>> good morning, today is february 12, 2015. welcome to the rules committee of the san francisco board of supervisors. my name is john avalos and i am the chair of the rules commit. i am joined to my left by president greed sitting in for supervisor cohen and to my right is supervisor tang our clerk today is lisa sumera and today's meeting is broadcast by sfgtv staff. thank you for your service. we also will need to have a motion to excuse supervisor

malia cohen, who will be replaced by supervisor breed today. >> so move ?ood ?oo motion from supervisor tang and seconded by supervisor breed. we will take that without objection. we have many items up today. >> please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic device cans. completed speaker cards and any documents to be completed as part of the file should be handed to the clerk. >> very good let's go on to our first item. >> item no. 1 is a motion approving or rejecting the mayor's appointment of ike kwan to the public utilities commission public utilities commission. >> very very good. this is

probably the biggest moment in today's meeting, it's a commission seat that's been a long time coming and we have mr. ike kwan who is here to present his interest in the seat and would like to welcome you, mr. kwan, if you can share with us an opening statement we'll go on to questions from there. >> well good morning, chair avalos, president breed, supervisor tang, and thank you for the opportunity to talk to you today about why i am interested in serving as a commissioner for the san francisco public utilities commission public utilities commission. i want to start right off the bat by addressing what i know is on everyone's mind, my stance on community choice aggregation. right there in public on the record i want to be clear that i am committed to and passionate about clean power sf getting clean power sf up and running by the end of this year is one of my top

priorities. i think there may have been some question leading up to today about my dedication to this goal. i want to assure you that this is front and center among my objectives. right away i wanted to set a launch date that we can achieve and then stick to it. let me share an example with you that i think reflects my approach to these types of things. when i came to san francisco to prepare the academy for its grand reopening there was discussion about pushing back the date. there were some that were concerned that we weren't quite ready but we stuck to that date september 27 2008. i will not forget it. and when we opened, yes, we experienced several challenges but, you know what, those things would have probably gone wrong even if we had waited. so we moved forward, we learned from our mistakes, we made tweaks and changes and we did it. we look back and we are proud and happy

with what we achieved. i think we all want that for clean power sf so in both my personal and professional capacity i am a rate payer in san francisco. i currently serve as a general manager of the california academy of sciences, arguably the greenest museum on the planet where i am in charge of the overall public and facility operations. it was this job that brought me to san francisco from chicago almost 7 years ago. i am now a proud resident in district 4 where i live with my wife rhea, and my two daughters who attend san francisco public schools. i pay utility bills at home and at the academy of sciences so i know firsthand how rate affordability affects residents and businesses in san francisco. this is also a priority for me. we know san francisco is an expensive to live in. it is also an expense on you ofive place to run a business or an

organization so every little bit of savings counts. at the same time the infrastructure the city was built on is starting to fall apart. i understand san francisco needs to repair the infrastructure while still maintaining rates for its customers, us. whether it's the choices my family makes about conservation and sustainable living, going door to door to garner support for local ballot measures or representing my district on a san francisco parks alliance advisory council, i like to think i'm a guy who walks the talk and i can get others to walk with me. i'm an advocate with my neighbors, colleagues and decision makers for the things i am passionate about like environmental education, water and energy conservation, and climate resiliency, basically being a good steward

in our financial world. these are also things san francisco puc is involved in. if i become a commissioner for the puc i will bring reworld experience with me. thank you for your consideration of my nomination and i'm happy to answer any questions you may have. >> thank you, colleagues any questions? thank you for your presentation, i really appreciate your comments. one of the things that i've been really excited about filling this seat is like having someone who really understands well the work of the public utilities commission so it can really be a strong force for guiding the utility commission in the next couple years. very critical time. what do you see as the biggest challenges

facing the public utilities commission public utilities commission at this moment? >> aside from rolling out clean power sf aside from that, in addition to that, one is obviously our drought. it is not just the infrastructure that needs repair but also getting the education and the word out. i'd say the puc is an outreach oriented institution but we really have to get that word out because all the measures we are putting togethering with accumulate over time and judging by what our scientists say the environment is going to get more challenging for us. so i think that is probably no. 1 on our list. i also have concerned about emergency preparedness which i think ties into the drought as well. i think the city has done a lot but we need to do much more in terms of preparing our city for a major disaster. >> just this past week there was an article in the san jose mercury news about opening up the watershed along crystal

springs and currently people are allowed access with docent tours to look at the area around the watershed. it's along 280 and 92 goes through this as well. what are your thoughts about how we can, a little bit more the public utility commission can do to open land in that area? >> i think it has to be done very carefully. that is a beautiful space. my youngest daughter used to think sasquatch lives there. >> they just haven't seen him yet. >> that is a pristine space and i think to open it up is a great gift to san francisco. i'd like to spend time out there as well, but i think the concerns about keeping the watershed clean have to be watched carefully. i'm not an expert on that, i know that they want to open it up but those kind of things are, once you give it to the public you can't take it back so it should

be done deliberately but well. >> i know other watersheds in marin county has their watersheds pretty open to the public. you can walk along trails just on the edge of the water itself. i'm not saying that's what needs to be done here for crystal springs, but there is a lot of interest in opening up that land for greater access to really enjoy what's there and incredible landscapes. so that could very well include sasquatch as you know there's been a lot of discussion about clean power sf and pca and you touched about that in your response. it's a big priority for many members of the board of supervisors and this year the mayor has indicated that it's the priority for him to see that it gets done. and so really this is seen through the lens of what's going to happen with clean power sf we got pretty close a couple years ago

to pass the clean power sf program. it really came down to the public utilities commission public utilities commission commissioners setting rates not to exceed rates for electricity here from the program but we never got to that point. and i think what i saw happening was despite an overwhelming super majority of the board of supervisors and a lot of work the staff has done for clean power sf what was put forward had some flaws or was easy to look at what flaws were, but it was also a very long campaign that was part of exposing what could be construed as flaws for the program. but we knew as the program as it started, as it was launched, wasn't going to be the same program that was in existence two years after launch, 3 years after launch, 5 years after launch. launch didn't include building facilities that would be

generating electricity but we knew once launch aned we'd be able to do the financing to eventually be able to do that. but what was criticized as itsds program was it didn't have all the elements that we had said were supposed to be part of it at the time of launch. i expect that it could very well happen that we will get to the point of coming to a vote on not to exceed rates for the program and then it will be a critical time where there are real opponents to launching clean power sf one is our monopoly, pg&e, which has been the sole provider of electricity for the most part in northern california and parts even of southern california that has a great deal of influence on what happens. and then there's also a union that has been part of pg&e's effort to produce electricity that has also been a staunch opponent of clean power sf as well and they put out a lot of information that

could poke holes at whatever we put forward and i expect that will happen again. and there's going to be pressure on you as the commissioner from, possibly from these entities, possibly from the mayor's office, to say put the brakes on this and not move it forward at a very critical time that we have to launch. how do you expect to maintain your independence in the face of, you know, what could be strong opposition from the very people who are, the very person who is appointing you? >> that's a very good question and one i thought of very carefully. when i was first approached to be the nominee i was asked could i think on my own, look at the information, and make decisions where there is conflict, where there is even the appearance of conflict

i would recuse myself. but ultimately decisions are based on data. when you go through and look at what we set out to do, when we set a launch date and that launch date has been agreed upon and set in stone, you have to move on that launch date. hesitating or waiting is still going to present similar problems. the idea is to get it off the ground. so my interest in clean power sf is not just a plan or a design, it is the implement take of the program itself. so to answer your question i'd like to say that, yes, i would think and act independently based on the information and agreements we had made prior to setting off on this journey. >> and you expect that if you got a call from the mayor of san francisco, mayor ed lee, or steve cava at the very last minute saying you cannot approve this program even though you worked acid with

usly to see it launch, what would you say? >> i lost the signal, i'll have to call you later. this would require a lengthy conversation. in terms of the reversal, the advocate is supposed to do exactly that, what is in the best interests of the people of san francisco and i think that's the reason i am being nominated and hopefully approved on those grounds. the information going forward would have to present a clear-cut case why we're going to completely reverse what all the data has presented as a viable plan and that would be my response. i would really want to dig into that. and if it doesn't present itself that way i would have to be frank and honest where i stood. >> thank you. other supervisors like to ask questions? president breed. >> thank you so much for being here today congratulations on being brought forward for this very, very important seat and i

am very familiar with your work at the academy. it is a top notch facility, well run, well maintained, incredible staff and i know that a lot of what's happening there has a lot to do with your leadership and i have a lot of respect for all that you've done to make the academy just really an incredible place for visitors, not just from san francisco but from all over the country. so with that, i want to get a little bit deeper into some of the concerns that i have as someone who is a strong supporter of clean power and someone who has been continuously frustrated by the puc, he is sfetionly the commission's desire not to set rates which has been really the tug of war between those who

want to see it move forward and those who may not want to see it move forward. and a lot of you know, what it seems to be the problem is that pg&e is somehow behind the scenes really controlling how our puc makes decisions about clean power. that's a perception out there. and i know that there are some real concerns about that. pg&e clearly does not want to release its monopoly, you know, on the industry and they, i know, are making changes to their systems in order to move in a cleaner direction as we speak, but at the end of the day we still want clean power sf, we still want a viable program for san francisco that works for san francisco. with that i wanted to hear a little bit more about the

contribution to the academy that come from pg&e and if you can talk about that and talk about whether or not the conversations you had with the city attorney's office has made some determination that, for example, if there's a situation involving pg&e and a vote that comes up before puc is there a conflict so i guess i'm asking a number of questions and i can, you know, probably go through them one by one, but more specifically can you start with the relationship between the academy of sciences and its contributor pg&e. >> uh-huh, yes. >> one of its contributors, pg&e. >> thank you, that's a wonderful question. all right, is there a conflict of interest with pg&e? the answer is no. as you pointed out, we are grateful for the folks that support our work at the academy. pg&e is one of them. specifically about pg&e, they

are a charitable contributor to the academy of sciences. the contributions represent less than 1 percent of charitable donations and a mere fraction of a percent of the overall budget. corporate giving for the academy is less than 5 percent of our overall budget. of that, pg&e is approximately.007 percent. furthermore, i am not involved at all in soliciting, receiving, approving or using the moneys donated by pg&e. it does not impact my salary nor does it impact my benefits. with reference to my conversation with the city attorney, there is no conflict of interest. if it comes to serves on the commission and there is something i can smell from a hundred yards away that there might be a conflict, i will consult with the city attorney and act accordingly. there is 1 board member that is employed with pg&e.

however, the board consists of 41 members employed in other areas, science, technology, finance. no one trustee has the power to influence the agency or my agenda. the cal academy has a very high standard when it comes to a commitment to our core mission. we have actually turned down moneys funding from donors when it didn't align with how we have our resources. we chart our own destiny. >> do you have an example of a company you turned down. >> i have an example, i don't know the name of the company. disit down with our chief of development last week and she shared with me that there was a pharma company or group that aproefed me. we're looking to found an approximately $4 million effort. they came to us with a significantly higher number. we didn't be do that. we went back and said we would like our original amount

funded, thank you very much for your interest because it didn't fit with where our interests are aligned in terms of stem research. we would love to have the money but it didn't fit. i can't speak to who it was specifically but it was a conversation i had last week. >> you realize pg&e does have contracts with puc and they act as a distributor of our power and so there could be potential contracts that come up for voting before the puc have you determined whether or not that would be considered a conflict at all? so would you be able to vote on matters involving pg&e on the commission level at all? >> yes. speaking hypothetically, but yes. as a rate payer advocate, i would act independently from the

academy. i join as a taxpayer, aside from my professional day job. >> so part of your responsibilities or part of the funding of the academy comes from the city and part of, i guess, being appointed by the mayor but also going through a process of being approved by the board and having your organization, part of your organization's funding tieed to the city in a certain capacity, does that make you feel obligated to support the appointing body or to do what you believe others who have appointed you and put you in the seat does that impact your ability to make the right decision when you may be getting pressure from those who are the appointing authority to do something different? and i know supervisor avalos asked you a similar question, but in

a different way, but i just want to put it in the context of the city funding that you get but there's decisions that you need to make and sometimes they are counter to the leadership of the city. >> yes. >> so what is your plan to deal with situations like that? because potentially it may or may not impact your funding. >> well, thank you for that question. i think first starting with city funding, to be specific, the steinhart aquarium is written into the city charter and per that charter the operating expense are covered by the city. and that process, that ask, has always been the role of our executive director. our director john foley would lead that effort. to answer your question about would i be able to act independently or present something counter to how i got to the seat, yes. i have the self-discipline and the self-respect to be disciplined about my determination. i'm representing the rate payers of san francisco. that has to be wholly separate from that other

portion. >> but you know there would still be appearance sometimes. >> yes. again, if it smells funny from a hundred yards away i will step back. >> but lobbying the city and lobbying city officials to increase the budget is something that would be naturally done in order to meet the needs of the aquarium, but sometimes when those are the individuals that have appointed you to the seat but they are also the individuals who you are looking for to help support the aquarium in a larger capacity that could potentially present a con nrigt. because you don't want to necessarily piss off the folks who are helping to fund something important within the scope of your responsibilities. >> uh-huh. and so within the academy, that's why we keep it separate. john floyd being our leader and executive director would be the person asking for those funds for the steinhart, not me.

>> okay. so why do you want to serve? and let me go back. so i know that more than likely this is not something that you had probably any interest in until you were approached and asked. correct? >> in terms of serving on this specific commission, no. >> yes. so this was, this, of course, came as a surprise. >> yes. >> and when you were asked you thought about it and i wanted to understand are you -- do you have an interest in serving on this commission because you want to be a commissioner, or do you have a sincere desire to serve on this commission because of what's necessary in order to move forward the agenda of what rate payers would expect a rate payer advocate to move forward? >> that is a fair question and

i'll answer this way. yes, i do want to serve. i'm excited. my wife can tell you i have had no aspirations to serve on a commission or an elected office. that is not my goal in this. but given my day job and given the expertise i gained from my day job, sustainable green operations and how i've translated to my personal life, it's a tremendous (inaudible) which is why i think i was asked. as far as why i personally want to do this, my wife and i have raised our girls in the city, both chicago and here for a reason. there is something to be had in terms of community and shared welfare living in an urban environment. we know our neighbors, they are over a lot, it is a shared concern that we have. so this past fall myself, my daughters, we went door to door with proposition a because we believed in it. the transportation bond is important and for families like us, we do a little bit of

everything. we walk, we bike, we drive sometimes. so for my girls we tell them that when you are asked to help and when you can, you need to do it, especially when you bring something to the party and i believe that about myself. i've been asked to help and serve and i have something to contribute strongly. operationalizing something and understanding how an operation works, how you bring something online, that is a lot of moving parts and some pretty high standards is an area of expertise of mine. so yes, was i surprised, yes, pleasantly so, but also realizing this fits what i do. >> attendance is really important. do you expect to miss many meetings if you are appointed? >> no. i get a gold star for attendance at work so i'll be good there. >> and the last question, i probably am being a little bit redundant because i just want to make sure that i get as much information as i can. again, this is a really important

appointment, as you know and i want to make sure that we have a rate payer advocate and not a yes person, and someone who is going to be a fighter for rate payers and who is going to do the right thing and who is going to not just deal with clean power appropriately but deal with all issues of the puc appropriately and really, i mean i know that there's a hard-working staff at the puc but sometimes the details are not always brought to the surface and really pushing to bring the details to the surface that the public would be interested in hearing about, to be sure you are their advocate , to be sure you are asking the right questions and communicating the right message and really pushing the envelope as someone who is a true advocate for rate payers, so can i count on you to be that person if you are appointed to

this seat? >> i want to use a word other than yes. affirmative. >> thank you. i may have other questions but i'm going to yield the floor and i'm looking forward to hear some of the public comment here today. so thank you. >> thank you, president breed. >> supervisor tang >> thank you, chair avalos and thank you for being here. part of me knows how you feel when you are appointed by the mayor, certainly a little more scrutiny on where you want to be there. thank you for enduring this. i know there have been challenges in the past and thank you so much for coming right out in your first sentence and telling us your commitment to clean power. so trying to stay positive and looking forward, are there certain key elements or things that you are looking forward in a potential or very likely launch of a clean power, we're very glad the mayor came out and made this announcement, but are there key things you are going to be looking for in this

program? >> i think the financial or business plan of clean power sf is probably one of the most important things that will set it straight. again, i'm cautious because i am not an expert and i will be one of five, but that will be something i will really pay attention to it. i think when it comes to setting market rates and if we're leading with affordability, those will be critical points of recommendation. i think equally beyond the launch, because i'm confident the launch will happen on time, it's not just 1, it's also year 2 and year 3. i think as president avalos is saying, chair avalos is saying, what you end up with, which is the ideal, it may not look like that in the beginning but it's important that you set out markers past that point to achieve those goals and eventually get there. >> i think just looking at the spread of the seats as well it is really important we do have quite a few people who are required to have certain experiences and expertise but

i think it's important to have the rate payer and kupb seemer side of things. i think what you bring in terms of your operational experience at the academy is beneficial and believe based on some of the questions and answers provided about the conflicts of interest that you will be able to exercise that caution in terms of if there are potential conflicts. i personally love seeing just a normal regular resident who wants to contribute to our city and who is a rate payer and has experience of that in their job be a part of this. i think my question is i can't believe you want to do this, but really glad you are here and thank you for even considering this appointment. >> thank you, supervisor tang >> thank you, mr. kwan any last comments you'd like to make? >> i'm pumped, i'm very excited. i will put my shoel ter