mr. campana was raised in hunters point, i will have to introduce myself to him. i have a real estate background and experience from this board. thank you. >> thank you. >> our next applicant is joyce lewis. >> good afternoon. my name is joyce lewis. this is my second appearance before the rules committee. i made a presentation about three or four months ago. i was motivated to apply for the

sport after attending a women's league conference which focus on commission appointments in san francisco and board appointments. this conference was held to encourage women to get involved in civic activities. i have a strong interest in civic duties. i have lived in the city of san francisco for about 17 years. i have lived in the sunset district. there was a store your regarding twitter.

the budget is in jeopardy by the governor. what this can mean four san francisco. i am very much aware that the assessment appeals board serves a vital service to the city and county with regard to evaluating both residential and commercial property.

there is the high unemployment rate and the foreclosures that dropped their. the appeals that have been filed have increased significantly over the years and in 2009, 2010, there has been a threefold increase in the number of appeals. my experience, i am attorney. this is one of the requirements of this particular board. i attend the university of santa clara.

i have a master's degree from the cal state university system. in my practice as an attorney, i have managed a federal agency during hearings. i have worked on contract issues. there are some questions -- construction contracts. i also have some personal experience. i have dealt personally with section 8, the regulation.

i do have some personal experience and also filed an appeal. we of cecil -- successfully gathered up the evidence and this drop significantly. >> would you mind wrapping up? >> i did have an opportunity to attend one of the proceedings.

if i had to suggest something, it would be in terms of prepping people to participate in the process. >> do we have any questions? >> are you a veteran as well? >> no, i am not. >> thank you. we are having to continue some appointments for seats that are dedicated for women who are veterans and we do not have enough applicants to fill those slots. in your spirit of wanting to serve, i was wondering if they want to serve. >> i am sorry i did not ask this.

i don't think that they have any income. >> i am not sure why don't have a complete application. >> i don't have a complete form 704 mr. watts and i don't have a form for mr. gallagher.

>> i believe that you have submitted one but i don't think that i have one in my pack it. >> i believe that you have submitted form 700. this is on my 2009 until last year. the hearing and decision was back on may 4th. there was an agreement to grant at least a reduction. i'm still waiting for the check.

i would follow the law impartially. thank you. >> is there any public comment on this item? >> my name is richard lee. >> this is a very demanding role today. i stood here in 2003 and it feels like i have been through board two, board 1. coming back this year for another reappointment, i am just preparing myself and preparing the new applicants.

that is my 8 impartial, -- comment. i have enjoyed working with them. he does not have the experience. thank you for your service. >> is to any public comment at this time? public comment is now closed. >> the members of the public cannot hear you until you're at the microphone.

>> thank you. >> ok, thank you. >> colleagues. >> we have seats 3 and 7 and we have three applicants for those seats.

>> i am open to reappointing mr. conlan. i also would like to give mr. campana time. i spoke to don and said that there would be three seats open in september. those people who cannot get it will have the opportunity in just a few months. i am open on this one. >> i guess i would be open as well. in the spirit of the today, i

would otherwise have said to continue. are you willing to do that? >> well, i spoke to people who are willing to do that. >> i would go ahead and have a ministerconlan for seat 3 and ms. lewis for seat 7. >> i would support that recommendation. "we have a motion to appoint mervynconlan for seat 3 and joyce lewis for seat 7.

-- >> we have a motion to appoint mervin conlan for seat 3 and joyce lewis for seat 7. thank you for your desire to serve our city. >> item 7, hearing be to appoint one member term ending january 30th -- 31st, ijanuary 2013, and term ending january 31st, 2014, five members for terms ending january 31st, 2015. >> there are 11 candidates.

>> have any withdrawn their names? >> yes, kenneth breiten. >> we have open seats won, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12. 5 and 12 our reserve for women's veterans. we don't have any female applicants. we are considering the nine applicants. i will call your name in the order that you are listed on the agenda. first, we have edwin wilkerson

and then add water ramirez. come up and talk about your qualifications and why you would like to serve. -- we have eduardo ramirez. >> i am a veteran. my attendance to the meetings has been under%. i believe this commission under the recent leadership has continued to have significant impact on the cooperation and coordination between the various better an advocate organizations and their support of the current returning veterans. this includes federal, state and city. i would like to continue to be a part of this effort by reaching out to veterans in the streets, in the colleges, at the v.a.

hospital where a volunteer. i would like to meet with young and old and thank them for their service and ask them about their experience in dealing with these systems. they are often surprised by my question. i am also surprised by their answers. most importantly, the city cares and significant feedback is sometimes gain. i like getting out there and doing sometimes things with the best. i am an old battalion commander and i also know how to be humble. i have worked as a job- serviceperson. my military service and my desire to rehabilitate the fallen and urge success on to

greater accomplishment drives me to that end. since 1991, i have assisted hundreds of veterans with -- i have organized and conducted hundreds of workshops and 20 annual job fairs in concert with edd and the san francisco veterans employment committee. since my earlier working days, i have had a strong desire to build a bridge between factions, whether they are racial, sexual, or veteran. the commission is a bridge to our veterans and to the services that they deserve. thank you for listening to me and i look forward to being reappointed to this important position. >> thank you for your service on the commission.

next, we >> supervisors, thank you for this opportunity to be in front of you to present my case as to why i want to be on the veterans affairs commission. i am a native san franciscan, born and bred in potrero hill. i now currently live in rural heights, homeowner. i graduated from mission high school. i served 22 years active air force. my son attended three different schools in one year. i have moved 14 times in those 22 years. i am service connected. i am also a neighborhood emergency response team coordinator for vernal heights -- burn all heights -- for bernal heights. i work for nasa when i was 17.

went to san jose state. joined the air force. data are entered two years off. i have been through the issues that our veterans are going through now. employment issues. thank god i have not been homeless, but that is a big issue now that we have with veterans. secretary shinseki is trying to eradicate homelessness for our veterans by 2012. suicide rates are up. divorce rates are up. veterans are unemployed. they need work. women's issues. lgbt issues. all these things i am very familiar with. in the administrative officer for mental health at the san francisco va, and i'm also the

minority veteran program coordinator, where i have been appointed by the center co- director -- the center director, and i received a letter of recommendation from him. i have done about reach to women's clinics. i have taught classes on how to get a government job. i have attended eee meetings. i'm trying to get out there and get the word known out there for these veterans and educate them on the benefits and services that the va offers, that the state of california offers. my daughter goes to san diego state tuition-free, and that is a benefit that a lot of veterans do not know about. my vision for the veterans affairs commission is to be a conflict of resources for our veterans -- conduit of resources for our veterans in san

francisco and outlying communities. we need new blood. we have a lot of veterans returning. my son deployed to afghanistan. my nephew has had his friend blown -- his head got blown off in front of him. there is a lot of issues that need to be addressed to our veterans. this city used to be a military city. it is now no longer. a lot of our veterans out there need our help, and as a member of the committee, if i do get appointed, want to be that link between the community and the city of san francisco because san francisco is an open city, and we can do this. we have the resources to be able to do this. we just need to bring it together and have a focal point for these resources, and the veterans affairs commission is the focal point.

with that, i thank you for your public service, and i salute you for your public service. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you, mr. ramirez. next, we have matthew shea. i'm sorry, i just realized that matthew shea is deployed currently, so he was not able to attend today. >> thank you, and good afternoon, commissioners. i stand before you as an incumbent of c four. currently, in the only district 5 commissioner on the veterans affairs commission, the only latino on the veterans affairs commission, and i am the only openly gay man on the commission of the veterans affairs commission, but that is not why you should reappoint me.

in a world where actions speak louder than words, since my appointment from the board of supervisors, i have obtained a 100% attendance on this commission, and i care deeply about the future of our veterans. when i joined this commission, i mentioned at the time that roughly one in five or one in four veterans we encounter on the streets of san francisco is more likely homeless. at that time, a world war ii veteran got in my face and said he did not believe me and asked me to prove it appeared the next month later, i came with not one but three statistics from the veterans affairs and american legion to verify those facts. sadly, the numbers are going in the wrong way. right now, one in three to one in five of our homeless are veterans. the numbers are getting worse. it is true that the secretary of the va has stated that they want to end homelessness in five years. i believe it is the obligation of this commission to hold them

to the fire to prove that. i also believe, and i'm going to show -- this is a draft, and i think there are actually 17 seats on the veterans affairs commission. in july of last year, the board of supervisors extended the membership from 15 to 17, so i believe you have more seats to consider then you may be aware of. there are stilted and we will see is that have never been appointed, since the creation of them in july of last year. and also, i commend the incumbents that are present right now. their attendance speaks for themselves. they are active in the vac, and i speak positively for them. i hope that you will also reappoint me because not only is my concern about homeless veterans, but what is going on

with veterans' organizations in san francisco. right across the street in the veterans building, we are about to go through seismic retrofit, and all the veterans housed in that building are about to become homeless with no place currently to go. there is talk about sending us to the presidio, but imagine how difficult it will be for our disabled veterans to get out there for meetings. so this is a commission that needs your help. i wish we were also house here in city halls of this commission had more transparency. thank you very much for your time and consideration. supervisor kim: thank you. brendan culver rogers and then stephen noetzel. >> i believe we got an e-mail

from mr. rogers -- supervisor kim: sorry, mr. rogers is currently deployed. there are so many applicants in front of us. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i currently serve as the recently elected secretary to the veterans affairs commission. i have been on the commission for almost two years now. i do not know if this committee recognizes that the veterans affairs commission is really currently under a renaissance. we have been operating in the past two years with new vigor, with new vision, and with a new focus on paying attention to the needs particularly of all the returning veterans coming back from deployments and coming back from our overseas commitments right now. so we have initiated under

president varni this year a new group of goals. in particular, our biggest goal is to work in the high rate of unemployment among veterans, particularly younger veterans returning to the city. this report relates to homelessness as well because we have learned, for example, statistically that we are -- vietnam veterans, like myself, the spiral time between returning from vietnam and winding up on the streets, for those who became homeless, was approximately 10 years. it was approximately a 10-year decline. there have been recent statistics to show that that spiral time for recently returned veterans can be as little as seven months. seven months from return to

deployment homeless on the street. so employment is a huge factor in preventing this further downward spiral. so we have initiated a program wherein we are contacting the major employers of this city to find out what their commitment and what their objectives might be in consideration of hiring returning veterans as a priority. we are starting to get some success in that area. i'm not prepared to announce it yet, but we are having success with that brand new program to invite these employers to hire our returning veterans. so there is the homeless issue. there is the employment issue, and several other initiatives that i have brought to the commission for consideration, which we will be working on as bowls