>> mr. chair, is this the amended proposed amended resolution that was just handed to us, not the one that we have in our possession, correct? >> that is correct. >> okay. >> and i can explain further, supervisor breed. >> thank you. >> please do. >> thank you. thank you very much, chair yee. andrew shen, deputy city attorney. good afternoon again. at the request of the director of elections, there are a few minor amendments and what i just distributed to the committee, just to highlight them to you, i've actually colored them in yellow. and i can explain this. really basically one set of changes that causes some further amendments to be made. as you recall, at the last rules committee meeting on this legislation, one of the main purpose of these recent changes is to change the nomination

period specifically to clarify that it only applies to candidates and the mayor and the board of supervisors. some of the deadlines were changed in the [speaker not understood] of the committee to be considered. upon further consideration in preparation for today's hearing, we noticed one of the relevant nomination periods, the e 171 through e 146 after we consult an election calendar, we found out that e 171 date are the 171st day before election day actually fell on a saturday. obviously we didn't want to create a nomination time period where the first day on the option of the candidate filing on the first day when actually show up to city hall, the department of elections and find out it's closed. we wanted to move it a day friday in which the candidate could actually file the required papers. so, we actually wanted to shift the nomination period by simply one day up, the same time frame, 25-daytime frame and simply move it up so the first day of the time period would fall on a friday.

the thus the e 172 date. that resulted in amendments to the -- result in amendments marked on page 3 lines 17 and 18. and it caused a further change because the time frame for the withdrawal capped da -- candidacy 121 time period needed to be adjusted to account for that shift. and those amendments are found on page 5 line a and page 6 line 22. ~ line 8 i apologize for these minor technical changes. the director of elections is also here to explain further background if the committee so wishes. i also want to ~ also explain that these changes are not substantive so the committee can forward them to the full board after today's meeting. >> thank you for the explanation. let's see. mr. [speaker not understood], is this something that we have to do annually to change the dates because of whether it falls on a saturday or not?

>> no, no. these days are annually fall on the same day. so, it would be friday every year. the nomination period would be [speaker not understood]. >> got t okay, thank you. any other questions? seeing none, okay. is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. colleagues, any thoughts? can we move this item forward? without any objection? >> i first would like to make a motion to amend the current ordinance to the proposed changes that we just received. do i need to specify what those changes are? okay, thank you. >> okay, thank you. second? seeing no objection, so, again, can we move this item forward to the full board without objection with the amendments? >> so moved. >> okay, moved and seconded,

with no objection, it moves. item 6 -- item 7, actually. >> item number 7, hearing to consider appointing one member, term ending july 17, 2013, to the reentry council. applicant [speaker not understood] withdrew his application therefore we now have one seat and 10 applicants. >> thank you. i believe jessica [speaker not understood], the director of the reentry council is here to say a few words about the reentry council. >> thank you so much, supervisors, for hearing this item today. i'm jessica [speaker not understood], reentry division of adult probation and [speaker not understood]. thank you for considering appointment to fill seat 4. the purpose of the reentry council is to coordinate our local efforts to support adults returning from our county jails, state prisons and federal prisons.

we are empowered to identify funding at the local, state, and federal level so that we can bring to these issues to identify programs that work, barriers to safe and successful reentry, and to identify the unmet needs of the populations. some of our recent projects include an analysis to the justice reinvest initiative, looking at how we can better use our resources to protect public safety and reduce recidivism, and how we can improve policies that reduce the collateral consequences of criminal conductions [speaker not understood] to housing and employment. the council is composed of 123 members, department heads of the public safety agency and health and human service partners. 7 appointments, three by the mayor, four by the board of supervisors that are reserved exclusively for formerly incarcerated individuals. among these seven members, at least two have had experience providing services to individuals returning to the

system. at least one has been released in the last two years. at least one has served multiple terms and at least one be between the ages of 18 to 24. today you are considering appointment to seat 4, someone who has spent more than one term in custody. you have a brief memo in front of you containing the candidates today three of whom are here and anxious to speak before you. we will be back before you in july to seek appointment or reappointment of all four members because all of those term are ending in july. today is just for the unexpired portion of one of those terms. page 2 provides [speaker not understood] of the admin code which codifies the reentry council. and the last page outlines reporting relationships of council. i just want to note there are many subcommittees where we have dozens of opportunities for individuals to work with us and, so, regardless of the outcome of today's difficult decision, i just want to let

you know i'm looking forward to working with all the applicants in whatever capacity possible going forward. lastly, just want to underscore how important these appointments are. the eligibility requires that these individuals have personal experience of having been in the system because we know how people with direct experience bring unique expertise to policy discussions. that said, the applicants before you today bring much more than just this personal experience. they have the best and diverse professional and personal qualifications. thank you so much for considering them today. >> thank you very much for the explanation. so, i'll call to see if you are here or not. bradley reiss, are you here? here. >> come on up. if you want to make a statement. good afternoon, everybody.

my name is bradley reiss, i'm a san francisco native, formerly incarcerated obviously. and i've been out for several years clean and sober. i currently work -- i currently work for the [speaker not understood] charter school associated with the sheriff's department, cj5, flagship facility of the sheriff's department in san bruno, chairman of the [speaker not understood]. for the last several years i have been the voice and ears of people that are still incarcerated, placing hundreds of people into programs. and i'm here, excited about this appointment. i was here for the last appointment. i did not get elected for it so i'm really looking forward to getting elected this time. i feel like i'm a great candidate for it with my previous criminal history and more importantly what i'm doing now the last several years in the community of san francisco, helping people reenter the community one day at a time.

thank you very much. >> supervisor cohen, do you have a question? >> yes, i do, thank you. can you tell me, i might have missed it in your presentation, what kind of work are you doing within the reentry community now? so, part of what i do in custody with the inmates every day is we do planning for reentry -- >> planing? planning, reentry planning. everybody who is going to get out, we make them do -- we help them assess them and do a reentry plan so they can better navigate through the system once they get out, they're able to stay out. we meet with them. my colleague has a clothing store, we give clothing to. we meet them at meetings. we stay connected to them once they're out of custody. >> is that paid work or volunteer work? that's volunteer. that's after 4:00. >> thank you very much. i have no further questions. >> thank you. okay. >> is dennis kinkle here?

hi, how are you? as you well know, i have a term or multiple terms, quite a few of them actually. [speaker not understood]. i'm from sacramento. when i got placed here, i didn't know anybody, i didn't know anything. i've learned of opportunities that san francisco has and taking full advantage of them. i've came a long ways because of the resourcing that you guys have and i believe that i could help other people that are coming out of this system and bring something worth to what you guys have brought to me to them. because it is possible. that's what it's all about for me, helping somebody that's

been -- i've been in prison after prison, federal, you know what i mean? so, if i could do it, anybody can. they just got to know how and they don't know how, and i do, i believe i can help other people to learn how and take the right steps to, to turn their life around. >> okay. are you finished? yes. >> great. supervisor cohen? >> how do you help people now? right now, i had like this great support system. i'm not involved in no organization. i work at a good will, which is an organization. i'm full time there. and they bring in jrts, which are job readiness training people. and they have like -- they need direction. i give them directions, i give them support. i tell them like all the opportunities good will has,

st. anthony has, glide has, what a gd does for them. because without gd, you can't really -- you can't even get a job without a gd. i go to school now. i'm a full-time nighttime school through san francisco college, city college and looking forward to going on to state. so, i mean, i just know of all the resources. >> i have a question. how did you find out about this seat? i was advised through good will at first, and then my probation officer is dan zarita, and i mentioned it to him. and he pushed it forward, told me go ahead and go through with it. that i'd probably be a good candidate for it. at first i wasn't really sure what all it was for, what it was about. and after i studied and seen -- like i just recently came across a book that's from the

reentry council of all the opportunities that they have from san francisco resourcing and stuff. and i just believe there's a lot more you could add to it. and other directions from halfway houses that they -- it's kind of difficult being in certain places, certain rehabilitation centers. if you really are trying to better yourself, they make it like -- it's almost like they're against you. so, i mean, there's like -- i have ideas that would help the people that are there and directions which way to go when they do have. like they have these things called dars, getting out of a halfway house. if they're used properly and they really want to rehabilitate and get a job and go forward with their life and leave prison behind, there's so many ways to do it here.

>> thank you. >> thank you. next person would be jamie brewster. are you here? >> does that mean they're withdrawing or just not here? >> just not here. kathleen culhane? she had a family emergency. >> thank you. malik wade, are you here? >> and malik, as i'm sitting here, he literally stepped out [speaker not understood] he'll be back in a moment. >> we'll give him an opportunity. michael santos, come on up. hello, supervisors. my name is michael santos. i am recently released from prison. i began serving a prison sentence in 1987 when i was 23 years old. as a consequence of some bad decisions i made as a young man, i served 25 consecutive

years in prison. in fact, i'm still in prison right now. i am a resident of the halfway house on 111 tier street. while i was incarcerated i earned an undergraduate degree and master's degree from accredited universities and published numerous books on the subject of preparing for successful law abiding life upon release. i am currently working with golden state lumber whose corporate offices are in petaluma and has three lumber yards here in bay area. we're opening another one and i'm working with the employer to change their corporate policy to -- hiring policies that prevent them from hiring felons. i have launched a program to help people prepare for success upon release and i would like very much to work with the san francisco reentry council since this is going to be my home. i was recently appointed a lecturer at san francisco state university where i'll be teaching on the subject of architecture of imprisonment beginning in the fall semester. my journey through prison has been longer than my life

outside of prison, but because of the experience i've had in serving terms in prisons of every security level, from united states penitentiary, medium security prison, [speaker not understood] prison and recently minimum security camp, i know the system. ~ better than i know living in society. but the work i've done has helped me land on my feet and i'd like to share those experiences with others. >> thank you. any questions? seeing none, thank you. thank you. >> next person is noel, noel valdivia. [speaker not understood]. >> robert bowden. how are you doing this afternoon, supervisors?

my name is robert bowden. i grew up in san francisco and north carolina, i spent 16 years of my life being incarcerated from age 12. i got released from prison in 1997 and i promised god if he gave me another chance, i promised my family that this time that i wasn't going to go back. that's been 15 years ago. many times when i got out, i wanted to change, but i couldn't find no resources. so, the home boy hotline i found myself in 2005, and we call it 72 hours of hope because a lot of times when you get out, you have $200 and promise god, promise your family, promise your girl, your kids, and temptation kicks in, you can't find no resources even though you want to, you try, just temptation kicks in because, you know, i call it 72 hours of hope. so, at the home boy hotline that i founded, what i do we

often -- i have a son [speaker not understood] and what i did, i was walking through the tenderloin when i got out. i couldn't really find no job. the third day i walked past a shelter 39 fell, it was 24-hour place where you can just go. i went inside there and i asked the gentleman, please give me a job. i told him my story, told him i'd do whatever i could, start from the bottom. he gave me a job and it changed my whole life. when i walked out, he told me come back the next day i was hired. when i walked out of there, i said i was going to find me some [speaker not understood] in this community and that's what i did. so, what i did, i developed a website, home boy hotline, i went and got the 501(c) (3) and i found 20, i got 10 to 25 employers all over the bay area that's willing to hire people, to shelter, in the tenderloin, i got a couple telemarketing places. also i deal with on the private

industry council in oakland, i deal with western community center, i deal with hospitality house, downtown in san francisco. these places help you get your resume together. and what i did also, i went and found all the websites that would offer job training. i just put everything on one website, any type of place that would help you with a legal resource and housing, i found a place in oakland, let you stay there for 18 months and you can get truck driving skills, construction trade. upon release a lot of people don't want to go back to the same environment but they don't have a choice. [speaker not understood]. and home boy hotline is not [speaker not understood] bias, race bias, it's for men and women. i go to juvenile halls. i go to prisons, also i go to 1 11 taylor and i go to a halfway house and do a presentation every three months to let them know what the home boy hotline

is based upon. i get letters all the time from prisoners and phone calls. i really didn't know nothing about the reentry council to be honest with you. i work real close with the healing circle, women in the community have been victimized by violence and their children, and matty scott, you know, kept encouraging me telling me to come apply. that's why i applied for it. to be honest with you, the reason that i feel as though i'm qualified for this seat is i think a person that's trying to transfer back into the community in transition, and trying to change, can only be affected by someone who has changed and transitioned because i consider myself a walking miracle. i'm dedicate today this reentry because i want to be a source of inspiration and i want to provide a source for my community. i help restore this community. when crack came, i was right

there on leavenworth. i feel bad about that because there were kids affected by my profits. i have nieces and nephews in the western district and bayview right now. i want them to be proud of their uncle when they speak of me. that's very important. i want my mother and grandmother and them to be proud of me. so, my success is based on me helping somebody else be successful. and that's why i'm here today. and i really do think if you a -- appoint me, that i could do what i do on a bigger scale. i got a 501(c) (3) but never got it going because -- dealing with grant writers has been an obstacle for me. i didn't want that to stop what i was doing. so, i continue to do it. right now in september, god's will, i'm going to go to school for grant writing myself. if just kept waiting on the grant writers, i don't think i would be where i'm at with my organization right now. right now my organization is throughout all the correctional facilities of california. i get calls and letters all day.

so, we start off small, but each year the numbers grew and i'm proud to say last year we have 62 people gained employment and housing. [speaker not understood]. >> supervisor cohen? >> thank you. just as a point of clarification. you're employed as a telemarketer and hvh is a nonprofit that like a labor of love? excuse me? >> so, your nonprofit, is that your full-time work? no, i do it on the side. you know, i'm the founder. i work there, i do it on the side, but i work somewhere else. >> okay. that's what i was trying -- i have like -- i be on the radio. i get volunteers to come in and help me. i had somebody help me build my website. what i do, people ka contact me, i do assessment of their needs, fill out a form, what exactly do you need. i have them go to the website first and see if you find anything on there you need,

housing, job, have them first try to find out what would you do so we can get a resume done for you and after that i have volunteers work with me when we develop the caseload, we checkup on them every three days and then biweekly. we keep checking on them until they find what they need. that's how we've been doing it. none of them was paid. it's all volunteers. they come and they go. >> supervisor breed. >> thank you. i just wanted to know, what are -- i know you mentioned it earlier in your presentation, but can you just give me an example of some of the job opportunities that you've been able to help people achieve? i've got a couple people job at the shelters, downtown in san francisco, the place where i work at telecom p ink, they hire people every day. i've been getting a lot of people jobs there. i refer a lot of people to the private industry council downtown oakland.

they've been going through a program broken through barriers. most of the people, i send them to the western community edition program or either through breaking barriers council. i'm just like a one stop. that's all i am. ~ tion i tell them i can't get you no job, but i can help you get your resume together, direct you toward some job training ask things of this nature. >> so, do you, do you have an estimate of, for example, with the people that you mention, 60 or so jobs, do you know what's the longest time frame any of those persons has held onto those jobs, do you keep track of any of that information? i can't say i'm aware of how long they held onto it, but i have heard people come back, they come back sick months later, nine months later and they are still working. ~ six they're thank furl. i do a fund-raiser once a year and sometimes they come back and speak at the fund-raiser. >> so, in terms of housing -- yes, ma'am.

>> -- what do you do, what kind of housing are you helping people to access? well, i provide them with a place called men of valor. it's a program in oakland. you can stay there 18 months and get [speaker not understood] and forklift certification. that's the only housing opportunity i have at this time. and also i work with the shelters if they don't have no place to really stay. i work with the shelters and i got a rapport with all the shelters downtown, i can get them a shelter bed until they can find some permanent housing. that's what i do. >> so, for full time of course you work. yes, ma'am. >> and you do all of this in terms of volunteering, you spend a lot of hours out there developing relationships with people -- yes, ma'am. >> -- to provide housing and to provide employment for people who have just been released from prison? yes, ma'am.

the phone number, the 24-hour hotline is my phone number. >> you're quite popular. i mean, i'm just -- you know, i mean, i'm blessed to be standing here, you know what i mean? so, i feel i owe my community this. this is where my mom and them saw me a long time ago that i didn't see. you know what i mean? so, i'm blessed to stand here today and to be able to help somebody. so, i don't -- i mean, you can say [speaker not understood]. >> what are you hoping to bring to the reentry council that could make it better than what it is now? well, just to -- the emotion of the temptation that a person is faced with, the emotion that i'm still faced with every day, the challenges that a person is faced with when they get out, you know what i'm saying? a lot of people want to change, but they're full of guilt and

shame and disappointment, you know, wrote all those letters to your family and stuff, you have no money coming in the house and you feel shameful. so, my thing is to be able to bring to them how you can overcome this shame and how to help a person deal with the shame and understand if you're making $1.25 a day, $8 is a come up. so, i'm here to let them know how to transfer that to the public and to transfer that to people when you're talking to them. it's the passion about how successful you can become and how not to try to get a -- you know, you can't get a $25 job a lot of times overnight and the public don't owe you nothing. >> and are you serving the residents from all over, from san francisco, from oakland, from -- all of these people coming out of san francisco county jails or where are they coming from? mostly county jails, penitentiary right now.

i just got a lot of resources in 916 and 70 7. right now i done stretched the home boy hotline to 916 and 71 7. we mostly been dealing with oakland and san francisco, but not even two weeks ago i got a lot of resources from the sacramento area. ~ i don't have a lot of resources in los angeles, but i know people down there that i refer them to if they're from los angeles. >> so, this is a very organic-style operation in that you just do whatever you have to do? yes, ma'am. i'm just trying to -- just trying to do my part, ma'am. like i said, i really -- i feel bad about the things that i did in this community and the threat that i had on people's family with crack cocaine. i know i had affect on people's family. you know, when i see the things, the wildness of the children that come from, you know, not having a strong mother or father in their household, and this is a good chance when i was benefiting back in the late '80s down in

the tenderloin, that that child was being affected by my benefits. so, that ain't nothing i'm really proud of. so, this is my way of trying to redeem myself, ma'am. >> thank you. yes, ma'am. >> thank you. stephen fields, are you here? come on up. so, the reason i'm interested in becoming part of the reentry council, it's something that i've always wanted to do, but i didn't really have the time for. some of my successes here in san francisco is that i piloted a program with the juvenile corrections programs at a youth guided center. piloted a program called principle