and partnering with the city and working with speaker of the house nancy pelosi. very responsive to the needs of san franciscans. she has a keen understanding of the worked necessary to do work force development and really mesging the need -- meshing the needs of disadvantaged communities as someone born in the mission. her capacity representing the mission and other communities throughout the city. thank you so much. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am a senior project manager at the neighborhood development organization. the executive director said you eaton email. i have personally known peter

for over 10 years. they know him well from his work across the city and the community as well. he has been at asian neighborhood design where we work with him on some community- based planning. peter is that the community housing organizations, which i attend the meetings of, that is a very broad based coalition council representing service providers, project managers, and others related to affordable housing. peter on the committee will represent a broad based network of people. he will have an avenue to channel perspective committees

and information that way. additionally, he cited that he was on the committee for many years. there could be no more profound honor than to have peter now step onto the committee. >> my name is robinson. i work at urban habitat, which is a regional environmental justice. i have had the pleasure of getting to know utuma belfrey over the past couple of months as she has engaged to becoming a better commissioner. she has really been finding out what it takes to be an effective commissioner and an effective advocate for the community that she cares about. i have been impressed by her dedication to the community that

she is from. per dedication to lifting up the folks. her dedication to being better as a community advocate and dealing with it in a new way. what is always so interesting about her as well you can see her obvious dedication to san francisco and bayview and hunters point, she also understands how san francisco is connected to the larger community development throughout the region. it is not just about community development here, but throughout the region. i think peter also brings back experience of understanding the specific locality. also, understanding affordable housing and the interconnectedness between housing, jobs, and transportation. i hope you would consider both of them.

>> good afternoon. i am a member of the committee. i want to speak on behalf of the three candidates. i do believe that charlie has served in an incredible capacity and should remain there. this would be to service previously untaxed nee untaxeduntapped n -- untapped needs in the community. utuma is incredible. she is so dynamic in what she brings to the table. i have learned so much from her in the past year about sustainability in communities. i have learned from her and everything that she does. she is such a unique candidate.

that is why your soul -- hearing so many different things about the hat she wears. you are also hearing about peter cohen. you are hearing that we lost a valuable vision when renae passed away. i have spoken to peter. i think that he has that touch. we are very much in need of having bat. it is an incredible sleep with those. the committee has been pro -- opposed by the republican congress to cut 100% of the funding that brian chiu is advocating to stop that. we could use these candidates as soon as possible. thanks. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors.

my name is winston. i am part of a community-based organization in district 10. there are no words or adjectives left to describe utuma belfrey. i feel like i should have gone up here first. she is a dynamic person. she is passionate and committed to the work. she has helped me out. she was a member of the church where i served as a pastor. utuma is very dedicated to helping people, not only bayview and hunters point. her skills and knowledge would it not only be an asset. per knowledge is unparalleled. she gave her time to one of the programs for go up to juvenile hall on tuesday and talk to the

young men of the importance of making themselves work ready. i would advocate utuma belfrey for this position. >> ♪ good luck, appointees, to you in the building world you knew what you were building like you always do rules committee, and here today where did it go? that community building glow when you were building and helping like you always do building rules committee here today now it seems rules, those

dreams. do not believe fools, rules pick a good candidate where did it go? but that building glow when we were building, caring, being there all the time make it yesterday ♪ >> public comments is now closed. i want to thank the four applicants here today. we have very strong applicants.

they have very strong experience working in our neighborhoods and communities. i know charlie is applying for his seat again. i would support him continuing on his service given his background working with many of our community groups. utuma belfrey i have never worked with before, but i have seen -- receive many letters from. i think you provide a unique perspective. the southeast, the bay view, and also labor, that is an important perspective to have. she is very important in our political community. lastly, we have mr. cohen, who is very active in a lot of the

housing work that i am engaged in. big shoes to fill. last year was a huge shock to many of us when we lost renae in july. my suggestion, i would like to support mr. sciammas, belfrey and mr. cohen. >> i would like to support utuma belfrey. i am ok with rivera. >> i would put forward utuma to seat 1. the benefit of having niclole there, for working with nancy pelosi and her knowledge of the federal government would be a

great benefit to the community and the city. i would hate to see her on a non-public committee. that would be my motion. >> i would move utuma to seat 1. it doesn't matter. commissioner kim: i think we can put that forward without objection. i respect the work of nicole, but i recognize that the board of supervisors elect but those that advanced those of the low- income neighborhoods. i am going to continue to support sciammas, not that i think she is not qualified.

the mayor does get to a point where they get to perspective on dc. i am not sure there is another position i could support you on on this committee or another one. i support nicole for seat 4. could we take a vote on that? commissioner elsbernd: aye. commissioner farrell: aye. commissioner kim: no. i ask that we move this forward with committee recommendation. a committee report, thank you. at this time, we will close this item. thank you, everyone, so much for being here. madam clerked, will you call item number 4?

>> there are seven applicants. commissioner kim: we have 5 seats for the urban forestry council and seven applicants. i will call the names as they are listed. first i have maria d'agostino and then andrew sullivan. >> good afternoon. my name is maria d'agostino. i am seeking reappointment to chair 2.

i remain uniquely qualified to sit on the urban forestry council. i applied for seat 2 and qualified to sit for any of the available seats today. i worked in the private sector for a while. i started as a volunteer. then was brought on board part- time and then full time. as many nonprofit employees do, i went on to work for the bureau of urban forestry. i have been in my position since we applied for the council appointment. i am just recently back from the municipal forestry institute. it was a week-long the

leadership intensive held at the arbor day lodge and met with colleagues from across the u.s. that work for nonprofit municipalities and state agencies. it was extremely invigorating and also relieve validating to touch on a couple of initiatives that i supported. since i have been elected chair by my peers in the last year, i have been extremely cognizant of our use of time, especially the department of the environment's precious staff time that they dedicate to our meetings. one of the initiatives we were looking at was to look at our schedule and reduce our actual

formal meetings and support a lot of work and informal group work where we would review our annual retreat and establish goals for the year and we are revitalize the way we present our annual support for supervisors taking away at the street tree list and make it more valuable for residents instead of just pushing it through. i would love to continue to support the council. i am a longtime resident of the city. although i totally enjoy my commute on the caltrain, i contact very intimately with the planning department and engineering department and our nonprofit theire, i love my

absolutely, probably one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the city. it >> -- i will remain steadfastly and urban girl concerned about urban trees. >> next we have andrew sullivan and then dan flanagan. >> thank you for your time. i have a brief presentation of myself. a point of clarification before i start. i am listed as interested in seeking four, six, and 7. i believe the qualification for four is working for a non- profit. >> you are applying for seats

six and seven then? >> also two. i am a member of the american society of landscape architects. commissioner kim: you are certified by a professional tree management organizations? >> i was listed in seat 2. commissioner kim: we know you are an applicant for six and seven. >> i am a landscape architect and have been for it the last 16 years. i have been for 12 years in san francisco with various organizations. dealing locally, regionally, and across the country on designing construction projects. everything from small, private projects to large-scale public

works. that straddle the line between private and public realms. my work as a landscape architect, i am not only concerned about the aesthetics and sustaining the beauty, but also looking at the work i do as it relates to the community at large. a lot of the work that i have done dovetails with the work of the urban forestry council. their work not just to sustain the urban forest, but use that as an educational tool with the greater public and also the ecological goals that the urban forest can support. in my experience, the design and construction of the industry, they can use it. it gives me a unique

perspective. also, the practical issues in measures related to the urban forest both private and public in both private and public spaces. i have a strong sense of civic responsibility. serving on the council would be an opportunity for me to utilize some of my expertise. i thank you for the consideration. >> thank you for being here. are there any questions? we have no questions at this time. dann fled again and then -- it dan flanagan and then bonnie ora sherk. >> i have been there 2.5 years. you probably know that they have a very long and proud history of involvement in the san

francisco and urban canopy. we have planted approximately 45,000 trees. after 2.5 years as executive director, i thought it was necessary that i serve on this council. i think that the voice is necessary and important in this regard. in many ways, we are very closely aligned to what happens in the urban forest. we are partners with dbw. as a quick aside, we redid our phone system. now i get all of the phone calls. anytime there is a random phone call about the urban forest, i get it. we planted 11 hundred six trees last year. we hope to plant 1300 trees next year. we are committed to planting and caring about the trees of san

francisco. i would be honored to serve on this council. >> next we have bonnie. she is not here. rose hillson and then terry milne. we also have -- sorry. >> good afternoon. my name is rose hillson, and i am a member of district two. i applied for seat 6 because of the way it is written. i understand that seats seven is a community seat. i do not qualify for any of the other seats. i want you to know that i am a native born san franciscan. i went to high school in the

city and graduating class valedictorian. i went on to university and graduated. my mom always said, make sure you take care of the things that do not talk back to you. i always wondered what she meant. now i know because i have a green thumb. something that always happen -- happen along my travels as i discovered a rare plant in my backyard. this rare plant is unknown. it went through dna tests and everything. i got to thinking, what programs are there in the city to check this plant? wildlife service's people are not involved. i found out it was the urban forestry council. this tree is now landmarked.

i went ahead and try to look at some projects i could work on as a community member. this is a grass-roots effort. i started working on this project at the playground with the rec and parks department. i am continuing this project with reinstating the historical botanical environment that used to be there. i am trying to make it a more beautiful place. it was full of weeds and still is. every second saturday i am out there sweating and digging in the dirt to get this place revitalize. i enjoy working on the council because it is important that when certain trees are planted in the city, they also have some of the cultural differences that

is important for one group of people but not others could be t tree, but is not thought of. i appreciate your consideration. thank you very much. >> thank you for being here. terry milne and then sandy sherwin. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am here to apply for reselection on the urban forestry council. i am not a landscape architect. i am a member of the committee. i do not have the professional qualifications. i do have the community qualifications. i have several years of tenure on the council. during my time on the council,

we it agitated for the landmark tree ordinance. since then, we have more than 13 trees in the city that had been landmarked. i personally assisted with some of those nominations for those landmarks. we also work on constructing an urban forest land, which was authorized for the supervisors and now has been turned over to the planning department to be added to the city's general plan. the council supported sidewalk pocket parks and the better street programs. we have participated in san francisco arbor day is which is less than two weeks from now. i believe i bring some action and institutional knowledge to the urban forest council.

we have aspirations for expanding and maintaining the urban forest. thank you. >> thank you so much for being here. sandy sherwin. >> i have a resume here. good afternoon, supervisors. my name is sandy sherwin. i live on the edge of the excellus your district. both of these organizations have supported by candidacy without a public record of doing so. i have a master's degree in environmental economics. i am completing an additional certificate at the university of california at davis. after moving to san francisco 16 years ago, i quickly began being

involved at the botanical garden at golden gate park and other land stewardship activities. i additionally work on a variety of urban and rural habitat restoration projects. i am a member of many environmental organizations from urban planning to hands-on nonprofits. that contributes to my diversity, but pragmatic thoughts on land stewardship. i am experienced on design and storm water runoff management. a greening project of mine on an abandoned property won a community beautification award. i believe we have opportunities to enhance children's tourney decks -- experiences. we can reduce the heat.

i worked to encourage replanting is and inform others about the importance of proper ongoing tree maintenance. the urban forestry council is deeply concerned about this issue. we have increased public awareness as to the importance of street trees. i would love to be part of making this happen. because of this practical work experience, i have been grounded, realistic approach to planning. i have a very high level of enthusiasm for enhancing the san francisco urban forest. it would be wonderful to work with the forestry council and the organizations within city government. we must move our city hire in the national rankings for coverage. increasing our urban