Chair ronen the meeting will come to order. This is the december 9, 2019 meeting of the rules committee. I am hillary ronen, chair of the committee. To my right is supervisor shamann walton, and supervisor gordon mar will shortly join me. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements . Clerk yes. Please silence all phones and electronic devices. Items acted on will appear on the december 19 board of supervisors agenda. Chair ronen just a quick note. Im going to call items out of order, so ill call item 1, and then 3 and 4, and end with 2 because its our longest item of the day. Mr. Clerk, will you please call item 1. Clerk item 1 is a hearing to consider appointing one member, term ending march 31, 2020, to the commission on ageing Advisory Council. Chair ronen thank you. Is mr. Cooper here . My background, you have aha a recesume and summary to look over. I went to harvard, and my last clinical environment was with liver disease. I wasnt a fulltime clinician, but liver liver disease. And about half of people are liver disease, about half on our transplant list had issues with Substance Abuse, and i often was tasked on having to give lectures on alcoholism and alcoholic liver disease, so i was familiar with that subject. And i took early retirement when i was 70 because they gave me money to get out and decided after a year off traveling that i wanted to work in that area, work in safety net medicine. I had been an activist when i was quite young, kind of let or not so young, through college and medical school, and in residency, i let that go, but i wanted to go back to that and work in safety medicine. So i went over to the haightashbury clinic, which was the epicenter, the start of addiction medicine, and they didnt have a job there, but they got me a job the atreasat island, working with the trainees in the job corps a. Many of them had issues with homelessness, many of them had issues with Substance Abuse in their past, and they were trying to get their lives in order and learn a trade. Then, there was an opening at haightashbury, and i worked there for a while. I had to stop for some personal health reasons, and as i was recovering from some of those, i got to walking the neighborhood and got to know some of the homeless people, and that led me to get involved with that issue, and you did and i can that a couple of different ways. I joined d. S. A. , with you. Worked on proposition c with jennifer, and d, and jessica, and i decided to join her action. I volunteer a couple of nights a month at the m. S. E. South shelter. Its run by the medical students, and we kind of help with medical problems and referrals for residents of the shelter who want to, also parenthetically involved with the beds for babies, so im sure you hear from our colleague who runs the rounds quite regularly. Were her colleague. At m. S. C. , i became interested in and all this stuff that was going on about the neediest and who are they and focusing on drug abuse and abuse and mental health, but there are a lot of seniors who have medical issues, who have other issues who i think im not challenging anyone. I think we need to take care of everybody, frankly, but theyre equally vulnerable, if not more so. And when this came up, it was my wife who noticed the opening i think as a way to get out of the house oh, thisll be good for you. I wont see you wednesday nights, so thatll be good, i applied for the position. My interests have gotten fairly broad, but they remain i know that the housing stuff has gone over to h. S. H. For elderly, but i think we still need to make sure that commission and that department is supervising it, making sure that their needs are being met, that theyre not being pushed aside because of another group whos politically in favor, so thats the main thing. My main job in the first months will be obviously to learn about what they do and how they do it, and then see areas where i might be able to make contributions, like contributions tend to be focused from the point of medicine and medical issues, and i would hope to continue doing that. Right now, i know at s. D. A. , were working on an issue around wheelchairs, and hopefully, youll be hearing about that as we as we begin to refine it and come forward with some proposals for the city. Thats about all i can say. If you want another pain in the neck, approve my appointment, and im happy to answer any questions that you might have. Chair ronen well, i would love a pain in the neck like you not just any pain in the neck, but a pain in the neck like you. I want to thank you so much not only for everything that you do but for being willing to take on this role, as well, and i highly, highly recommend and am excited about your appointment. Supervisor fewer . Supervisor fewer yes, thank you very much. Sorry. I just entered the conversation, but i have been watching it, actually, on the screen, and my question to you is in my neighborhood, we are planning the first senior playground in San Francisco, an exercise area specifically with equipment that is targeted towards flexibility and mobility for seniors, so ageappropriate equipment, those type of things on public land. Wanted to know how do you feel about that . I think thats terrific. I hope the city will put enough money into it so that it becomes effective, and be delighted to watch it and follow up on it. Supervisor fewer oh, great because id love to work with the commission on this. Thank you very much. Great. Chair ronen i think thats all. Thank you so much. Thank you. Chair ronen thanks for your testimony. Ill now open this item up for Public Comment. Any member of the public wish to speak, come on up. Youll have two minutes. David Elliott Lewis here. Through my volunteer work with senior disability action, ive gotten to know dr. Cooper over the past year plus as we continued to Work Together under voluntary services plus. And ive just been immensely impressed with his work on our voluntary first coalition, on other senior disability action committees. Hes been a measured and quiet voice. Hes not the troublemaker in the room like he describes himself. Hes actually been sort of a voice of reason and intelligence and wisdom in the room, and were, like, grateful to have him. He provides a great perspective with his background in medicine, Substance Abuse medicine, and anybody would be lucky to have him. I strongly support his nomination and support. Chair ronen thank you. Anybody else like to speak on this item . Yes. And if anybody would like to speak on this item, please lineup on this side of the room. Hi. Im here for probably a different reason than a lot of people that come here are. They usually have a lot of very real letters after their name or experience with a lot of different organizations in town or Therapeutic Centers or whatever. My experience has more to do with the street in a way and with International Experience with the drug culture allaround the world. Im from San Francisco. Ive lived allaround the world. I speak spanish fluently. I think that thats important chair ronen im sorry. Im pausing your time. Are you considering item number 1, which is the appointment to the commission on the ageing Advisory Council . Im 66. I thought there was some program of reducing drug dealing on the street. Chair ronen thats the next item. Okay. Sorry. But i am a senior. What does this program involve . Chair ronen sorry. This is the appointment of allen cooper on the commission to the commission on ageing Advisory Council. Okay. Well, if you need somebody, let me know. Chair ronen okay. Is there any other Public Comment on this item, item number 1 . Seeing none, Public Comment is closed. [gavel]. Chair ronen would you like to make a motion . Supervisor walton i move that we move item 1 forward with a positive recommendation to the full board. Chair ronen without objection, that item passes. Clerk itll be the recommendation of allen cooper to seat number 2. Chair ronen thats right. Congratulations, mr. Cooper. [applause] chair ronen and as i aunited stat announced at the beginning of the meeting, were going to be calling items 3 and 4 next just because item 2 is going to take a long time and items 3 and 4 are going to be relatively quick. Mr. Clerk, can you read items 3 and 4. Clerk item 3 it to item number 3 is a motion amending the board of supervisors rules of order to rename the fivemember budget and finance committee as the budget and appropriations committee, and to require that the committee to hold special hearings regarding the mayors budget instructions and Budget Priorities. And item 4 is an ordinance amending the administrative code to modify the process for the citys adoption of the annual budget by requiring city agencies to hold public hearings prior to submission of their proposed budgets to the controller and the mayor, requiring the mayor to submit to the board of supervisors a description of the mayors Budget Priorities after holding a public hearing regarding these priorities, and requiring the controller to maintain a public website with information about the citys budget process. Chair ronen thank you. Supervisor fewer . Supervisor fewer thank you. Colleagu colleagues, thank you to each member of the budget and finance committee for going through the process, and thank you to each of our cosponsors, supervisors mandelman and stefani, and that makes the entire Budget Committee, supervisors ronen, yee, and walton. But truly, thank you to the Community Advocates and the budget justice coalition. This legislation will make changes at every phase of the budget process to ensure transparency and community engagement. Departments will submit the proposed budgets both to the mayor and to the board which will help us as a body better understand how departments are allocating funds and for what purposes prior to the june budget process. The mayor will also solicit input on Budget Priorities through a Public Meeting format and submit Budget Priorities to the board. And for the board of supervisors, this legislation will change the name of the fivemember committee to budget and appropriations, and struck the budget chair each year introduce a motion outlining the budget process. Chair ronen thank you so much. Supervisor mar . Supervisor mar thank you, supervisor ronen. First, i wanted to thank supervisor fewer for her outstanding leadership as understanding budget issues and her term on the board. When i began my term in office, i made a commitment to a robust and transparent budget process, so im really proud to have worked really closely with supervisor fewer on a comprehensive budget reform legislative package which are just a couple that we of wh were going to be introducing over the next year. I specifically want to thank the budget Reform Working Group members, Debbie Lerman of the Human Services network. Joe wilson of hospitality house, and jennie friedenbach of the department of homelessness. I became even more concerned about upon learning about the invitation only closeddoor meetings held by the Mayors Office in every district without input from the District Supervisor or notice to the public. With with this legislation, the public will have more opportunities to engage early in the process when so many crucial decisions are already being made. I am eager to hear what my constituents have to say even before the budget comes to the board board of supervisors, and i will be engaging with departments and the Mayors Office to ensure the public knows about these opportunities created by this reform. Democracy is one of our core values, and it does not begin or end at the ballot box but should be part of the processes with which we govern ourselves with every facet of our lives. I look forward to moving this legislation forward with positive recommendation to the full board, but this is only the beginning. We will continue to work with Community Advocates on subsequent budget reform legislation to address the structural equities of this process, one which will allow the city to tackle the biggest issues of our time, wealth equality and its ability to tackle homelessness. Thank you. Chair ronen supervisor walton . Supervisor walton thank you, chair ronen. This last budget process was my first as a member of the board of supervisors, but i certainly participated over several processes over the years, and i appreciate the job that you did during the last process, but even more so that you want to continue to make the process more efficient and particularly more transparent for everyone to get involved in the budget process. So thats why im happily supporting this and appreciate all the work that has gone into this. Chair ronen thank you. I want to echo you, supervisor walton, as an extended member of the Budget Committee. I want to congratulate and thank supervisor fewer for running probably the best process that ive ever seen as city hall, and ive been here ten years, running through these processes. This is no small feat, and i want to also thank you for these changes. I want to tell you about the one that i think im most excited about and i think is goes to be more helpful that we in a twomonth process have the herculesan task of submitting budgets to the board at the same time that they submit them to the mayor. That will let people understand in detail before the budget gets to the board. Its something that ive often behind the scenes tried to request but havent had very much success in and only requesting those from the departments that im focused on. We should be receiving those as a matter of course from all departments. I want to tell you how excited i am with that particular part of the legislation. With that, if theres no further comment from my colleagues, ill open this up for Public Comment. Anyone wishing to speak, please lineup to my right, your left, and anyone wishing to speak please start us off. Debra . Good morning, supervisors, and i share your excitement. I am Debbie Lehrman from the budget justice coalition, and first i want to thank supervisors fewer and mar, chelsea and daisy, and all of the cosponsors who have signed on, along with the Mayors Office and the Budget Office. The budget is the singlemost important piece of legislation that this board takes on every year, and this will improve transparency and civic trust in government. The budget negotiations often happen behind closed doors. There are boards that dont hold meetings at all, and those that do, some of them dont have a meeting until late in the process, just before it goes to the mayor. Its hard to get budget information from departments. Its either buried on their websites or not on there at all. This legislation addresses that through public hearings, and a centralized website where people can go to one website and find out about the budgets and about upcoming hearings. This will ensure that the budget reflects Community Values and priorities through a more open process, and i cannot express enough or appreciation for your support and your vote. Thank you. Chair ronen thank you. Mr. Mornino. Supervisors, matthi matthias mormino. We look through peoples budget and annuals, and we find usual suspects like chelsea boillard, who authored a piece around how we should reform our budget. I remember we were talking with supervisor fewer and supervisor mar and saying yeah, we might do that. But there has been a lot of fighting there. I think its important that we increase transparency and access. Too many times, we ask our constituents, our folks to come out to a hearing, stand in line for hours and hours to get two minutes to speak on something that theyre passionate about. And then, as you sit there with them or as they leave the room, theyre like what happened . What are they going to say . How is this question that i had a burning question for the Police Departments budget or the Sheriffs Department budget, why is it not being answered . You know, i think with this legislation, we start seeing more information come to our constituents so that really the budget process is anchored in community, and so that people that want to get information about the budget process dont have to go through proxies like ourselves or the coalition but can actually find that information directly on the citys website, which seems a really simple task, but i know that our friends at the Controllers Office and the city attorneys office, thats not an easy task. So i want to thank everybody at the Mayors Office, the Budget Office and staff, and everybody that helped. Thank you. Chair ronen hello, again. Good morning again. David Elliott Lewis. One of the great frustrations in dealing with city hall at times is lack of opacity and transparency. I think this is a big step forward. The public hearings are immensely helpful, but the website especially will make it make the information useful. I think this should be a best practice for all city hall processes. I know you do it with Commission Hearings and minutes, but all processes should be as public and transparent as this, so thank you for considering it. Thank you for your time. Good morning, supervisors. I just wanted to echo what the other folks have said. The budget and im sarah shore with Community Housing partnership, and im with the budget housing coalition. With the folks that ive b