to the commission. so at the end of the day, these positions are really about animal welfare. so one thing that i want to leave you with is that whether i'm selected or not, i hope that you all appoint commissioners that are concerned about the welfare of animals and not the welfare of humans at the expense of animals. supervisor kim: thank you, mr. young. are there any question? supervisor farrell? supervisor farrell: this proposal, fact sheet, can you tell me a little more about it and what it seeks to do and so forth? >> sure. it's actually not public yet. it's something that may be put forward at a future commission meeting. basically the idea is last year that there's, as dr. agarwal mentioned, a hub hub about the pet sale ban in san francisco. i was kind of introduced to the

commission at that time as well and i spoke to the commission and was surprised to see it had not really gotten anywhere about six or seven months later. kind of been tabled because a number of concerns were raised but i didn't see anything being addressed. so i went back to the commission a couple weeks ago and asked about the status of issue and afterwards met with philip and offered my support for trying to resurrect the idea of not selling live animals tunnelly promoting the adoption of animals ahead of creating and then selling for profit live animals in san francisco. it's my belief that a lot of san franciscans actually unknowingly contribute to the problem of overpopulation and also kind of the mass breeders and inhumane conditions that these animals live in every time they make a purchase of an animal. sometimes on a whim they don't actually realize the implications of that.

supervisor farrell: just so i understand, this proposal -- i appreciate your initiative on this. i think it's great. but it's to ensure that people who wanted to say buy a dog, that they can't buy one from a breeder, is that correct, in san francisco/ >> no. basically the way the proposal is laid out is basic will he encourage adoption first t could be through pet scores or through rescue organizations or shelters. but then any sort of kind of private breeder, like a small breeder, people would also be able to continue to be able to get animal that's way as well. what we're really going after is kind of the sources of animals where the conditions are not really humane. but even so, i would advocate for promoting adoption ahead of even buying from a local breeder. supervisor kim: thank you, mr. young. seeing no other questions, i would like to call forward miss sally stephens.

>> good afternoon. my name is sally stephens and he served on the commission for four years and i consider it a great honor to do so and hope you recommend i will be reappointed for another term. the commission advises the board on animal issues. to be most helpful, you have to see value in the advice we give. i worked hard on the commission to ensure when we recommend something to use aboard it's well researched, well thought out, workable and fair. my fraining is a scientist. i have a ph.d. in astrophysics and as a jurnist i worked for several decades as a science writer explaining complex astronomical ideas to the public as taught me how to complain complicated issues to my fellow commissionerses, public and ultimately to you. for example, when the commission sent a poem cat declaw ban to the board, an idea i brought to and sponsored at the commission, i prepared a packet of information for each of the supervisors that addressed the

argument before and against the ordinance on this issue. i think and hoped this level of research helped and information helped the board ultimately decide to approve an ordinance. six months after being appointed to the commission, i was elected chair, a commission i still hold today. there's a lot of administrative detail in running the commission and with no staff and no budget, they basically fall to me as chair. i take those responsibilities seriously and try to conduct meetings that of on deal with highly emotional issues in a way that foster civil discussion and respects all view points. 2009 i was appointed by the commission to be a representative on the joint zoo oversight committee of the rec and park department. i tried to serve as a bridge between animal welfare advocates and zoo officials. i organized informal meetings between the two groups to discuss relatively simple and inexpensive idea that's can make the lives of specific zoo animals better. i hope the sharing of these ideas will foster better communication between the two groups which could only benefit the animals at the zoo.

i have been a chair for seven years. sf dog is all nonprofit that advocates for responsible dog ownership and for those truly under voice control. i increase and promote cooperation and understanding among different groups including a park etiquette flier, dog horse socialization workshop with horses and riders provided by the sfpd mounted unit, washington workshop for the staff and people read dogs literacy program with the san francisco boys and girls clubs. and i have participated in a meeting of collision of rescue -- coalition of rescue groups and other how best to use euthanasia city shelters. like probably everyone left in the room, i love all animals. i agree with gandhi, you can judge a society by how it treats its animals. and i want to see that st. francis is judged well.

and i'm happy to answer any questions you might have. supervisor kim: thank you, ms. stephens for being here and for your service. are there any questions? seeing none, i will open up at this time for public comment. on item number four. two minutes. >> hello, again, i'm glenda and i'm a proud owner of a 15-year-old macaw. i have worked very closely with james yorck. he not only boards conrad but he also answers any questions that i have ever had, whenever i have an emergency, his phone is on 24 hours, not only for me but also my friends who have had issues. not only with their birds but other pets. he was also so well regarded, he was in the parrots of telegraph hill as one of the people they talked to about animal safety.

the other thing i'm going to say is he is extremely dedicated to the education of the people who own their animals and will bend over backyards to help you better your relationship not only with your birds but other animals. and i really believe he has a lot to offer this commission. so i would hope that he can be moved forward. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you, mr. hyde. next. >> hi, my name is paul koskie and i appear to ask you to support pam hemphill in her application for animal welfare and control commissioner. in the four years that pam has been on the animal control and welfare, i have attended many of the meetings and through those meetings i have come to know pam as a dedicated, compassionate advocate for both pets and wildlife that live in san francisco. her concern and focus extend not

only to the dogs and the cats that find homes in san francisco but also include small mammals, birds, reptiles that people keep in their homes as companions and pets. pam also, though, recognize that's there are many animals that live in san francisco that don't have owners. these feral animals and wildlife also need a voice and advocate to make sure that their care and needs are provided for. pam, through her position on the commission, has stepped forward and have been a spokesperson for those animals in san francisco that don't have such a voice. on a personal side, pam has some of the things that pam has been involved with, you can find her picking up fledglings on the sidewalk that have fallen from nests so they can be rescued. she is trained to care for the sale of birds in the oil spill.

she's warned -- not warned but notified dog owners when there's a feral coyote in glen canyon to try to keep the species apart so that there are no conflicts. so for these and many reasons, i rge you to support pam and forward her recommendation as a commissioner on the animal control and welfare commission. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. next speaker. please just line up and come forward. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is david anderson and i'm speaking on behalf of pam hemphill and philip gerrie for the commission on animal control and welfare. i served for 14 years as executive director of a nonprofit in san francisco followed by six years as v.p. of national conservation organization and i'm back working as conservation chair and on the board of directors of

a major conservation group in san francisco. in those capacities, we rely on working with agencies and commissions in the city and we rely on those members having integrity, having open communication with us and having expertise. and pam and in philip, you have applicants with those characters. they're fair. they're hard working, they're dedicated. they have a history of great service to san francisco and to the community. we rely upon them and we trust them. you have difficult tasks facing you in terms of different animal issues in the city. tasks that you're going to have to rely on people with good dedication, people who are trusted and people who can communicate with those organizations around the city. and i urge you to recommend to the full board pam and philip for the commission. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you.

you can give your card to the clerk. >> susan wheeler. president of friends of roman cats, form commission are of the animal care and control. care and welfare organization. and a feral cad advocate connected with the spca. and i'm here today to speak on behalf of sally stephens and to strongly urge you appoint her for another two-year term on the animal welfare commission. have i known and worked with sally a number of years. when i was on the animal commission in the early 2000's i successfully worked to get a resolution passed urging veterinarians no longer declaw cats in san francisco. several years ago, sally led the successful effort to pass an

ordinance in san francisco banning cat declawing. i have worked with sally on this effort and was very impressed how professionally and effectively she handled herself, whether on the commission talking with the city supervisors and their aides, talking with other city officials or doing research on this complicated event. she was really an inspiration to work with. sally is well organized, thoughtful and able to consider all of the ramifications of a certain issue. i think that being able to anticipate sometimes the unexpected consequences of some issues that we deal with that is one of sally's great strengths. she's done an extremely good job

as chairman of the commission. she's been effective and remained evenhanded, even at times when emotionally were up before the committee. she has excellent ideas and has a lot more to add to help san francisco's animals. supervisor kim: thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is vicky teernen and it is my pleasure to speak on behalf of sally stephens for reappointment to the commission. i think we're blessed in the bay area with a wealth of truly fine advocates. and i think many would do fine on the commission. i think sally has some characteristics that make her even more desirable for the job. her academic training provided her with the skills and the discipline to really research issues and she does. she spends as much time as it

takes to really understand all issues and to come up with proactive valuable and effective solutions. the animal welfare community is passionate, sometimes heated in its discussions. we're all speaking for those who can't voice for themselves and sometimes we have different opinions on how to best proceed. i have never -- in 15 years of my own grass roots political advocacy work, i have never seen anyone as effective as sally is at networking with diverse factions dine verse ideas, modifying her own plans as a result of new information and the value of that on a commission where you're representing hundreds of thousands of people, cannot be overstated. to quote another speaker on same lar hearing from a while back, she said, when it comes it these kinds of commissions, it doesn't get any better than sally stephens. it really doesn't. thank you.

supervisor kim: thank you. >> good afternoon. i'm david emanuel. i live in glen park. i'm also a member of the upper knowy valley dog owners group. i'm here today tone dorse sally stephens as chair of the commission and hopefully have you keep her on the board. she's very highly admired and respected. as we heard before, she's astro physicist by training and conducts her meetings very much like a scientist. she considered all points of view, she's very courteous, lets everyone speak and then lets the facts guide her decision-making process and has everyone a part of that. i highly urge you to keep sally stephens as part of the commission. thank you. >> -- supervisor kim: thank you, mr. emanuel.

>> good afternoon, supervisors. my name andrea brooks. i'm the director for paws, pets are wonderful support, and current vice chairman of the commission that we're discussing. which i have been on for the past four years. i'm here to speak in strong support for reappointing sally stephens. in addition to just being a really insightful commission member, she's also taken the lead on some very important issues to the community, such as the cat declaw ban as well as being very valuable as the chair of our commission. our meetings often deal with issues that the animal welfare community feel very strongly about and as such our meetings can get quite heated. sally halls been exceptionally at depth of making sure things stay on track while also being inclusive. in having worked with her for four years and also knowing her as a community activist for many more, i have always known thor do exceptionally thorough

research on every issue and it's just very inspiring to see how invested she gets in everything that we're discussing before us. and she's always been an exceptionally passionate advocate for animals. i would also like to support commissioner gerrie and hemphill for reappointment. all of us have dealt with challenge that's have come before us and it's been challenging to work on issues but i think we all tried to work together and see each other's points of views so i would like to support them as well. supervisor kim: thank you, miss brooks and thank you for serving on the commission. >> good afternoon. i'm arnita bowman and i would like to support sally stephens. i have been working with sally the last six, seven months and i have to say i have inconsideredably impressed with sally and what she brings

particularly to the dog community. although i know she's very committed to all animal welfare issues. as they were talking with the police commission, with so many people, it's really important to have someone who's a liaison to the community. that really to me is one of the strong things that sally brings as a liaison is being able to work through all of the issues with the different groups and really analyze, to evaluate them nbing able to talk to both commissioners as well as being integral into the community. once again, i really strongly support sally stephens. supervisor kim: thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is steve leads. i'm a 40-year resident of san francisco and have been involved in various community issues over the years. i am here today to speak in support of the reappointment of philip gerrie to the animal

welfare commission. i know philip pretty well. have i worked with him on a number of projects. i often check in with him and see what's going on with the commission and what his work is and what the issues the commission are considering. i know him to be very diligent, very open to ideas, very inclusive and a good listener. and he does his homework and i know he's quite busy with that. and i also work with him around other issues and one of the things that really impresses me about philip is his abilities to include others and listen to other opinions and draw people out. so i would really encourage you for supervisors to vote for his reappointment to the commission. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you.

>> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is ra any piten -- renee piten and i'm here to support the reappointment of sally stephens. have i worked with sally for many years on the executive committee of s.f. dog. and i have attended many animal control and welfare commission meetings, both pre-sally and with sally both as a member and now as chair. you have a letter from me in your packet talking about sally's intelligence, her thoughtfulness and her excellence as a mediator and moderator in a commission where as a number of people have pointed out, proponents and opponents, tend to be passionate about their positions and sally has been exemplary of presenting items for discussion and action and making sure that all sides are heard and decisions are not taken into there has been full and informed discussions of the

issues. under sally's leadership, also the commission has become more responsive and more time sensitive in a broader context. so, for example, the cat declawing, which was has been mentioned by several people, this ordinance was ultimately supported by the board of supervisors and became law in san francisco just before a state bill would have precluded the city protecting cats in this way so the time frame was there and sally made sure that the commission heard and thad recommendation went to the board in good time. the commission has become a more valuable resource for the city, both for the board and for the residents of san francisco through sally's excellent work on the commission. and i respectfully ask that you reappoint sally as a commissioner. thank you.

supervisor kim: thank you. >> i wanted ask you a question. there's one open seat that we did have four applicants but now for reappointment we have three. i wanted advocate for one of the three that are applying. can i do that a member of the public? supervisor kim: go ahead. we typically don't but go ahead. >> i thought i would ask first. good. i wanted to support ryan young. i have been working with him for the last two, three weeks now and i find he is an excellent -- has been an excellent addition to the commission and i'm really impressed with his abilities and so that's the person i wanted to recommend. supervisor kim: thank you. thank you. is there any other public comment at this time? seeing none, public comment is now closed. i want to thank again all of the

applicants for being here. we have four open seats and six applicants. as it's been pointed out, we have three that are reapplying for their seats, mr. gerrie, miss hemphill and miss stephens. thank you for bringing in all of your letters of support. i have heard much from the community about the work that you do. ms. stephens as chair of the dog pack, your work as dog advocate. mr. gerrie, have i heard a lot about yarblete to work with many different people and also bring a different perspective to the commission and miss hemphill for the work that you've done both on the medical side and also as a wildlife advocate. thank you for your service and for wanting ton again. we have three new applicants. mr. yorck, dr. agarwal and mr. young as well. and so if there are comments or questions at this time? >> no. i would like to thank everyone for coming and for the applicants and for those people serving on the board now,

including miss brooks, who is i know is not reapplying. i would be very comfortable reappointing the current members that are serving mr. gerrie, miss hemphill and miss stephens and open to your comments, colleagues. but very impressed with dr. agarwal and mr. young, between those two i would be happy to have a discussion around them. supervisor kim: i think there's no objection reappointing the three -- three current appointees, mr. gerrie, to seat three. miss hemphill, for seat four and miss stephens for seat five went have six seat open. i appreciate the advocacy and engagement dr. agarwal have undertaken around these issues. i know curptsly there are no people of color serving on these issues so for that reason i have a slight leaning towards dr.

agarwal. but i know she's been extensively volunteering for the sfpca and as a member of peta. really appreciate it. the letter you wrote in terms of your desire to serve and kind of different set of circumstances and have an understanding for the controversial nature to this commission and having a background in working with diverse stakeholders around these issues and doing educational trainings and workshops. i very much appreciate mr. young and his advocacy around had issue as well and would be happy to support either. >> and i wanted mr. yorck. i really liked what he had to say. i was pretty impressed with it. but just hearing what i'm hearing, it sounds like the consensus can be mr. young so i'm more than happy to move. supervisor kim: ok. well, i think it was a tough call, but i would be happy

supporting mr. young. dr. agarwal, i hope you really again if there's an opening and mr. yorck as well. so we will move forward, these four, with positive recommendation to the full board plrks gerrie for seat three. miss hemphill for seat four. mission stephens for seat five. and mr. young for seat six. and i believe without opposition. thank you all for being here and thank you for your commitment. madam clerk, can you please -- i'm sorry. i actually had forgotten to do this earlier today, but supervisor wiener unfortunately came in with the tragic news we today have lost one of our public servants, firefighter who was serving in the line -- sorry, i didn't get the update. we now actually lost two of our firefighters and fubble servants today who were serving our

community. our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and their colleagues for the work that they do in defense of our neighborhood. we know that there's a third that is in critical condition and we are hoping and praying for their speedy recovery. hopefully of our third firefighter. if we can just take a movement silence at this time to remember those that serve our community and to support the families and colleagues today. thank you. madam clerk, can you please call item number five. >> item number five, charder amendments to allow amendments

to repeal of initiatives ordinances and declarations of policy. supervisor kim: thank you. our colleague supervisor wiener is here to speak and you have authored here today and i believe you also have amendments to make to your charter amendment. >> thank you, madam chair. so at our last hearing two weeks ago on this, a number of -- quite a bit of public comment, which was actually very helpful. it was the first feedback i really received on it. one of the issues that was consistently raised, which i -- i agree with was that voter sponsored initiative, in other words, initiatives that get on the ballot by way of voter signature as opposed to bing placed by the board or mayor deserve original protection and the original version, voter

initiative measures can be eventually amended you about not repealed. i'm offering an amendment today that would simply remove voter sponsored ballot measures from this entirely. so this measure would apply to ordinances or policy statements placed on the ballot by the mayor or board of supervisors but not by the voters. so i'm offering that amendment. i will hand the copy to the clerk. and i also just wanted to specifically -- some of the measure that's i have gotten a lot of calls and e-mails and questions about people thinking is this measure or that measure potentially impacted, and there are a few that have come up over and over again. so i just want to clarify prop m, a slow-growth ballot measure from the 1980's was placed on by signature that would be unimpacted by the amended version. sunshine ordinance adopted in the late '90's was placed on