avalos. we are joined by christina olague. we have david campos and we will be joined by the other committee member eric mar shortly. the clerk of the committee -- actually, we have two. dina brady, who is coming on. and our illustrious gail johnson, who is actually clerking her last committee ever on the board of supervisors. after 36 years of service. i have been working with her for eight years and she has been very capable to work with. madam clerk, do we have any announcements?

>> yes, mr. chairman. if you wish to submit comments for the committee, please submit them to the rail to the left. >> call the first item, please. >> to retroactively expand a grant for the calendar year for does-disproportionate contact in the juvenile district system. >> this is the second year of the grant.

we focused on the bayview district because of the numbers of african-american youth and during the juvenile system in san francisco. it is a targeted plan to not only increase the understanding of the patrol officers and all of the officers at the bayview station and the concepts of this proportionality within the system, racial and ethnic disparities that exist within the system, and to increase their awareness and to offer our assistance in the probation department.

this is the second year where we have done it working with the police department. part of our background is with you and all police warrants. some of them are -- juvenile warrants. some of them are not for anything more than just failure to appear. not necessarily absconding from the court, by just failure to appear. we are moving in a direction of electronic notification. similar to when we get our notices for wealth changes. there is nothing more important

around a family right now than what involves their appearance before the court. we are also examining every one of our major decision points within the juvenile probation department. at the front door to when kids are booked into detention, we have a risk assessment to help guide those decisions. and we have employed the services of a nationally recognized expert in racial and ethnic disparity, the hayward burns institute, founded by james bell formerly with the youth law center. they are partnering with us to examine the risk assessment and make some changes. we are in the process of doing a dry run where we are examining some changes that we made in the instrument to see if these changes can reduce the numbers of the use of color that enter

our system. -- youth of color that enter our system. this is a grant to help continue the efforts in the department that will continue well beyond the expiration of this grant. as i indicated, they have preceded our use of this grant. >> just to be clear, this does not include any staffing positions? rex know. >> thank you very much. -- >> no. >> thank you very much. supervisor mar? >supervisor mar: you said it was a multi-year grant. how far will that go? gregg's to the end of this -- >> it begins this year. >>supervisor mar: for the

salaries and benefits, what does that person do? >> tanah red, who found her way to the adult probation department to advance her career we are utilizing our entire staff. supervisor mar: you mentioned james bell. >> he was just a contractor. supervisor mar: thank you. supervisor olague: i would have to support anything that would ease this issue, the disproportionate number of men of color that are in the juvenile system.

if we could get some feedback in a few months, that would be good. >> can i just add one point? the leadership in bayview when the captain was there, now the efforts extend beyond bayview in the interests of the entire city and this particular issue. the good news is that the numbers of users entering into this system is clearly pronounced this last year. while the percentages are slightly the same in terms of the percentages of use in cassidy representing the use of color, -- percentages of the youth in custody representing the youth of color is the same.

>> and i would like to see the recidivism rates. supervisor mar: with racial and ethnic disparities, whenever there is policy having to deal with juvenile, are you looking at the impacts especially on latin-american and african- american populations? >> that is a good point. we deal with racial and ethnic disparity as we examine every one of our policies. we put that on like a lines. supervisor avalos: any member of public like to comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. can we move this item forward? we have a motion to move forward with recommendations. next item, please. >> item two, ordinands amending

the san francisco police code by amending section 65-65 -- amending section 65. supervisor avalos: this item is sponsored by supervisor campos, who is here. supervisor campos: thank you very much, mr. chairman. let me provide a little bit of background about this item. i know we have a number of members from the public that are here and i want to thank them for being here as well. various entities including churches and health-care facilities as well as welfare facilities have a significant number of customers who are

dropped off by motor vehicles and to facilitate that, we have asked the city through the transportation agency to establish a white zone. that is essentially a passenger loading area at the streaker -- street curb fronting the area. when you ask for a white sound, you are required to pay a fee, attend a public hearing, and the matter of request for the creation of a white zone ultimately has to be approved by the city's traffic engineer. we have seen as we have studied this issue that there are many benefits to having wide zones. one of the obvious benefits is that they reduce the number of vehicles that are double parked on city streets. i think anyone who has used our

streets knows that this is a recurring problem throughout san francisco. another benefit of having a white zone is that it alleviates the need for drivers to circle around for blocks in search of a parking space, which is not only bad in terms of traffic, but also bad for the environment. there are many benefits to having the right zones when it comes to having traffic congestion, improving the safety of not only other vehicles, but also pedestrians, and also reducing vehicle emissions. what we have found, though, is that even though there is this process for the creation of a white zone, there is nothing that actually makes it an offense or makes it illegal to obstruct access to a white zone.

which i have found to be surprising. you can imagine that if you are going to have a white zone, you would not want for people to be able to actually obstruct it, which is the way the law currently works. what we are proposing is simply, in a very, and sensible way, adding a new section to the police code that would make it illegal to obstruct the white zone or the adjacent sidewalk between the curb and fronting the building. by obstruction, we mean the placement of objects, materials, substances or other material on the sidewalk. anytime you take up public

space, you want to be sure your crafting it in a very narrow way. i want to thank hillary in my office who has been working with community members and with the city attorney's office to be sure this is done in the most narrowly tailored way that we can do it. the prohibition that we're talking about would apply during the hours that the white zone is restricted to passengers loading and unloading. it really strikes the white -- right balance in making sure that open spaces in san francisco remain open and public. it is specifically targeted to deal with the issue that the benefits of a white zone would be undermining if there is no prohibition on people obstructing them. it is a very commonsensical piece of legislation. under the legislation, a violation of this amendment

would constitute an infraction. it would be a fine not to exceed $100 for the first violation, two hundred dollars for the second violation -- $200 for the second violation if it occurs within a year and up to $500 for a third violation within a year. we hope that certainly -- we would expect that we would have no violations and if a -- an individual is continually violating, we certainly do not want to see that because of the implications to some of our communities in terms of access to the facilities. even though it took a long time to craft this in the right way to take into concern all of the conflicting interests, we believe this is a very commonsensical piece of legislation and would ask my

colleagues today for your support. before i turn it over -- because i have a number of people here to read -- to present, i want to highlight that i have circulated a very small amendment to the legislation that i would respectfully ask the committee to pass. -- to move and to pass. it basically reads as follows. any property or equipment placed on the white stone curb or adjacent sidewalk by the owner or tenant of the premises fronted by the adjacent sidewalk or curb for the purpose of facilitating access a way that is not otherwise prohibited by state or local law. this recognizes instances where there may be a church or maybe a business that may have something that is placed within the area

that is covered by the statute. it allows that flexibility. it is something that we think makes sense and makes the implementation more practical. and we are certainly mindful of the fact that when you do anything involving public space, you have to consider all of the different public -- implications. with that said, i would like to ask john huang of the department of public works to talk briefly about the state of affairs, if you will, in terms of how white zones work and the existing rules around them. mr. huang, thank you for being here. and thank you to the department of public works for all of these support and help and trying to

have a common sensible approach here. >> good morning, supervisors. currently under the public works co, there are a variety of rules relating to the opening of a sidewalk where pedestrians normally travel. we can require that area to be clear. however, in these cases from when the curbside -- where we typically call the furnishings down -- furnishing zone, in other words, trees and other such things, specifically as it relates to access, we want people to keep it clear for there to be access to the sidewalk. we believe this to be a well thought out piece of

legislation. >> thank you. unless my colleagues have questions for you, i do not have any. again, i want to thank you, and especially mr. nuru, who has been very helpful to us in getting as information. i would like to call on carla johnson, who is with the mayor's office of disability. and if i might add, a bernal heights district resident. i think it is important for her to be here because this legislation and the issue of accessibility to white zones has a specific -- special significance for that community. i wonder if you can speak to that. and again, thank you be -- for being here, ms. johnson. >> thank you for inviting me to speak before the committee this morning. i'm carl johnson, director of the mayor's office on disability.

i'm here to speak in support of this legislation that would prohibit placing obstructions on the sidewalk adjacent to a white zone. the reason my office takes a position on this is because it is an issue that actually affects people with disabilities and seniors and families. obstructed access to the public's right of way is a civil-rights matter. the white zone itself serves as a safe zone for safely disembarking from vehicles. those could be their personal vehicles, maybe with a friend or family that is dropping you off at your medical appointment, or it could be a taxi or a public transit vehicle. many people who have mobility disabilities may find it difficult to travel more than a short distance down a sidewalk, which is why it is so important to have direct access to these facilities like medical offices or senior housing, or places of

worship and institutions. i have a personal story to my mother is 83 years old and she lives in an apartment building where there is a wide zone in front of the building. she cannot even walk half a block. when i take her out to dinner and such, i use that white zone to get her safely in and out of the vehicles so we can be on our way. if we did not have that, it would be my temptation to break the law and double parked in front of the street because this is my mother. i want to make sure she is safe. but luckily, we do have a wide zone, so it makes it easy for me to do that transaction. when there are sidewalk obstructions that prevent someone from either getting on the safe sidewalk, or travelling down the sidewalk from point a to point b, we find people out into the street to get around

the obstruction. there are too many stories of pedestrians who have been struck and either seriously injured or killed by vehicles because they left the safe zone and went out into the vehicle -- vehicular way. i thank you for your common sense approach for this legislation. i'm very supportive and appreciative. >> thank you, ms. johnson. i appreciate the personal story. i think we all have those kinds of stories. if anything, i think people would be surprised there is nothing prohibiting the obstruction, which does not make a lot of sense. >> it was surprising to me. supervisor avalos: if i may, i would like to call on laurie cook from the department of public health. one of the questions that comes up is the impact of not having anything prohibiting instruction -- obstruction in terms of accessing health facilities.

we want to promote access to health care in san francisco and a prerequisite to that access is that people are actually able to enter a help facility. thank you to the department of public health for being here. >> thank you, and good morning to the members of the public safety committee. my name is laurie cook and i work for the san francisco public safety office of policy planning. i'm here to support the language of section 65 because we believe it will increase patient access to health-care facilities and needed preventive care. as you know, the mission of dph is to protect the health of all san franciscans. and we want to ensure that all san francisco residents have equal and safe and respect for the acts as to achieve what they need and drive off the mall

access and health and wellness. we want to make this the easy choice so residents avoid hospitalization and cost the department use. we believe the proposed changes to the san francisco police code have the power to change access for all san franciscans, and particularly those who are vulnerable, such as seniors, persons with disabilities, young children and others. we believe the san francisco board can help to seek a per great care when needed. supervisor avalos: right now, an individual can place personal items on a sidewalk adjacent to

the white zone. being able to do that through the placement of articles can prevent access. it can prevent members of the public from crossing the sidewalk. it can be particularly dangerous for some communities. seniors, individuals with disabilities, including individuals with mobility or vision impairment. i want to point that out. with that, i would simply ask for your consideration and support for this marriage -- this measure.

i look forward to public comment on this item. can we proceed to public comment? >> clearly, this access that we need to have in front of the establishments that serve everyone, including those that serve people with disabilities is essential. i'm very happy to be cosponsoring this ordinance. let's open it up for public comment. any member of the public like to comment? i have a few cards as well. >> i am representing walked san francisco. it is important to note that the speaker from the mayor's office

said, many times there is an instruction to the sidewalk and people do end up having to go out on the road. there are documented instances where people have done that and been hit by a vehicle. the other obstruction in addition to personal property our peoples vehicles obstructing the sidewalk, which is the legal right now, but not always well enforced. -- which is illegal right now, but always well enforced. -- not always well enforced. if we do not see this ordinance has been a money-making operation. if we would just like to see it as something that people just do at of common courtesy for their fellow residents. supervisor avalos: next speaker, please. >> i am the director of community engagement at the bernard community center.

i'm behalf -- i'm here on behalf of the seniors we serve there. we serve about 1060 seniors that is at both our centers. it 144 of them are frail and have mobility issues. they rely on transit and family members to drop them off so they can access the services we offer. this will possibly benefit the community members that we serve. this law is supposed to keep us safe. it is there for so many purposes. it is only fair that we use it to our full advantage. it is supposed to keep our seniors save. every day we see them come in and out and it is already hard for them to gather their -- get out of their cars and then go back home.

this would be beneficial to us. thank you for your time. supervisor avalos: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> good morning. thank you for the opportunity to speak before you my name is brenden. i am an orientation and mobility specialist for the blind in san francisco. i would like to offer support for the proposed legislation. many of our clients and community members with vision impairment or blindness, to them come out sidewalk obstructions are a tremendous difficulty and to many of them are a hazard. -- to them, sidewalk obstructions are a tremendous the goatee, and too many of them -- tremendous difficulty, and too many of them are a hazard. it would be helped if the

sidewalk -- it would not help if the sidewalk were somehow obstructed. for clients with vision impairment, their ability to perceive an obstruction in front of them is tremendously decrease. there are ways for them to reduce the hazard of contacting an obstacle, ought to be over an obstacle in the sidewalk. but no one is better than the assets of that obstacle. -- the absence of that obstacle. this is a very commonsensical piece of legislation and we would like to lend our support thank you for your time. -- our support. thank you for your time. supervisor avalos: thank you. i am bob. -- >> i am bob. i came specifically to support this legislation. i have been called -- been i have been called -- been involved with the citizenry