>> [excited chatter] >> be careful. here is what i am going to do. here is the deal. i am going to sign all of these. you are all going to get one. here is how we're going to do it.

she is like the leader. she is like the president. we have to respect the president. she is going to give them to you. she is very strict. [excited chatter] ♪

>> he's on his way. >> good morning, and welcome to the november 4 meeting of the board of supervisors rules committee. i am campos, and to my left is alioto pier. eric mar is in route. linda wong is the clerk, and covering for sfgtv are don gardner and charles. >> the items agendad will go to the full board on november 16 unless otherwise indicated. supervisor campos: it has been

a long week. we are joined by eric mar. please call item 1 and 2. >> for the mayor's placement of art torres to the public utilities commission. item two, rejection of art torres to the public utilities commission. supervisor campos: i would like to call art torres, who has been appointed by gavin newsom. thank you for your interest in serving the city and county of san francisco. it's an opportunity for you to talk about your nomination and why you would like to serve, and the chance for any committee

members to ask questions. >> it's an honor to be here. i am part of the governing board for the stem cell agency. when the mayor asked if i wanted to serve, it was not a difficult response. i have been a taxpayer here since 1996 and this is my home. it's an honor when the mayor asks you to serve, this is a way of giving back, and very much it has been part of my life for many years. >> in the senate, i created the toxins committee and wrote proposition 65, which went to the voters for a clean drinking

water standard. i like what we did with pesticides. i learned about this with chavez in the united farmworkers union. pesticides have an impact on health and autism. i think the issues that will come before tehe puc are issues i am aware of. i believe my record lends itself to that and my consumer protection avocacdvocacy -- this the position i have been appointed. >> supervisor mar? supervisor mar: thank you for

your service and interest in serving. you would replace juliette ellis. a strong advocate for environmental justice. they've led the way for justic and policies within the puc. how would you continue the work she had started? >> this agenda is not foreign to me and i embrace this. i did this when i was elected to the enviromental committee. this was an issue to care about. environmental justice for the people living in san francisco have an impact on their lives and children.

this has always been a priority. >> the benefits you are grappling with is how you grapple local hiring with labor unions and workers for different projects. how do you balance the needs of labor unions and strong properties? >> i am from labor but we need to do more local hiring in san francisco and any city with major projects on the line. there is a way to strike a balance, with working men and women having a place at the table as we move forward. a number of percentages are there people are considering.

supervisor campos: anything else? i wanted to ask you something many people have been thinking about. we had the tragedy that happened down south with the gas pipelines and explosions. do you have any thoughts about this? we in san francisco are doing what we can to make sure this doesn't happen. we recognize there are other agencies, federal and state, with a role in that. do you believe the san francisco pc can make sure we are doing everything we can to prevent it. >> i have a lot of thoughts about that. my heart goes out to the

families at san bruno. this is the infrastructure that needs to be replaced. the puc needs a broader relationship with the state puc. i think we have to enforce the law and have substansive hearings to make sure our people are protected. the entity with gas pipes iand lines are under our own city. we don't know the reviews that are happening. i remember hearing about the explosion. and a manhole cover exploded the same day. it requires a coordinated effort, and i believe in the

relationships we will have with our governor and attorney general. supervisor campos: thank you, senator. we may now open it to public comment, if anybody would like to speak. we have a large turnout and a number of items. i'd like to limit this to two minutes per individual. >> good morning, i am eric brooks of the green party. whenever there is an appointment to this position, i will look on the internet to try to find out

bad things about the appointee. not only did i not find anything bad about him, i found out a lot of good things about him. this is an impressive candidate. it is impressive that he wants to serve local community. i believe that this is great. >> does the green party know that you are saying this about the chair of the democratic party? >> i will have that conversation with them later. this is a question that is very important. the staff, for the last six or seven years, has basically failed the community to move this forward, and the planet is in deep trouble. they need to start a major clean energy project and the rest of

the cities will not follow and it is crucial that we get this moving forward. at the stake holders meeting last night, we have the electricity resource plan that would put together an advisory team. we did not have the local power. one of the panel's recommendations was to do community choice. it is very important that the commission itself is pushing them to do what they are not doing right now. >> is there any other comment from any other member of the public? public comment has been closed. i was meaning to ask this question but we actually had this conversation. when i you going to talk about community choice aggregation? >> i want to make certain that

the previous speaker understands that this is important, and there are a number of things before the public utilities commission in this direction and i hoped that if this is approved, will be able to move forward with this as a proposal and the city to live with this economically as well as environmentally. supervisor alioto-pier: i have a comment. i just wanted to say that i am thrilled with this appointment. i believe that the mayor did a fabulous job, with all the work that he has an over the last few decades in california, not to mention in san francisco. and the work that he has been doing with stem cell research. i believe that he has shown tremendous leadership in different ways for the

environment and he will become a benefit to the city and county of san francisco and also the public utilities commission. i think that these comments were well placed. i think that there are few people who can get through, but he is one of them. having him in this branch would be an important asset to us. i fully support this nomination and like to move this forward. >> i just wanted to agree with the supervisor. i believe that this could help lot of the local efforts for the committed to choice and the supervisor and myself both said that it would be a pleasure if you are approved by the board. there are many projects within the public utility commission and also in the city as well.

thank you for your leadership over 30 years. >> if i may simply add to this, i think that the record of experience and accomplishments is unprecedented for a nominee for the public utilities commission. if so just happy that you are willing to serve and we are happy to have you. he was not the first member of your family to serve the city and county of san francisco. i wonder if we can take this motion without objection. this is the motion to table by the number two, and move forward item number one. we will send this with the committee report. we take this without objection. thank you and congratulations. can you call item three and

four? we have been joined by the president of the board of supervisors. >> this is the appointment of robert paterson, appointing him to the small business commission. item #4 is rejecting this. supervisor campos: we call on robert paterson to come forward. good morning and welcome to the rules committee. thank you for wanting to serve the city and county of san francisco. this is an opportunity to make brief remarks about the nomination, and provides an opportunity for us to ask questions. we have been joined by the

president of the board of supervisors. >> what i would like to let you know, is who i am. i have put together a little bit of something. i want to say breedings, and good morning to campos, alioto- pier, and erik mar. i am born and raised in san francisco. i attended school at st. michael's high school, a sacred heart high school, sacramento city college. i graduated from golden gate university with a master's in business. my first job was as a bike messenger at age 16. i love my job and i learned every street and alley way in this great city.

i have been in the wine and spirits industry 38 years. i was working with small businesses such as grocery stores and restaurants and hotels. over the years, i worked up the ladder, and started my career in south san francisco in 1968. in 1962, -- 1972, the mckessen company bought the boreaux company and the was the general manager in reno, nevada. in 1995 i was speaking manager of the company in brisbane. i became the coo of the stars group in san francisco.

i worked under jeremiah tower. in 1996-1999, i was the sales manager for skyy vodka. i had the chance to gravel the u. -- travel the u.s., puerto rico, and the virgin islands. i was the director of public relations at young's market company, where i retired last year. my various positions provided me with ongoing relationships with small businesses, financial and other related issues. i begin by researching the problem to try to be as thoughtful in my deliberations for these decisions.

the visitors bureau, they gave me the opportunity to work with my peers and this has a direct effect on the small businesses. they work with other small businesses and this is critical to the economy of san francisco, for the residence and the tourists. thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. >> i know that we have been joined by president chu. president chu: thank you for being here. i was wanting to be here as a small member -- as a former member of the small business

commission. there have been people appointed to the committee who have not been working with san francisco small business as required for nomination to the commission. and they have not had as much experience as the commission deserves. i was wanting to have a conversation with you. in the definition, there are a specific number of seats. can you tell us about what he will nominate to be filling up? >this is part of the economic development organization or expert in small business finance? where do you consider yourself? >> can you repeat this? >> category number seven, the members of the commission either need to be owners or officers of san francisco small business.

i'll not believe that this time in that category. what if you are the officer of a neighborhood organization. do you consider yourself an expert in small business finance? >> i understand what all of this is about. >> you talk about how you have worked closely with small business, but it was not clear that you have worked in the small business in san francisco. what's i have been working in a number of them. >> can you talk about this, because it appears you were working in more national cells issues rather than small business. can you tell us what you think about the small business community in san francisco? >> what is happening over the

economy, there are a lot of people in small business communities that need to get more on top of this. and they wanted to get more people involved. one of these things -- >> what does this mean? >> this is by understanding exactly what is happening with small business. i have people coming by where i have learned that they have done a lot of good things. as the economy gets a little bit better, there are more and more people being involved with this in small business. >> i did not understand what you mean by this. people in small business --

>> it seems like they're just trying to go after this and get more and more small businesses. >> i am trying to understand your point. >> for instance, lastly week, wn i went to the event in the mission. so, it seems there is more and more people getting involved and also more communities doing things there. >> getting involved in -- >> bringing in more people and more of the economy coming in. >> ok. i am still trying to understand

your point. you've been working for young's market from orange, california. you have not been here in san francisco working with small business except through sales. >> for many years, i have been evolved with us. i have been living here in san francisco for most of my life. >> what do you see as the top issues facing the small business community right now, other than san francisco? >> i see more and more business coming in. what's more and more business? >> there is more and more business. >> the perspective of everyone in the small business community is that they are facing many

challenges that are forcing small businesses out of san francisco. i have never heard anybody suggest that we have a flood of new business in san francisco. i am trying to understand what you mean by this statement. what do you mean by this statement? >> i just see more and more than i think that there are more people coming in, the opening up businesses. >> you see that seems a pretty easy to open a business? >> i think that this is getting better than it was before. >> can you articulate the other challenges facing small businesses right now? >> this is why i wanted to be involved in all of this, in the small business and getting

involved in all of this. >> do you have a perspective on the payroll tax issues in san francisco and how this affects the small business community. the you have any sense -- about whether the small business is working well right now? what's from one understand, this is doing well. >> do you understand how they are involved with small business? >> i am trying to figure out this part of it. >> do you have any ideas in regulation for small business? >> i am not certain about this. >> how did you end up the coming to this appointment? >> i was at the -- the mayor asked me to be part of the small

business -- commission, the commission for the small -- i'm sorry, i'm not going through this part right. so, it is something i wanted to do and help within what's going on in the city government and everything happening here. >> have you been a part of any small business association? >> i have not. >> i would be involved in part of it. >> do you have any experiences involving the issues facing small business? >> i'd like to get into this.

that is what i was wanting to do, getting involved in being in the small business sector and these projects. >> thank you. supervisor mar: i just wanted to say, i know that this is intimidating and this is difficult to be here in front of a room full of people. i just wanted to give you another chance to convince me that you are qualified for this position. tell me about your main qualifications for this position. >> i understand with the backgrounds that i have in finance and a number of different things. yes. supervisor campos: thank you, mr. patterson. we will open as the public comment and if there are any members who would like to speak