Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Land Use And Transportation Commit

Good afternoon, and welcome to the land use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco supervisors board today, on monday, november 16, 2020. I am the chair of the committee, aaron espeskin and joined by vicechair, supervisor safai and the committee member, dean preston. Miss major, do you have any announcements . Clerk due to the covid19 Health Emergency and to protect the Board Members and the City Employees and the public, the board of supervisors legislative chamber and Committee Room are closed. However, the members will be participating in the meeting remotely. This precaution is taken pursuant to the statewide stay at home order and declarations and directives. The Committee Members will attend through Video Conference and participate in the meeting as to the same extent as if physically present. Comment is available on channel 26, 78 or 99 as well as sfgovtv. Org and are streaming the number across the stream. Each speaker is allowed two minutes to speak. And its an opportunity to speak during the comment public by calling the number 1 415 6550001. Again, 1 415 6550001. And the meeting i. D. Is 146 331 8244. Again, that is 146 331 8244. Then press pound and pound again after entering the meeting i. D. When connected you will hear the meeting discussions and youll be muted and in listening mode only. When your item of interest comes up, dial star, 3, to be added to the speaker line. Best practices are to call from a quiet location and speak clearly and slowly and turn down your television or radio. Alternatively you may submit Public Comment in either of the following ways email the clerk at erisca. And if you submit Public Comment via email its forwarded to the supervisors and included as part of the special file. Written comments sent to u. S. Postal service to city hall, 1 doctor carleton b goodlet place, San Francisco, california, 94012. And items acted upon today are expected to appear on the agenda of december 1st unless otherwise stated. Mr. Chair. Commissioner peskin thank you, can you please read the first and the only item. Clerk yes, an ordinance to amend the administrative code to temporary restrict landlords from evicting commercial tenants for nonpayment of rent that was not paid due to the covid19 pandemic. Those who wish to call should call 1 415 6550001. And the meeting i. D. Is 146 331 8244. After entering the meeting i. D. , press pound and pound again. Mr. Chair . Commissioner peskin thank you, miss major and colleagues. As you both know this item was continued from last weeks meeting when we duplicated the file following substantive amendment that was made to clarify that the termination provision for tenants, those with 10 or fewer employees applies notwithstanding any other contract terms. I want to be very clear about our intent here with respect to the termination provision for those tier one tenants because questions have been raised about language in past versions. Mainly that if you are tier one commercial tenant and elect to terminate your contract, that the intent of this legislation is that you would not b are cond terminated without future liability. Finally, before we vote on this, i would like to make one nonsubstantive amendment to the top of page 5, where we define each tier of Small Business based on the number of fulltime equivalent employees. We got a very good comment from the member of the public that spurred this nonsubstantive amendment. The current legislation states that the number of fulltime equivalent employees is determined as of the Effective Date of the legislation. And this nonsubstantive amendment on page 5, lines 18, that you are both in receipt of, would clarify that the termination of the number of employees is dated to november 1st of 2020. And with that, are there any questions or comments from Committee Members . Seeing none, is there any Public Comment on this item . Clerk thank you, mr. Chair. We have james from tech checking to see if we have any callers in queue. James, can you queue up the first caller. There are no callers there is one caller. Can you unmute the first caller. Caller hi. Thank you for taking my Public Comment. My name is calvid ramadan, and we own a small familyrun business that has been serving San Francisco since 1984. Prepandemic we had two locations, one in the sunset district and one downtown. Unfortunately, as with many in our community, the pandemic has taken a significant toll on our business. Were forced to close our Downtown Location in march. We assume that the closure would be temporary, but, you know, here we are eight months later out of that location and in a significant amount of debt. We tried repeatedly to come to any sort of compromise with our landlord at that location that would allow us to survive and to continue after this, but we were unsuccessful. Unfortunately, now we find ourselves left with we had found ourselves with no other options than to vacate the premises and to terminate our lease there. We lost that Downtown Location and we find ourselves now in a legal bind. On a personal level this has been a huge emotional loss for my family and my parents are in their 60s and i hoped they could retire in the next coming years. Now it seems like a farfetched dream. This business is our lifeline. We poured our sweat and tears into building it. We dont know what our future will look like after this pandemic, but we hope that this audience will help the many San Francisco Small Businesses that find themselves in our situation. We thank the board for all of their hard work in being such advocates for the Small Business community of San Francisco. We are fortunate to work in such a great city. Thank you. Commissioner peskin thank you, mr. Ramadan, and we are sorry for what you are experiencing. Any other members of the public for item number 1 . Clerk thank you, mr. Chair. I have james saying that there are no other callers on the line. Commissioner peskin okay, then Public Comment is closed and i would like to make a motion to move the nonsubstantive amendment that we previously discussed. Can we have a roll call on that motion. Clerk on the motion as stated [roll call vote] you have three ayes. Commissioner peskin and then i would like to make a motion to send the item as amended as a Committee Report for a hearing at the full board of supervisors tomorrow, november 17th. Clerk on the motion as stated [roll call vote] you have three ayes. Commissioner peskin and that concludes our business and were adjourned for today. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner regular meeting tuesday, november 10th. The time is 9 02. This meeting will be conducted via webex. Okay, lets see here. Sorry about that. This meeting is being held by webex, pursuant to the governors executive order and proclamation declaring the existence of a local emergency during the coronavirus disease, the Fire Commissions regular meeting room at city hall is closed and meetings of the Fire Commission will convene remotely. You may watch live on www. Sfgovtv. Org and to participate by Public Comment by phone, please use the call in number 4156550001, access code 1465020961. Members s members of the pubc will have opportunities to participate during Public Comment. The public is asked to wait for the particular agenda item before making a comment on that item. Comments will be addressed in the order they are received. Members of the public can raise their hand by pressing star 3 and you will be queued. Callers will hear silence when waiting for your turn to speak. The operator will unmute you. When prompted, the callers will have the standard 3 minutes to provide comments. Please ensure you are in a quiet location, speak clearly and turn off any tv or radios around you. Item one, roll call. Francee covington. Present. Your camera is off president covington. It is . I didnt do anything. Let me see. Vice president feinstein. Present. Stephen a. Nakajo. Present. Ken cleaveland. Present. Tony rodriguez. Present. And chief of department, jeanine nicholson. Present. Item two, general Public Comment. Members of the public may address the commission for up to 3 minutes on any matter within the commissions jurisdiction that does not appear on the agenda. Speakers shall address their remarks to the commission as a whole and not to individual commissioners or Department Personnel. Commissioners are not to enter into debate or discussion with the speaker. The lack of a response by the commissioners or Department Personnel does not necessarily constitute agreement with or support statements made during Public Comment. Madam secretary, can you see me now . No. Okay, i thought you could see me earlier. Ill keep trying to figure this out. There should be a video button on the bottom of your screen. I did do that and i dont know whats happening here. We do have Public Comment. We do have okay, lets go to Public Comment. Thank you. Member of the public, you may speak, you have 3 minutes. Thank you. Good morning commissioners. Im a proud member of the San Francisco Fire Department from 1990 to 2019. Im calling in reference to a presentation that was given by captain tillman at your last meeting. I submitted a letter last week and the purpose of my Public Comment today is to touch on the points i conveyed. Many of the assertions made were factually incorrect and in my opinion, irresponsible. Specifically twice during the presentation, it was asserted that i hired 82 entry level classes and there were no black members. That is unacceptable and its unacceptable to me as well. What i find unacceptable is the false information that was provided and allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged. It should be noted that all h. 2 entry level classes that i hired are comprised of a diverse pool of candidates, including black candidates. Im hoping by now you had the opportunity to review the hiring data and i appreciate commissioner nakajos question for data. As noted in my letter, the United States department of labor acknowledge and recognized the San Francisco Fire Department as one of the most diverse Fire Departments in the nation in a report titled promising practices for increasing diversity among First Responders. My command staff, which many of you knew over the course of 15 years has changed but it always reflected consistently the diversity of our department and we strive for and work diligently to ensure fairness, equality, equity, inclusion, and opportunity for all sffd members as evidence in our entry level h2 classes and promotional exam processes, which create opportunities for advancement. Although improvements can always be made, the commission should be proud of the departments diversity. Its what i think sets the department apart, as one of their biggest strengths. I would put the San Francisco Fire Departments diverse, competent and professional workforce against any other Fire Department in the nation. We are a rich blend of members that truly reflect the community we serve. The San Francisco Fire Department serves as a role model to other departments that continue to struggle with recruitment and retention. Several departments requested site visits and interviews regarding the tremendous efforts and success related to diversity. Although im retired now and very happy to be retired, i still care deeply for the department, its members, and its reputation as one of the most diverse departments in the nation. There is so much to be proud of. Thank you so much for your time. Are there any other members of the public that would like to speak at this time . There are no other members on the public call in line. Okay, thank you. I still just am a disembodied voice . Yep. Okay, im not sure what to do. Can you im going to hit every button so i may disappear all together, but please continue. Okay, item three, approval of the minutes, discussion of possible action to prove the meetings from the regular meeting october 28, 2020. There is no public oh wait. Hold on. Caller, would you like to make a Public Comment on the minutes . No Public Comment. Okay, thank you. I will close Public Comment and also fellow commissioners, i would like to table this item until our next meeting. There are some substantial changes that i think are required. If anyone else has any changes to put forth for these minutes as they were submitted, please feel free to do that now. Is there any commissioner that would like to add anything . Yeah, its Katherine Feinstein speaking and i just am ho hoping that there will be amendments to the minutes and were going to defer approval that we have an opportunity to comment and discuss them. Well, if there are going to be changes, then we should discuss those changes now. Thats why im asking if anyone else has changes to the minutes. Its very disconcerting for me to see you and you not to see me. [laughter] i understand. Im not sure what to do. Do you have any changes proposed . I just think it required i mean how can i say this. The question is whether the minutes correctly reflect what was said, whether we agree with what was said or dont agree. Thats what minutes are. If there is a disagreement about what was said, then no, i dont have any further comments. If there is some desire to correct what was said, i dont think its appropriate to amend the minutes because the minutes reflect what was said. So, thats why i think we may need to have a decision discussion on it. Okay, thats fine. I agree with you. The minutes are what exactly was said and what happened. My hesitation on the minutes is that they were truncated, the statements were truncated in some cases and i think they need to be added too, not subtracted and not explained. There are some additional statements i thought were needed in there that dont appear. Well, im not sure what perhaps madam secretary, you wont know what the process is if there is a proposal to amend the minutes . I do not know. They can be amended, absolutely. If i understand what commissioner feinstein is saying, you know we had minutes read i was a member of a union for 37 years. If there is a problem, i think what were saying is or at least what i would like to see happen is if someone feels that something needs to be amended, deleted or changed, thats okay, but i think the rest of us need to hear what that is before we agree to what it is. There might be a difference of opinion there and then we can sort it out. What i think im hearing commissioner feinstein saying is that if someone feels like theres changes or omissions or that we need to all be an i aware of what those are before it becomes fact. Thats what i think. Thats correct commissioner rodriguez. Thats the point i was trying to make. Thank you. I believe youre on mute. I would concur with commissioner rodriguez and Vice President feinstein. If there are changes to the minutes, lets hear what those changes are. Okay, let me get my glasses. Madam secretary, can you please find out how i can fix this so that i am a part of the meeting instead of just a voice in the wilderness . Down at the bottom there is a mute. Im not there right now. Let me get my glasses. Its not something i can fix from here. I dont think city hall is opening up until june of next year. Are you serious . Yeah. Very. Wow. And we can have teams and webex until then. [laughte [laughter] maybe we can learn how to make it work. Okay, i hit every button here and i cant show myself. Sometimes i gotten out and got back in and it works. Thats what i did this morning and last week. Okay. I will try that. In the meantime, since were going to be having a conversation regarding the minutes in the meantime madam secretary, were going to table this item for a few minutes and then can you please go to the chiefs report. So were coming back to item three . Yes. I am going to sign off and try to get back in. Okay. Thank you. Item four, chief of departments report. Report from chief of department, jeanine nicholson, on current issues, activities, and events within the Department Since the Fire Commission meeting on october 28, 2020, including budget, academies, special events, communications and outreach to other Government Agencies and the public. Report from operations, deputy chief bryan rubenstein. Report on overall field operations, including greater alarm fires, emergency medical services, bureau of Fire Prevention and investigation, homeland security, and Airport Division. Good morning everyone. Welcome to our staff. Welcome everyone. Thank you all