>> okay. i'm organized now. (laughter) i'd like to call to order the special meeting of the public

utilities commission today november 12, 2014, roll call please. commissioner caen commissioner vietor commissioner moran we have quorum >> very good commissioners you have before you the minutes of october 28, 2014, are there any he addresses or correction. >> all in favor, say i. opposed? the motion carries. >> at this time, i'd like to call for public comment i would like to is a two things at this point you know we really appreciate you all coming here to discuss things in front of us you're not paid for it your representing

feelings and organizations that you belong to its very much appreciative i think back i've served on this commission for seven years i can count on one hand houch how many times someone has thanked me for my public service i'm thanking e thanking you although i might disagree from time to time its important for this commission to get public comment i say thank you to all of you i also want to add in that vein at this point is the time to talk about general ideas concerns that you have once we get into the agenda and we're talking about individuals items i would request that you on speak t to that item. >> and not embellish it into

other thoughts that you have this is the time to express those thoughts not when we're in the agenda and we are speaking to a certain issue so it's time let's see those are all for here ms. lewis. >> thank you commissioner caen we do appreciate our service i just have something i'd like to say i've been working with the community on issues that are concerning over a long period of time i did write notes i have copies the black community take pro-active steps to deal with the jonathan jacque's that plaque our community he was one

of the first blacks to come to james time in 1654 john become the first legal slave and jonathan claimed him as his slave for life johnson food and castro was declared property for life as a result of being african only the english were protected by the english common allowing law the policies and procedures under slavery led to the - indentured servants were given the land no one else wanted men and women in black and brown skin were selected as public and placed in place of position of power those individuals continued the legacy of terrorism leadership of the sf puc has

stated in the community wanted to be involved in the projects at our front and backside yards we must do so at our own expense they will be happen to get free labor and the input was appreciated so long as that was free and slavery ended under cus sent a message that he expects from the black community to continue with the slavery and not be contemplated for our labor they've watched the standards of double standards the sf puc villaraigosa made decisions that they freely give discussions without due process and the puc leadership has

executed the community from realizing the benefits and hide behind telling the community there's a process sf puc's process says the community will not be included go forward and most importantly bankrupt i have a list i want you to look at 7 things we'd like to have in the mitigation that was issued by the state mitigation board in which people have been up since the puc has taken up and they're here. >> thank you very much sir. >> commissioners i have been attending the meetings is for a very, very, very long time i can count only one

commissioner on my hand who has heard me speak somentsz on behalf of the community as did chair said and you've heard in public comment really nobody wants to come here and waste their time people come here i mean the community members so that they want to live a legacy and if this commission and our mayor and those heads of departments don't get it right that if you want a bond measure monies we have to participate in the deliberations and we become part of the legacy if you go to europe the parents i happen to point to children

and say this happened and what happened because your father or mother or grant ma participated in living a legacy we're having here is we know about sf puc the gather bond money and they love to waste i millions of dollars on consultants and they give a damn when it comes to the community i've had lots of patients i participated in desert storm i was part of the logistics so i know when i see certain things how they're supposed to be done again and again people claim they want to listen to us and shaft us this is not going to happen i'm not going to waste my

time i have a good relationship with the attorney and many of you a good relationship on many levels by r but i represent the community i don't represent he myself and our community is hurting this is a time for young people from all community not somebody who is benefiting our contingent gaffe $300 million not for someone to send $200,000 for a new commissioner that says oh, that's okay to spend the time has come to get a brain transport so i can think the right way and embrace the community thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. 'coz up m

mr., sir. >> good afternoon. i'm the district 5 appoint to the cac i wanted to talk about two matters today first it's been easily a year since anyone that hadn't had a la body we were not ♪ drought and need to preserve our water conservation to that end i initiated and saw throw the april meeting the resolution to the puc to implement that as quickly as possible an app for smart phones that will allow individuals to see their activities on the water consumption and be able to award them or offer prizes etc.

the technology is in place to do this and what i've seen so far is simply misses the mark you urge you on getting the puc to push the development thought that app and get it out into the hands of the community is a high priority matter i urge you to indirect the puc on that so it meets the objectives of the resolution that i have a copy of it for you as well secondly, about march of this year, the - at a cac meeting a document was present called a summary of water sewer requirements about 40 pages of requirements from the building department and the puc and on

the construction specifications compliance with the law and the codes on building in san francisco two members myself and doug cane at the time urged the puc to get in out not only to construction companies but to literally everybody that has an interest in prop be it real estate agencies or developers or architects the imagination goes ton o on for a long list that was a large this was presented in march the last status it's not out into the hands of the public this should be circulated it can be calculated electronically e.r. passenger door f it's valuable information and sitting on that and dragging feet about getting this delivered is really not in the best interests of the public or

the puc i urge you on that matter to demand the puc gets this document out into the public circulation thank you. >> do you have copies of the documents or only one. >> this is my only copy but i'm sure that the staff can provide you w you - >> we. >> if you could provide the original for copies to review. >> sure. >> thank you very much okay. thank you. >> sorry do you have a. >> public comment? >> do you have a speaker card. >> why don't you start state your name. >> walter paulson don't go chasing with all of these we're out those city at city hall and i know you've heard the water

call and the fix the hetch hetchy water wall and i know that you'll be standing tall and you'll see the you'll be shopping at the mall and i know what through winter spring and fall you're going to have a city with great water all. >> thank you very nice have you heard about the voice thank you for the nice song. >> mr. crews. >> good afternoon, members of the commission mr. cruz i'm here representing myself based on the comments earlier i've worked in the city for 24 years half in the private and half in the

public and half in the public education i have to the best of my knowledge the first time i've come before a group i've only championed groups i couldn't stand without responding to the meeting we had a meeting and we went through all the technical issues that were represented at the end he told me they have talent on their team but it was redundant to the talent under contract so we didn't see a contracting opportunity so ms. lewis said we're here as advocates we welcome all advocacy if the community advocates are not you paid contractors they're there because of what they believe in and to champion that's my comment about not being paid i

asked whether or not she participated in the bio science contract or the other contracts i was told no, i don't participate in those public processes because their bias i threshold you can't come into the puc and ask for a contract you have to go through a public process like every contracting agency. >> i out there i've served in advocacy rolls and fighting for the education of the youth of our city without getting paid pr advocates advocate out of passion and belief not money that's the basis of my comment i believe in the public process pursue i believe in this process i also building that there are those who derail it and use the mike to make krifrmz to give a

biased opinion and criticize hardworking public employees like the employees that work for the puc we had about 12 people in the meeting i brought i spared no expense for anyone that could add value to that meanwhile meeting and that was not the tune of the meeting or the comments to associate me in my way with comments of slavery quite honestly makes me emotional and the last comment i say is that if you believe any word she said i'll gladly submit any resignation today thank you. >> thank you, mr. cruz very

difficult remarks but thank you for them are there is there any public comment? seeing none, the next item 5. >> can i speak once public comment is - >> sure. >> one of the things that you know it's challenging for me and staff and maybe the commission is that hearing when we talk about public comment you know we really should talk about issues but we are now feeling more tag on individuals and staff who are working hard i them this is counter productive if we want to talk about issues or how to deal with things really attacking staff is staff i mean looking at amelia i know amelia for a long time and see him like that is bothering me one of the things

we'll ask we make more of an effort to talk about the tops and not about individuals you can there's been times they talk about you know other staff as well i really appreciate if we could you know try to address that in public comment. >> that's a very good idea i think we have to remain productive here and talk to the top if there's feeling about individuals staff members that can be addressed privately through the general manager i do think that is counter productive to discuss this in public forum we're here to solve problems not to slander people so moving forward let's keep in mind. >> a comment. >> would i would like to see is a brief but a thoughtful memo

about what this commission can and can't do as a relates to public comment i i know under the free speech information act over the sunshine act or the brown act there's rules it will go a long way to clarify the list of the public engagement i feel because i'm a union man, i often am subsidy to those union meetings to that kind of provacative comment it is intended honestly to shed light on the issues but it becomes undulyly political so get noreen to draft something to move in a direction that commissioner caen and kind of reaffirm our understanding of that line item on the agenda i'll appreciate

that. >> actually, we talked about that before the meeting it's a motion already. >> okay is there any additional public comment moving to item 5 communications commissioners any comments? i have some questions about a few things that i think mr. wade you can address when you address the under item 7 some of the red circles will be wise to discuss that publicly so we have great transparency in terms of how we move forward. >> all right. item 6 other commission business.

>> yes. commission. >> thank you i would like to ask that staff explorer the possibility of building for water consumption on a cubeic basis as opposed to a hundred cubeic base that's our practice let me give an explanation in my case i in our householder we use between two and three units that's two and three one hundred cubic feet per month a little over 2 but under 3 the result any monthly bill for water is for one months it's for two and for 3 even though my water usage doesn't change that means some months i'm paying 50

percent more for in change in my consumption as we send a signal about conservation to our rates we should make those rates robust to usage as we possible can a that's my thinking i would hope that number one it didn't require any change in the rate structure and about or will be the same unit prices is how we implement it i don't know there's law to accommodate it it if we could accommodate it awhile it's before us or wait until the next cycle so be it but hopefully more quickly than that thank you. >> sure we'll definitely look at that we've had conversation about changing it to gallons that's one of the things we've talked about and other waters agencies have been moving to

gallons people recognize gallons. >> i understand that the hardware only records in cubic feet but gallons is good. >> good suggestion. >> yes. >> what do i have to go back and make one comment that on the public process of the comments we've heard i've shell shocked by what we went through i want to do most of it has been said is just give amelia cruz and thank him for speaking out but i've known amelia a long time and some of the words were uncalled for it's affordable unit a personal attack so amelia thank you for your service and

don't consider your resignation your staff it the authority of the city manager but i want to make the comment on behalf of the commission. >> i want to associate myself. >> i'm sorry we're still under discussion here thank you very much for those words it resonates the whole commission they feel strongly about that commissioner. >> i just wanted to say i associate myself with franciscos comment. >> yes. sir. >> i've known amelia for a long time maybe amelia didn't recollect how long i knew them him when i worked at the presidio of san francisco nobody denies that amelia cruz is not a hard worker, in fact, if we checks his e-mail i said that

what a go-getter you make things happen now when ms. lewis says what she says she's sensitive not knowing our process maybe that not everybody gets spade and she was going deep into a situation she compound scientists and wanted some renovation so it's not as an elderly let me say we respect amelia cruz a lot i've known him not when he was with muni the transbay i followed him and i've also respected him and he had it in writing i respected him no one wants amelia cruz because of one single public comment from a

young advocate she's not an elderly or not experienced as i am even though i can fault myself for sometimes being angry and saying things but i do apologize so we the community in san francisco willie brown and others who have put their faith in awe medical cruz know he's an asset to our community let me stress that amelia is an asset why would amelia cruz fill in the position if not experienced and not something to contribute to our society and our community so let me assure the commissioners and i'll talk to many lewis she comes from 70 santa fe i come from san francisco she gave me a ride i

needed it normally i take public transportation i wouldn't hop on it with my crutch let me assuring assure you that the bay area communicated respect him and tracks his experience and we're wanting to participate in the sewer system project let me assure you i too feel hurt that he got so emotional and i want to apologize on behalf of what was said but apologize for good so that the community heals and we go to a better place thank you very much. >> i really autumn very up -

where's many lewis let the record reflect she left dedeplorable really deplorable any other commission business? i have two announcements to make commissioners we have only one meeting in december meeting of november 25th has been cancelled because we are only 4 i would like to suggest to you that you try to clear our calendar to be at the meeting on december 9th i don't believe we'll have a new commissioner by then so that will be very important secondly, this is officially