department has jurisdiction, like they would elsewhere in the city. however, the 35% requirement that all new housing -- 35% of all new housing units created be affordable to low and moderate income households is over the entirety of the redevelopment project area, and so here on this slide, i can answer your question directly, supervisor peskin, as to what have we done so far, where are we, why have we not yet met it? as i was alluding to in my previous comments, the goal is to do that when we're done building out the project area, and we're not done, so what have we done to date? in zone one, we have completed over 2,000 housing units, and on those parcels, we have achieved 32% affordable. in zone two, 410 units have been completed at 15% affordability. so all told, in terms of completed units, there have been 2,606 units completed at 40% affordability. part of the reason we're not done is this is a phased project. one of the significant factors of that phasing was the need for the temporary transit center site to continue to be in use, and so that was developed for its intended permanent uses of housing and open space until it became available, which it is, and ocii has acquired that site, so we are very well positioned to move forward on the permanent development plan. so what you see here on the lower half of the slide are estimates on what we're calling the pipeline projects, everything that we're planning on doing, where we have 5,000 units left to build. we are estimating over two thirds of those will be available to low and moderate income households. parcel f is the remaining project at the 165 units, and the subject matter is not on delivering on-site affordable, but providing key funding. all told, we estimate that we will be at 3,771 units, at which we are currently on track to exceed the requirement of 35% or 37%. the pipeline is an estimate, so there is a little wiggle room in there, but we do believe that we will meet or exceed the requirement. >> supervisor peskin: madam chair, if you will indulge me, madam chair? >> chair melgar: go ahead, supervisor peskin. >> supervisor peskin: so the zone two is under the supervision of this board of supervisors and -- zone one is under the supervisions of this board of supervisors and zone two is not? >> that's correct. >> supervisor peskin: got it. and drilling into zone one, it's not 1,021, it's not 978. this just lovely round number of 1,000 and two thirds number of 660, miss orr, can you regale us with where those projects are, how they are, and what they are? >> so zone one is two projects. 663 units is the northern portion of the temporary terminal site. the southern portion of that site is block two. ocii recently released an r.f.p. for two buildings to be constructed, both 100% affordable, one being family rentals, the other being senior rentals, both being for formerly homeless households, and the other is on harris street, and we are projecting that to be senior housing. that parcel will be the last to be done because it is tied to some underground work associated with tjpa structures. in block four, we have been working for the last several years with the hines team, and we are actively working on completing a [inaudible] and development agreement for adoption. >> supervisor peskin: madam chair, through you, do any of these [inaudible] have any shadow impacts on other parks in the city, including, but not limited to, chinatown? >> well, we haven't yet made our ceqa findings on that. i don't yet have that specific information at hand. my recollection, best of my ability is that there's no prop k shadow impact by block four, but i would need to go back and make sure that i had full information regarding the ceqa settings as we're not yet at the point of completing the block four project. >> i have a list of where you can find those amendments, which are that there's a clarification of the redevelopment plan affordable housing provision on page 2 in lines 15 to 18, a description of the affordable housing fee in the development agreement was moved from page 3, line 18, to page 5, line 13, and has been clarified on page 4, lines 9 to 22, and just noting that there are some grammatical and formatting edits throughout. and i did want to introduce my colleague, nick foster, to make some statements on the shadow conversation through the chair, if you would like to have that happen now. >> chair melgar: yes, please. thank you, miss orr. mr. foster? >> yeah. so i just wanted to reaffirm, given the conversation last time around shadow, this project underwent extensive shadow analysis two times, one as part of the transit center district plan as approved by the board of supervisors and the mayor in the summer of 2012, and then more recently at a project specific level in late 2019 by the recreation and park commission and specifically our planning commission in early 2020, and in all cases, both the recreation and park commission and the planning commission found that the shadows cast by the subject property parcel f would not have a significant and adverse impact on the two parks, which are union square and willie woowoo wong playground. >> supervisor peskin: so if i may, madam chair, just because everybody says that this is right doesn't mean that it's right, and as i said in the last meeting, subject to voter approved proposition k and section 295, this was never meant to be revisited. this was a zero tolerance park. it should never have gone through this process. it is a failure of a number of administrations under a number of mayors, and a failure of a number of city attorneys to give us proper advice, but i note mr. foster's comments. >> chair melgar: thank you, supervisor peskin. miss orr, mr. foster, are there anymore presenters? >> no, this concludes our presentation. >> thank you. >> chair melgar: supervisor preston? >> supervisor preston: thank you, chair melgar. i wanted to return to some of the affordable housing issues here that have been discussed, and i've raised some of these issues when it was before us a couple of weeks ago. i do want to thank the development team for spending some time with us on these issues, but i wanted to get some clarity on a cup of issues. one is -- and i don't know. perhaps this is for miss orr. the anticipated timeline around the affordable housing construction versus the market rate construction, and both our understanding of what's anticipated as well as what's required. are these supposed to be moving side by side breaking ground together or are they required in a staggered way? what is the requirement because i'm trying to get clarity on that. >> thank you. through the chair, i can answer that question. they are not required to be constructed together, but they are structured in a way to incentivize both projects to move forward. the developer can certainly speak to their timing around parcel f, which they're actively trying to move forward and begin construction this year, and the way that development agreement is structured is that the fee will be paid to ocii in time for us to then use it on block four. we have had those terms set up that when we are going to close on block four, and i don't have a specific date for that. we are working on the development agreement, the process that has occurred for all of our transbay projects to date is we negotiate a development and [inaudible] agreement, approved by our commission, and then, we would bring the disposition of that project back before the board for its approval. once that development agreement goes into effect, there's usually about a year-long period to get to the closing of all of the financing required, and so the fee will be paid in time for us to close on all that financing. we will be receiving a letter of credit, which is a commercially standard instrument that allows ocii to make the loan based on the fee and have that fee incorporated into all of the various affordable housing finance applications that will be happening in that year or so period, and then once all of those financing tools are in place, the project closes, the land is sold, and construction will begin, so we will have the money in time for that. >> supervisor preston: i see. so it seems like the t.a. is written sort of basically assuming that there's going to be a two-year-plus period before ocii would be utilizing those funds for affordable housing, and it's something if i'm reading this right -- and i want to drill down into this part of the d.a. -- because that may be a rational projection of the timing that may be right, i don't understand why we're not tieing the payment of these -- tying the payment of these fees to the acquirement of parcel f. on page 6 of the development agreement, right, in 2.11, is what lays out the time, right? >> yes. >> supervisor preston: and so it appears that no payments would be due on this in two years. so even if the demands were issued out, the payments would not be due for six months. >> no. if i may clarify, there's two years once the construction permit has been issued, but it's the earlier of that two-year period t.c.o. comes at the very end or the construction of the block four project, and we can call on the terms of that letter of credit when that letter is credit is needed for the financing. if, for some reason, we do not proceed on the block four project, then we are not yet in a development agreement, so we wants to ensure, if, for some reason, that development didn't happen, the land would still belong to ocii, and if we would need to be working with a different team on block four [inaudible] so with that letter of credit, we will get within 30-days of entering of our d.d.a. being effective, we would secure financing against which we can issue our loan. >> supervisor preston: i think i get it. so it's basically a minimum of two years if block four comes into effect. i don't know why it's there, but it's there, and no harm. the second is if the permits are issued, then they don't pay it until two years later, right? regardless of when the permit's issued because the third would be if for at least two years out is when the permit is issued. the [inaudible] together is when the permit's issued or two years. so in a, b, and c, we're basically looking at nothing getting paid until two years out, and the only situation you've described is under d, if ocii effectively accelerates that, ocii can demand that earlier as part of the closing on block c. why would we not be requiring that at the time? >> well, i think what we ultimately were trying to get to is we wanted the money when we needed it for the project. that's the most important part, and so with the letter of credit, which we will get hopefully -- we're actively moving this d.d.a. forward, and so again, once that's in effect, we have a letter of credit which secures that money, but we don't -- as i said, it may take a year or more to get through all the financing applications, to close on the financing. we have elected to say we don't need to sit on that cash for 18 months. we need it at construction closing, and we have secured it in advance of that. but -- so ultimately, we are getting the money when we need it. >> supervisor preston: if things proceed as planned for block four, if anything shifts to any reason for those funds, we're effectively issuing all these permits and waiting two years to get anything. i understand -- >> yeah. if anything happened on block four, we would need to, frankly, start all over. seek a new development team, a new project. we wouldn't be issuing new permits on a block four loan within two years. >> supervisor peskin: madam chair -- >> chair melgar: if supervisor preston yields the floor. >> supervisor preston: sure, that's fine. >> chair melgar: okay. supervisor peskin? >> supervisor peskin: thank you. we touched on this at our meeting a few weeks ago, and i invoked the case of [inaudible] and i think i said something impulsive of how that worked out, and the answer is it did not work out at all. the aforementioned nonprofits that were supposed to get money for one thing did not receive one cent. i understand credit. i've used them in my private business, but given the risk and the uncertainty, what i alluded to two weeks ago and will state very clearly and publicly for the record is i'm not interested in the letter of credit, i'm interested in cash. so if the project sponsor would like to put that cash into an account with the city pursuant to certain terms, that's [inaudible] with l.l.c. i conclude my remarks. >> chair melgar: thank you so much. so i did have a question of miss orth or maybe mr. foster. so if this were not to have the complication between two different agencies -- city plans and ocii -- if -- city planning and ocii -- it was just an off-site deal, we would require the certificate of occupancy at the same time, right? so i'm wondering, you know, like, what -- why we structured the deal this way? i mean, i think just to -- this may be where supervisor peskin was going. it seems if it were just under the jurisdiction of the planning department, there would be an incentive to do it together, but because there's two more jurisdictions, it gives folks more flexibility, which may be what supervisor peskin is trying to get to, which is we would get something in return. >> certainly, chair melgar. i can answer that, and nick, if i miss anything, please feel free to jump in. i think certainly when you might have seen this project at the planning commission, it was exactly that: an offsited project that would have required the t.c.o. before satisfying the requirement on the donor project, if you will, project f. what became clear as both projects moved along is given the size and complexity of those two projects is that it was not financially feasible from a lender perspective to tie completion of parcel f to an almost 700 unit completion of block four. so this alternative proposal to instead quantify that amount and then renegotiate an even higher amount, and again, that's how we landed at 150% at that fee -- that in-lieu fee. i think the two-year thing is causing a little bit of confusion because what we're saying is you're going to pay that when we need it for block four. but should block four not happen, we agreed to this delay of two years partly because we would not need this cash to fund any of our projects. we feel we will get the cash when it's needs to fund affordable housing, and that's how this particular deal was structured because it's in transbay which has that baked-in on-site requirement, which as you mentioned before, is very challenging to do when it's ownership-type housing. >> chair melgar: i see. so what you're saying is what we got in return for this flexibility of allowance is 150%. so when you say it made the project feasible, are you talking about the project on block four or lot f or both? >> i think the project sponsor would be able to talk about what challenges they were facing, and they can -- >> chair melgar: actually parcel f? >> i meant parcel f, and they can represent their lender constraints. >> supervisor peskin: and, madam chair, before we hear from the project sponsor, i don't have any issues with number three. i think as a matter of public policy, the in-due motion here makes perfect sense. generally we, as a matter of public policy, want to have on-site, but this is actually a very good example of where in-lieu makes sense. i have no issues with that, but not to invoke an old, tired song, but this is more than a feeling, and with all due respect to miss orth, i don't really care about the feeling, i care about security. and security to me is not cash in two years and a letter of credit. security to me is cash up front. >> chair melgar: thank you, supervisor. i think both supervisor preston and i did care about the offsite fee and making sure that it was a policy that made sense. i don't want to put words in your mouth, but it seems like that's where you were going. but i think miss orth has answered the question. >> supervisor peskin: no, i think we all care about it, and i've done some soul searching about it, but i think that in this particular instance, given the amount of offsite affordable that we have with that in-lieu fee, i don't have any issues with the variation. just so we're clear, i am actually pushing this in a way, while i have profound concerns over the shadow impacts, that particular subset of this very complicated policy discussion i think actually makes sense. >> chair melgar: okay. thank you. supervisor preston, did you have any further questions or comments? >> supervisor preston: i did, thank you. just to follow up, though, on this point, really, so i think that, you know, big picture, it's one thing to move from an on-site requirement to negotiating out and the fee amounts of that, but what my concern is is the maintenance of the fee and how these two tracts run together where we would ensure that the affordable housing is built at the same time as the market rate housing. what i'm unclear on, i assume there would be no objection from the city or ocii to a requireme o

Related Keywords

California , United States , North Beach , Oakland , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , San Francisco , Americans , Jonathan Butler , Myrna Melgar , Vanessa Bohm , Clinica Martin , Francis Gleason , Frances Abigail Cabrera , Cameron Smith , Diana Lau , Roberto Vargas , Maureen Guerrero , Abigail Cabrera , Rosalia Mendoza ,