particularly the ones downtown. you try to put the sprinklers in and they get to take advantage of the code. >> the new code doesn't consider the post earthquake. we have an unfortunate loss of water pressure after an earthquake. the local jurisdiction are a little bit concerned about over reliance on sprinklers instead of fixed assets because of lost water. >> my main fire protection engineer, he's concerned and wants to implement if you have

a tank in your building, you have the water supply, sprinkler system. they have to have some back up water already >> high rises need them. >> except, it's supposed to be 30 minutes for your most demands >> that's a lot of water. >> the minimum is 15,000 gallons. i think 25,000 was the last one i saw they were proposing. it's a pretty good size. >> all around san francisco we see cisterns as well for water supply. there's no one within sight here. but you can tell because right

in the middle of an intersection, you see that. that's a symbol for an under ground system. >> we have a lot of them. we can draft out of those. we can put our solid hoses in there and actually suck some water out and put some pressure on it. and we have maps. the guys in the field know where they are. we had a while if you put a swimming pool in, you had to have a connection. that one is being deleted. it was putting too much on people for putting a swimming pool in. >> back to fire escapes, i thought it would be interesting to look down the street and see how many there are. you don't usually think about them when you look around the

city unless you are looking at our fire escape repair people probably see. i hungry man sees nothing but restaurants. this particular building has residential uses and i think an apolistry shop. they would require a 5-year certification and they also need their annual maintenance. their fire escapes use this accordion ladder. is that what you call it? occasionally, we see problems where it comes down and there's something obstructing it on the ground. sometimes you even see awnings. >> when they come in, that's

something we always check if they have a fire escape. now adays they use velcro. >> one thing we have here, lawrence mentioned, you need a door. if you notice here, each residential unit. these are probably each side is a different residential unit that's going out and it's a case where that code evidently allowed you to use a window. >> there's an exception and it's on page 5. opening for the fire escape. it can be a window and it's 29 by 59 and so on. there's an exception for residential building. and probably, i wouldn't be surprised this serves separate units. they both access the same fire

escape out let, you can see the goose net. it's an exciting climb and there's a high rise. i think it's the hastings building and it's really top. it has a vertical ladder on top. you are 200 feet up. >> occasionally they have cornices that stick out. they get quite creative how they build them. >> the old ship where you have to climb up to the top. >> the maintenance guy did a good job. people often wonder why fire escapes don't pose a risk of being loose. they are required to penetrate in their structural system and be attached through the building to the inside. in a wood frame building, they actually, bolts have to go

through and they have to have a washer and nut on the inside. i would have to have the whole wall removed. they are quite strong. >> we do and someone asked, what is it that you do. i start off by looking at it. is there rust where it meets the building. that's the first indicator. my primary trick is to pick the railing away from the building and see sturdy is it? does the shake the whole wall when i kick it out? otherwise it's rust or a trail of rust >> do you tighten it up? >> if it looks questionable if

i go trying to tighten it, i could allow water and starts to rust out the bolt. that would be bad in the long run >> these are required to be rust resistant? >> yeah. i would hope they are galvanized. there are some made of regular iron. they rust as a complete system. everybody we replace is galvanized makes sense. you get coastal fog. in the mission district. it's dryer. there's less on the eastern than the western. it's good to have it painted.

or replace that part and paint it. >> so our handout, page 5, 2.3. it shall constructed of reenforced concrete or hot galvanized steel. and i'm sure they need maintenance. they will rust. >> kind of a slow process. the galvanized coating turns white. so when we see that. we will wire brush it and cold galvanized it and do exterior

point >> recently, i noticed the bolts and their diagonal bolts were looking very rusty, so we put our wrench on and it snapped right how far. we went on the inside of the building, with the property owner's permission and opened up the hole and there was the head of the bolt, the washer and we pulled that out with effort and it became the size of 2 or 3 toothpicks. >> water has been coming in. >> any time we do work through

the skin, whether brick, masonary we do that to keep out the pests >> any place there is a bolt, you really need to calk or seal that. water will find it's way and it will corrode inside and you can't see it unless you do, as this gentlemen said, do thorough testing. because you can't see it. you can't see it. even small stuff like this will allow water to get in. this is not a structural hazard. >> any comments or questions? >> if you look at this fire escape, you notice the goose neck has been brought out.

you have a bridge to cross. if you look at the bottom. it's going to be a real treat for firemen to go up is there. >> that's why i say, this is only for firefighters to use. >> give me a boost. >> you have to realize, the firefighter has an air pack and may be some tools to be walking out there. >> this is an interesting building. i want to point something out. can anybody take a guess as to why we have these 4 beams sticking out of the top? it used to have another story on it. i think it had to do with the enforcement of the ordinance. it was easier to remove than to upgrade the building.

those are the elements that used to support the fire escape balcony, you see the parapet support and they replaced the goose neck ladder that went to the top and it goes over the parfet wall here. very interesting and they just finished doing a seismic upgrade. you can see the giant steel tube >> you see remnants where the second story used to be. >> okay. this is really interesting question here and that's how did the department of public work regulate things that stick out over the public sidewalk or road? this is public right-of-way and the sidewalk is also owned by the public. although the property owner has to maintain it.

here we have things sticking out. in some cases, things encroaching have to get approval from department of public works. if it's 10 feet, you are exempt. but there are certain rules to follow. making sure you don't stick out. >> 10 feet and 3 feet out. it goes up 1 foot every time you go out so many inches. that's the regulations. so that means you have to increase the height. >> there's a limit to how far can you go out. and there's a really interesting, for those of you who know where the old stars is. hemlock alley.

right near mcallister street. red wood alley. and it keeps going up and angling out until it's a couple of feet out. you can almost read the table as to how far it's allowed to encroach. the old stars restaurant. >> i thought we could take a quick look. look at the gigantic frame. this is the one they took the story off. this is the front. it used to have a fire escape above. >> and a second story. you see the enormous steel frame. it's such a little building. across the street is the self storage. you see the fire escape in front and it has to pass that awning. >> what are the regulations

about attaching thing to a fire escape? it says available. >> nothing is allowed on the fire escape. >> i know a lot of people like to put their potted plants and turn them into a balcony. >> bbqs are a no no. it's supposed to be for fire response. many, many violations for that. >> one of the things, people always say, this is a hazard. you've don't you do something. how many of you have had to exit a fire escape in an emergency? it's rarely used and we have

very few incidences. therefore, based on our history, epidemiologically. we don't have reason to believe they're not functioning. there's no reason. these are working just federal fine. >> it always works at least to get you out of the second floor. the last floor is easy. thank you for coming. our brown bag lunches continue and we invite you to join us. thanks a lot.

supervisor wiener: what we have here is a very important project and a very important mission and a completely reasonable objection of neighbors who are concerned about a five-story building going in on their block, which is something we see in san francisco all the time, and there is nothing exceptional or inappropriate about people taking issue with the size of a building. i grow up in the philadelphia area, in new jersey, went to school up and down the east coast.

i went to undergrad at duke university and law school at harvard. after clerking for a judge, i came out here and have been in here for the last 14 years. i always assumed i would go back to the philadelphia area because that is where my family is, but i was always interested in sanford cisco in terms of the city, culture, the amazing lgbt community -- i was always interested in san francisco. i am an attorney. i started off in private practice, doing complex litigation. in 2002, i moved to the san francisco city attorney's office, where our work on the trial team, doing trials for the city and doing my own cases and supervising a team of attorneys as well. another huge issue confronting

the city is the deferred maintenance on our infrastructure. we have a lot of infrastructure that has been deteriorating because we have not maintained it properly, from our roads to our sewer system to muni. we need to be much more diligent about maintaining our infrastructure. i have been interested in politics since i was a kid. i have worked on campaigns since i was a teenager. i was involved in campaigning against senator jesse helms when i was in college. when i came out here i was not initially involved politically. i was involved in community work, helping to build the lgbt community center, doing neighborhood work, and i eventually started doing campaigns and gradually got more involved in democratic party politics. ultimately, in 2004, i ran for the democratic county central committee and ended up chairing

the committee. it was a gradual process for me. by the time i started thinking about running for supervisor, it made sense because of my involvement in the community and the politics. i knock on about $15,000 -- i knocked on about 15,000 doors and a huge amount of people. the best way to learn about the city and what people want and what people's concerns are. i feel like i know so much more than before i started campaigning. i am a good liberal democrat. in the san francisco, miniature spectrum, i am considered pretty middle of the road. one thing about me is i am very independent when it comes to the issues, and i do not vote on party lines. i judge each issue on its merit. we have provided woefully inadequate support for our transition-age youth, and when

we do not provide that support, we end up causing other problems. it is not like it disappears. these are our youth, who are here in our community, and we need to make sure we are providing services for them. yesterday, we had a hearing on the dcyf budget, and i was very disappointed with one aspect of the budget, particularly the alt and backs were being eliminated -- that all add-backs were being eliminated on a number of different subjects. i do not agree with that. i am in discussions with dcyf, and i am is hopeful we will be able to work something out. my predecessor was always committed to making sure funding occurred, and i will continue to do that, so you have an ally in me. the budget is the most eminent issue, and we do have a

structural budget deficit in the city, so we need to deal, of course, with the short-term balancing our budget in a way that does not decimate city services that people rely on, but also to address our long- term structural budget deficit, and that means implementing some budget reforms. smooth out our budget process so it is not a boom/bust kind of budget. reforming our pension system and retiree health care system so that they are stable. we do a decent job providing low-income housing. we do a terrible job providing housing for low or middle class and middle-class people, people who are working and paying taxes that we need to have here for a functioning economy, so i am looking for ways to try to fund that, particularly for essential employees like teachers, nurses, first

responders. projects coming up in the city like the renovation of dolores park, which is a once in 50 years opportunity to define what the park is and what changes we want to make to it. that will be a very significant projects. [inaudible] when was the last time it rained? there are puddles. we elect our supervisors by district, and it is very important to pay attention to the district, to be engaged in projects in the district, but we also represent the whole city. any supervisor that just focuses on the district without addressing the citywide issues is not doing his or her job. every day, i'd make sure i am working both on the citywide issues and on district issues.

there are so many ways that the internet provides real access to real people and resources and that's what we're try to go accomplish. >> i was interested in technology like video production. it's interesting, you get to create your own work and it reflects what you feel about saying things so it gives perspective on issues. >> we work really hard to develop very in depth content, but if they don't have a venue, they do not have a way to show us, then this work is only staying here inside and nobody knows the brilliance and the amazing work that the students are doing. >> the term has changed over time from a very basic who has a computer and who doesn't have a computer to now who has access to the internet,

especially high speed internet, as well as the skills and the knowledge to use those tools effectively. . >> the city is charged with coming up with digital inclusion. the department of telecommunications put together a 15 member san francisco tech connect task force. we want the digital inclusion program to make sure we address the needs of underserved vulnerable communities, not communities that are already very tech savvy. we are here to provide a, b and c to the seniors. a stands for access. b stands for basic skills and c stands for content. and unless we have all three, the monolingual chinese seniors are never going to be able to use the computer or the internet. >> a lot of the barrier is knowledge. people don't know that these computers are available to them, plus they don't know what

is useful. >> there are so many businesses in the bay area that are constantly retiring their computer equipment that's perfectly good for home use. computers and internet access are helping everybody in the community and people who don't have it can come to us to help with that. one of the biggest problems we see isn't whether people can get computers through programs like ours, but whether they can understand why they need a computer. really the biggest issue we are facing today is helping people understand the value of having a computer. >> immediately they would say can i afford a computer? i don't speak any english. how do i use it. then they will start to learn how to do email or how to go back to chinese newspaper to read all the chinese newspaper. >> a lot of the barrier still is around lack of knowledge or confusion or intimidation and not having people in their peer network who use computers in their lives. >> the important thing i

learned from caminos was to improve myself personally. when i first came to caminos, i didn't know anything about computers. the second thing is i have become -- i have made some great achievements as an individual in my family and in things of the world. >> it's a real issue of self-empowerment where new immigrant families are able to communicate with their families at home, able to receive news and information in their own home language, really become more and more connected with the world as well as connected even inside their local communities. >> if we value the diversity of our city and we value our diverse neighborhoods in the city, we need to ensure that they remain economically viable. equiping them and equiping residents in those areas with jobs that will enable them to stay in san francisco is critical to that. >> the important thing that i

see here at caminos is it helps the low income community, it helps the women who wouldn't have this opportunity otherwise. >> the workers with more education in san francisco are more likely to be able to working that knowledge sector. where they are going to need that familiarity with the internet, they are going to find value with it and use it and be productive with it every day. and half of the city's population that's in the other boat is disconnected from all that potential prosperity. >> we really need to promote content and provide applications that are really relevant to people's lives here. so a lot of the inspiration, especially among the immigrant community, we see is communications with people from their home country but we as much want to use the internet as a tool for people to connect within the local san francisco community. >> i think it's our job as public educators to give them this access and give them this opportunity to see that their efforts are being appreciated beyond their immediate reach.

>> you have to blend this idea of community network with computer equipment with training and with support. we can pull all that together, then we've got it. >> it's as much about social and economic justice -- in fact it's more about social and economic justice than just