the neighborhood network on a friday afternoon. jim meko' is secretary in that association. there is no doubt he meets the charter's criteria for being a neighborhood association representative. i think as a business case, you have someone with eight years of experience. 80 years of institutional knowledge. he knows the police code. he does not have to learn it. -- eight years of institutional knowledge. it speaks of his interest. and other business interests can coexist and thrive. i do hope that you will reappoint jim meko. he has done a good job representing neighborhood associations and he has good work to do with the approval process and i hope you support

him. thank you. [bell] >> i am been on the executive board of the milk club and i am supporting glendon hyde for this appointment. when i looked at his qualifications and the board that he actually does sit on, i see that his work parallels and dovetails with the work that we're doing in the excelsior. there is a community beyond district 6 for the central city or the entertainment community. and i would like to echo in the south end, we would like to see someone like glendon hyde. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors.

i am here to support my good friend, lolita sweet. i am born and raised in san francisco, a resident of district 10 and grew up -- i am a resident of district 6 but growing in district 10. i have been involved in entertainment all my life. i've run a company in san francisco and i am here to support lolita because i know that she is qualified, she has been around, she understands entertainment. i think that she would be a great breath offor this commiss. i withdrew my submission today in the hopes that someone who grew up in southeast san

francisco would have a chance. thank you. chairperson kim: are there any other public speakers on this item? seeing none, public comment is now closed. colleagues, any comments or questions, further questions for applicants? supervisor weiner: this has been a great hearing in showing the diversity of our community. i never thought i would hear j- lo come up at a hearing, so i was excited about that. i do want to quickly note that even though i am supporting a different candidate, i was disappointed to hear the

personal attacks on anna conda, who i know personally and have a lot of respect for in terms of his work in the community. we can all agree to disagree on different candidates we have three very strong candidates before us today. but they are all deserving. no one deserves to be attacked. i have gotten to work with anna conda in other efforts and was really impressed and was glad when he went on to join the harvey milk club. it is not just homeowners who complain about entertainment. i can tell you as someone who represents the castro the complaints i get about various venues in the castro, about noise or other issues, which are

80% tenant. that is an equal opportunity thing. the reason i am here today is when it comes to the entertainment commission appointment i take it seriously and it is very important to me. there are very few people who are more pro entertainment and more prone nightlife and i am. i have for years been fighting for our street fairs, when the city was threatening to fee them death. i came out strong against sfpd's proposed security policies about scanning people's ideas and videotaping them -- id's and video taping them. i asked for a study of our nightlife industry to show how heavily it contributes to our economic vibrancy. i also understand the critical importance of balance and never

heard representation on the independent commission. this commission has to have strong representation on the entertainment commission and throughout the city, or it will not be effective. i am supporting d. gill sperlein. i have known him for three years. i will not repeat what he is said about his neighborhood work. he also is not just a neighborhood person. he is someone who deeply understands the importance of entertainment and nightlife in the city. i would never, ever support anyone for this commission who i thought for a second was anti entertainment. i think gil will be a

productive force on this commission. he is not employed in the industry. he will add to its credibility. that is why i am supporting him. we have three very credible, strong, and talented, hard- working candidates. i do not want anything to take away from that. supervisor campos: i want to thank everyone who has come out to speak on this appointment. i am not a member of this committee, but i do believe, along the lines of what supervisor wiener indicated, that this is one of the most important appointments we can make because of the important role the commission plays in the life of this city and the important role that entertainment place in the life of the city and county of san francisco. i think that is true of all communities. i think it is also not

surprising that the two elected lgbt members of the board of supervisors are here on this issue because entertainment has played a particular role in the life of the lgbt community. i cannot imagine having a better group of candidates. i think it is a testament to the type of city we are. i think anyone of the individuals who has applied brings a lot to the table. i agree wholeheartedly with supervisor weiner that you do not have to put anyone down to support any of these candidates. i think it actually undermines any argument you make for anyone candidate to do that. i appreciate the work commissioner meko has done. i have talked to him about those issues before.

he would do a good job if he were reappointed as well. the same thing with any of the other candidates. but i am here to speak in favor of glendon hyde, someone i have gotten to know in the last year or more. i have been very impressed with the intelligence, the manner in which mr. hyde interacts with people from different perspectives. i think it is important to bring a fresh perspective, a new perspective, not necessarily because it is part of the process of what makes government work. i think that glendon hyde is someone who is going to represent the interest of neighborhoods throughout the city and county of san francisco, who is going to help to bring people together. i am very excited about the prospect of someone of his caliber playing this role.

i do hope the board seriously considers his candidate. -- his candidacy. i am proud to say i am very supportive of his appointment. chairperson kim: thank you. any other comments on this item? i just have a brief comment before we make a motion. first, i want to thank all the members of the public who came out. it is great to know so many people care about entertainment in our city, and the balance of entertainment and neighborhoods. it was great to hear feedback about the commission as well as the applicants. i also want to thank our four applicants for applying. something that was really important for this seat was appointing someone who would be fair, who would do extensive outreach in neighborhoods and communities and already has deeper roots and connections, and would be able to do that without a long learning curve, somebody passionate about neighborhood and the balance and

communication between those communities, and someone who has the respect of community members. i think we have four applicants that i believe would be fair. i want to have somebody who has a background in working on these issues. i wanted to speak about those three i think have a strong background on entertainment, and the relationship between the entertainment community. i want to thank and appreciate mr. meko for all his work. i have tremendous respect for him and and working with him on the western soma plan, which he has been the heart and soul of in terms of planning for our neighborhood. i think a lot of members of district 60 a lot to him for his leadership and organizing on making our neighborhoods more complete. i did not know mr. sperlein

before, but i was impressed by the presentation. i am also taking into account the support of supervisor weiner, who has made entertainment his focus. i will be supporting glendon hyde for a variety of reasons. i believe he matches the characteristics i am hoping to see. i would have gladly supported mr. meko or mr. sperlein if mr. hyde had not applied. i think something about having him facilitate it is that the community was so respectful because they know how dedicated he is and how much he come to -- how much he listens and cares and works tirelessly for the community. i think it is important to have

someone that has the respect in our neighborhoods and communities and also is tireless at outreach, will tirelessly knock on doors to get people to come to meetings. i think we saw that today with the support you were able to bring out in the middle of the afternoon. they have said you are always open and willing to talk to people. sometimes, it just takes talking to the neighbors. i think he will bring that to the entertainment commission. colleagues, do we have a motion on this item? supervisor farrell: we said is often at rules, but i think we have a plethora of really good candidates today. thank you for coming out. i do realize the importance of the entertainment commission. i have certainly noticed it in the first months in office, the tension between neighbors and

entertainment venues. it takes a lot of thoughtful work. i think ms. sweet did a great job. i am incredibly impressed by the turn of both for mr. meko and anna conda, glendon hyde. it is great to have a lot of friends that are going to turn out for you. i think i could go a lot of different ways in this regard. today, i will be supporting d. gill sperlein. i was very impressed by his presentation. but to the other candidates if there is another seat open, i would very much welcome considering a. -- considering you. but i am with supervisor weiner at this point. supervisor elsbernd: over the last few years, i think i have fallen into the camp of folks who has become increasingly frustrated with the

entertainment commission not necessarily being as responsive to all the various interests, and frankly i remember when president chu introduce legislation strengthening the entertainment commission. i was tempted to vote against it and offer amendments to spending the entertainment commission, because i thought the completely failed in the charter the were mandated to achieve. that said, we are moving forward and seeing what we can do. mr. meko, you almost got me in your presentation when you said you had been described as cranky. i am pretty sure they have described me in the same manner. [laughter] that just about got my vote. almost. that said, i think some new blood would be very helpful in that commission. and so you come down to the two other qualified candidates. let me say first to ms. sweet --

you are someone who needs to serve on the commission. i just do not think this is the right fit for you. i think there is a place for you within some other city commission, but the resumes of the folks that are applying are more attuned to the entertainment commission and more qualified for this specific spot. coming down to the others, what sells me on this one are the qualifications for this seat. this is supposed to be the seat that represents neighborhood associations and the interest of those neighborhoods. i think between the remaining two, mr. sperlein hits that marked a little bit closer than mr. hyde. i would send for that name for seat 1 with recommendation. chairperson kim: we have a motion to move forward mr. sperlein with a recommendation

to the full board. i will not be supporting that recommendation today. however, i think gil will be a great commissioner. i will continue to support glendon hyde. i actually believe we do need more representation from the southeast, miss sweet. i think it is important for us to have more representation of women, african american women, and residents of the southeast. i think they are probably disproportionately underrepresented amongst many of our commissions. but i agree with supervisor elsbernd that i would love to support you for another seat, so contact my office if you would like my support for a seat on another commission or a list of the commission openings this year. could we take a roll call, please.

in one minute. supervisor elsbernd: aye. supervisor farrell: aye. chairperson kim: no. >> two ayes, one no. chairperson kim: thank you. this motion passes. i want to think supervisors cam-- thank supervisors campos and weiner for being here. supervisor farrell has another meeting and did not expect this meeting to run over. so supervisor weiner will be taking his place, as per our president. please call item three. >> hearing to consider the appointment of members to a term ending december 31, 2012 to the sro task force. chairperson kim: i believe all

candidates are here. can we hear from you in the order listed on the agenda? first we have mr. victor nelson. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is victor nelson and a live at the altamont hotel. i am a social worker by profession, holding a master's degree in social work from the san francisco state university in the concentration of social development. i have over 14 years of combined service working in some capacity as a social services agent within the community of san francisco. my first experience working with adults in sro's came when i was working with low-income students at city college of san francisco in the elps second chance program.

through this experience, i worked with formally incarcerated adults to help the matriculate through the process. during this time, what we did to accomplish this task was we used encouragement and remedial training. i have also served on the ops board of directors. i have served or worked with a large number of populations and various social service organizations within the city of san francisco, including the black coalition on aids, the homeless advocacy project, aids housing alliance, and westside community service center. in each of these, a work with folks from the community were experiencing difficulty with in their housing. that housing was sro's. although i believe that my

professional experience is sufficient, working with indigent populations, it is my current service to the sro community, as of july 2006, but i think best qualifies me to serve and be an asset on the sro taskforce board. previously, i had a more generalist clinical focus, working with a broad spectrum of adults. but in 2009 this focus shifted primarily to advocacy, in part based on a personal experience of having a social service employer contact my hotel, trying to get some kind of back door access to information. this was despite being given sufficient letters of references. i was shocked and dismayed and

felt somewhat violated by this. what i did was begin to check out the light of the land and speak with other tenants and find out that this was not an individual occurrence in terms of these sorts of violations. i then print up my commitment to the community. moving forward since 2010, i have worked or served with the mission sro collaborative, assisting both tenants within the mission and the city at large, basically educating them about their rights, and just mobilizing them for a better quality of life. my current roles include partnering with mental health association san francisco and

assisting tenants with rights issues, a chief researcher of african advocacy network, where we have a group that is called blackout migration, where we are trying to move to solutions for retention for african american and african populations to remain in the city. i have consistently kept abreast with many community trainings that can be both of benefit to empower and improve the quality of life for my neighbors. i have an open-door policy at my hotel. i write letters and assist with facilitated issues of tenants. a little less known, i consult privately with tenants through hotels, with tenants that are reticent to come forward and deal with the more traditional apparatus.

i believe beyond this experience my contribution includes empathy, compassion, and respect. if seated, my goals will be to -- one of my major goals is empowerment programs to the hotel community. that would look like something designed for technical know-how and self-sufficiency for the tenants, creating a safe environment for women and seniors with in the hotels, and better relations coordinating with the sf pd. i am also in dialogue with the assistant public defender's office, with talks with them. thank you very much for your time and the community for hearing me. chairperson kim: thank you, mr. nelson. next, we have lj cirilo.

>> good afternoon, supervisors. thank you for hearing as today. i know it has been a long day. i would like to submit this letter of reference. my name is lj cirilo. i am currently the chair of the shelter monitoring committee. i worked as a homeless advocate in the community, representing clients that have been denied services from the shelter system. looking at my resume, you will probably notice i did not start in that arena. i got my bachelor's degree in physiology, went into health care, and wound up working in pharmaceutical companies, conducting clinical research. what happened was in 2007 i myself became homeless. it began this journey of mine that i experienced what it was like firsthand to be having to sleep on the street for a night, having to live in a shelter, having to be moved into an sro.

when i lived in the shelter, i learned about the work the coalition does to work for homeless rights. i thought that is what i want to do, so i became an advocate for the shelters. i learned about the shelter monitoring committee and the work they do to get here the standards of care in the shelters, and decided that is what i want to do, so i did it. in april, i was elected the chair of the shelter monitoring committee. and i am working tirelessly to improve the conditions of the shelter system. i was one of those that was told to get on ga if i wanted to have a guaranteed bed in the shelter system to get into housing, so i did that. it was not because i wanted to go on welfare, but we currently have a system where our city tells a person that if you want to sleep on a bed tonight, get on ga. in six months, i was moved into

an sro, mcallister hotel. i have been there three years. now my agenda is to basically get families that are currently living in and sro moved into permanent housing, to get single adults that have been stuck there by no fault of their own, but because of the way the system works, moved out into permanent housing. one of my other goals is to make sure that enforcement takes place, whether it be fire codes, emergency response, a tenant rights. there has been bouncing from room to rooms that happens in sro's that are not funded by the city, where tenants do not have rights. as an advocate, these would be the things of a strategy is with the city to improve. i think it is a travesty that children grow up in sro's. a month to share a real experience with you. thank you.

i want to share a real experience with you before i finish. when i moved into this sro, there was a little boy, three years old. i watched him learn to ride a bicycle in the hallway of an sro, from a tricycle to the training wheels to having them taken off. he is going to be six this year. if i get on this sro taskforce, it is going to be my goal. i am going to work tirelessly to make sure he and his family can get moved into permanent housing. i think it is unsafe, inadequate, and unacceptable that we allow families to live in sro's. that is what i want to be on the sro task force, just like a wanted to be on the shelter monitoring committee. there is drastic reform that needs to be in place, and i am here to make that happen. supervisor farrell: just a quick question. you are still on the shelter monitoring committee? >> that is correct.

i am the chair. chairperson kim: next we have mr. charles pitts. >> i think i want to start off with that on the internet it had two of the five letters i have submitted to the committees and stuff in the packet. they were sent with another application. but that is separate. that is two of 5. the thing is my voice has changed a lot of things within the city, just regarding the way things have been done. i have mentioned some of it before. i also think that she understands about the standards of care, but i have been in the commuty