>> the regular meeting of the

government -- sorry. good morning. this meeting will come to order. this is the regularly scheduled meeting of the government audit and oversight committee. i am supervisor breed the chair of the committee to my right is supervisor tang. supervisor chiu will join us shortly. we have our clerk and i would like to thank the arkansas -- sfgtv for this meeting. do you have any comments? >> please silent all cell phones and items will be on the board of supervisors agenda unless otherwise stated. >> thank you. can you call number one. >> item one is a resolution approving and agreement with

the nonprofit owners' association for administration/management of the established property-based community benefit district for period of board approval of june 30, 2021. >> okay. actually this is an item that supervisor chiu is presenting on so maybe we can have a motion to move to the next item until he gets here. >> [inaudible] >> yes. just one second. actually we can probably start on the hearing for the pedestrian safety. okay. >> item two is a hearing for the pedestrian safety advisory committee to report on its activities in twiew 13 and goals for 2014 in light of the on going and grave concerns about pedestrian safety in san francisco. >> okay. mr. ben horn who is the executive director of -- do i have the right person? >> mark [inaudible] chairman of

the pedestrian safety committee. >> okay. thank you. there we go. so we have zach marks who is the chairman of the pedestrian safety advisory committee. he will lead this presentation. >> is there a way to turn on the computer? perfect. hello supervisors. thank you so much for having me here today. i am zach marks chairman of the

committee. sadly san francisco is the most deadly city in california for pedestrians and on average cars hit three pedestrians. with 21 pedestrians killed last year alone the status quo is dadly and simply unacceptable and with the fourth fatality on gen ess and pacific san francisco is set to exceed 35 deaths this year so simply the numbers are going up and not down. serving agthe representative to the board of supervisors the committee is composed of citizens of parents and seniors and advocates victims, people with disabilities and a muni driver and yes bicyclists. so when i joined p sac and took over in january last year the committee

was in some respects in disaway and violated sunshine laws and roberts rules of order and not show up to meetings and the committee was insatisfy and inefficient and served as a rubber room and come in one r once month and this issue is very important and i decided to lead the committee down a new path so you will see a list off the objectives and i will go over the accomplishments during 2013 and do this and outline the work plan for 2014. so beginning with our accomplishments we had 55 guest speakers last year which averaged fiech presenters at each meeting. we have a new app for smartphones and have 20

people serving on the committee and i want to thank supervisor tang for bringing a new member in and we have a room the chamber and we sent seven formal letters advising the board of supervisors last year and provide a quarter and annual report to the report and issue two condemnations last year and we asked the mayor's task force to reconvene. in addition we persuaded the sfpd to post tax on the website and we have a booth at street events and also by attending walk to workday events. we have been given the important responsibility of

leading the promotion and implementation efforts of the mayor's safety strategy and have two meetings a month, one out in the committee and established a new subcommittee and well represented at meetings including the mayor's task force and the transportation committee and we asked the sf mta to install crosswalks at fill more intersection where a pedestrian was run over by a car. so now i would like to move on to the work plan of 2014 which is a 10 point plan and focused and lays out goals and benchmarks that we need to achieve to make our committee more successful and effective so number one we really need to increase the influence of the pedestrian

safety committee to ensure that agencies and the departments cooperate and respond to our requests. we are an untapped resource that needs more visibility and the ability to effect change in the community and we will change the bylaws and advise the code to set in triggers our effectiveness and we're interested in transitioning a commission. another way we can be more effective is if we establish a budget. we recommend that funding is provided so we're able to afford promotional materials and go out to the community and we have done this with the mta. we have a liaison and insure that projects can be vetted in the process to avoid modifications or surprises. we will hear from diverse groups

and speakers and communities to increase the participation in the meetings. we would like to advocate projects at the mta like vision zero -- yes. so we will continue advocating projects we supportad sf mta and improve the outreach and encourage the members to participate in all of the meetings and hopefully achieved by giving members concrete actionable plans and monthly reminders and progress reporting . number six we need to receive collision data from the sfpd and participate in sting operations and we're in the process of reconciling their systems and methodology. when this is completed a report will be released and we can determine how many people were run down by cars last year in san

francisco. we recommend that the sfpd have a safety and law enforcement course and we will reach out to the captains and the local community police advisory boards at each district station. we will continue promoting pedestrian friendly policies by participating in events like sunday streets and walk to workday. in addition we will host a public safety forum at the first conkreegzal church on february 27 in conjunction with the democratic club. we have tasked with leading the approximatelyity and billity of implementation of the mayor's safety strategy and we recommend actively pursuing funding independent of the mayor's 2030 task force recommendations for ballot measures. even if the measures are passed only 51% of the pedestrian strategy would be

funded. shockingly the sf mta's budget allocates more money towards office supplies than staffing and 17 half percent -- and the operating budget sets aside 5 million for small equipment and office supplies. however only 3.4 million to build these projects and $168,000 for staff focusing on pedestrian safety. number 10 the board should require industry collision information be passed out as part of the daily summaries released to the press. they refuse to include this information because they claim it would be too difficult. however, we believe that pedestrian collisions are not accidents and need to be treated as such so in conclusion i want to thank you for the opportunity to present our annual report and the work

plan for the committee and work together and make a difference in this deadly issue and my promise is speak for the victims to effect meaningful change. thank you very much. >> thank you mr. marks and if possible we would like to make sure that we have this report, the initial report, as well as the powerpoint presentation attached to the agenda item so that the public has an opportunity to review it as well. >>i will send that to you today. >> thank you. colleagues, are there any questions? supervisor tang. >> just one question. i know you had mentioned you would like for some additional -- actually minimal funding to pass out promotional materials and have you had conversations with sf mta? i know -- or the ta they perhaps have promotional materials and maybe see if there could be collaboration. >> in the sf code it directs

the mta to give us -- provide additional funding staff resources so we did just get a $300 budget from the sf mta so we have $300 now. >> great thank you. >> thank you. supervisor chiu. >> is anyone from the sf mta to talk to these issues? >> this is neil patel our liaison. >> i want to thank you and you're colleagues on p sac for your work. i know in recent years there were questions raised with the challenges facing the committee as well as the working relationship they had with the sf mta and i want to talk about that. i know we have neil who has been doing a great job recently and doing this but want to understand how the working relationship is going and the commitment to making sure there is good citizen input into these policies. >> he's going to present after he's done. >> okay. well let's hear from

your presentation. >> i just had one question about the budget similar to supervisor tang about promotional materials so can you -- i know that there's one of the things you mentioned is you would like for the mta to be -- to include you at the beginning of the process so that you can provide recommendations, so what's happening right now? >> we do have a better working relationship with the mta right now and neil patel is the liaison and goes to the meetings and we appreciate including us in the projects however there are some projects -- and this isn't the fault of the mta and the vision project and we had a presentation but we find out once they're announced in the news and not before the projects are released and so we would like to be included in the planning process. >> okay. and i guess the other

question i have is the information around additional funding because there is funding for mta for outreach, for a number of the things you would like to do as a volunteer advisory committee that you know those kinds of opportunities can be made available or there i am sure could be a better relationship so we're want allocating additional money but better using the existing resources effectively. >> so neil and i have met and spoke about this at length and i am sure he can tell you more about that. >> thank you and thank you for coming today and presenting and as you know we're all trying to make sure that we find ways to deal with what we consider an extremely important issue in our city especially around public safety and we're doing everything we can, members of the board, and we appreciate the work you all have done to bring us to this point with this report so thank you. >> thank you.

>> okay. so neil patel from the mta if you would come up and provide us with your presentation as well address some of the issues that were brought up by the pedestrian safety advisory committee. >> absolutely. good morning chair, supervisors i am neil patel project liaison with the sf mta. i started my stint in the pedestrian safety advisory committee in july of last year and definitely made a commitment to bringing information to projects that liveable streets were working on early in the -- the whole life span of the projects. we're one of the empplepting arms of the mta that does most for pedestrian safety however this is a city wide issue. every department does something to improve public safety so i think i made great strides to get information and send invites to the members so

they can hear other community members perspectives and according to zach margs comments we made great strides including them earlier in the process. in regards to the budget and the funding for outreach and zach marks did put in a request for $300 for outreach and sunday streets, having a banner and things looking nicer and after talking to our director ed reiskin we secured that funding. i believe a check has been cut and if it's not to mr. mark it should be there soon. we ask there be a report how the funding is utilized just as an invoice of sorts and we're more than happy to request other requests for funding if there are specific needs or recommendations from this committee. >> thank you. colleagues any questions? supervisor chiu. >> a couple of questions and i know we're having a

conversation about vision zero and i am glad you're in the role you're in and as you know there have been not only we're in a crisis point in terms of public safety but we had little interaction between the transit group and the advisory group and that's great you're doing it. it talks about 44-miles o injury corridor and there are many more and what is the strategy based on the new numbers. >> the walk initiative which i believe you're talking about identifies the san francisco streets where half of the injuries are occurring so we're identify whag is causing the problems on the 70-miles and develop the counter measures to solve the issues happening on those streets. right now we are developing a list of projects

and intersections and corridors across the city and we will bring it to every supervisorra office so you can get a better picture of what is happening in your district. beyond that our board of directors last yeek at their workshop did approve a resolution in support of vision zero and we put our hat with other agencies to increase public safety and it's a tough question to really understand what it would take to get to zero pedestrian deaths in a year? it's definitely a question we want to be at the table to solve with every city agency and the mayor. >> and you will come out with budget numbers as well what that would take? >> i believe so. i will have to get back to you -- check with staff of the actual measures we're taking whether we're asking for a specific increase in funding to reach that. >> from my perspective we all know it's one thing to talk about goals. it's another

thing to put our money where our mouth is and vin r invest in that and i would like to know the numbers and the trade offs and we need to understand what would it be cost to be smart in spendingly budget dollars to do that. >> absolutely. >> one question that has been a pet peeve of mine for a while there are supposed to be a dozen agencies working 2-g9 thinking about public safety and we are told they're working together to figure this out but there is not one agency driving this. there is no pedestrian czar, no one really in charge. do you think that's a fair statement? is the sf mta from my perspective be the agency in charge? are you driving this? from my perspective it's different from being at the table and driving and being accountable for the results. what is your thoughts

about the governance here? >> absolutely and walk first came out with many plans with public safety and this is an implementation plan looking at the 70 scmiels a collaboration with controller's office, public health department and planning and the sf mta so it's absolutely a collaborative environment to look at what is happening on our streets and what can we do to move forward in terms of plent so i think we have made strides? this effort. >> who is in charge? >> the mta is in charge for the most part. we are tasked with the individual projects and collaboration with them. some require collaboration but for the most part we will do the planning work and the implementation and finding the funding securing the funding through our budget or of the grants to actually make the improvements. >> i appreciate that and when i asked this question several years ago none of the departments stepped up and said we're responsible for this and unless there is a department

that has the responsibility for being in charge of driving this it's hard for us as policy makers to find out who is accountable to us to get this done so i appreciate your answer. >> absolutely. >> thank you. >> thanks. supervisor tang. okay. i just have -- can you tell me where the mta is on approving the -- or hearing the vision zero plan at their commission meeting? >> sure. so the -- following supervisor jane kim's introduction at the committee level mta staff did draft a resolution and brought to our mta board of director on february 11 -- sorry last week at our all day workshop so that resolution was approved and shows support for vision zero in addition to out lining the steps we're taking with infrastructure improvements, education and new

and existing iferts related to bus drivings and large vehicles around the city and detailed projects we're doing as well as some of the methods and it was approved and i am happy to share that actual resolution with you all. >> thank you. and so the other thing that i want to bring up is really the data. specifically when i first started as supervisor one of the things that we were able to do is find a creative way in order to put cameras at two of our really deadly intersections on octavia boulevard and market where cars were making illegal turns and oak and octavia and i was opening to make sure -- i was hoping for data -- not necessarily today, but moving forward a comparison of the number of accidents and other things that have happened in that intersection and whether

or not there was a real decline as a result of installing the cameras and the point i'm making is i would like us to do that as a city on a regular basis, and to identify 20 of the most deadliest intersections especially in more recent years there are certain ones that are more challenging than others and what are the numbers and what are some fixes that can be immediately implemented to maintain the particular intersections and whether the dollars attached to those and hopefully we can get that information sooner than later. i know that supervisor kim recently did a really simple fix -- i think it was about $16,000 to put a bolder and a tree and something else that helped to change the dynamics of a particular intersection. this morning i was watching the news

people behaving badly and behaving badly on for example van ness section of the -- one of our intersections would make you cringe. this is happening everyday but when we make the changes you have folks driving that complain about back up and traffic but on the other end they're treating our streets like freeways and the one way streets like freeways and dollar was a change on farrell street and was a one way and changed to a two way and understanding the number and it is changes and the impacts as to these changes so that we can have an understanding of whether or not these impacts are working and how we can implement some of the changes more rapidly in other parts of our city, so that's what i am looking for sooner rather than later, some immediate fixes, and of course

long-term planning but some more immediate fixes to one of the challenges we're having, so just wanted to let you know that. >> absolutely and we actually presented to your office a few weeks ago the overall picture in the district where the most serious and fatal collisions are occurring and we have solutions and could be bulb outs or camera enforcement and we will come to you all of the supervisors in the next weeks. >> i appreciate making the changes in my district specifically but we definitely have to be aggressive city wide because the whole city is impacted by this as you know and we need to move a lot more faster. >> absolutely. >> thank you for being here today. >> thank you. >> i just wanted to acknowledge that we have commander ol i here from the san francisco police department. i wanted to give you an opportunity to come up and talk about some of the recent enforcement that has

been happening. i personally have experienced it on a couple of occasions where i am blocked in because your officers are giving tickets to motorists and i was happy to patiently wait because it's important that we do that and we hold people accountable because folks need to behave appropriately and obey the law and i know it's a challenge for you and you of beat up a lot, but you're just doing what you need to do to enforce the law to make sure people are safe so tell us a little bit about that. >> >> thank you. i think we're going to get beat up more as we obviously increase the number of enforcement. i will start off by saying we saw an increase of 48% in enforcement citations, traffic force citations issued january 2013 to january 2014 and that speaks volumes in terms how we have