Transcripts For SFGTV SF Public Utilities Commission 2024071

Quorum. Which brings us to item 3. Clerk mayty make a brief announcement before we move on to item 3 . Yes, please do. Due to the covid19 Health Emergency and given the Public Health recommendations, issued by the San Francisco department of Public Health and Governor Newsom and mayor breed lifted restrictions on teleconference. This meeting is being held Via Teleconference and televised by sfgov tv. For those of you watching the live stream, theres a brief delay. On behalf of the commission, id like to extend our thanks to sfgov tv staff and sfpuc for their assistance during this meeting. If you wish to make Public Comment on an item, dial 415 6550001. I. D. 146 500 3304 and then press star 3 to raise your hand to speak. Im going to ask the commission and staff to please mute their microphones to minimize background noise, if they have not already done so. Mr. Chair, your first item is item number 3, commissioner vacancy and possible election of a new Vice President. Thank you. And let me ask the City Attorney to explain the item and its presentation to us. Sir, good afternoon, commissioners. The City Attorneys office. This item is on the agenda because since the last time you met, there has been a resignation on the commission, who held the position of Vice President of the commission. And under your commission bylaws, specifically rule 6 of the Commission Rules of order, when theres a vacancy in the vice presidency, by reason of resignation, rule 6 provides that the commission shall, at its next regularly scheduled meeting, elect a new Vice President , who shall serve out the remainder of the term of the prior Vice President. In this instance, the remainder of the terms on the vice presidency is just until october. So just a matter of weeks, because under your rules of order, as you will recall, you hold your elections at your first meeting in october. And thats when you elect both the president and a Vice President and the term of those offices runs for one year. So before you today, under item 3, are two options for your consideration. The first would be a motion to suspend that aspect of rule 6 which would mean that you would postpone electing a new Vice President until your first meeting in october, at which point you will hold elections of officers. You may do a motion to suspend the rules, thats provided under rule 2 of the bylaws. And that can be done by an affirmative vote of the commission. If you elect not to adopt a vogues under subsection a of item 3, you move on it subsection b of item 3 which it to elect a Vice President to serve until october. Okay. Thank you. Commissioners, how would you like to proceed . I move that we do the first and we bypass and elect a new vice and chair in our meeting in october. And this is commissioner paulson. I think that, you know, taking, you know, some type of action, not knowing who our new commissioners are going to be and some of the changes that have happened recently with the Vice President resigning and the mayor still has to make another appointment, that my thinking its better off not just at this last minute trying to do that. And i agree with commissioner maxwell that we should just continue until october and deal with it at that time, when we are a little bit more clear who we all are going to be. And i guess that might be so theres three of us on the phone, that would be a second if that was the motion, commissioner maxwell. Okay. So that was the motion. And a second. And im getting feedback. From somebody. Anyway. We have a motion and a second. Madam secretary. So i would also like, you know, since you are by the rule acting president right now, id like to have your, you know, quick comments on that also. Oh, sure. I think its i think its the right way to go. We only wish that the senate would be likeminded at this time. I think that makes a great deal of sense. Okay. Thank you. So we have a motion and a second to suspend rule 6. Madam secretary, can you open this up for Public Comment. Clerk members of the public who wish to make two minutes of Public Comment on item 3, commissioner vacancy and possible election of a new vicepresident , dial 415 6550001. Meeting i. D. 415 6550001. 146 500 3304. And star 3 to raise your hand. Mr. Monitor, do we have any callers . Madam secretary, there are no callers in the queue at this time. Clerk thank you. Public comment on item is closed. Okay. Would you please call the roll. Clerk motion to suspend rule 6 of the rules of order. Commissioner moran . Aye. Clerk commissioner maxwell . Aye. Clerk commissioner paulson . You have three ayes. Okay. Thank you. And before we proceed to the next item, i think we would be remiss if we didnt acknowledge what led to this item. And im sure that well have more formal recognition of commissioners caen and vito at a future meeting. I did want to make a couple of comments. Anns term ann is still on the commission. Shes not able to be with us today. Her term will expire at the end of this month, which really is a pretty major milestone in this commissions history. She has served on the commission for its either 23 or 24 years. I dont know if, donna, you were able to validate this or not. But shes either the longestserving or the second longestserving commissioner in the history. She was first appointed in 1997. She served eight terms. And if you do the math on that, youll see that some terms are longer than others. She served five times as president of this commission. Her passions have been in the areas of budget. She took on the role of chairing all budget hearings for the past many years. I dont know how many that was. She has a very specific and ongoing interest in fixing the digesters at the southeast Water Pollution control plant. And she a salisbury one of the voices that was instrumental in making sure that, as we built rebuilt the area, the base of it, the foundation was sufficient that we could add to it if we need to at a future date. So that kind of all of those projects are longterm projects and it was her long view and commitment to those issues that has served us so very, very well. Commissioner vitor has resigned from the commission. She was first appointed in 2008, has served two terms as president of the commission. Her passions obviously are the environment. She contributed not only to the awareness of the environment and all things utility does, but also making sure there were programs that made those commitments reality, instrumental in the bottom line, green infrastructure, and she was admitted to an ongoing effort that we had in front of us, which is the early implementation of fishery actions on the river. She ask that i read into record her resignation letter. And i will do that. Dear mayor breed, please accept my resignation from the San Francisco Public Utilities commission, effective immediately. I have appreciated the opportunity to serve the city and county of San Francisco. I am proud of what i have been able to accomplish in my 12 years of service. From the successful launch and implementation of cleanpowersf, to the integration of clean infrastructure and our sewer system, and developing p. U. C. s policies on environmental justice, Community Benefits and most recently Racial Justice. My unwavering commitment to a healthy ecosystem and addressing climate change, i believe that i am leaving the p. U. C. A greener, more just and wellregarded agency than what i joined 12 years ago. The sfpuc is now regarded nationally and internationally as an environmental steward and leader, as well as an agency that prioritizes equity and social justice, something i very much hope can continue with the next environmental appointment. Thank you. I wish you all the best. Sincerely, Francesca Vitor. I will also say that between the time i was general manager and when i came back on this commission, the organization had changed considerably and probably the most notable single way in which it had changed, it had become really a much greener organization and not just a matter of making green accommodations to utility practice, but really adopting green consciences as one of our core values. And that attributed to several general managers that followed me, as well as several commissioners most notably commissioner vitor. Im sure well be doing something more official at a later date. I wanted to make a comments. Commissioners, if youd like to have your voices heard, please do so. I certainly would. I also have a statement that francesca wanted me to read, and this is freedom is the continuous action we all must take. And each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society. And that was from john lewis. And i think it really speaks to her commitment, not only to the environment, but as me mentioned, about equality and justice for all. I think both of them have that commitment and have certainly made it forefront in the San Francisco Public Utilities commission. I dont know where wed be without them. I just thank them for their commitment to all of us, for the entire city, for all of these years. And for this time. And this is commissioner paulson. Id like to say a couple of things also. I mean, things have happened relatively fast, as sometimes things do happen. I think that, first of all, you know president Ann Moller Caen has been an anchor of this commission, you know, for many years. And i think weve all counted on her to make sure that, you know, the infrastructure of this meeting, you know, takes place. And her diligence and her because these are volunteer positions. You know, it was, you know, in my short time here and commissioner maxwell, you and i are the young ones on this commission. But, you know, i didnt get to know ann well enough. But shes been the anchor on this commission in my short period of time on here. And so, you know, a lot of this stuff is a surprise to me. You know, we need to honor her and to make sure that theres acknowledgment. Again were just saying, you know, our pieces as this stuff transpires before, you know, october and who knows who the whole gang is going to be. And then second i also because were so damn busy. I mean, our day jobs like, you know, francesca works for the San Francisco foundation. I work in the labor movement. You know, we all have things to do. And we all have histories of, you know, being in elected office and whatever. So were very busy. And so, you know, i take this job seriously, just like the two people that were mentioned have taken it seriously. And im going to continue to take it seriously. Because i do want to continue to be on this commission and serve with, you know, with commission maxwell and commissioner moran as we move forward. So i do want to at least be on the record to say the acknowledgment of those two women and their dedication to this commission has been well noted by me and its an honor for me to have worked with them. Well, thank you, commissioners. Thank you for your comments. And we will look forward to more formal recognition of both commissioners at a later time. Madam secretary, if you would call the next item. Clerk mr. Chair, your next order of business is item number 4, approval of the minutes of september 8th, 2020. Commissioners, you have them before you. Do you have any additions or corrections or comments . Seeing none, madam secretary, would you open it for Public Comment. Clerk members of the public who wish to make Public Comment of item number 4, approval of the minutes, dial 415 6550001. Meeting i. D. 146 500 3304 and pound, pound. To raise your hand to speak, press star 3. Mr. Moderator, do we have any callers . Madam secretary, there are no callers who wish to make comment on item 4 at this time. Clerk thank you. Public comment on item 4 is closed. Your next order of business, mr. Chair, is general Public Comment, item 5. Im sorry, we need to approve the minutes, dont we. I make a motion to accept the minutes. Commissioner maxwell. Seconded . Seconded. Thank you. Call the roll, please. Clerk commissioner moran. Aye. Clerk commissioner maxwell. Aye. Clerk commissioner paulson. Aye. Clerk we have three ayes. Thank you. The next item, please. Clerk now we have item number 5, general Public Comment. Members of the public may address the commission for up two minutes within the commissions jurisdiction and not on todays agenda by dialing 415 6550001. Meeting i. D. 146 500 3304, pound, pound. To raise your hand to speak press star 3. Id like to remind callers this is for general Public Comment for items that are not on the agenda. Mr. Moderator, do we have any callers . Madam secretary, there are several callers who wish to make Public Comment. Clerk thank you. Welcome, caller. You have two minutes. Good afternoon. This is peter, the policy director. Im really disappointed that commissioner vitor resigned. She was a great voice for the environment. And a strong thinker. A lot of people have asked me what i think happened and i really have no idea. But i can surmise, she resigned for personal reasons, which seems very unlikely, given that it was three weeks before her term ended, which brings up number two. She was pressured to resign because she didnt tow the line. And she was forced from the situation, where she could express interest in another term and not been appointed and gone the way of Felicia Marcus on the state water board. The third one is perhaps she was really frustrated, because often her questions went unanswered and her requests of staff were either ignored or twisted into something they felt comfortable responding to. And i certainly have this experience. Ive tried to be constructive by presenting information and offer ideas for solutions. Basically i get ignored and nothing happens. For example, earlier this year, we put forward an interim proposal, with the sfpuc voluntarily released the share of how the plan flows for at least two years and make it to the design draft. No followup. On. Mayor breed 11th, i on may 11th, i submitted a letter, how would sfpuc respond to the bay delta plan. No followup to that letter. When the s. E. D. For the bay delta plan was released in 2016, an oped by harlan kelly and nicole sanuklla saying it could cost jobs and 49 billion. Well, we presented our information to the state water board at a workshop and very well received. Basically what the sfpuc staff told me, were basing our analysis on a 2014 draft report, they were basing theirs on a 2009 final report. Well, the draft report twos a followup to 2009 and the final report in 2018 basically reflected 2014. Sorry, caller, your two minutes has expired. Next caller, you have two minutes. Caller thank you. Acting chair and members, alita dupree for the record. My pronouns are she and her. Im going to talk about the basics of power today and the importance of clean power. I was thinking this morning about trying to parse out where the different uses of my power go to. And about this time of year, im averaging about 30 to 35kilowatt hours a day. And im operating in an allelectric home. And all of this power is renewable. The heavy lifting really comes if we can encourage the electrification of what i call the heavy load, water, heating, air conditioning. Heating, space heating and cooking. And so if i use gas for all of those heavy loads, i think i would only be using about maybe not even 10kilowatt hours a day. But because i operate all electric, all of these heavy loads are renewably powered. Im very proud of that and i would like to see that be a trend, because our goals should be to use more electricity, but at the same time not use fossil fuels. Because user more electricity and less fossil fuels will be more efficient and cleaner and greener for everybody. 15 seconds. To clear the air. Thank you. Madam secretary, there are no more callers in the queue. Clerk thank you. That closes Public Comment on item 5, general Public Comment. Thank you. The next item. Clerk mr. Chair, your next order of business is item number 6, communications. Commissioners, any comments or questions about communications . Seeing none, madam secretary, if you would open this to Public Comment. Clerk members of the public who wish to make two minutes of Public Comment on communications, dial 415 655000 415 6550001, meet. 146 500 3304. And pound pound. To raise your hand to speak, press star 3. Mr. Moderator, do we have any callers . Madam secretary, there is one caller in the queue. Clerk thank you. Caller, you have two minutes. Caller thank you, acting chair. Alita dupree for the record. My pronouns are she and her. As i read through this, this is good work. And i want to see us continue to talk about cleanpowersf and definitely bring barbara hill back to talk about this in detail. So were doing some good work with these proposals of heat pump water heating, which i mentioned in my last comments to you. And energy efficiency. The cheapest kilowatt hours, the one that we dont use in the first place. And the fact that we have finally completed enrollment. I see it right here on page number 2. So this is really good work so lets continue to encourage our new customers, who come online, to enroll in cleanpowersf. And hopefully, as i said before, we get everybody on super green. Thank you. Operator thank you, caller. Madam secretary, there are no more callers in the queue. Clerk thank you. Public comment on item number 6 is closed. Through the chair, i would like to make a comment on