the building is big, there is space enough for both communities, and to reach out and make connections between the veterans community and the arts community and make it an accommodation rather than a battle. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you, commissioner. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is wallace, and i am a past president of the veterans affairs commission, and i am proud to be a commissioner. i am the only korean war veteran on the commission presently. i wanted to say that the commission, and its 28 year history, has always had a problem getting women veterans to apply for the commission. we have a mandate that we must have three women. those watching this on tv in city hall or in the room here, if you know of women veterans, please get them to get their

applications in. we have had two openings, one for one and a half years, the other four two years. in the history of the commission, there have only been for asian americans on the commission. this candidate will be the fifth asian placed on the commission. she will be the third filipino- american on the commission, and she will be the first filipino- american on the commission. i did not come here today because of that information. i came here today to support this highly qualified american veteran who will be a tremendous asset and great addition to the commission. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you, commissioner, for being here. is there any other public comment on this item? seeing none, public, it is now

closed. any questions from colleagues? supervisor elsbernd: thank you for coming forward and applying. we have had a lack of women applicants, and thank you for your service in the military and coming forward and i look forward to working together for years to come. i would be happy to make a motion to move forward. supervisor kim: great, i wanted to add my appreciation for a plan for this position. i know it is challenging to find women representatives to the veterans commission, and it seems like he will bring a lot of energy and great ideas. i note it is a huge concern for our city as our young soldiers are coming back from their current operations going on in the middle east that they come back to a city where they find housing and jobs. we know many veterans often end up homeless, and we want as much as possible to be proactive

about soldiers coming back. we appreciate all of your thoughts, and thank you so much for applying, and i'm happy to support this. supervisor elsbernd: it will not be a committee report. that is a motion to move forward with recommendations. supervisor kim: we have a motion to move forward with recommendations. thank you so much. madam clerk, can you please call item 4? >> item four, hearing to consider appointing four members, terms ending november 19, 2012, to the bicycle advisory committee. supervisor kim: we reached out to all of the applicants and only one could make it today. we like to continue this item to ensure the directive, but we want mr. tilles to comment. or he is not here today. he was the only appointee to

confirm. ok. i guess we will open up for public comment on this item, then. seeing none, it is now closed. colleagues, i am more than happy to continue this item. i realize you may be familiar with your appointees, if you would like to move them forward. i believe that all of them are rhee appointments -- are reappointments to the seats. i feel comfortable knowing -- ok, great. so we have a motion to move all four applicants for to come up with recommendation. i believe we can do that without opposition. they have all been nominated by their district supervisor and are currently members of the bicycle advisory committee and will be continuing on to another term. so we do that without

opposition. thank you. madam clerk, item five? a>> item five, hearing to consider appointing four members, terms ending july 17, 2013, to the reentry council. but there are four seats, 15 applicants. supervisor kim: thank you. i want to express my appreciation for all of the work that was done in advance. we have 15 applicants, for seats. i wanted to say to the applicant's here today, it was an incredible honor to read all of your applications and responses to the questions. you have led amazing lives and have amazing stories, and i want to appoint all of you to the reentry council, but i appreciate your leadership and advocacy and work on working with the formally incarcerated to ensure housing, employment, and it was an honor to learn of all of your stories in the process.

>> thank you so much for hearings for seats 1 at 34. i am jessica, staff of the reentry council. you have three things before you, a brief memo with a list of applicants and the seats for which each are eligible, and also a fact sheet about the reentry council and a roster of correct councilmembers. the addition of the reentry council is to support adults coming back from our san francisco county jails, state prisons, and federal prisons. a critical part of this council are the seats dedicated to formally incarcerated people so that we can have their expertise and direct experience to inform how we can improve the policies and programs related to reentry. your current appointments are -

- mary and gerald have applied for reappointment and are before your commission today. seats 1 through 4, all require that they have been an inmate in the jail. see 2 must have experience providing two individuals in the justice system because it is important that service provider perspective at the table. seat 3 is an individual who must have been released from custody within the last two years. it is a board that a recent experienced incarceration. the seat 4 is dedicated with somebody who has multiple experiences of incarceration, because sadly that is the more typical experience is to recidivate. his support to have that reflected on the council. that said, these individuals have met the eligibility.

they will talk to you about their qualifications, which are deep and varied, and i am available to answer any questions you have. thank you. supervisor kim: 94 all of your work on this. at this time, we will call up all of the applicants in the order that you are listed on the agenda. first, we have panora roomel. >> hi, supervisors. my name is panora, and i believe i qualified for seat 1, 3, and four. i have been incarcerated on different levels, a couple of times in county jail, and i have previously been released within two years, march 17, 2010.

i feel like i qualify for this job because someone at the community justice center has been telling me i've been doing this a long time, anyway, helping people, even when i was going through my situation. i put together packages for people who were leaving before myself, and they successfully made it out, and a couple of them are still doing good maintaining themselves. i believe i am good for this job because i can relate to different people on all levels. but excuse me, i am nervous speaking here. supervisor kim: you are doing fine. >> all my life, people have come to me, i am easy to talk to, and very resourceful. if i don't know, i will research. i have no problem with that.

it i love helping people. that is just the type of person i am naturally. then, since being incarcerated, i have integrated these other things into my lives. first, dealing with the individual, what their needs are, and then just taking it from there. supervisor kim: thank you. >> so i am the stand you guys may have questions. supervisor kim: any questions? thank you. we got your application light, and we knew you are eligible for seat 1, but could we confirm her eligibility for the of the seats? we could confirm that. thank you. >> on the supplemental application, she indicated she

had experience providing service to individuals, and that is it a qualifier for seat 2. supervisor kim: okay, thank you very much. next, we have kathleen culhane. she informed our office should not make it, but i wanted to make sure. nicholas gregoratos. ok, we will call him later. mary campbell? >> good afternoon. i am mary campbell. i have served two years on the reentry council and i would be honored to serve another two years. and my qualifications are, yes, i was in prison. but also, the importance of my being on the council is i have a lot of experience, unfortunately, and domestic violence and women's issues.

and mothers being incarcerated issues. that is important, because of women in prison, most of the offenses are related to trauma, domestic violence. i would say as high as 80%, but i did not know it if that is the exact statistics. it is support for women to have a voice to war victims of domestic violence, and i would be honored to serve and. supervisor kim: thank you, ms. campbell. next, we have kimberly courtney. and then that we have kevin joseph. -- and then we have kevin joseph. >> hi, my name is kimberly courtney. i qualify, doing some county time in at san francisco, san mateo, not multiple terms, but

upon my release from custody, but i immediately put myself into a rehabilitation program and was allowed to do a couple of internships with the public defender's office and the social workers that allow me to go into custody and work with women who are needing services while i was still on parole. since then, i have done multiple jobs, mostly within custody. primarily getting people treatment from jail, facilitating the paperwork, making sure the lawyers know what is available for them, calling multiple programs, seeing if i can get that available for the clients that want that. i take requests for free entry services all day, every day. i work with a charter school, so i am that cj-5 and cj-2.

some of my clients are the students in the school, and we have hundreds. it is reentry services, not just substance abuse, how to get them registered for school, help them get into a shelter of that is what they want, if they are in a violent situation, planning a safety plan with them. currently, most recently have been working at the women's reentry center with the women who have been released from custody who still have to do some swaps services or maybe electronic monitoring while they're on probation. helping them find jobs, look for jobs, learn how to look for a job, and multiple services. there is nothing we won't do. we will transport them to treatment. i feel fortunate to be able to do this work after living my

life a different way for a very long time. i have been to school. i have learned many things aabot addiction and criminal thinking, but most of all, i have walked through the process. i have been released. i had to start over. what did i need to get. and how to maneuver through the system to get your needs met. i certainly have an opinion on how to help others do the same. supervisor kim: thank you so much. >> ok. supervisor kim: i am a big fan of teachers. i think it is amazing what you have been able to do there. thank you. >> thanks. supervisor kim: next, we have kevin joseph, then jamie brewster. is kevin joseph here? if not, jamie brewster.

>> good afternoon, supervisors. thank you for this opportunity. my name is jamie brewster, and i am a program manager at the reconstruction solar training program, where have been employed just over six years. i was also recently appointed to the work force advisory committee by former supervisor daly. in 1995, a graduate from state prison. i did at 3 terms and to violations before getting my life together and back on track. in 2001, i was discharged from parole and never looked back. by help people enter society and be successful in life. if given the application is serve, i will do everything in my power to help those in need. but i just want to say that i dedicate my life to assisting those who have been down the

path i have been down. it is extremely important to me. i died individuals down the right road, and that is why i am here. -- it is extremely important that i died individuals down the right road and that is why i'm here. supervisor kim: thank you. i saw you speak at the graduation and it is important to work you do. thank you. next, we have gerald miller. after gerald miller, we have hobert lee. >> good afternoon. before we get started, i want to say supervisor kim, thank you very much for having office hours on saturday. i have lived in that neighborhood between the 600 block and 700 block of the embarcadero since 1981, and have never been office hours. i want to thank you for that. supervisor kim: thank you. >> i have served on the reentry council the number of years.

i was with one reentry council when there were two. i find it funny that one of my qualifications that gets me there is that i was a terrible criminal. i have bad in and out of jail, and just cannot figure that out. i actually spent 15 years at delancey street, and still cannot figure out what i wanted to do. i went to truck driving school, graduated from colgate university. after that, i left and moved across the street and started working for the center on juvenile and criminal justice, which is where i employed now. basically what i do is i case manage and manage programs for juvenile justice. i also worked with people who are trying to get back on track and kind of get their feet back on the ground.

i am just looking for reappointment because i like what i am doing. i was on the reentry council before it was sexy, when we would just meeting in one of these rooms somewhere. sometimes we cannot have their room, sometimes we got kicked out of the room. now we are at the state building, at the federal building. i'd just like what i am doing, and i think san francisco is over the represented by african- americans oughin the criminal justice and juvenile justice system, and i just think that having people see that there is a way for bringing people that you can actually get out of what you are into and become a regular civilian, i think that helps a lot of people just by being able to say, ok, look, if he could do it, i could do it.

supervisor kim: thank you. i there any questions for the applicant? seeing none, think. you have been serving two years on the council correctly? and also, thank you for your work on the treasure island community advisory committee as well. next, we have hobert lee. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is hobert lee. my qualifications for this commission are rather extensive. i have had three straight -- three state prison terms. i have been to the san francisco county jail on numerous occasions, but this last time to chose to make a change in my life. when i got released from prison in 2009, i immediately went to my parole officer and inform him -- and informed him of

appreciate the opportunity to get into drug treatment. i went and immediately got myself into walden house and the diagnosis program, because i not only have a substance abuse problem, i suffer from post- traumatic stress disorder and i am also hiv-positive. once i complete it the stabilization process at walden house, i immediately went to my case manager and asked if they could get me some assistance in furthering my treatment process. being a veteran, they told me it would be a good idea to go to third street, the downtown va clinic, and connect with them, which i did. and i was granted to admittance

into the program at treasure island, where i stayed at 18 months, graduated from there. in the process of being in that program, i participated in computer one and computer two at the park presidio facility, and completed that. i went to city college and took a course in community mental health so that i could better addressed ptsd and find what it was that kept me stock and -- stuck in that bad behavior for such a long time. i completed that, caught my certificate in community mental health, and was told about the position that became available with the city and county of san francisco pretrial diversion project.

and i got hired by my then- supervisor as a peer navigator, assisting inmates coming out of county jail as well as state prison who were hiv-positive in finding -- what i did, i assisted them in finding primary-care providers, social services, social security, making sure they made it to court on time, and just this may i applied for a job with the department of veteran affairs, where i am now employed as a vocational rehabilitation specialist and job developer for the veterans administration. and my primary duties there are to assist veterans who are coming from -- coming home or at risk of homelessness or are

homeless in finding gainful employment. we go door to door and we connect with numerous employers, and offer them different incentives in order to hire our veterans, as well as we set up training sections for mock interviews, teaching our veterans and how to navigate the usa jobs and cal jobs process as far as resume writing. and i do some case management and i report directly to the secretary of veterans affairs. those are my qualifications. supervisor kim: thank you so much. we were talking about ensuring our veterans cannot become homeless and are able to find jobs and housing.

thank you so much for that work, mr. lee. next, we have bradley reiss, then robert mansfield. >> good afternoon. my name is actually bradley reiss, and i am a san francisco native, formerly in course or a person. am currently working with the charter school with the sheriff's department of the in custody treatment program. substance abuse, behavior modification and reentry is what we focus on. i spent most of my life in and out of institutions. this is my third job. the work in a shelter for a few years and i worked at the open house -- and i worked at walden house. i think i would be a great addition to the council.

my experience before and after incarceration, so i would like to be considered. it is a passion of mine. i refer clients every day all through san francisco. and that is it. supervisor kim: thank you, mr. reiss. >> thank you. supervisor kim: next, we have robert mansfield. i will call leslie levitas just in case she came, but she informed are often she would not be here, then ronnie muniz. mr. mansfield? >> hazmat the 1980's, 1985, in and out of the county jail, and