>> okay, let's get started. welcome to our rules committee meeting for thursday, may 15th, 2014. i am supervisor norman yee and i will be chairing this meeting. joining me will be supervisor katy tang. the clerk today is alisa miller. the committee would also like to acknowledge the staff at sfgov-tv jennifer low and jim smith who record each of our meetings and make the transcripts available to the public online. madam clerk, are interest any announcements? >> yes. please make sure you silence

all cell phones and electronic devices. [speaker not understood] should be submitted to the clerk. items acted upon today will appear on the june 3rd board of supervisors agenda unless otherwise stated. >> okay. can we have a motion to excuse supervisor campos from today's rules committee meeting? >> so moved. l >> okay, with no ok, motion is passed. [gavel] >> madam clerk, can you please call item number 1? >> item number 1 is a hearing to consider appointing one member, term ending march 31, 2016, to the commission on aging advisory council. there is one vacant seat and one applicant. >> okay. there is one applicant for just one seat and, eleanor lurie called in and said she was going to be sick and i've read her bio on this. so, is there any public -- comments? >> so, through the chair, i

also do understand that dr. lurie is not able to make it here today. she ha been appointed by supervisor mark farrell. i also did get a chance to read her background information, has extensive background which i think qualifies her for this commission on aging. so, although she was not able to make it today, do appreciate her reaching out to us before hand and happy to receive public comment on it. >> very good. is there any public comment on this item? two minutes. and how are you today, supervisors? my name is [speaker not understood]. i'm a member -- excuse me. i live in district 6 and i'm very active in the community and i really appreciate the applicant for getting in touch with the supervisors and letting them know that she was sick. and i would ask you to please

approve her for her seat. thanks. >> any other public comments? seeing none, public comment is now closed. [gavel] >> is there a motion? >> i'd like to move to make a motion to appoint elinore lurie to the commission on aging advisory council and send that to the full board with recommendation. >> okay. positive recommendation. with no objection, the motion is passed. [gavel] >> madam clerk, can you call item number 2? >> item number 2 is a hearing to consider appointing one member, term ending april 30, 2015, and three members, term ending april 30, 2016, to the commission of animal control and welfare. there are four vacant seats and 7 applicants. >> okay. so, why don't we call the applicants up in the order that's on the agenda. amy van nest, if you could -- if you like, to say a few words

about yourself. >> good afternoon. i live in san francisco. i've lived here for about six years, [speaker not understood] about 12 years. i have volunteered with different animal [speaker not understood] organizations in san francisco as well as the east bay and northern california. [speaker not understood] arc, animal center and when i lived in southern california, i volunteered at the san diego zoo and wild animal park. i currently have two pets in san francisco and animals have always been a concern that they get proper care and treatment in that they just are protected.

and, so, i'm interested in this so i can give back and help do that in san francisco. >> any questions? supervisor tang. >> sure. so, thank you. i heard that you still [speaker not understood] broadly about your interest and why you want to serve on this commission. but can you speak orctiontion you know, are there any specifics you'd like to work on if you are appointed to this commission? ~ speak on any kind of issues you see currently, what we could do better in the city? >> i used to be a police officer in a different city and saw a lot of animal abuse that went on, animal cruelty. some animals were abused so bad that they had to be put down because of the abuse. it was just horrific what people could do to animals. and if i can help in any way to get knowledge out there to the

community, let people know if they are unable to take care of their animals, what is the main thing to do with the animals. whether it's evictions or just like issues that they're no longer able to take care of the animals. i have a cat that's 22 years old. like when i was a police officer, [speaker not understood] chopped off her foot and fortunately she's been a wonderful cat. and i want people to know that there are options. there are [speaker not understood] if you take on an animal, you need to know that it's a privilege and what you need to do to, to take care of those animals because they're dependent on us. and i just want to make sure that in san francisco that we're enforcing laws and giving

people knowledge to know how to take care of them in the city boundaries. there are adoptions for [speaker not understood] discounted veterinarian care. and if they do see a injured animal what to do or if there is a ferel cat what to do because some of the ferel cats do have [speaker not understood] in san francisco. so, just getting more knowledge out to the community i think is lacking. it could be helped. >> okay, thank you. >> thank you. nanci haines, are you here? james yorck or is this nanci haines?

>> so, my name is nanci haines and i am interested in a seat on this committee of animal control and welfare. a little bit about me. i am a native californian. i have -- i grew up in the bay area and i've lived in the bay area most of my life. so, i have experienced a number of different cultures within the san francisco bay area. i currently reside in the mission district and i do have a dog and a cat. i'm also one of the founders of a new organization called ride a ranch rescue and it's a not for profit organization that's being set up to care for special needs animals. and at present it's new and it's a virtual organization where we're just now trying to raise funds and draw attention to special cases. our goal is to have a northern california location in a few

years, provide a safe haven forespecial needs animal. as a part of the ranch we hope to also establish a veterinary internship program where veterinary students can care for the incoming animal. there's longer term plans for that, kind of fun, bed and breakfast, where you could adopt the animal for a night. so, anyways, i'm also active -- an active volunteer in a number of animal organizations, one being the underground kitty railway which is a really cool program where cats can be taken from kill shelters anywhere in the state and then they are basically shipped or taken to the forever home possibly in some other state. and also we use that to reconnect veterans with their pets or find homes for vet pets while they're away and then they're reconnected with them when they come back. i do volunteer at the san

francisco spca and you can definitely see my face every christmas at a macy's windows trying to find homes for dogs and cats. so, i think hopefully this shows you that i have a strong interest in the welfare of animals. and i have listened to and read the minutes of the commission meetings and there are a number of issues -- well, the majority of the issues that are currently happening with this commission are of interest to me. and i'm hoping that if i'm selected, my service on this commission will make me a stronger advocate for animals. i'm hoping to build alliances in it connection with this community to have a future stream of animals come our way and [speaker not understood] more effective rescues. i believe these experiences [speaker not understood] make me an asset to the city as a commission member and i appreciate your consideration on this matter. >> okay, thank you.

supervisor tang? no questions. thank you. >> okay. >> next applicant, james yorck. >> james yorck. [speaker not understood] 19th century, karl marx, he he said through conflict there is growth. and i've been going to the commission for the last four years and i have been kind of a thorn in their side. i used to own a pet store and i think it's always good to add a different dimension. unfortunately nowadays the commission is all nonprofit and

it just [speaker not understood] same old stuff. i would like to be on the commission to help it go forward and help do sane and rational thing. personally, i'd love to see in the commission push for veterinarians to publish -- you go to a veterinarian and your pets die. they should be published online to the person, which isn't done nowadays. your doctor does thing the veterinarian doesn't. i'm sad supervisor campos isn't here. two years ago i was here and enteredctionv ~ supervisor elsbernd gave me a rousing support and mr. campos brought up what he had heard was that i had been investigated for animal cruelty.

and there was also an animal control officer here who verified it. i went down that day to the animal control and i talked to vicki [speaker not understood] and they looked at my record and there is nothing unwarranted in my record. yes, i got complaints like every pet store, but i was never investigated for animal cruelty. >> you mentioned you wanted to put things -- how else would you like to see things move forward? >> working with pet stores is much better. san francisco has this long tradition of working only through, through nonprofits. we gave a suggestion for pet

store gave a suggestion to acc to, to use pet stores, and they are using one, pet express, and that could be expanded. there is not a great number -- there is a large number, but not an unbearable number of unwanted pets in the city. it is always a problem, but the spca is bringing in from the central valley about 2,500 dogs and cats. so, it's now -- we could expand the number if we used stores as adoption centers, too. okay. >> okay, thank you. the next applicant would be davi lang.

>> good afternoon, supervisors tang and yee. thank you for this opportunity to present to you my background and qualifications for a seat on the animal welfare commission. my name is davi lang. i am 27 years old. i am a san francisco native born and raised and currently living in mission bay. i am of mixed descent. my mother immigrated to san francisco from cambodia in 1980 and my father from new york. i went to [speaker not understood] high school and then u.c. berkeley where i first discovered my passion for animal welfare. this began when i was asked to sign a petition to get prop 2 on the ballot in 2008. i spent a semester in washington, d.c. and while interning in nancy flowtion i's office i also interned at the humane society of the united states farm animal welfare division. interning for both congress and hsus inspired me to write my senior thesis at cal on the

deterioration of [speaker not understood] over the past 40 years and its connection to factory farms and animal welfare. then after graduating from cali spent a year working for the peta foundation also known as the foundation to support animal protection an affiliate for the people of for the ethical treatment of animals. [speaker not understood] i learned to recognize the various signs of animal abuse such as neglect, dehydration and animal siting. in the evenings after work and on weekends i spent most of the time with other peta employees and volunteers educating the public on various animal welfare issues. during the cold months in d.c. i spent weekend volunteering for the animal project in norfolk, virginia where peta's headquarters is located. we he drove around in impoverished areas where animals live outdoors [speaker not understood]. we delivered straw bedding to dogs chained in backyard or

fenced in small enclosureses. we educated their guardians on how to properly care for their dogs, encouraging them to bring their dogs inside especially during winter and summer. we spoke to them about making sure their dogs had fresh clean water at all times and encouraged them to sign up for peta's free spay and neuter vaccination program. we also rescued abused animal. one of the things i learned working for and volunteering is how to effectively communicate people and open eyes to the importance of animal welfare. one rainy day [speaker not understood] we encountered a sweet pit bull changed to a pe toshibation a dog house with a heavy chain probably weighing 25 pounds. i was able to convince his reluctant guardian to replace the heavy rusted chain with a lightweight tether allowing the dog to move more frequently. after 10 minutes of conversation i convinced the same guardian to surrender his old blind and deaf dog to deliver his house to give him a warm dry house to sleep away his pain and memory. [speaker not understood] i

moved back to san francisco, i only pep a year in d.c. and decided to volunteer for animal care and control as a dog walker. during the 6 to 7 month period i came to the shelter several days a week. sometimes 3 to 4, sometimes 5 hours a day to make sure the dogs were walked, socialized and felt loved while they were waiting sometimes months for their forever families to find them. i made sure to walk and spend time with dog who were overlooked [speaker not understood]. but when i wasn't there, i knew they were in safe hands at animal care and control. i chose to volunteer there because it is our city and county shelter agency that take in all animals no matter their condition, personality, adoptability, and as long as animal care and control is around, i know that our city's animals are well taken care of and always have a place to go. and i know that animal care and control always set up and care for those forgotten animal. if i am appointed this is what i will continue to support

animal care and control. and finally in semi graduated from a masters program at usf, continuing my public service education and career and for my thesis i analyzed the impact of mandatory spay and neuter laws on the unwanted dog population as well as the government-run animal shelters in various cities across the u.s. i chose to study this issue after supervisors tang and wiener called a hearing on the [speaker not understood] which is over worked, under staffed and underfunded [speaker not understood]. i wanted to examine what could be done to relieve some of the burden on our city and county animal shelter. please seriously consider me for the commission. i would really like to work with this group of compassionate people and help out in whatever way i can. i want to engage the younger audience and i hope to relieve some of the burdens on animal care and can control. i still have a lot to learn, but thank you for your time and attention and i'm open to any questions. >> okay. supervisor tang. >> sure. i actually don't have any questions but really just feel impressed by your interest and

your educational background and what you have done in terms of volunteer time. i've actually personally got to witness davi's volunteerism and, again, your commitment to really animal welfare and safety. so, i actually just want to thank you and for stepping up and applying for this and i'm surprised that you haven't been on it already. so, thank you for sharing all of your background information with us today. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> next applicant is amy fuller on the list. i understand she won't -- she wouldn't be able to come. she had a prior engagement. she just sent a statement that i looked at. the next person would be annemarie fortier. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is annemarie fortier.

i currently serve on the commission as secretary, which i have done for a year. i've been on the commission two years. this is my first opportunity for reappointment. over the course of the two years, i have learned a lot and i was just telling my colleague on the commission that it feels that i am only now able to understand fully what the commission is capable of and maybe where it might take me and i might take it. my background is i've lived in san francisco since 1995 in district 2. i have been a guardian of dogs of since 1997. currently a parent. my interest in animal has always been strong, but has slightly changed over the years with my involvement obviously with my children and interaction with the parks around our area.

and where before maybe my interest was mostly focused on how we treat animals with dog bites and pets, as a parent i see how important it is to make sure that our public, especially our children, are educated about how to interact safely and respectfully with pets and wildlife in our city. and on the commission we have had speaker come and educate us and reach out to the community on ways to protect some of those animals, not feeding wildlife, et cetera. so, i appreciate your time and your consideration and i would love to continue serving our city, our animals, and our citizens on this board. >> okay. supervisor tang? >> so, since you are up for reappointment, are there things that you've seen that you would like to do differently on h