there are three vacant seat and six applicants. >> okay. so, the first applicant on the list, matthew scott gabe. ~ is not attending. is there a steve here? are you speaking for him? okay, come on up. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i'm steve [speaker not understood]. i serve on the [speaker not understood] commission. served as secretary for the past several years, and now am serving for this term as president. i had the privilege of speaking for mr. matthew gabe for sometime in hawaii where he's serving right now during this two-week period, doing had i

active duty reserve duty. and he is serving in the judge advocate general's department in the navy and he's an 06 navy commander, a captain. for those of you who don't know in the military 06 captain is equivalent to what we call a full board colonel in the army. full colonel as opposed to lieutenant current. he has high qualification. he's been an attorney in the judge advocate general's area for a very he long time. he's serving right now probably adjudicating some -- the fate of some enlifted or an off certificate navy person. ~ enlisted. he's very familiar with the issues that are current -- post 9/11 veterans. he served in iraq adjudicating

many cases there. he's very familiar with [speaker not understood] military issues and the problems and issues that have come up in court case he and so on within the military on that. so, i'm sorry that he's not here. he's sorry that he's not here, but we would really love to have him on this commission, and i advocate for his appointment. >> okay. >> he also volunteered, i should say, in the east bay stand down for veterans, which is every couple years a whole bunch of veterans including homeless veterans come together and receive many services, everything from showers to dental work, to eyeglasses and so on and including legal services. and if you spend three days doing that, you have some commitment to veterans, particularly homeless and low-income veterans.

so, that gives an insight intos his character. thank you. >> thank you very much for stepping in for him. the next person is brendan rogers. >> hello, good afternoon. i'm brendan rogers. i'm from san francisco. i grew up in the mission in the excelsior district. i currently live in soma. like many veterans i spent some time homeless. i live in hospitality house. for me joining the military and serving my country was a way out of poverty and a way to access higher education. i spent 16 years in the coast guard as an enlisted member, rank of chief petty officer now an officer currently serving as the training officer for port security at 312 which is an expeditionery warfare unit out of san francisco airport. so, the only expedition warfare unit in san francisco city limits. i have served as a training officer and education service

officer, serving junior personnel, helping them access and training through the military. i hold an m.b.a. from yada business school in barcelona, i'm currently a masters student at university of san francisco. i also volunteered to see stand down in 2012 and veterans wheelchair ragata. i served as [speaker not understood] in san francisco bay, [speaker not understood] in the area serving locally. i have a lot to offer this city. i'm a home grown guy and i think what i bring is a connection to active duty service members and i'm still in service, and i think i can advise the mayor significantly in that regard. thank you. if there are any questions. >> seeing none, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> so, the next person, ernest

chuck ayala has withdrawn. so, dwayne kennedy. >> good afternoon, chairman yee and members. my name is dwayne kennedy. i'm an urban planner. i'm a san francisco business owner and a proud military veteran. i'm here today because i believe i have the qualifications and experience necessary to be an effective veteran affairs commissioner. as you know, the commission is tasked to advise the mayor, board of supervisors, and others affecting veterans of the united states armed forces. in addition to my eight years of military service, i spent the past 25 years focused on urban planning issues related to housing, transportation, economic development throughout the united states and the san francisco bay area. today in san francisco veterans and their families are facing

increased challenges in our competitive housing market. as a commissioner i would like to work with the existing commission members to evaluate and advise decision-makers on legislation that will reduce the number of homeless veterans, increase the housing supply for veterans and their families, and support legislative efforts to aid in the relocation of veterans and their families facing hostile evictions. today in san francisco there are career opportunities for veterans and veterans looking for careers. as a commissioner, i would like to support my fellow commissioners and their long-standing efforts to match veterans with employment, educational opportunities, and services. today in san francisco, military veterans and medical service providers rely on the facilities of fort miley's to exchange top notch medical care and treatment. as a commissioner i'd like to explore ways to improve transportation of patients and

staff and ensure va commuter buses continue to roll every day. while i believe it's important to celebrate the bravery and service of san francisco veterans, it is equally important to do all we can to aid in the care of veterans in our community. supervisors, i hope you find my qualifications and experience complementary for appointment to the veterans affairs commission, and thank you for your consideration. >> thank you. thank you. next person is angela jenkins. >> good afternoon, supervisors. thank you for this opportunity. with the others that are eager to serve in the va, i, too, have qualifications i'd like to go over briefly with you. i have been trying to be on the va commission before and unfortunately due to [speaker not understood] last year i was unable to be here and present my eagerness to serve.

i am a 20-year citizen here in the city of san francisco and also a veteran of the first gulf war, commonly call now the gulf war retracting acronym level persian war. i did serve proudly as my father did before me and as my brother, all of us in my family have had the opportunity to represent the united states in the armed forces. my qualifications include being on the board of trustees of an international nonprofit. while on that board i had the opportunity to author unique legislation towards inclusion creating a pamphlet target towards black african-american which took five years in the production of successfully -- over those five years we were able to as a nonprofit produce that item which i am very proud of. right now i'm sitting on the [speaker not understood] advisory committee on the human rights commission and one of my greater passions as i indicated in my resume is for people who

are released from prison or the population having had that scar of being incarcerated are also veterans. many times veterans are unaware they still have benefits available to them from the commission of correction from the va and to focus solely on or include those people sometimes missed in that population. my education includes serving with them or being a graduate of san francisco state university, i did a little bit of graduate work there, studied some -- let's say i was unconscious bias is what my passion is right now with my consulting firm that's what i focus on. i'm also a graduate of the boards commissions leadership of urban habitat and many of san francisco's current leaders on the advisory committees are the same location [speaker not understood] wonderful institute across the bay. my civic activities include being part of rincon hill, serve on [speaker not

understood], jane kim is leading that particular area. i also work on the blackout migration group. been also instrumental including inclusive list on the economic advisory committee. if it is your choice to let me have that opportunity to serve on the va commission, you'd have a great person who is committed to doing that. thank you very much. >> ms. jenkins, are you living in san francisco? >> i am a resident of san francisco. i've been here about 20 years. [speaker not understood] following my separation from the service i came to live in this area. >> okay. the reason i ask, the home address is listed as p.o. box. >> keeping my privacy, but i've been here for a long time.

>> did you a member have to be a resident of san francisco? ~ does >> deputy city attorney john give more. yes, if the applicant lives in san francisco and is a registered voter, then she does not -- then she qualifies. >> yes, i'm aes are identified. ~ resident. >> for me it's a matter of making sure somebody knows you are actually a resident. >> my application lists my resident. i googled it and i can see my application was still present. i did a word search and it says my address. i'm not going to give it out now. [speaker not understood]. >> i appreciate that. i have to do my job also. thank you very much. let me see, i think there is one more person. >> [speaker not understood]. >> can i speak about that?

>> later. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i'm deborah dacumos and i'm actually asking for reappointment for my seat. and i was appointed back in 2011. my goal at that time was basically related to [speaker not understood] and still is my focus. i have a ph.d. [speaker not understood], i'm a nurse practitioner from ucsf. and this past couple years i've been on the commission i've been focused on the care of ptsd. i actually traveled to [speaker not understood] [speaker not understood] that happened every year since world war ii. and last year we had over a hundred pilgrims, mostly from the east coast and i'm hoping to actually bring some californians, specifically san franciscans to that [speaker

not understood]. and pbs is going to be showing that sometime this year. i can't announce the date. that's not been made public yet, but it was filmed last year so it will be showing this year. my passion this past year has been incarcerated veterans. [speaker not understood] a couple times, a few times. they asked me actually to come back. and [speaker not understood] that really got to me was they wanted the veterans treatment court. [speaker not understood]. they kept saying it's been years since we were asking for this and it's not happening. lo and behold [speaker not understood] and it was approved. so, it's just been a great time to be able to see that. and yesterday i sat in court and it was so gratifying that everyone was clapping and saying they want to -- are

making the commitment to go forward [speaker not understood] the whole courtroom was just clapping their hands, giving the veterans who are making headway to basically say, yes, go for it, go for it. [speaker not understood]. try and do it again, we're behind you. as a commissioner, that's what i want to do, is basically make sure that we do get behind the veterans, veterans, continue providing the medical care they need. that's all i have. >> thank you. supervisor campos. >> thank you, supervisor. commissioner, i just have a quick question since you're seeking reappointment. can you talk a little about your attendance to the commission meetings? >> i missed three because i what actually at the pilgrimage for one of them, then i was sick when i came back. and we had one family issue that happened in my family

during that time period. >> how often does the commission meet? he >> excuse me? >> how often does the commission meet? >> every month, every tuesday. >> thank you. >> thank you. any public comments on this item? come on up. you have two minutes. my name is [speaker not understood] jenkins and i'm here to support the nomination of angela jenkins. she's actually my sister. and the reason she's in san francisco is when she was serving in the gulf war, what she said, we have a family history of service, both military and community service. and having a sister in the war was just such a difficult thing. but she actually had to leave to go to war a week after we lost our mother. and my sister taught me something. she said, [speaker not understood] to serve, i have to g. all of us tried to get her not to leave. and she did. so, one of the things i bribed her with when she returned to

service was overcoming to san francisco. that's right, she's a resident of san francisco. i watched my sister, my experience and strategy and execution in public policy, again, i'm speaking from my knowledge of watching my sister as a veteran, her commitment and her passion, her everyday advocacy for the quality of life of veterans that she [speaker not understood] our family history of service. as life moves on, you kind of forget about things like veterans day. but then i'm inspired by her experience and she always says to me, you should celebrate that day like you celebrate any holiday. so, i do. i greet everybody with a happy breakfast day. i'm always surprised at the number of people who served our country when i do that. i find it brightens my day to hear their stories because i love that story because i do it for my sister. [speaker not understood] go back and say to her, i did what you taught me. i did what you said.

and my day is better for it. but i also know my sister is an accomplished reader who has been involved in community service, across communities ~ leader. who has been able to accomplish things other people think are impossible. a formal opportunity to serve will complement the opportunities she'll do [speaker not understood]. i thank you for her opportunity and i hope you pick her to serve. >> thank you. if he already spoke -- are you speaking for -- different people. i already made my comments on behalf of [speaker not understood]. >> different people, not for the same person. i already made my comments on behalf of dwayne kennedy. i'm here to also recommend -- and i know it's a tough choice you supervisors have another tough one ahead of you to choose among very qualified candidates.

but i also recommend the reappointment of our commissioner dacumos. in the past year she was one of the people that was influential in the establishment of the veterans court through her advocacy with veterans in the san bruno [speaker not understood]. you can read about that in our annual report, which you folk just received. talks about that. but i also want to finally advocate one more for the appointment of matthew scott gabe who spoke eloquently about his qualifications. i think he is uniquely qualified to bring to the commission a balance on not only the balance of [speaker not understood]. he, too, is an enlisted man like i am. and he brings a very common

view or view of the common man to a common veteran, lower life veteran and their needs and so on particularly as he mentioned in the needs of housing. i think he has some unique ideas to bring forth to our [speaker not understood] and work on in the coming year. i advocate for his appointment as well. thank you. >> thank you very much. any other public comments on this matter? seeing none, public comment is now closed. [gavel] >> okay, my colleagues. this is another tough one. again, there's -- all these folks are good candidates and you listen to each other and you could imagine what we have to go through to make decisions up here. but any thoughts? supervisor campos. >> thank you. i do have one question before i make my comment.

in the agenda the description of the vacancy is for seat number 2. even though people are applying for seat 1. >> they're all 2. >> there is a correction, it's 2. >> okay, so, it's not 1, it's 2. i just wanted to make sure i was correct. well, i think the predicament we face in this committee, we always have more qualified applicants than you have spots. so, my hope is that those of you who are not recommended today will continue to come back to the committee because you will find that people who end up being appointed to this commission [speaker not understood] many other commissions have to go through the process a couple of times. it's just the nature of having incredible people who want to serve san francisco. so, i'm just going to begin with one that to me on a

personal level throughout, not to the detriment of anyone else, or to minimize anyone else, but i was impressed with angela jenkins. and, so, i would make a motion to nominate ms. jenkins to i'm going to say one of the at-large seats. so, that would be seat number 10. >> supervisor tang? >> all right. so, i would support that motion. i do like the fact that you had wanted to apply for this previously and have come back showing your dedication to this and given your vast experience i will support that motion, supervisor campos. the other candidates who i would like to recommend, mr. dwayne kennedy, i did like the fact that you bring policy

planning background experience as well as goals. i think that is something that will contribute to the diversity of the commission members. and, so, let's see, i guess we would appoint -- would that be seat 2, then? >> seat 2, yes. >> seat 2. i'd like to recommend mr. kennedy for seat 2. >> and i will support that as well. >> so, what wasn't filled? deborah dacumos is basically applying for her old seat, so, i would like to move that forward. thank you for your recommendations. i'm glad i didn't have to be the first one to make them. ms. jenkins, i love what you said, but i love what your sister said more.

[laughter] >> so, i guess we have some nominations here. i believe we have nomination for dwayne kennedy to be on seat 2, angela jenkins for seat 10, and deborah dacumos for seat 5, correct? okay. any objections? so the motion passes. [gavel] >> thank you very much, congratulations, and those that did not get a seat, please -- >> come back. congratulations. >> okay, item number 6. >> item number 6 is a hearing to consider appointing four members, terms ending march 28, 2016, to the pedestrian safety advisory committee. there are four vacant seats and five applicants. >> okay.

is howard bloomberg here? >> hello, my name is howard bloomberg and i'm applying for seat 1 of csac. i've been on the committee one year. i took -- i was approved for unexpired seat last year. so, i've been about one year now in the position. my background is in science and engineering and most of my working career has been spent in the washington, d.c. area working mainly on defense issues. i came to the bay area in 2001 and spent over eight years at lockheed martin in space systems company there. i've been living in san francisco since 2007, so, almost 7 years now.

i worked with walk s.f., pedestrian safety organization since i've been here, and have been involved in many of their activities. most recently i've worked with walk s.f. in meetings that they've attended with the board of supervisors, a committee on neighborhood services and safety, in conjunction with the police commission. they have very, very he interesting meetings we've attended. and i supported walk s.f. in some of the issues that they're interested in. and in addition to that, in 2011 the end of the year i was participating in the pedestrian safety task force. in particular, i was working in the subcommittee, [speaker not understood] subcommittee that

was chaired at that time by megan ward. so, those are basically the -- my experience. with regard to goals, which supervisor tang has brought up, i really think psac and certainly myself will be supporting the police department in their initiative. i'm very impressed with the commitment of the police department. i will be visiting southern station. for example, if i'm a soma resident, to see just how they're doing, what the issues are and also in particular to see whether their enforcement efforts are having an effect in time. ~ soma, not southern if they are having a monthly meeting, i would hope to attend those meetings, exchange my information during the psac meetings so we start getting an idea of just how effective the police department is. and i think they really need a

lot of our support right now. chief suhr has really come to support it, vision zero. so, that's one of my major objectives. >> okay, thank you. any questions? seeing none, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> next person is john alexander lowell. >> good afternoon, supervisors. katy tang, norman yee and [speaker not understood]. i come to you as an applicant to be reappointed to seat number 4, representing seniors and disability organizations, as i do have contextual experience in that as i sustained my disability from terminal brain injury from a collision, a pedestrian collision here in san francisco on march 23rd, 2001, which my anniversary is in three days

from now, of 13 years. appointed to psac, i was in 2006, and i transitioned over to seat number 4 in 2010 as i had contextual awareness to incorporate the needs of seniors and people with disabilities and the dynamics of pedestrian safety. i do see the immediate need of the city and the state of california to work together on legislation to change the timing, the default timing on pedestrian signals, and to also address a component which came forward to you, and it was approved, a pedestrian safety strategy. it was based on police collision data from traffic collision form 555. i mentioned this to you on

january 16th at the public comment hearing. it does not mention in this form that any party in the collision had a disability. therefore, the data used by walk first which was comprised to be the base data of the pedestrian safety strategy does not have any recommendations or policies regarding people with disabilities. it would need to be addressed on a state level. the components of what the city can do is make recommendations and then particularly what many of us know would be coming out of san francisco is someone to fill a state position. we need to see how psac can make recommendations on legislation, and i can further the work that we have done so far by having carla johnson from mayor's office on disability and several

directors of programs to address how the timing of pedestrian signals can be more effective for seniors and people with disabilities such as myself, which is traumatic brain injury. so, we shall work together on this to address the spike we have currently. since the last year the numbers are going up, and particularly i feel the appointment of somebody to represent district 4 is very important because one intersection there, sunset boulevard in [speaker not understood], has two people have been -- one a fatality and one a traumatized collision. we need to address the dynamics of that intersection and all intersections that are specified in this report and further determined bi-monthly reports from the police department.