Transcripts For SFGTV Ethics 20240704

Comment period can also be provided via phone call by. Calling 14156550001. Again, the phone number. Is 14156550001 access code is. 2660 399 a1441176. Again, access. Code 26639141176 followed by the pound sign. Then press pound again to join as an attendee when your item of interest comes up, press star three. To raise your hand to be added to the Public Comment line. Public comment is also available via the webex client application. Use the webex link on the agenda to connect and press the raised hand button to be added to the Public Comment line. For detailed instructions on how to interact with the telephone system. Our webex client please refer to the Public Comment section of the agenda document for this meeting. Public comment may also be submitted in writing and will be shared with the commission after this meeting has concluded and will be included as part of the official meeting file written comments should be sent to Ethics Commission at sf gov. Org. Members of the public who attend commission meetings, including remote attendance, are also expected to behave responsibly and respectfully during Public Comment. Please address your comments to the commission as a whole and not to individual members persons who engage in namecalling shouting into eruptions or other distracting behavior may be excluded from participation in the following behaviors or activities are strictly prohibited during remote participation. Applause or vocal expression of support or opposition signs regardless of content or message, profanity , threats of physical aggression. The prohibition of on signs does not apply to does not apply to clothing, which includes signage pinned to clothing messages displayed on clothing, pins, hats, or buttons. This provision supplements this provision supplements, rules and policies adopted by city hall. The Sheriffs Office or the board of supervisors is related to decorum prohibited conduct or activities. Noise etcetera and is not meant to be exhaustive. Thank you, madam chair. I have called an order agenda item number one. Roll call, please. Commissioners, please verbally indicate your presence by saying i a after your name is called i commissioner flores. I commissioner live chair lee. Commissioner salahi. I madam chair, with three members present and accounted for. You have a quorum and commissioners is excused and you may now i continue with this general Public Comment on items on todays agenda. I was to members. All right, sir, please stand by. Your three minutes begins now. Yes good morning. Its second time. I think i show up in front of you. Okay. Today its going to be a you all this meeting on a bastille day. So its interesting since im french, but its just one of these other San Francisco incidents of why im here to deliver this message to you. Here. I talked to the board of supervisors a few times now since february and late february, i stated something which is, okay, hold on, be Pay Attention basically have been ordered. Its beyond my control by the skies to change the course of humanity with the president here in San Francisco , usa, california. So now its a process. I explain to you how it works. Im going to need to talk to the camera here because it concerns everybody. The reasons for being of everything is happiness. So all universities, this is the rules of existence. Its happiness. The only way you can achieve your reason for being, which is happiness, is to focus on an emotional, eternal aspiration that we humans define as beauty. Its an aspiration. If you dont do that, you lose your reason for being, which is happiness. Thats it. Its game over. Your out of existence. Because the rules are impeccable. So we must understand because its so easy to understand, isnt it . Its very easy to understand. So ethics fits in this concept of achieving your reason for being. But we must focus on beauty. Okay. One thing very absolutely important is technology. Technology as it is today, cannot help us to do that, because Technology Work on a mechanical system that clashes systematically with the emotional aspiration which is aiming at beauty. It cannot work. So Technology Today has attained a level of convenience that works against us. So its specific with ai, all these things. Your smartphone works against your happiness. Be aware. Okay. Last thing. There is nothing you can do against me. Its not possible. The only thing you can do against me is to be extremely unhappy. Im sorry, guys. I need to fulfill my mission. I have no choice. Okay i have an excellent. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else. In the queue . Madam chair, we have one caller in the queue. Please stand by. Welcome caller. Your three minutes begins now. Thank you, madam chair. I just wanted to say that prior to the previous speaker, i had difficulty hearing you and i did not hear the queue to press star three to get in the queue for this Public Comment. However, your your most recent pronouncement i could hear loudly and clearly. So i hope the problem is solved. My name is winship hillyer and i have submitted three complaints in the last two months against brian or sorry, mr. Colfax, the director of health. And one of them i had i sent an email after i didnt receive a number for the complaint. I sent the email three weeks after i filed the complaint on may 12th and i got an email back from jeff zumwalt saying that the number of sign was 23, six and five. However, i also filed a complaint on june 15th over a month ago and three weeks after i filed that, i sent another email trying to get the number for it. And i have not gotten any response to that email. Sent an email to sf ethics and so id like to know what the number is for that complaint. And with respect to 23 to 605, the one i filed on may 12th, id like to know whether you have jurisdiction. Its been over two months now, and id like to know. And the most recent complaint was just filed this week. It would be nice if i could get a number for that one, two. Back to you, madam chair. Okay. Thank you. And i think the staff a staff member, will be reaching out to you for a follow up later on today. Madam chair, theres no further callers in the queue. Okay Public Comment for item number two is closed. Lets go to consent calendar agenda item is of the Ethics Commissions june 9th, 2023. Regular meeting. Agenda number four acting executive directors report. Number five proposed amendments to the statement of incompatible activity for the public works department, Public Works Commission and senate and streets commission and item number six proposed stipulation , decision and order in the matter of granite morton. Do i have a motion to approve this . Okay, ill move to approve. Second. Okay motion is moved and seconded. I just want to add a comment to the acting executive directors report. It is really a nice report on the budget being restored and i want to thank the acting director and their team for the hard work that you have done to make sure that we have the budget restored for the this year and next year. This really reflects on the important work that the Commission Staff has done and will continue to do. So thank you very much. Lets open up for Public Comment. I would just like to second that. Its very its very helpful to have this breakdown in summary and to just be consistently kind of apprized of the state of things. Id also like to add that it would be helpful if we could also receive updates or kind of summaries of how the legislation that supervisor suffi has introduced is going just, i think its very relevant, especially given whats on the agenda today. So if we could have a summary at the next meeting or within that time, that would be really helpful for us. Thank you. Okay. Lets go to a Public Comment. I see no one in the room. Lets go to the q place. Madam chair, we have no callers in the queue. Okay Public Comment is closed for consent calendar. Lets take a vote. Please stand by on the motion to adopt the consent calendar. Commissioner flores fang. I chair lee high commissioner salahi. I madam chair, with three votes in the affirmative and zero votes opposed. Its approved unanimously. Okay, lets go to regular calendar agenda item number seven, which is the request for waiver of pows, employment restrictions for joanne lee. Before we begin, i want to make a full disclosure. While i am not familiar with this Nonprofit Organization, i have been friends with the interim executive director for many years. And i have also have a Long Community working relationship with the organization. As vice chair, we worked on numerous Civil Rights Advocacy issues for many years, and he and i also served on the Police Commission for a year. So that is my full disclosure. Now let us go to our staff member, mr. Kenny, to give us an overview of this matter. Thank you. Chair lee. Id like to briefly provide some background and introduce the issue regarding joanne lees waiver request. Joanne lee is currently the Deputy Director of programs with the Arts Commission position that shes held since 2019. Ms. Lee has received an employment offer from the chinatown media arts collaborative or cmac, where she would be the executive director of new edge of the square project. Lee was made aware of this position in december of last year, applied in january, and participated in several interviews in february and april before being offered the position in april. Lee is currently seeking a waiver from the commission to allow her to accept this position of the cmac. A waiver is necessary because ms. Lee personally and substantially participated in the award of two grants to cmac as a city official. The storm relief grant and the nysc grant, both of which are detailed in the staff memo. The city has a rule in subsection 3. 23 for a three of the campaign and governmental conduct code, which prohibits officers and employees from being employed by or otherwise receiving compensation from any person or entity thats entered into a contract with the city in the preceding 12 months where the officer or employee was personally and substantially involved in the award of that contract. In both the storm relief grant and the grant lee was personally and substantially involved in awarding the grants and those grants have been or will soon be entered into within the last 12 months, the commission has the authority to waive this prohibition for ms. Lee only if the commission determines that imposing a restriction would cause extreme hardship formally. Now neither the code nor Commission Regulations define extreme hardship, so the commission has flexibility in determining what is an extreme hardship and when it applies. However, the Ethics Commission regulations do specify things the commission may consider when determining if imposing this rule would constitute extreme hardship. These factors are the vocation of the individual, the range of employers, the individual could work for the steps. The individual has taken to find new employment and any other factors. The commission deems relevant. As described in the staff memo. The staff recommendation is not is do not grant the waiver to ms. Lee. This is based on a fairly narrow view of extreme hardship that is focused on the factors described in Commission Regulations. Considering that ms. Lee is currently employed by the city and has not engaged in a lengthy or exhaustive search for employment, it does not appear that there is an imminent Financial Hardship associated with her not being able to accept this position with cmac. She would also appear to have other options for meaningful, rewarding employment through either remaining with the city or pursuing opportunities elsewhere to the larger goals of the campaign and governmental conduct code. Specifically those regarding undue influence or unfair advantage, and promoting the idea that government decision should be and should appear to be made on a fair and impartial basis. Staff largely agrees with lee and many of the people who have submitted Public Comment that the risk in that area is minimal. However, the standard in the code for this rule is not about undue influence or unfair advantage. It is about the existence of extreme hardship and it is up to the commission to determine if not awarding the waiver would cause ms. Lee extreme hardship. Staff would further recommend that if a waiver is granted to ms. Lee that it be narrow and only apply to this position with and not be able to be used for any other potential prohibited employers or positions. Thank you. And im happy to answer any questions. Thank you, mr. Kenny. And lets see if ms. Lee is present and if she wants to address this commission. Welcome thank you. I try to get this going. Good morning and good morning. President lee and commissioners, thank you for consideration of my waiver request to allow me to work for cmac. Im joanne lee, the Deputy Director of programs at the San Francisco Arts Commission, where i started about four years ago. I oversee our various arts programs and serve as a liaison to other city departments on Program Related initiatives. Ive also served on the mayors Economic Recovery Task force, and so much of my focus right now is to align our agencys programs with the mayors priorities for arts to play a key role in the citys economic recovery. So three months ago, when i received an employment offer from cmac, i to be the inaugural executive director of edge on the square, it really is a dream come true for me. Before working for the city ive spent over 25 years working for Nonprofit Organizations here in San Francisco and over half of that time in chinatown, where i developed Affordable Housing and served as a senior manager at a Community Organization. This position with cmac is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. It marries my skills, my experience and passions to lead a project that includes real estate developers, economic revitalization, nonprofit management, arts and culture in the very heart of chinatown. In an emerging Community Organization thats really poised to be an economic catalyst for chinatown and the city. So this this position is the perfect culmination of my career and would be an extreme hardship for me to not be able to pursue it as a chinese American Woman who visited my grandmother in chinatown is a child tutored in chinatown while i was a student at uc berkeley and worked there for 15 years. This is a dream position. After three decades as a Deputy Director and senior manager, this is an opportunity for me to finally lead an organization as the executive director. I could go on about each of the grant issues. Im not sure if thats what youd like me to discuss or if youd like me to stand for questions at this point, im very cognizant of your time. I also have a representative from the Arts Commission here today, the director of Cultural Affairs couldnt be here, but our Communications Director could also make a statement on behalf of my home department. Okay, well, since we already have the documents, maybe if we want to ask detailed questions, we can do that later. And since we have a department represent live here, if she or he wish to make any comments. Good morning, chair lee and Ethics Commissioners. My name is clement. Im the director of communication for the San Francisco Arts Commission, and im here today as acting director of the Arts Commission on behalf of ralph remington, who is out of the office and was not unable, was unable to join us today. And we are here to show support from the Arts Commission in support of joanne lees requests for a waiver. I will be reading a letter of support provided by director remington. So dear chair lee and commissioners, im writing to express my strong support for joanne lees waiver requests to enable her to work with the chinatown media and arts collaborative immediately upon her departure from city employment. Ive had the Great Fortune to work with joanne since i became director of Cultural Affairs at the San Francisco Art Commission in january of 2021. Joannes vast knowledge and experience in and with San Franciscos community has helped me quickly understand our local arts and cultural sector and how the sfc can best support the sector to ensure that San Francisco remains one of the top arts and cultural cities in the united states. While joanne has only worked for the city and county of San Francisco for under four years, she has steward the sfc during an unprecedented time of change , she has served under four directors, two of whom were interim and during a Global Pandemic and with a 40 staff turnover rate during the covid 19 pandemic, joanne served as the mayors Economic Recovery Task force and as well as coordinating the Arts Commissions, disaster service, worker deployments and was also deployed herself. She has filled in for multiple vacant leadership roles, including director of galleries, director of Community Investments and as capital programs manager, as well as supervising many staff over the years as the Deputy Director of programs. In addition to overseeing our programs, joanne has served as a representative to various interdepartmental initiatives, including the dream maker initiative, culture districts program, and with the Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative whenever able. Joanne also supports other city departments by serving on grant review panels and hiring panels and is a common. Participant in many departmental initiatives. As in all of her work, she does not. She does this so professionally, objectively and with integrity. I have nothing but praise for joannes work at qfc. She has always performed at the highest level and with emotional intelligence, professionalism, respect and integrity. I will miss her immensely, but i know that this position at cmac is the perfect combination of her professional experience and passion. She has never been an executive director, but she is clearly ready. The cmac position is a unique one that draws on all of her skills, experience and commitments and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Her service to the city has been incredibly remarkable, and i know that she will bring her creativity, passion and worth a work ethics to cmac and the Chinatown Community. Please feel free to contact farmington with any additional questions you may have. Thank you. Thank you. Colleagues, do you have any questions for mr. Canning or miss lee. Uh, im Public Comment before i ask my questions. Okay, likewise. Okay. See you. And you need to call for Public Comment. Joanne okay. Um. Can we go to Public Comment first before we make any motion . Sure. Okay so lets go for Public Comment. Seems like we have quite a seems like we have quite a few folks who wish to make some Public Comments. So let us go to the two in room and then go to the queue and then we alternate back and forth. So lets go to the room. I do need to mention that we had a little audio glitch earlier, so i just need to kind of reiterate to the folks who who want to make Public Comment in person and remotely each member of the public will be allowed three minutes to speak for those attending remotely. Please call us. Please. Call 14156550001. Use access code. 26639141176, followed by the pound sign. Then press pound again to join as an attendee when your interest of item comes up, press star three. To raise your hand to be added to the Public Comment line. And thats for the folks who want to make who are dialing in remotely. Oh, all right. Okay good. Lets proceed with Public Comment first to speakers in room, please. Welcome president lee. Commissioners, my name is aaron peskin and i am the elected representative representing the Northeast Corner of San Francisco, commonly known as district three, and wanted to personally express what i set forth in writing to members of the commission on july 5th, which is my unreserved, strong support for ms. Lees postemployment waiver request. I realize that this is a relatively rare occurrence, but think that it is very important that it be granted. I understand staffs recommendation and would associate myself and urge you to consider that the request be narrowly tailored and limited to the position, which indeed is would be the culmination not only for ms. Lee but most importantly for the community of her professional experience and deep rooted commitment to the community and when i think about the notion of hardship, i would like to say that it is not only a matter of economic hardship, and it is not only a matter of hardship to be assessed. As to ms. Lee, i think it should also be assessed as to hardship for the community. This is an unparalleled opportunity for the community and this institution and i was also very pleased by the acknowledgment in the staffs report that the likelihood of undue influence is very, very small. And i can attest to that. So i strongly urge you to grant this waiver. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Supervisor. Next person, please. I wish to speak on your three minutes begins when you speak. Good morning, everyone. In chair lee and commissioners, i am mabel tang, the interim executive director of the chinatown media and arts collaborative. As well as former San Francisco supervisor and city assessor. But more importantly, im a Community Partner and learner. I thank you for your service and for your consideration on your deliberation, on granting joanne lee the waiver of course, im here to speak in support of joanne, and i want to just start with our story. Why cmac is so passionate about Community Building and about having joanne lee on board as our inaugural executive director for our organization, cmac, the chinatown media and arts collaborate. Its a unique product of our time. We are an unprecedented organization for funded by six leading Asian American Community Service Group Committee beginning over 300 years of service and commitment to San Francisco and to the state of california. We were founded to change the Asian American narrative, to change the image narrative, and to build multiracial democracy. And this is especially important because we are going through very trying times in this country. We are going through the challenge of division of fear, and that dismantling of affirmative affirmative action in this country. So it is no small matter for mcps to come together to lead and to be a part of this narrative of change. So ourselves is history because we are an organization. That is the coming together of six multi disciplinary groups. Ccdc the Chinatown Community development center, caa, chinese for affirmative action, Chinese Culture center. Angel island immigrant foundation, camp and chc. It is no small matter for cmac to purchase a building during covid at 800 grant at the center of chinatown to communicate and to execute our ambitious vision. It is no small matter that we set out to find our inaugural executive director. Im sorry. In three minutes has expired. Okay. Im ill finish in a few seconds and it is no better for us to finally find our unicorn. Someone uniquely qualified to be our integral, to be our inaugural executive director. And it would be irreversible harm to the community and extreme hardship if joanne cannot become our executive director. And i urge you for your consideration. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mr. Clark, lets go to speakers in the queue. We have no callers in the queue. Okay. So wait a minute. I do apologize. We do have one that just appeared. Please stand by. Welcome. Caller your three minutes begins now. Hello, commissioners. My name is vincent pan. Im coexecutive director of chinese for affirmative action and also vice chair of the chinatown media and arts collaborative. Here to speak in support of the waiver from joanne lee. Well like other parts of San Francisco, chinatown is facing significant headwinds in our efforts to remain economically, socially and culturally viable. Many of these challenges were made worse by the pandemic and included mass layoffs, decimated tourism and the escalation of antiasian hate. But these challenges are not completely new. That compounded longstanding underinvestment in chinatown that has for decades brought displacement pressures on immigrant working class residents, as well as the cultural character and fabric of chinatown itself. To help address this crisis, cmac was founded by six leading chinatown and Asian American organizations to live up to the power of arts and media, to anchor creative and cultural spaces in San Francisco. Chinatown to date has secured more than 25 million to launch agile and square, a new major cultural facility to be located on clay street, stretching from grant avenue to wall street. One place on the square is a core component of critical postpandemic efforts to ensure that chinatown remains a vibrant place for residents, welcomes tourists and regional visitors, and involves in a manner that is culturally relevant and economically sustainable. There are no, literally no other organizations like cmac and edge on the square in the country, let alone in San Francisco. Chinatown and as a result, deny joanne lee the ability to lead as its First Executive director of edge on the square would impose upon her an extreme and irreparable hardship. There simply will not be an opportunity like this for her or anyone else. Again, at the same time. And the Chinatown Community would also be harmed. We extend an offer to joanne after an exhaustive National Search. We in which it became clear that her unique professional Life Experiences made her singularly qualified to lead our organization. At this time. Going forward, the board of directors is aware of and would work with joanne lee and all other stakeholders to adhere to the postemployment restrictions that would impact her representation or communication on behalf of with the city. This includes having the board directly manage certain City Communications to build a, quote, firewall unquote. Between joanne lee and her former colleagues at the Arts Commission, as well as absolving her of any responsibilities with the city for full year or longer, as may be required by city rules. Lastly, i want to thank the Ethics Commission in advance for adhering to the highest standards of cultural sensitivity and confidence as you fully consider the perspectives of joanne lee and what hardship means to her. Thank you. Thank you. Lets go back to speakers in the room. The next two speakers, the right time. Yes good to see a commissioner lee and all of you. Ill be quick because everyones saying everything already. I had the privilege of working with joanne and directly at chinatown, cdc for 13 years and just so you know, if you talk about an ethical person, a compliance person, its joanne. And we were Deputy Directors together. I was the crazy guy. Advocacy lets go for it. Build homeless housing. Yeah shes the one that was straight faced and. And well, thats enough to say i have so much faith in her. I feel that she feels this job is a calling. And. And its really important. And see and the city will love her rock steady professional ism and all that. And i just think if its possible the waiver and i dont know the politics of that, but, you know, you hear a spirit of the law, you know youve heard that, right. Okay okay. Thank you for doing the right thing. Next speaker, please. Right. Your three minutes begins. At the moment, you speak. Good morning, commissioners. My name is jenny long. Im the executive director of the Chinese Cultural Center and foundation of San Francisco. We are one of the six founding organizations of cmac and the Chinese Cultural Center is a long standing arts nonprofit rooted in San Franciscos chinatown. And we are dedicated to elevating underserved communities through contemporary arts and education by nurturing artists to build community and provide access for our residents and our community. And i was really thrilled to hear that joanne was selected to be the first inaugural executive director of edge on the square. Ive known her as the Deputy Director of programs at the San Francisco Arts Commission, and she is someone who, in my time that ive known her, have deeply understood the community and has developed programs to enhance access and opportunities for underresourced communities across the city. And joanne is rare. She has that intersection of skill sets in the arts and the community, and youve heard it from so many people here. She has so much integrity and is a great fit and this is such a unique opportunity and role as a Community Leader and someone who is also in the Arts Community. I can attest that theyre not that many opportunities in this field. The national and regional arts institutions in this country are not led by people of color. And this is so important for joanne to have this position to create an equitable landscape in this field. And Chinese Cultural Center and cmac and edge on the square will work closely together as Community Arts organizations in chinatown. Were going to be sister organizations, and i look so forward to collaborating with joanne to preserve chinatowns culture and expand arts opportunities for the community and all. And i really urge you to support, support and approve joanne lees waiver request. Thank you so much. Thank you. Do we have anyone waiting in the queue. Madam chairman, we have no callers in the queue. Okay, lets proceed with members in the room, please. And your three minutes will begin the moment you speak and youll hear a bell when you have 30s remaining. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Kimberly Stryker and im a commissioner on the San Francisco Arts Commission. Ive worked closely with joanne lee for nearly four years. Shes the head staff liaison to the civic Design Review committee, which i chair. I hold her in the highest regard for her integrity and ability. Shes been a clear and steadfast counsel to me and to my committee. Shes straightforward, always trustworthy, and proved not only a talented, hard working leader, but also a superb role model to our junior staff. We at the Arts Commission hold her in the highest esteem and i personally will be sorry to see her leave us. However as she told you, being executive director of cmac would be once in a lifetime opportunity. She has the appropriate knowledge, experience and skills to be an outstanding executive director, and im sure thats why she was chosen. This position is formed, fitted to her knowledge and leadership abilities because the position is a once in a lifetime opportunity for her. It would be an extreme hardship for her not to get this unique job. Ethics Commission Staff speculates there are other positions she could take, but they dont point to any that are comparable. Its a new, unique vision. Every Nonprofit Organization thats being created in chinatown, the executive director position created to run run. It is seeking the skills. Ms. Lee has her former work in nonprofit housing in chinatown, coupled with her skills and knowledge of public arts administrator, are exactly what they need. She fits the bill perfectly. This position would be the only job of its kind in the nation. It would be a true loss to ms. Lee if she were denied this opportunity. It would be a loss to the organization that has chosen her to lead them and a loss for the Chinatown Community, thus a loss for the city at large. I hope youll support her request for a waiver to enable this worthy candidate to accept such a unique position. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good morning, commissioners, and good morning , chair lee. My name is malcolm young. Im the executive director of the Chinatown Community development center. I figured wed get the block out of the way since the reverend testify side a second ago. Let me just start by saying something that in my mind is kind of funny, but i actually think it expresses the true character of a joanne. I was around when norman was reverend fong was a deputy on the program side and also when joanne was the deputy on the organized side, and if normans motto was ask for do it, ask for forgiveness, and then excuse me, do it. And then ask for forgiveness later. Joannes motto was get permission first before so you dont have to ask for forgiveness and to me, that outlines her character as an individual who holds herself to the highest level of integrity. Which is why i appreciated staff recommendation. And in the report, the acknowledgment that the level of undue influence was minimal in this situation. And i think thats also verified by the fact that we have other nonprofit Arts Organizations in the Community Coming to you to testify to that very fact and providing the highest level of support for joanne for this position. I also just want to call out an element of the staff analysis and this is not to criticize staff, but to point out that the scope of the analysis of staff acknowledged was limited to economic hardship, whereas the definition of the rule is personal hardship. And i would urge the commission to consider this decision based on a more expansive set of data around what qualify for hardship. I truly believe that it would be a hardship for joanne if she was not granted this waiver. She brings a unique quality and set of skills which has been mentioned numerous times before, but i want to reemphasize the scale of the Development Project thats going to be happening here. We are literally rebuilding a building in chinatown in a corridor that has not seen new construction for probably 4 or 5, maybe six decades. And its critical that we have the right person to manage that project. And joanne combines four Critical Skills that no one else did in the National Search that we did. She knows real estate. She knows excuse me, she knows real estate. She knows arts and culture. She definitely knows organizational development, which i was there for when i was at chinatown, cdc. And i would argue just as important, she knows chinatown and nobody has those four characteristics. And i think for joanne not to be able to use those skills for this critical project would be absolutely problematic. And a drain on San Francisco. So i urge you to grant the waiver. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good morning, charlie and commissioner, thank you for the opportunity to give Public Comment. My name is rochelle axel. Ive been a member of the San Francisco Arts Community for over 30 years. An employee also of the Arts Community and specifically i worked for the San Francisco Arts Commission for 21 years in various capacities from. Development director overseeing grants that the Arts Commission sought acting Communications Director and director of public and private partnerships. So ive seen a lot at the Arts Commission and my time working with joanne was really special. We both held Public Service as a high value and we connected on that level. So for part of Public Comment, i just want to make three points that i hope adds some context to the decision, and i do hope that there will be a waiver. I think its really applicable in this point. First point is that San Francisco also gives more public funding to the Arts Community than any other municipality in the nation. So it virtually touches every Arts Organization in town. And when i say it, i mean public funding, city funding for the arts. Its very, very hard to go from a place of arts, philanthropy within the chosen sector. The arts in San Francisco, and not have had some kind of contact with philanthropy, city funding for the arts. So i think its important also to recognize that grant making and grant management, its not a siloed activity in any department. Its a real collaborative process, a lot of people are involved, a lot of applications, contracts and so forth are vetted by numerous people. So its very, very rare that any person in leadership like joanne would not have some touch on grant making within the city. In the arts sector, since i was in charge of partnerships, public and private, in the city. Also it was a best practice to work with other city departments when it came to grant making seeking expertise across city agencies to help make decisions. And its an important practice. It helps broaden the scope of Decision Making and to make sure that theres integrity in that. And if a waiver wasnt granted, it would really curtail that best practice in the city, which is really important to uphold. One other point i want to make is it was mentioned, but i dont think it was drilled down quite as much as it could be, which is joanne really led the Emergency Response activities and Rapid Response funding throughout the pandemic. It was not an easy time, as we all know, as has been said, and i think its important as supervisor peskin mentioned, that extreme hardship for chinatown in particular was really palpable and really felt during the pandemic and even postpandemic. And joanne role in chinatown would really help mitigate some of that hardship. So i ask you to look at the hardship aspect from joannes presence and supporting the community. Thanks thank you. Mr. Clark, can you please check if anyones waiting in the queue . Madam chair, we have one caller in the queue. Please standby. Welcome caller your three minutes begins now. Greetings commissioners. My name is lex life height, and im calling to offer my support of the waiver for joanne lee prior to may of this year, i directly administered the nonprofit sustain Ability Initiative for the office of economic and workforce development, and i would echo the prior comments that joanne lee operated with the highest standards of integrity and used her financial and Community Expertise to evenly and equitably apply rules and policies for grant making. I would add to the hardship conversation that it creates a fiscal and performance hardship for the city to make it so difficult for senior members of staff and people with a high level of Community Involvement to move on from their roles, but continue to advance the Strategic Priorities of the city. As someone who recently left city employment and watched some of the budget hearings, i heard a lot from our elected board of supervisors about the cost of having top heavy agencies with a lot of managers, but one thing youre told when youre being recruited for city employment is that its impossible to move up. And one of the reasons its impossible to grow in your city roles is often because people dont move on. They cant move on, and they have to go through a very extensive waiver process like this. I really support scrutiny and avoiding selfdealing, but i think we need to make it easier for managers to continue to grow in their dream jobs. And i just know that if joanne lee is granted this waiver, shell be a tremendous asset to the city, to the china, to the Chinatown Community, to the community, and to our economic recovery. Okay thank you. And anyone else waiting in the queue, madam chair, we have no further callers in the queue. Okay, lets return back to the speakers in room. Im up. Yes yes. So good morning, commissioners. And actually good morning, chairman lee. I dont know if you recall, we met several years ago. When you work in the sba and i was an advocate for greater leadership in corporate for Asian Americans. And actually, you help me. You help me meet jenny yang at eeoc. And i hope you remember that effort. Yes. So far, so good. Anyway, im here to speak in support of joanne and the speaker. So far has made an eloquent case. Id like to talk about the about the staff report , which basically says that she can we can go on and find another exec director or joanne, you can find another job, essentially no harm, no foul. And my perspective is, yeah, joanne is harmed because i think youve heard that this is a very unique project. This is the largest project for innovation in china today. And so she thats a once in a lifetime opportunity for us and once a lifetime for San Francisco. And once life once a lifetime opportunity for joanne. So she might get another job, but not with anything like this. It would help. It would harm cmac because i am chair of the Search Committee and so we have to go out and do another search and spend more money and time to do that. And it took us six over six months to do it. And so, so its just a waste of our time. And lastly, its a its a harm to the city because the sooner we get this thing done, the sooner we can go and build projects. As soon as we can find funding with the executive director, the sooner, sooner. Chinatown, San Francisco can bend from cmac. So so any delay we have here in pax, chinatown and San Francisco. And thats our thats our message is that we want to help the community, want to help joanne. We want help chinatown. Thank you. Thank you. And i also want to add mr. Bagchi to my list of full disclosures that we have about relationship. So anyway, next speaker, please. Good morning, chair lee. Commissioners im tatyana lee. I am right now the treasurer at cmac, but im also the chair. Once again at the Chinese Culture center. I am going to do something that i dont usually do. Im going to talk a little bit about my experience. You heard a great deal here about joannes experience. I have worked for over almost 40 years here in the city on nonprofits and in the community. I have. Worked with the trustees at the San Francisco conservatory of music to bring the conservatory downtown. I have worked with the for the San Francisco library foundation. In fact, im the chair who brought the foundation back to its parent. The friends of the San Francisco public library. And a merger. I have worked with with many other organizing nations in the city. But and i have also searched and mentored, worked with and supported nine nine executive directors in chinatown at the center of i have a real knowledge of what it takes for someone to work in the community in an effort to bring everyone together. This is probably why i did a very premature farewell tour a while back and was brought back before i do my second farewell tour out of community work. I want to be a part of bringing this particular project into what will be the leading cultural and economic engine. One of them to help San Francisco and in particular chinatown. You know, i do know what it takes to lead in the community for arts and culture. I respect the other pillars of the community who came together with me over five years ago to work on becoming one and speaking for the community. We are all excited about this once in a lifetime opportunity, and i do expect that we will really be in a difficult position if we have to delay things yet again. We all know what happens when delays happen in the city and it always is at a cost. Both financially and individually for the people who are working on it , but also for the community. So so before i do my second and final farewell tour for work here, i want to really encourage you to approve this waiver for joe anne, but also for the city of San Francisco and chinatown. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. In. High hi, charlie. Commissioners, my name is candice huie. Im the curator of edge on the square and a native of San Francisco who has been working in the local Arts Community for many decades. From my experience, it is such a rare occurrence to have someone like joanne lee, who not only is an extremely qualified female leader in the arts, but also and more importantly, someone who possesses a deep understanding of the community. This makes her the ideal leader for edge on the square edges mission is to first shift and expand the narrative of asian america and what it means today in the 21st century to be a Socio Economic engine for chinatown and by extension San Francisco as a whole. Celebrate chinatown and San Francisco as an immigrant gateway not only for chinese, but all immigrants who came through the west coast as such, having a leader such as joanne lee with firsthand experience working with communities of color, ensures that Decision Making is nuanced and culturally sensitive. This, in turn, leads to authentic engagement, where the voices of these communities are genuinely heard and their stories represented and accurately portrayed. The communitys unwavering support for joanne, as demonstrated here today based on earned trust, professionalism and unwavering integrity underscores the importance of her insights and expertise under joannes unique and rare leadership, we will have at edge a necessary culturally rich artistic landscape that benefits all her commitment marks a Pivotal Moment in promoting diversity and equity, ensuring that our Community Thrives on a foundation of genuine representation and meaningful engagement. This makes her the right and only choice as executive director for edge on the square, thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good morning, commissioners. Im erica policy gay and im a programs associate at edge on the square. Im here today on behalf of joanne lee and my community. In my time with cmac, i have witnessed how intentional every single decision is. Cmac staff. The cmac board of directors and joanne are people of integrity. We would not jeopardize this project, which is a very critical and rare opportunity for the community. Our collective presence here today is testament to the strength of our community and our need for a project like cmac, which is made by us and for us under joannes leadership. We will use art to advocate for the community and this city. We need qualified and dedicated leaders and role models like joanne who understand the impact of an organization like cmac on the greater community. Im confident that her unique quality skill sets experience and integrity will draw people from all backgrounds to chinatown, contributing to the positive change that we all want to be a part of. Please do not deny us and joanne this rare opportunity to shape the future of our community. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. And can you please check and see if theres any speakers waiting in the queue . Madam chair, we have no callers in the queue. Okay, lets continue with our in person speakers. Good good morning, commissioners. Jim sutton of the Sutton Law Firm and ive had the privilege of working with ms. Lee on this waiver request for the past month or so. I just want to make two quick legal points, which havent been made yet. The first is that in this instance, the purpose of the law has been met. The purpose of the law is to make certain that employees who are working on a city contract dont do something in that process to try to then get a job with the contractor. And the way the city law does that is by putting in this time buffer. And it says 12 months has to lapse between within the time when the City Employee works on the contract and before they go to work for the contractor. And i think its very important to note, and it really hasnt been mentioned yet here today, its been over 16 months since miss lee worked on this contract. The weird fact here is even though it was awarded 16 months ago to cmac, it wasnt actually signed until, i think just a few weeks ago. And that had to do with just kind of real estate negotiations and technical issues. And ms. Lee has not been involved in any of those in the past 16 months. The law talks in terms of awarding a contract and the contract being executed. And it almost uses those words in a interchangeably, i think, because it assumes that a city contract is awarded and then pretty much right at that moment in time, its also going to be executed. The law doesnt envision really what happened here, where theres a huge gap in time. And of course, ms. Lee had no control over how long it would take the contract to be finalized and signed. So thats just the first legal point over 16 months has lapsed since ms. Lee was involved in this contract. So the underlying purpose of the law has been met and the second legal point is that the law, in our opinion, should not be written, should not be interpreted, and quite as broadly as is the staff is proposing that it should be interpreted in the staff memo. And we believe that the commissioner says that you have to interpret the law in light of these constitutional concerns, because what the law really does , as one of the speakers point out, it it prohibits City Employees from taking jobs or their choosing. So it really impacts the employees Constitutional Rights the same way the laws disfavor noncompete agreements in contracts. And thats why the regulation lines allow you to interpret the law. And that phrase extreme hardship, really in any way that you think is appropriate given the circumstances. Its interesting here that the other waiver request on your calendar for later on, theres actually, i believe, a four year delay in between when the contract was awarded and when it was executed. And i think these two waiver requests reveal that a hyper technical reading of the law leads to absurd results where an employee could be prohibited for working for someplace for several years. So thank you for your consideration, those legal points and thank you again for your consideration and miss lees request. You have some questions for you if you could stick around for us. Of course. Yes okay. Should i ask the questions now . If theyre directed to him, if direct, if its directed to mr. Sutton. So please go ahead. Yeah. Thank you. Just on the legal points, which you mentioned, because i do think its very important to note that there are a lot of nuances here. And i think the timeline is very important is it am i understanding correctly that there that there were some interviews and i know this is maybe a separate issue that i think the Enforcement Division is looking into and maybe thats something that you can brief me on. But its my understanding that that sorry. Give me one second that she was interviewing before the grant was given to the to the organization. No, not for the large grant. Really . The grant thats at issue. The grant to help buy the building in chinatown. No, she was not interviewing at that point at all. Its the little 3,000 grant from earlier this year in response to the winter storms that she had been interviewing at that moment in time. Yes, there are two grants at issue. One is the storm relief grant, which was fully conceived of and awarded this year, well within the 12 month period, if i could just briefly comment on the buffer period, staff believes the code is very clear that the buffer is intended to be between the time the contract is executed and entered into and 12 months beyond that. Thats because the buffer is to be between the time that the prospective employer is receiving the benefit at the contract and the time that they could then hire the person who helped award that contract. I think its very important that the part of the commissions understanding and just on the constitutional issue, i understand that. I mean, i think we take these waiver requests very seriously and we understand that we have so many qualified people in City Government and then to think that were kind of thwarting the advancement of the city because were keeping them, were kind of sidling them, like thats all something that we consider. But its true that people who join City Government are aware of these laws and was jointly aware that this is what the what would happen if maybe she were to leave City Government. Well, of course know certainly understand that and the City Employees are given training but here with the contract remember the law talks in terms of this 12 month buffer. She was on the selection panel. She was not looking for a job. She was not talking to cmac. They awarded the contract and then she had no way of knowing that the contract hadnt been signed. Right. Shes she was not involved in that process. Remember, she was it wasnt the Arts Commission that granted the contract. It was the mayors office. Its just they had someone from the Arts Commission on the five person selection panel. So, yes, she might have been aware of the law, but she and with these circumstances, she had no way of knowing and no control over the fact that it wasnt executed for almost 16 to 16 months. So okay. Any other questions . If not anyone else waiting in the queue . We have a caller in the queue. Please stand by. He could not welcome caller your three minutes begins now. You could not fog a mirror during these last four years. Okay and then took that picture. Yeah. And then gordon okay. We have our sf gov tv folks in the background. Hold on one second. In the background housing project. Okay all right. Theres no more further calls in the Public Comment is closed for agenda and. Seven colleagues. I am ready to make a motion to grant ms. Lee the waiver specifically for her employment with cmac. As i mentioned earlier, with my full disclosure. I am not aware, im not familiar with this organization , but i grew up in chinatown and i still live near and i am paying fully aware of the current state of my beloved community and i also recognize the dire need to. Revitalize not just the Chinatown Community, but to uphold to the to maintain the chinese American History for our future generations. Ms. Lee, i must first say that you must be a person of highest integrity and highest respect for you to bring together such a Diverse Community together. United in support of you. That speaks volumes of your person and i think that cmac would be very lucky to have you to lead the organization. Its true that this commission is given this waiver and this waiver is not granted routinely. We take this very, very serious. Lee weve only granted a handful of very, very few because we understand the intent of granting these waivers because its really important for members of the public to have trust in our government to make sure that no one is given any unfair advantage, given their city employment. Theres also been discussion on what a nonprofit is in this case, this nonprofit , to me is a Community Service and community benefit. All organization. And it again, as i said, as a member of the chinese american community, this is a really important cause. And i agree with previous speakers that this is a very small universe of candidates. Number one, you know, Asian Americans in arts as ms. G had mentioned, is a very few group, especially those who understand the cultural competence in in this community. I, i also think that hardship is, is a broad term. And i dont look at it as a Financial Hardship because anyone who moved from the city to a Nonprofit Organization is facing Financial Hardship. For me, this hardship as the supervisor and other speakers mentioned to me, is not just the Chinatown Community, but is the citys hardship. We are in dire need. Folks who have the passion as a commitment to really, really rebuild certain. Neighborhoods, and especially in the chinatown area. So i do think that you meet the hardship criteria thats given to this commission that i am ready to make a motion to grant you the waiver specifically only for the cmac. But as you mentioned in your letter, you you intend this to be your last job anyway. So this is your one and only waiver. Should we approve it . So do i hear a second to this motion chair lee ill second, but id like to make a comment myself. Of course. Okay. Okay so the motion has been made and seconded. Comments, please. Thank you. Yeah. First, i just want to make a disclosure for the record. I am not familiar with ms. Lee or any of the speakers here today, but i did notice that in the Public Comment theres a letter from the api council, one of whose member organizations is the asian law caucus, and i sit on the board of that organization. But the board plays no role in this type of activity. So i dont feel the need to recuse or anything like that. Moving on to the issue here and the reason why im going to support the waiver request, i acknowledge that the campaign governmental code only authorizes us to approve a waiver if it would cause extreme hardship for the city officer, employee and the community Commission Regulations do specify three factors that might be considered in connection with that evaluation , but it also authorizes the commission to consider any other factors the commission deems relevant, which is very broad and gives us a lot of discretion, but discretion that we need to try to exercise in a consistent and fair way that vindicates the purpose of the law here. And i appreciate the staffs analysis of the three delineated factors, and i appreciate the acknowledgment during the report that it adopted a narrow interpretation focused on economic hardship. But just one additional relevant factor, in my opinion, is the relationship between the job site and the degree of the officer employees involved in awarding the contract as well as the extent to which theres a reasonable or plausible appearance of impropriety or favoritism in that process. And beginning with that latter part, whether there is a reasonable appearance of impropriety or favoritism here, my view is that there is not one. First, with respect to the Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative grant from the office of economic and workforce development, ms. Lees participation occurred well over a year ago, in march of 2022. She was one of six panelists and the award letters were issued in march 2022. Her involvement ceased thereafter, according to the staff report. I understand that as written, the code likely does not turn on when the individuals personal involvement occurred, but rather on when the contract was entered. And again, that term is not defined, entered, is not defined in the code and the regulations, i think are ambiguous and potentially contradictory, although they define enters into a contract with the city as when the contract is executed, the waiver application instructions in the same regulations have a different interpretation and provide that the application should discuss quote, the contracts that the officer employee potentially and substantially participated in awarding to his or her potential new employer during the 12 months prior. So thats something that we may need to take up at another time in the future. To clarify. Nevertheless, even assuming that ms. Lees involvement in the nsi grant is covered here, the fact that she was not involved in it during the 12 months preceding her acceptance of cmcs offer, or even when she had on the horizon as a potential employer diminish hs any suggestion of impropriety in my view. Second, moving on to the storm relief grant from the Arts Commission, which was awarded to cmac in march of 2023. According to the report, ms. Lee developed rfp guidelines as reviewed applications and made the awards with others. Unfortunately it does appear that ms. Lee did not disclose that by that time she had already applied for a job with cmac and was in discussions with them. But i view that as an issue for another day. Thats not ripe for the commissions review, given the Enforcement Divisions review of that issue for purposes of the waiver request. However, the award granted was 3,750, a very small number, and in my view, its implausible that ms. Lee could have leveraged her participation in this grant in order to secure a job offer for herself, which presumably would cost much more than it will gain. So to summarize my view, the facts dont create an appearance of impropriety. Favor autism or otherwise. If anything, it the record, including the application and the numerous letters of support and the speakers and support suggest that the explanation for why cmac has offered her this position turns on her expertise. Her experience, her Community Leadership and her fit for the role almost done. Moving on to the other side of the ledger, whether denying the waiver would impose extreme hardship again, i appreciate the departments staff analysis on this issue, and i agree that they properly applied the factors that are delineated in the regulations, but they dont know what else we might deem relevant so completely understandable. The one of kind nature of this position and the fact that it is a Nonprofit Community initiative focused on neighborhood vibrancy rather than for profit enterprise are relevant factors. I also think it is relevant that jobs are not always fungible. Theyre not all identical to each other or equally valuable to particular person, particularly in the field that ms. Lee seeks to enter. Job seekers and employers often consider the numerous intangibles, perhaps even more than the tangibles in deciding whether theres a good fit. Ms. Lee, for example, pointed to her deep roots in the chinatown neighborhood. Her long career focused on the arts and community and how this position is perfectly situated at the intersection of her skills and passions, she explains why this institution has a special mission in helping to revitalize the Chinatown Community in the wake of the covid 19 pandemic and antiasian hate crimes. Additionally, ms. Lee will assume a senior role and not all employment options at that level are interchangeable or adequate substitutes for one another. Even assuming that there are very many. So given the foregoing, im prepared to support her application for a waiver and find that it would impose extreme hardship on her to deny it. Thank you. Thank you. Fantastic yeah. I just want to say a few things. Dovetailing off of commissioner sallys comments, i will also be ruling in favor of the waiver and i appreciate your analysis. Thank you so much for that thorough analysis. I noticed from your excellency an ms. Lee of the analysis like what your review of the applications entailed. It seemed like even if you had not reviewed the applications, for example, still would have received the grant and that was very important for my analysis. So as i mentioned earlier, i never take these waiver requests very lightly. I would presented with these requests. We are being asked to apply well meaning well drafted laws that people, you know, that create guardrails to, to maintain the public trust. And thats something that we care very much about. However, what ive come to realize is that part of our duty to ensure that people of San Francisco can trust City Government is to know when to make decisions that inspire confidence of the government. And this this seems like an opportunity and for all the reasons that the commissioners mentioned and everybody whos kind of come to rally behind you in it inspires me. And it really does, i think, inspire confidence in the government. And that is were trying to maintain public trust. And thats what we care about. And ruling this way makes me feel confident that we are really in favor. Okay let us take a vote. Please. Please stand by. Hold on. Okay. On the motion to request waiver for joanna lee, commissioner flores feng, i chair lee high commissioner salahi. I madam chair, with three votes in the affirmative and zero votes opposed, the motion is approved unanimously. Thank you. I just want to say thank you. Thank you so much. I i im so blessed to have the community here with me. I look forward to seeing you all in chinatown down at our programs. And ive really enjoyed my city service and i take all that ive learned in the four years of being here to the community and look forward to partnership in the future. Thank you. Thank you so much and good luck. So i think i called you commissioner sally. Im sorry. Commissioner salahi no problem. May i add one more thing to ms. Lee as my colleagues thats mentioned, these waivers are granted very, very seldomly. And i think this is the second time that we granted this year as we had done the previous case. We had asked the person to report back, not report, but keep us informed with how things are going. Because you had volunteered to put a firewall between you and our commission. That was appreciate it. And just let us know because as my colleague said, we treat this waiver very, very seriously. And we also want to learn how to carry out the intent of this waiver to make sure that we do not put unnecessary prohibitions. Against other future City Employees who want to do community work. So please keep it keep us informed with how everything is going, how we can learn from each other as we continue to look at how to perfect this waiver power. So thank you very much and we look forward to seeing you. Okay lets go to agenda item number eight, which is request for waiver of postemployment restrictions for tracy packer. Lets wait for a minute before we clear the room. Okay. Let us start with us. Our staff member, mr. Canning, to give us an overview of this case. First, thank you. Chair lee. Considering this waiver request is for the same rule as was just discussed regarding joanne lee, ill limit my remarks a bit and try to not repeat what was already covered in the previous item in as much detail. Tracy packer is a former City Employee who served as the director of the Community Health equity and promotion, or chip. I believe branch of dpc until july 31st of last year. Ms. Packer is seeking a waiver for the rule against employment with certain city contract matters found in subsection 3. 23 for a three of the campaign and governmental conduct code, which is the same rule from the previous item ms. Packer has been offered a temporary short Term Position with the San Francisco aids foundation, where she would be filling in for approximately six months while the aids foundation recruits a new director of programs. She has said that she does not intend to apply for this position or work for the organization in long term. A waiver is necessary in this case because on january 1st of this year, the aids foundation entered into a contract with dch and the contract was secured through an rfp that ms. Packer helped develop during her time as a City Employee. Additionally, in may of last year, the mayor increased the total funding available for this rfp by 3 million, at which point ms. Packers role was to communicate with the organizations about this funding change, which she did, including communications with the aids foundation at that time. As such, ms. Packer was personally and substantially involved in the awarding of this contract, and the contract was entered into within the last year, making a waiver necessary for ms. Packer to become employed by the organization. At this time. As discussed in the previous item, the commission has the authority to grant a waiver. If the Commission Finds that not doing so would cause ms. Packer an extreme hardship. As before, staffs recommendation to not grant the waiver is based on a fairly narrow view of extreme hardship and the factors that are provided in Commission Regulations. Is ms. Packer is retired and receiving a pension. Additionally she has not been engaged in a job search to explore what other opportunities there may be available to her. As such, staff does not believe that not granting ms. Packer a waiver would cause her an extreme hardship regarding the codes goals of avoiding undue influence and unfair advantage, and of promoting the idea that government decisions should be and should appear to be made on a fair and impartial basis. This is another situation where staff believes the risks here are minimal. However again, the question before the commission is would not granting a waiver to ms. Packer cause her extreme hardship . As before, if the commission does decide to grant a waiver to ms. Packer, staff would recommend that the waiver be granted narrowly and only apply to this position with the aids foundation. Thank you. And im happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Ms. Packer would you like to address the commission . Thank you. Yes good morning, chair lee and the commissioners. I am so grateful to have this time on the agenda today. And i also want to thank the staff for their support and helping me understand how to adhere to the Ethics Commissions rules. Ive worked for the city for over 30. I had worked for the city for over 30 years and in my time here have been very focused on ensuring that i was following all the rules. And because of that, i did call the Ethics Commission immediately after the San Francisco aids foundation asked if i could provide short term temporary consultant support. The purpose of this is the transition of the Vice President of program. Shes leaving for a new job and after many years of strong leadership support, the programs of the San Francisco aids foundation. So theyve asked me to support the staff to continue their implementation of the work. As i mentioned, ive had a focus on ensuring fairness and impartiality during my entire career and adhering to Ethics Commission rules in my written request. I focused a lot on the fact that i dont believe that theres celebrate out there. I i dont believe that my employment with the San Francisco aids foundation would create any negative effects and no appearance of unfairness or inappropriate action. I talked a lot about my roles and ill just highlight that slide and add some additional points. As i mentioned, the San Francisco aids foundation is already in the contract. It started january first, as was mentioned, and so i would not have any influence over that. I was not involved in the final Budget Allocation or the final contract. I left july 31st. From my position, my post, i did stick around with the Health Department to fill in for some vacancies and i did some projects in another unit called the office of health equity. So then i did finally retire on may 4th, sorry, march fourth. And as i mentioned, i would be supporting the work thats already in the contract and not supporting them. You know, providing additional insight, information. Et cetera. In addition, i wanted to ensure that its clear that in the dps we are not the employees are not involved in the reviewing of applications during an rfp process. We have external review panelists who are screened for a conflict of interest and my role actually was really focused on developing the content of the rfp, which is for hiv, hepatitis c and std, or sexually transmitted disease, i should say. All those things that hiv, hepatitis c and sexually transmitted infection prevention. And so we used a data driven process to determine what what the focus should be, which populations should be reached, and then what the funding levels would be. In other words, what level of funding was necessary to reach those particular populations. So with the science and data, theres no favoritism. Its not possible because were very much focused on what is the logic data say and how does it inform the focus of the rfp . The rfp itself is managed by a separate unit. So once we help identify what the focus should be to address health disparities, thats our job. We handed over to the contracts unit and then once those final decisions are made and the Fiscal Department sends letters to the contracts and then fiscal sends letters to the organization, then our job is to get the work that meets the needs, the requirements of the rfp into contract. As i mentioned, i left july 31st in the contracts were not finalized at that time and i was not involved with the finalized the final contract. And i recognize i was still an employee of the city. I do want to acknowledge that, but i wanted to highlight that i wanted to acknowledge the extreme hardship issue. I dont feel that i can claim personal Financial Hardship. I do have a pension, which im very grateful for. Ill throw in that my husbands in construction and thats not a great industry right now. So theres a little challenge there. But really the hardship for me, i feel, is the inability to work on something thats so important. And you may or may not know that the San Francisco aids foundation, they focus on sexual and Substance Use health and they are their work is very aligned with the priorities of the city, particularly right now as were seeing a crisis with people who use drugs and were seeing a need for support services, health services. And the San Francisco aids foundation is quite excellent at reaching those communities. And id like to continue to support them during this short term period so that they their agency maintains the stability and the excellence. In addition, San Francisco, unlike many other areas, is very close to getting to zero new hiv infections. Were also. We have to they say, i still feel like im a part of it are also close to addressing hepatitis c and getting lower rates. There and then finally reduce using sexually transmitted infections. And so thats another part of this for me is the enthusiasm of working closer to the community and helping the city as a whole get to meet our goals, meet the goals that have been set previously. Lets see, i think those are the main points that i wanted to share with you. I do have Patricia Irwin is here. She is the acting director of the Community Health equity and promotion branch. After i left my previous supervisor, susan philip, is on vacation and so is unable to be here today. Thank you so much for letting me share with you my thoughts and my enthusiasm for this work and my hope that its possible for me to get a waiver for this Short Term Consultant position. And i am open to any questions you may have for me. Thank you. Before we have any questions for you or mr. Canning, do you want to have your former colleague to speak at this time . You mentioned you have a that the department sorry, was the question, julie, was that a, uh, Department Representative who wishes to speak . She is online. Yes. Patricia irwin is online and shes probably raising her hand. Okay. All right. Patricia, can you hear us . Yes, i can hear you. Thank you very much for this opportunity. Again, my name is Patricia Irwin. Im the current acting director of the Community Health equity and promotion branch. And for over ten years have also been a Deputy Director in the branch. I am speaking in strong support of a waiver being granted on a few different points. I want to emphasize what tracy was stating about not having any direct Contract Authority nor ability to identify an agency that would be awarded our role, as she stated, as is to identify the priorities and the services that would be purchased to meet the health dispatch cities based on data and that actual process happened over four years ago, as was previously stated following, i heard a comment regarding the previous waiver request that was on the agenda. And from a lawyer and just wanted to emphasize the point that it was over four years ago when tracy had an involvement in that development. She nor any staff were directly part of the Selection Process, the scoring of applications in the Selection Process at that time or any point in time since then. Um and i can confirm strongly how careful both she is and the department of Public Health is in a hearing to the processes that ensure fairness and impartial ality by really restricting the roles that we can have as staff. Um see a couple more points is i think my second point is just related to the service that would tracy would provide through this short term opportunity. It would be specifically to support this agency that provides Critical Services for the community right now. And for the city of San Francisco, both in terms of hiv, hepatitis c, prevention, but also in related services for people who use drugs, which are one of the highest risk populations for these. On the citys experience and challenges in this area right now and really focusing services to support these individuals and the San Francisco aids foundation provides exemplary and Critical Services in support of the community by tracing tracy having the opportunity to support the agency short term while theyre in a transition process with the Vice President leaving her position, leaving their position. And it will allow the aids foundation to continue to provide these services that are so necessary for San Francisco and for the community and those are just want to close by saying again, i strongly support tracy. Im sorry, one more point is i do see i feel that it would be a hardship for the community, both because of what i was saying in to of the specific community, but also because of the ability of the aids foundation to continue to provide their services so direct with community and direct through the aids foundation services. I am strongly in support of this waiver being granted and hope that you will consider it. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you. Any other speakers. Okay. None Public Comment is closed. Any comments . You didnt call for Public Comment yet . Those were outside of Public Comment. Oh my apologies. Public comments please. Madam chair. We have no callers in the queue. Okay anyone else who wish to speak on this item . I see none. Any comments from fellow commissioners. Okay. And then would anyone wish to make a motion. I note that i it i did expect there to be Public Comment. I was told there would be Public Comment. So i dont know if theres anyone there. Well, the moment she called the Public Comment closed, we have now we have three hands that have. Okay, why why dont we reopen . Okay im going to reopen Public Comment. We have three standing by. Please stand by for first caller. Welcome. Caller your three minutes begins now. Welcome. Caller your three minutes begins now. Okay, susanna, lets go to the next caller, please welcome. Caller your three minutes begins now. Caller can you hear us . Can you hear me . Yes. Your three minutes begins now. Hi my name is laura hornibrook. I am the chief Program Officer at San Francisco aids foundation. And im calling in to support tracys request for a waiver so that she can work at San Francisco aids foundation as a Short Term Consultant. San francisco aids foundation provides Health Wellness and social justice for communities most impacted by hiv through Sexual Health and Substance Use services at the casi and Community Partnerships, San Francisco aids foundation and envisions a future where Health Justice is achieved for all People Living with or at risk for hiv. Ultimately, we strive for a day when race is not a barrier to health and wellness. Substance use is not stigmatized. Hiv does not determine quality of life and hiv transmission is eliminated today with more than 200 staff at the faster and estimated 21,000 individuals annually. Through our direct Service Programs and more than 3. 5 Million People via its Public Education efforts. I am transitioning from my role after seven years with the organization in my current role , i lead Substance Use and Behavioral Health services, Sexual Health and clinical services, community engagement, Harm Reduction and syringe access services. Case manager and more. As a part of my transition plan, i have been building a cadre of consultants to support the organization before and following my last day on september 1st, 2023, ms. Packers proposed consulting work would include leadership and people support and coaching and project prioritization and management, internal collaboration and communication efforts and programmatic cohesion. I believe tracy possesses the skills to support us during this time of transition. She has decades of experience in the hiv, Sexual Health and Public Health space. She has passionate about this work. She possesses integrity and humility, and she is a systems and strategy thinker. She is a bridge builder, a problem solver, and an amazing tactician. Ms. Packers experience would undoubtedly support the various teams i support as they move through my leadership transition and prepare for the work and changes ahead. I care deeply about staff and our communities. A thoughtful transition is deeply needed in this moment for our board, staff and clients. This role will support dr. Tyler tremor in his second year at the helm of ffr aps. Dr. Tyler tremor is the first ceo of color in the organizations history. As we move into the fifth year of our seven year strategic plan, we need passionate leaders flanking and supporting dr. Tamez vision of Health Justice for all. Tracy would be a tremendous asset to sfa during this moment of transition. Thank you so much for your consideration. Okay okay. Thank you. All right. We have one more caller in the queue. Please stand by. Welcome. Caller you are three minutes begins now. Good morning. My name is dr. Tyler trimmier and you just heard from my colleague laura hornibrook. I wont rehash the 40 year history and importance of San Francisco aids foundation, which they so eloquently spoke about. But well say that we are in such a critical moment in our Pandemic Response to whats happening in california and across the country. In our response to overdose crisis to getting to zero new infections of hiv. And in our response to hepatitis in our communities as the first person of color to lead San Francisco aids foundation in our 40 year history, it is incredibly important to me as a black gay man of color who has been leading living with hiv for the last 40 years to have very knowledgeable, competent, relationship oriented individuals that bring a history of trust and integrity with our community to the leadership table alongside me. And i have seen that in the trust and respect that laura and other members of my team have had with tracy and individuals that work in tandem with city and community in response to hiv in our community. Long before my time and tenure here to keep the Forward Momentum and getting to new infections, getting to zero new infections, we need people like tracy and im hoping that this could be this waiver could be granted for a Short Term Consultant opportunity with San Francisco aids foundation, rather than halting our effort in the response but keeping the momentum moving. Thank you so much. Thank you. Any other callers. Madam chair . We have no further callers in the queue. Public comment is closed for agenda item number eight. Colleagues to i entertain a motion either to grant or deny this waiver request. I just want to add that. Ms. Packer has mentioned that she was willing to volunteer with the organization because now that shes retired and shes receiving pension so that that really impact me because as all of us have said, this waiver power is very, very sacred to us. So i am willing to make a motion not to grant this waiver request specifically because the petitioner had suggested that she would continue as a volunteer with this organization in july. Could i just speak to that . I want to make sure that the memo accurately reflected what ms. Parker had said. I believe she had offered to volunteer temporarily while the commission was making its determination and i dont believe shed offered or commented about volunteering for the duration of what the term would be. So i just wanted to make sure that her opinion on that was properly stated. Okay. I would just amend my motion, just not to approve this waiver request. Do i have other motions. Commissioner salahi yeah, another motion. This ones a tougher one, i have to say. And its not its not a reflection of the possibility of undue influence or anything like that. I completely agree with you. Im very i feel like im in a very reluctant position for this one because if i understand the facts correctly, youre a role in the safe. Grant was limited to developing the rfp in 2019. But you didnt play any role whatsoever in reviewing applications or deciding who would receive the funds or the amounts of the funds. Yeah. Okay. I think im sorry. Yeah, i , i would move to approve the waiver request. I agree with chair lee that the circumstances of hardship are not quite as clear here as with, with the prior application. However, as i stated with in connection with the prior request, the discretion that we have to consider other relevant factors. One of those in my view is consideration of the hardship in light of the possibility of an appearance of impropriety or favoritism in the process. And im im just not seeing that on the latter part. And maybe thats a problem with our regulations, but im i have some of those same due process concerns that were expressed earlier by mr. Sutton that an employees participation in something years ago might might loom over over their heads for some undetermined period of time based on circumstances that are totally out of their control. So for those reasons, i would i would vote to approve this, but i but i do think this is an issue we need to take up in the future. So youre making a motion to grant her grant. Miss parker, the miss packard, the waiver request. I have a second. I second. Commissioner salahis, motion. And thats i think its very important. My understanding is that this rfp, i mean, it would have been the contract would have been issued earlier if not for covid. And i think that covid has done enough harm. And i think that this is the kind of situation where, in addition to this situation outside of miss parkers control and the fact that the drafting of the rfp seems pretty far removed, and i wouldnt necessarily call it, you know, substantial and personal involvement as outlined by the regulations, i again torn these are very waiver requests or the very nuanced and very complicated. But i think that given the importance of your work and given the fact that it is a limited six month position , i would grant the waiver. I would move to grant the waiver for that limited six month position, only. Okay. So lets take a vote, please, on the motion that was seconded to grant the waiver. That commissioner flores thing i motion to move to grant. Yes, im sorry. To move forward with the request. The waiver request. Commissioner salahi. Hi, charlie. No. With two votes in the affirmative and one vote opposed. This is where im stuck. Brad, City Attorney brad russell. Yes, the motion fails at this point, the commission could consider considering continuing the item to the next month to provide an opportunity for commissioner finley or perhaps the vacancy on the district attorneys seat will be filled at that point because in that case, there would be potentially three votes in favor of the of commissioner salaries motion. Okay. So i neglected. To mention three votes are necessary to approve any motion. So this motion failed. It will be continued at the future meeting for reconsider. So thank you. Lets go to agenda item number eight. So is she able to comment . May i say anything . Oh gosh, im sorry. Is that okay . Go ahead. Okay sorry. Thank you so much. I really appreciate all of your work on this and i wanted to say two things. One is that that i, i think its really important. This is i was appreciative of listening to joanne lees experience as well, because i think as a City Employee for so many years, we do gain a lot of experience that can be contributed to the city and county and to the improvement of health. In my case, you know, and i think i hope that you are able to look a little bit at the ethics rules, because i think it does hold back from this amazing experience that weve all had and applying it to the community. And i then just also wanted to comment on continuing it till next month. Thats great. But part of the reason that i had suggested that i would volunteer is because of the time issue, because laura honey brooks is leaving. You know, as she mentioned, september 1st. So shes looking to close that gap. But well come back. And i appreciate your support and just wanted to share that understanding as well. Thank you so much. Well see you next month. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Lets go to agenda and nine potential closed session item. Todays agenda includes a proposed closed item session item under item nine for executive director recruitment. This item has been scheduled for the commissions discussion and possible action for purposes of this item today, there are four steps involved. First, under item nine a, we will receive Public Comment on all matters pertaining to agenda. Item number nine, including whether to meet in closed session. Second, we will then vote on whether to meet in closed session under california government code. Section 54957b1 and administrative code section 67. Ten b to discuss the executive director recruitment. This will be an action item as noted in item nine b third in the closed session. This if a closed session is held, the commission will initiate that closed session meeting. Fourth, pursuant to Government Code Section 54957. 1 and administrative administrative code section 67. 12 b and the show under agenda item, we will discuss and vote on the motion regarding whether or not to disclose any action taken or discussions held in closed session regarding this item. Were have any questions regarding todays process . I see none. So mr. City attorney, is there anything that you wish to add . No. No none. Lets go to Public Comment on this item, please standby. Madam chair. We have no callers in the queue. Okay. Public comment is closed. So do we have a vote to go into Public Comment to close session . Ill move. Seconded. Okay a motion has been made and seconded. Proceed into closed session. I will now call the roll commissioner flores thing. Hi, chair lee. Hi commissioner salahi a with three votes in the affirmative and zero votes opposed. The motion is approved unanimously. Thank you. We will now move to closed session oe. We good. All right. Im going to take us out of. Hey, were recording again. Okay. Okay were ready. Right. Steven with it. Okay okay. We are now back in public session. I want to thank members of the public for your patience and continued engagement as we now resume our open session meeting. Commissioners do i have a motion not to disclose any action taken . The discussion held in closed session not to disclose. Okay second. Okay. Roll call, please. On the motion to not disclose closed session deliberations, i will now call the roll commissioner flores fang. I uh, commissioner salahi. I surely i. With three votes in the affirmative and zero votes opposed the motion is approved unanimously. Okay. Thank you. I want to add that the executive search for the next executive director for this commission will continue, and we will be working with the h. R. To the next step, which would include the publication of a bid request coming up soon. Okay any other comments . Thats all good. Commissioner. I would just add that the request that da is going to issue is for a new search firm, a new consulting firm. Okay. Yes okay. Thank you. Now, lets proceed to agenda item number ten, which is items for future meetings. Consideration colleagues, do i have any such as nurse salahi . Yes thank you, chair lee. I just have one following our discussion about the waiver requests earlier today and some of the themes that emerged, particularly around the timing of an employees partnership option in a decision connected to a city contractor as as well as the definition of extreme hardship and what i would like to request is putting at some point in the future on our agenda, considering of whether modifications to the commissions regulations might be appropriate and would love to hear the views of staff who play a role in this. About the rationale for one, one approach or another in this, and whether, in light of how the two waiver quests today were handled in future ones might come before us, whether it be helpful to have more specific guidance there about how we construe the term extreme hardship and how we understand the term entered into a contract to apply here. So why dont we have that scheduled for the next august meeting, assuming that we can have an alternate date . So commissioner sakala could make it. Otherwise well move it to the september meeting. Specifically, lets have a agenda item to review the current waiver process. Okay. Anything else . Okay. Thank you. Public comment please. Madam chair. We have no callers in the queue. Okay. Lets go to agenda item 11 addition. An opportunity for general Public Comment. Madam chair, we have no callers in the queue. Okay. Agenda item number 12 adjournment, which is non negotiable. So thank you very much everybody. And happy friday and have a wonderful weekend. [ ] my familys starts in mexico in a small town. My parents are from a very, very small town. So small, that my dads brother is married to one of my moms sisters. Its that small. A lot of folks from that town are here in the city. Like most immigrant families, my parents wanted a better life for us. My dad came out here first. I think i was almost twoyearsold when he sent for us. My mom and myself came out here. We moved to San Francisco early on. In the Mission District and moved out to daily city and bounced back to San Francisco. We lived across the street from the ups building. For me, when my earliest memories were the big brown trucks driving up and down the street keeping us awake at night. When i was sevenyearsold and im in charge of making sure we get on the bus on time to get to school. I have to make sure that we do our homework. Its a lot of responsibility for a kid. The weekends were always for family. We used to get together and whether we used to go watch a movie at the new Mission Theater and then afterwards going to Kentucky Fried Chicken. That was big for us. We get Kentucky Fried Chicken on sunday. Whoa go crazy so for me, home is having something where you are all together. Whether its just together for dinner or whether its together for breakfast or sharing a special moment at the holidays. Whether its thanksgiving or christmas or birthdays. That is home. Being so close to berkley and oakland and San Francisco, theres a line. Here you dont see a line. Even though you see someone thats different from you, theyre equal. Youve always seen that. A rainbow of colors, a ryan bow of personalities. When you think about it you are supposed to be protecting the kids. They have dreams. They have aspirations. They have goals. And you are take that away from them. Right now, the price is a hard fight. Theyre determined. I mean, these kids, you have to applaud them. Their heart is in the right place. Theres hope. I mean, out here with the things changing everyday, you just hope the next administration makes a change that makes things right. Right now theres a lot of changes on a lot of different levels. The only thing you hope for is for the future of these young kids and young folks that are getting into politics to make the right move and for the folks who cant speak. Dy mind motion. Even though we have a lot of fighters, theres a lot of voice less folks and their voiceless because theyre scared. Good afternoon and welcome to the Planning Commission hearing for thursday, july 20 issue 2023