>> good afternoon welcome to our rules committee meeting for thursday, october 2, 2014. i am supervisor norman yee and i will be chairing this meeting. i'm joined by supervisor katy tang and supervisor david campos. the clerk today is alisa somera. the committee would also like to acknowledge the staff at sfgovtv, jim smith and manny valezquez, who record each of our meetings and make the transcripts available to the public online. so madame clerk, can you please call item 1? >> would you like me to make the announcements? >> please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices, completed speaker

cards and copies of any documents should be submitted clerk. items acted on today will appear on the october 7th board meeting unless otherwise stated. item 1, motion appointing supervisor london breed to the committee on city workforce alignment for an indefinite term. >> seeing any public comments on the item? seeing none, public comment is now closed. may i have a motion? >> so moved. >> roll call. >> committee report? >> there is a committee report. >> okay. with no objection, motion is passed >> item no. 2. >> a hearing to consider appointing one member term ending march 31, 016 to be commission of aging advisory council. there is one seat and one applicant. >> is miss russo here yet? >> what name did you call?

>> catherine russo, come on up. >> sorry, i didn't hear the name, but i heard "advisory council." >> that is okay. >> hi. >> so if you would like to make a few comments about yourself, you are more than welcome. >> well, i'm a senior -- >> no way! >> [laughter ] >> i have lived in the sunset for over 40 years and as a sunset resident i have a lot of interest in both district 7 and district 4 in their policies and activities and what is going on with the seniors, but i live in district 7. i have -- i'm retired. and so i devote myself to volunteer activities, and i have been on the advisory council since 2003.

i was first appointed by tony hall, and then supervisors and now kindly by supervisor yee. i'm very interested in the work that we do there. we try to keep aware of what is going on with seniors throughout the city. and we advise the commission on aging and also the department on aging. and we are pretty darn independent. we can -- we don't need anyone to give us an okay to give our opinions. [laughter ] >> i believe that. >> we look at the different laws and look at things as members of the advisory council. we visit the different agencies serving the aging and give a report to us and to the department of aging on what we see as needs and what they are doing right. and we meet once a month.

and i am the person from this advisory council that goes to the sacramento meeting, once every few months we meet with state commission on aging, department, to find out what is going on and get information, and exchange information and about what is going on in our different departments. and that is very interesting. so i feel i have the interest in what is happening with the seniors and my city, and how things go on. i have the energy to keep going. and i have a background in social work and working with seniors, and even as an elementary school teacher, as people go into their second childhood, i understand them. [laughter ] >> so i think i am well-qualified for it and really like to do it. >> great.

any questions? no? okay. thank you very much for considering to continue to be on this committee. >> thank you for listening to me. >> any public comments on this item? seeing none, public comment is now closed. so supervisor campos? >> thank you. i agree completely with catherine russo what she said and i think we're lucky that she is willing to continue to serve and it's my pleasure to move forward with this item with a positive recommendation to re-appoint catherine russo to the commission on aging advisory council. >> supervisor tang. >> i'm happy to support that motion. i have worked with miss russo for over six years now and i almost sometimes forget that you are a district 7 appointmente and not district

4, but you have been so involved and thank you for that and happy to have you continue in that role. >> i don't know about this, she is so opinionated and has so much energy -- [laughter ] >> i would love to see you work together with me more on senior issues in district 7. i know there is really a lack of it and maybe that is why you do more in district 4 because there really aren't any services in district 7. i know it's different from this committee, but i would love for you to work with me to see that we bring many more services for district 7 for seniors, because really there is hardly anything there. there is say motion and there is no objection and the motion passes, congratulations, miss russo. madame clerk, item 3.

>> item 3 is hearing to consider appointmenting one member term ending december 31 2015 to the sro task force. there is one seat and one applicant. >> mr. fernandez-berriozabal. >> good afternoon my name is raule fernandez-berriozabal and i'm part of a non-profit organization working to improve the living conditions of families living in sros in san francisco, as well as homeless families. i'm applying for the sro task force for one see seat there. i have a background in community provides and education for about 20 years i have worked in the field of locations of social services is, working with homeless families, homeless individuals, adults with mental health

issues and seniors -- immigrants, incarcerated youth, you name it. so i'm devoted to community services and believe my experience could be helpful and looking to learn from rest of my peers. >> okay. any questions? seeing none, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> any public comments on this item? seeing none, public comment is now closed. supervisor campos? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want -- >> you may sit down. >> i want to thank mr. fernandez-berriozabal for his interest in serving on the sro task force. i'm very familiar with his work. i think he is a great addition to the task force, and i'm grateful that he is willing to serve the city. i want to thank him for everything that is doing already for the community and look forward to having him serve in this capacity. so i make a motion to move this item

forward with a positive recommendation. >> yes. and i believe this is a good fit for mr. fernandez. no objection, then the motion carries. congratulations. >> madame clerk, item no. 4. yes, item no. 4. >> item no. 4 is a hearing to controappointing four members terms ending june 1,2016 to the reentry council. there are four seats and six applicants. >> so i will call you up in order that i see your name on the agenda. jesse taylor. >> good afternoon, supervisor. how are you today? >> good. >> good. i am interested in joining the reentry council as the executive director of smart

reentry technology initiative, a san francisco, california non-profit corporation, we're on the front lines of the reentry battle. i am also a native san franciscan, have run two successful businesses here in the city. also an ex-offender and have a unique perspective of what it takes for someone to make that transition back into society. our organization currently impacts over 3,000 reentering people within the san francisco bay area servicing all nine counties. we have also secured jobs for over 400 in last 45 days here in the city of san francisco for exoffenders. i think our broad experience, even though a short amount of time that we have been in existence, i think that we can be a value and asset to the

board, and the council, as well as bring some truly frontline information and activity to bear within the council. >> any questions? supervisor tang. >> i am just going to ask this question of all of the applicants. so when you are up here, everyone can address some of the issues that they would like to work on through serving on the reentry council and some of the challenges that may see from people that you are trying to serve. >> was that the question? >> yes. >> currently it's my belief, my direct belief that one of the challenges, the greatest challenge is information. people reenter into society whether they be incarcerated at the state or federal level have significant barriers to

reentry. what we provide at smart reentry is universal access to all of the information based on a local level. one of the things that i do in particular is i volunteer with geocare here in san francisco, which is a federal facility for job-readiness program, as well as mentor applicants out, hence the impact of the folks that we have found jobs for in the past 45 days. we're getting collaboration with companies like target, wal-mart, and stitch fix here in the area and we have been able to make that connection for people. so that they are able to have great forward momentum and make those transitions and be successful at reentry. >> thank you. >> thank you >> thank you. >> next is william dearmonde.

are you here? >> william dearmonde. i got interested in the reentry council through naomi marcus at citywide. and i'm an ex-offender, who has extensive times behind the walls. i have been out for quite some time now and i see how it is in communities and how the recidivism is so deep that things need to be done to start from the beginning. i think those of us who have been there, who has the desire to make those changes can actually grant the youngsters changes and i want to work with them and learn from the reentry

committee because i have always wanted to do this. this would be a chance for me to get started. >> if you could just -- sorry through the chair, if you could just elaborate more about some of the goals that you may have. >> okay. i came up through the '60s, way, way back, and i have seen many changes over the years. in the beginning it was like the revolutionary movement and then became a rebel and turned into a criminal and with the introduction of drugs, and as a result, when drugs took over our communities people's desire to do things just went out the window. so for those of us who have been there, who have been addicted to make the changes and i'm trying to establish those, just like myself, who

have been there, just trying to make the change for your youngsters and help through the reentry council. >> thank you very much. next would be dominique rosa leslie. >> good afternoon, rules committee members. supervisor yee, supervisor tang and supervisor campos. members of the reentry council, who are here, and members of the audience and of course, the citizens of san francisco. my name is dominique rosa leslie. i would like to take a few minutes of your time to express my interest, my background, and my qualifications as to why i would be an excellent candidate

for the reentry council. when i returned from abroad seven months ago, i started looking for public service opportunities, and the issue of incarcerated and their reentry into the community of san francisco is a perfect fit given my history. i am a 57-year-old transgender woman of mixed ethnicity. i'm scottish, american and gaud malan. i am a former inmate of the san francisco jail and former client of adopt probation. i'm a recovering substance-abuser with 25 years' of continuous sobriety and i also been able to get off of social security and return to work in social services since my reentry. i have over 15 years' of working in multi-cultural communities here in san francisco. i have worked as a hiv hepatitis c counselor, certified drug and alcohol

abuse counselor, prevention educator, case manager and i'm currently employeed with tenderloin housing community with adult probation as a housing specialist. i believe i have extensive knowledge of needs and barriers of the individuals returning into the community. and i also have expertise in transgender and sexual minority issues. i have been a previous board of supervisors appointee to the drug abuse advisory board and i was co-chair. i was an appointee of the transgender council and my last appoint in 2012 was then mayor gavin newsom and co-chair of the hiv hepatitis task forces recommendations for the department of health. i have strong leadership skills including facilitating meetings, mediation experience, delivering meeting agendas, developing them, and ensuring that the group stay on-track

and meet deadlines. i possess a great amount of empathy and compassion for the underserved communities of san francisco and guides everything that i do both publicly and privately. i believe i can bring special awareness to the council to continue in the things that they have worked on and to continue to better link clients to services and opportunities that are vital to their success. i also bring a personal and work awareness that harm-reduction, housing first prospective. i would continue all the good work that has been done so far and i would like to bring an end to the discrimination that currently exists in equal

access to reentry services for women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and i will continue to build healthir communities for san francisco that are radically inclusive rather than exclusive and thank you for your time and consideration. >> thank you, any other questions? i think she answered your question. >> yes. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> next up would be joseph calderon. >> good afternoon, supervisor, how are you doing? >> okay. >> so i'm a native san franciscan, my name is joseph calderon and i feel like i'm administrative passionate and informed and presently seated on the reentry council and

believe i can serve stronger the community and giving a voice to those not heard. i want to represent all that i feel need a voice to be served. i want to also continue as we strive and san francisco has always been at the forefront as we seek equity in house, health, as well as work. previously i was working with momagic and my last position was transitional age, a majority of which had law contact. so i know some of the struggles that was to teach them job-readiness skills and get them into the field and presently i'm working at the southeast health clinic with transitions health clinic and there i'm presently a case

manager, that does wrap around services for reentering citizens. so once again i'm addressing -- i like to see the bigger picture. i like to see not only the individual problems, but i like looking at policy and my ultimate goal is for san francisco to continue to be at the forefront and i would continue to be part of that and looking at different policies that we can actually, hopefully continue to do and california will follow and hopefully rest of the united states as well. as we serve a market that i believe it's important for us to set a positive foundation for success for reentering citizens, reentering citizens that are successful make our neighborhoods safer. i have kids. i pay taxes. i work. i want my neighborhood safer as well. any questions? >> seeing none, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> next up is kimberli

courtney. >> hi. my name is kim courtney and i work for the 5 key charter school and reentry coordinator and i have been doing it for about eight years now. i qualified for seats 2 and 4 formally incarcerated in the system and in the state system. so i have been doing reentry work for some time. ever since i got out, i have volunteered and somehow ended up working inside the system while i was still on parole. it was an amazing job that sheriff hennessey allowed me to do.

i do work firsthand and have worked first happened with hand with inmates and getting resources on the outside. if the beginning it was more about substance-abuse treatment and trying to find treatment beds and it's changed over the years to find multiple resources, including education, and housing, which has always been hard in the city to find. so i have a great passion for this work. i love doing it and i come across a very diverse population of people who need services. one by one have been able to tackle different problems for different people. i have learned that you have to meet people where they are, and to support them more than just getting them into treatment. maybe seeing them in treatment or getting otr