>> good afternoon. welcome to our rules committee meeting for thursday, september 19, 2013. i am supervisor norman yee and i will be chairing this meeting. and to my left is supervisor cohen. and to my right is supervisor breed. the clerk is linda wong today. actually every meeting is linda work. the committee would also like to acknowledge the staff at s.f.g. tv, charles kriminak and jennifer low who record each of our meetings and make the transcripts available to the public online. ~ madam clerk, are there any announcements? >> yes, mr. chair. please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices. [speaker not understood] should be included as part of the file submitted to the clerk. items acted upon today will appear on the october 1st board of supervisors agenda unless otherwise stated.

>> okay, great. let's move on to items, let's put them together, items 1 and 2. >> item number 1, ordinance declaring that future appointments done by the city and county of san francisco for road commissioner shall be enacted by resolution. item number 2, ordinance appointing mohammed nuru, director of the department of public works, as road commissioner for the city and county of san francisco; repealing ordinance no. 160-10. >> [speaker not understood] from the department of public works. >> good afternoon, supervisors. douglass [speaker not understood] from the department of public works. i'm here on behalf of my director, mohammed nuru. it is under state law every county in the state of california is required to have a road commissioner. in san francisco that person has always been the director of public works and, so, before you is legislation appointing him as the road commissioner.

also before you is a short ordinance which changes how this appointment is made from ordinance to resolution. this was recommended by the city attorney's office as a way to save time and paperwork, as it's a pretty routine matter every year. the road commissioner's duties are proscribed in the california streets and highways code. essentially they're the same as the duties of the director of public works. the road commissioner is supposed to expend all of the state gas tax monies that come to the county in accordance with what appropriationses and direction by the board of supervisors ~. so, i'm here to answer any questions and otherwise thank you for your time. >> okay. supervisors, any questions? seeing none, okay. is there any public comments on

items 1 and 2? seeing no public comments, public comment is closed. [gavel] >> can we have a motion to forward these items two item to the full board? >> moved. >> moved, okay. by consensus passed. [gavel] >> madam clerk, item 3. >> item number 3, hearing to consider appointing one member, term ending october 21, 2014, to the local homeless coordinating board. there is one seat and three applicants. >> okay. so, on this item, we will now hear from the applicants in the order listed in the agenda. are you here? great. so, is it dan bowersox? good afternoon, supervisors.

i am dan bowersox and i applied for the open seat on the local homeless planning board. i live in the haight and i work at the homeless prenatal program. we're one of san francisco's leading nonprofit family service agencies. and at the homeless prenatal i'm manager of the housing program and as manager of that program i assisted over 1,000 homeless families to move into permanent housing. i dedicated my career to doing everything i can to eradicate san francisco's homeless problem and all of the human suffering it entails. right now it's a crucial time at the homeless coordinating board. the federal funding that comes to san francisco's homeless programs, via that board and [speaker not understood] by the sequester. we recently found out in fact there will not be enough money for all of the renewals next year. so, there will be some type of [speaker not understood] to the made.

that's starting this fall for the process for next year. now, i've volunteered on the [speaker not understood] committee last year that reviews applications for federal funding. i've been faithfully attending the homeless board meetings as well as funding meetings where i've been an active participant in determining the rules and procedures for allocating that funding. so, i'm ready to step in and make a contribution, help the board to make some difficult decisions. and then going longer term, i want to be working with local community leaders, business leaders, government leaders to identify new sources of funding so that we're not beholden to the whims of washington. so, i'm ready to serve and i proudly accept your appointment. >> any questions? skew me? ~ excuse me? dan. supervisor breed? >> thank you. i just had a question. i know that there is a lot of

money that we spend both locally and federal funds as it relates to supporting many nonprofit organizations to help with the homeless situation here in san francisco, but i was wondering if you believe that there are some new pieces of some of that money. also, if that's the case, what do you believe the best steps are to make sure that each and every dollar is accounted for and spent properly on the purpose intended? we looked at that in the committees, in the funding committee meetings and there are some programs that are not spending their total allocations. so, that's basically being lost by the continual care here. there are other applications that have just scored very low in terms of their efficacy, the number of people that they're reaching with their programs. and, so, we need to take a look

at those programs, help them real toy raise their level of effectiveness. and then, you know, kind of revisit and make sure that this funding is being used appropriately by this program. i think also that it's important to reach out to the business community, the high tech boom is one of the things that's contributing to our homeless problem. i think they need to be part of the solution. so, that would be my, my initiative which would be to kind of engage on that level with the community. >> so, just a follow-up question. do you think that an application alone is an indicator of whether or not an entity is capable of actually doing the work in serving the population or are there other factors that also contribute to that? >> well, part of the application is also rigorous set of interviews by the consulting organization that works with us through this process. so, it's not just pieces of paper. there are interviews with

clients and getting feedback from the people that are getting served by the organization. there is an in-depth analysis of what is going on in the program. it's not a matter of submitting an application. it is a best appeals process. so, the organizations do have a chance to speak on their own behalf. just kind of ensuring that it is a fair process, that it's not just about who is the best handwriter that's getting the funding. >> all right, thank you. >> i'm just curious. what's the big motivation -- motivating factor for you to want to be on this body? i believe that i'm the best candidate to serve on this board and it's my passion to make a difference to the low-income families and the homeless population in san francisco. i want to do everything that i can to make sure that we as a

community and the continuum of care are being effective in serving these people and that we're really kind of addressing the problem and not just inserting stopgap solutions. so, when i switch careers, i what in the high tech sector and i decided i wanted to be doing something that's more in line with my passions and beliefs. i think this is just a natural continuation of that where i'd like to be engaged on a city-wide level and hopefully in a position where i can reach even more people with my decisions and with my passion. >> thank you. i think that's it. thank you. >> so, the next person is deleano seymour. good afternoon, supervisors.

i submitted some last minute letter recommendations from service providers in the homeless community. my name is del seymour. i presently operate the tenderloin walking tours which i've been doing for 4-1/2 to five years in the tenderloin. i had a period of homelessness in san francisco. i've been in the tenderloin 30 years all total. so, i spent 15 of those years in a homeless situation, whether it was actually having an intimate relationship with your concrete sidewalk or an s-r-o, but i did my time in the tenderloin. i learned a lot in the tenderloin. if you're a site walker or -- i would have a doctorate. i'm very familiar with the situations of homelessness in the tenderloin and other parts of the city. [speaker not understood] spend a lot of time and effort putting sheetrock over a guy's head or person's head. you need to reach the effort of not being homeless, you need more than a sheetrock over your head, which you all do a very

good job of. we almost need like a boot camp. when you've been on the streets and been homeless, you need grooming every kind of way. in hygiene, health, habits, being able to get up in the morning and go findv a job, being able to get up in the morning and actually be at a doctor's appointment. there's a lot of other things we don't do for the people, the newly housed people. we just give them sheetrock and a social worker who they see once a month. this should be a partnership between the property manager, the tenant, and the city of san francisco. it should be a partnership, a contracted partnership that if i do this for you, you need to do this for us because just putting sheetrock has not worked in most situations. i work with a lot of service providers now. i work with st. anthony's, i work with glide, the [speaker not understood] project, and i work with a lot of merchants in the central city downtown, the theater district which is

sometimes called the tenderloin. so, i would like to be able to offer my help to the city from a street smart situation and incorporate that in the board because i'm with the same goal that the board has, that is to achieve permanent housing. just giving a guy s-r-o is not housing because he's still in a situation where month to month he's got to go through a program. my goal is to provide permanent housing to the people in san francisco that are called homeless right now, and i would be proud to serve on your board. >> thank you. any questions? okay, supervisor cohen. >> you need a residency waiver? >> yes, i do. i myself, i'm in subsidized housing with the veterans administration. so, my house on this street a year ago went up for remodeling. so, my housing, in fact, i talked to my housing officer yesterday, my san francisco

rehousing officer. he could not find me another residence in san francisco and it was a time element so i'm temporarily housed in fairfield and we are working to get back to san francisco by november when my lease is up. so, the situation -- and i did not want to be housed back in the tenderloin because i have demons from 15 years ago. ~ i want to avoid. i need to put space between my recovery and my sobriety. so, i did not want to seek a place right in the tenderloin because of my past. i've been clean 15 years. so, i don't want to play with that. so, i will be back housed in san francisco by november. as i say, i spoke to my va housing officer yesterday so i would request housing. i got 30 years here. i attend here church here every sunday, i'm here six days a week. i go out there to sleep. >> thank you. i'm not trying to be [speaker not understood], but i go there to sleep. in fact, i saw him the other day. he's a neighbor. [laughter] >> okay. >> mr. seymour? yes, sir.

>> what would be some of the things you would like to accomplish if you were selected to be on this body? i would like to accomplish getting a pact between the city and some of these landlords. first of all, i would like to increase the lot -- you know we have -- all-new housing has to have a certain amount established for low-income housing. i would like to raise that bar because, you know, we need more space. we got programs. we got funds where we can put housing, but we don't have the space. so, a lot of landlords are reluctant, of course, to rent to low-income people. maybe we need some kind of, some kind of -- you've got to give something to get it. maybe we need some incentive for landlords to allow some of our low-income residents to occupy some of their space because there really is space. but, you know, when you can rent to market rate -- market rate, and even if you subsidize it, you make that apartment market rate for a low-income person, but you don't have the same quality oracle beerv of a person, so, we need to maybe

improve, do a pr program for the property managers that we do have, have market rate type people that we can move into that. ~ believe me, behind the lines that is their reluctance to redthctionv. they don't get the same amount of money whether they go market rate or subsidize. they feel they will not get the same quality of person. so, that's the educational thing the city might be able to run a program to try to do a pr battle to try to get the landlords' mind a little differently. we got the people, we got the space. >> i know you've been around this issue for many years. i'm just wondering from your perspective, what are some of the successful programs you have seen the city implement in terms of homeless prevention? oh,gavin newsom's program. first of all, the hot team.

number one, homeless connect. those are outstanding. i was housed with homeless connect. i went to homeless connect 6:00 in the morning, 8 o'clock i had a key to the place. right across the street, bill graham. when they gave me the key i fell to the ground in tears. they gave me a key in two hours. i stayed there 18 months. the hot team paid for every penny of it. i was able to get everything else together. like, you know, you need a lot. when you're homeless and you get a place, you need a lot, man. you need to know how to wake up. the first month i didn't sleep in the bed because i was so used to sleeping on the sidewalk. i never slept in the bed for the first month. i was just so used to curling up on your wonderful concrete. so, you know, it's a lot of things that come with it. and, so, that's one way. to answer your question, those are the two most successful programs. i have leapt in every one of your shelters.

>> any other questions? >> i have a question. yes, ma'am. >> i wanted to get your ideas and your thoughts around a proposal that is being considered of opening or establishing a shelter in the bayview community. do you have any thoughts on that? ma'am, what they need there is [speaker not understood] i slept in mother bound and providence, both shelters in the bayview. people won't say -- moatv of our people walk through the tenderloin thinking this is the homeless center of the city. it's not. bayview has as many homeless -- they're real homeless, homeless in the bayview. they sleep in tents, they sleep in campers. of course there is a need for that in bayview. again, like everyone else, whether it's in and out, [speaker not understood] not in my backyard. people in bayview have had the attitude not in my backyard. but mother bound needs help because she's full every night. provident is full, i slept there every night in the

cafeteria. most certainly. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. gary lewis, are you here? good afternoon, supervisors. my name is gary lewis and i'm here applying for the vacancy on the homeless planning board. i have been working in and around the tenderloin with low-income individuals and those at risk with homelessness five years now, plus two years a the executive director of the general a assistance [speaker not understood] a daily drop-in service in the tenderloin. we offer a wide range of services, significant focus is on helping people with income issues, particularly around benefits, although we take a very holistic approach to the issues. we understand that no issue comes to us in a vacuum. there are many, many tangential concerns that need to be resolved. so, we try to approach each individual with the idea that

we -- there's a whole range of things that we can work on that may help alleviate the immediate problem. prior to my time at general assistance project, i was with [speaker not understood] hastings three years in the tenderloin. i spent a lot of my time there working on projects in and around the neighborhood. i helped run a clinic out of msc south. we developed a program that enabled people to resolve out of county warrants which was blocking them from getting their federal disability benefits. i also work in support of local community organizationses and individuals, they are engaging with california pacific medical center on proposed dba that the board of supervisors and the mayor eventually were able to resolve. i also did some work, legislative work not in the san francisco county area, but out in merced working with low-income tenants on housing issues. my five years has been focused mainly on housing benefits issues, but i do have a general overview of a lot of problems

that face the community. i also teach a class on homelessness to the local [speaker not understood] at the school. i'm strongly interested in being a part of this board because i believe that while the local ngos that a really important role to play in trying to relieve some of these problems and necessity means we're very focused on specific areas. the city and county and local government has both a mandate and ability to look at the wider problems and try to create an environment where we can get some things done. i would like to bring some of my views and experience into the effort of trying to help the city come up with ways of addressing the problem. i think we see from the most recent homeless count reports we've kind of stagnated in our efforts a little bit. we're the people the number of people homeless is consistent the last few years. cycling in and out of housing. when we do find housing, there is strong motivation and understanding we're not getting

something quite right and i would like to be able to get involved in trying to figure out what that is. i think i come to you with a strong problem solving background before law school, before doing the work i do now. i was working in science. i spent my entire professional career trying to solve issues. the last five years have been focused almost entirely trying to look at some of these issues around homelessness. i'd be honored to have the opportunity to work with the city on this. >> okay, thank you. supervisor cohen. >> thank you. mr. lewis, you said you teach a class on homelessness? i do. >> where? hastings high school. >> where is this -- [speaker not understood], it's essentially a survey of a lot of issues that are involved in homelessness both in terms of like legal barriers that people face, but also some of the behavioral health issues. we look at things like mental health, looking at the system that's in place for that. we look at housing and supportive housing. we look at the benefits programs that exist and we look at just some of the wider

issues, drug abuse, that kind of stuff. >> thank you. and how long have you been around the tenderloin housing since this program? >> i've been at gap for -- i just ended my third year. >> what did you do prior to that? >> law school. i was in law school in 2008. prior to that i was working at a biotech firm as a chemist. i took on the role at gap immediately upon finishing the >> thank you. >> supervisor breed? >> are you an attorney? i am inactive. i passed the bar but ultimately chose not to become active. my role at gap -- i have a split role where i'm working with clients and also running the organization, fund-raising, that kind of thing. we do administrative level

stuff, alj type hearings that don't require [speaker not understood]. for various reasons i chose not to activate. >> so, what was -- was your focus in law school centered around homelessness or any issues related to this that you know when you were in law school you specifically wanted to do work in this field? absolutely. my first year of law school, after a come weeks of arriving i started to volunteer at the clinic msc south, shelter on fifth. i stayed in that organization a couple years and helped develop that program. my internships were all specifically related to work around housing and issues affecting the tenderloin. so, i spent sometime working on eviction defense type work. >> eviction defense for just general -- low-income, [speaker not understood]. >> how successful were you keeping people in their places? pretty well. some difficult situations --

some difficult cases where, you know, a lot of -- that specialty is clients with no health issues. so, a lot of it is related to behavior as opposed to, say, nonpayment of rent. so, it's a lot of what we would do would be kind of looking at, okay, what's the root cause of the problem here. not just this person acted in a way that upset somebody else within the building or upset the manager. but, he okay, what is the underlying issue. if we can address that, can we affect behavior in the future so this person doesn't actually create problems going forward? ~ you know, it takes a lot more effort to take that approach, but the overall results are far greater. you get a lot less longer term recidivism people coming back through the eviction system. if you can find the underlying issue rather than just trying to block an eviction and saying, no, [speaker not understood]. understanding there may have been a genuine issue. >> and have you ever been homeless before? i have not, no. >> thank you.

>> since you've never been homeless yet work with people, how are you planning to incorporate feedback and concerns from the homeless people themselves into your decision making? i meant gap is dropping topic in the tenderloin and i haven't had a lot of contact with people in the community member. my feedback is the same as running my organization. everything needs to happen for a purpose. we don't just do things because we think it might be a good idea. we want to know it's working so we talk to our clients on a regular basis. we often run surveys that, you know, are anonymous surveys so that client clients can give us feedback, what things they think can be changed, where we see issues we do try to resolve them. a lot of the last couple years has