have john caldera i have matthew scott gay but i have a note that he is not here today. so we will go on to matthew caldera >> good afternoon, supervisor avalos, tang and cohen. i am nearly 50 years old and i have lived almost my whole life in the city of san francisco. i can't imagine anywhere else. i have been a member of the american region for 16 years and i currently serve as the first vice the lie 3 4 f1 i have lost

more veterans last year to suicide. every 24 hours 22 veterans will commit suicide. women are 3 times more likely to commit suicide if they have served in the armed service. i apologize, this hit me very

personal last year. there are a lot of issues hitting our veterans, including moving back into our veteran's building to make sure our veterans have access to that building. right now we are thrown to the winds and veterans are meeting various places so we look forward to moving back into that building that has been promised to us since world war i. we helpd with the creation of a veteran's court which is meeting at 850 bryant and is considering whether or not to deal with veterans that committed crimes that are violent versus non-violent crimes. initially for the first two years the court only dealt with veterans that had non-violent crimes so this is a move up and i think this is something our veterans need. i'm very pleased to say i was at 150 otis with mayor lee during the ground breaking having helped address the issue of homeless veterans. there's a lot that our

veterans need. as i started the year with our veterans i said our veterans are in crisis and feel they need more visibility. you asked if our commission was too big. yes, it is way too big. initially there were only 15 members. now with 17 members we struggle to meet quorum. last year we were obligated to meet 11 times, last year we were only able to meet 9, once because we were not able to meet quorum and another time because we failed to follow the brown act and our paperwork was not submitted in timely fashion. this is a commission that needs more oversight. i think that we would benefit from a staff person. i look to the youth commission. the youth commission has their act together and they are 17 people and somehow they manage to make it work and we're struggling. but i really believe it would be in the best interests of this commission to move it back

down to 15 seats. i think that we would be able to meet quorum easier. right now there are four women on this commission. we need more representation of women on this commission. there are, i believe, 3 men of color. i'm the only latino on this commission, i'm the only openly gay man on this commission. in 8 years i am now the second most senior commissioner on this commission with ray wong being the most senior member of this commission. i live to serve the veteran's community and i will support the actions of this commission. thank you. >> thank you, mr. caldera, i appreciate your mentioning the suicide among vets. i recall last year there were a lot of commercials that were on that i thought were really deeply affecting and that really -- actually commercials going directly to vets. and could you say that they were, you know, effective in doing any kind of support for people

facing that terrible choice of suicide? >> before the veteran's building closed to us we were able to hold one great big town hall meeting and we were able to talk about the wounded warrior project and addressing veterans suicide. i believe once we have access to that building once again we will be able to once again host one of these town hall meetings to address these issues. i believe it would be of interest to us as the veteran's affair commission to cohost a planetary public session with the department of public health to see how we can work together to address the issue of our homeless veterans, to address the issue of our veterans that are in crisis, address the issue of our veterans that are unhealthy. 1 in 10 veterans is now diabetic. >> thank you. supervisor cohen. >> thank you, thank you very much. mr. caldera, good to see you. you are one of the

members i am most familiar with because you come to the board of supervisors, you give reports and testify. actually i appreciate that. however, you also seem to be one of the most controversial members on that body and i want to talk to you a little bit about some of the things i am hearing about your leadership style and the culture and energy that you bring to this body. now, i understand that you personally have taken an interest and have led interests to cut the commission from 15 to 11 members if i'm not mistaken because largely due to attendance. i agree, attendance is actually extremely important. i, too, when people come before me on this body if their attendance is poor i have no problem supporting them so i can certainly connect with that. but it's been presented that, and i'm basing this off of, colleagues, i've got two examples here from notes of a meeting june 4th in 2012 and august 6 in 2012 from the veterans affair commission --

of you looking to get office space inside city hall, also made accusizations of the mayor not supporting veterans because his office wasn't able to offer office space. you have also threatened the mayor's office and again i have documentation for that. and the reason i'm bringing this out in this public area is to allow you an opportunity to address us because you are up for reappointment so in my mind you are in a leadership role, you are very disciplined, you know better. the other thing that i wanted to talk a little bit about and is the ethics xlaipblt that you filed against other commission members on what i think has now been found to be baseless claims. so i will stop there and let you go ahead and take a stab at some of the things that

i put out there. >> often times in serving the city the needs available need a watchdog or a whistle blower. and the opportunities that i did as you mentioned talk about reducing the number of this commission, if you can bring 17 veterans that are committed to 100 percent attendance i would support having 17 people on this commission. but if we can't meet quorum and we are wasting taxpayers' dollars by not utilizing the space, then i would support reducing this commission. >> i think where i'm concerned is that there was a reason why quorum is not being made is largely because of the leadership, which is under your leadership. so it's the culture you are creating on the commission. if it's angry and cantankerous or an uncomfortable entity i can see where people wouldn't want to volunteer their time because in essence they are serving in a

volunteer capacity on this body. why would they want to serve in that capacity if they are going to be bullied or picked on? these are not my words, i have had a positive interaction with you but these are things i am hearing from the veteran's community that are very concerning to me. >> and they would be concerning to me. as someone who has committed my life to public service, occasionally when you are willing to put your head up people will come back to you. respectfully, the haters are gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. >> i believe tailor swift said that. >> at the age of 50 i did not believe i would be advocating for live veterans, but also the veterans that passed away. we have an art project by a veteran but has no reference to

port chicago. under the leadership of tom ammiano, this commission supported port khi. i wrote the meat of that resolution that is coming before you. if you are as forward or as strong-willed as i am there will be people that will challenge you. i just saw a pbs special during african american history month. >> hold on a moment. this is our hearing. so let me just finish a little bit about another line of questioning. i agree with you and i think you are doing a fantastic job on port chicago, something you and i are working to the, colleagues we will be taking this up in the future and bringing it before the board of supervisors. one thing i want to bring up that i am concerned about was there was an article in 2008 referencing a letter to the board of supervisors that members of your body 11 members signed asking that the board of supervisors remove you from the commission.

now, i have staff looking for a copy of this letter just so we can read it, we haven't had a chance to put our hands on it, but i got to tell you, this is not a good recommendation. anyone that is leading an organization in this case, in your case, a commission, to have a letter signed by 11 folks asking that you be removed because of actions that you have taken against the commission is something very very serious. so maybe you can speak to what the circumstances are around that. >> i am more than happy to and i am glad that you and your office are looking at and addressing this. because if you will look at the letter that was signed by those commissioners at the time and the letter that was submitted by then-president levine, they are two different documents. and that's one of the reasons why i went before the ethics commission because that is improper of someone to submit something for signature and then turn something else in to the board of supervisors. when you are a gay latino man you can expect conflict from the straight white man and

that's what i have had to deal with. sometimes it's been an uphill battle on this commission. but i believe this commission needs the vocal voice that i bring to this table. sometimes you need conflict in order to move things forward. and so i am more than happy to talk to you more about that issue because that document is a lie and that's why i went before the ethics commission. that document was created -- in fact, i don't even know how many of the commissioners that signed that are still on the commission with the exception of raymond wong, all those other people are no longer on the commission. so you are bringing up something that's really from the past but i'm willing to address it because i was the one that was attacked in that situation. >> and we're talking about 2008? >> yes. >> so you have been appointed how many times since then? >> i'm coming before you for my third appointment. >> and when this letter was

written when you were coming up for reappointment or in the middle of your term. >> in the middle of my term. that letter is a lie for the record. no action was taken. >> that's why i'm asking. >> thank you. >> fair enough, fair enough. so i just wanted again to let you know, being extremely transparent, these are some of the things that are circling. as you know, he is spree espirit de corps is important. that is something that i am taking into consideration. i am going to just stop my questions, i think i got everything out. if you have questions on the information i have submitted to you you can direct them to me. >> thank you. i actually

don't see, my office has not received any letters in a negative way. i have received letters of support. what occurred in 2008 was almost 8 years ago. i do want to look at what you've done and what your record is, what you speak about in terms of issues affecting vets i think your contributions have been great in that regard so i will take that into consideration as we make our decisions here today. >> thank you. >> thank you, we will go to our next applicant and that will be steven nutsell. >> good afternoon, chairman avalos and supervisors tang and cohen. my name is steven nutsell, i am seeking reappointment to this

commission. i currently was just recently reelected to my second consecutive term as president of the commission. previous to that i served for two year as secretary to the commission and have been very its proceedings and initiated quite a few of the resolutions and issues that we have worked on over the past several years. the most recent work has been available in our annual reports. we just published the or sent to the government of san francisco as we are mandated our annual report for 2014, which lists many of the things that we worked on, hopefully some nice accomplishments during that time. i am currently moving forward with an agenda supported by all of the commissioners, including important issues that we have on-going and future issues of

importance to veterans in the city. one of the main ones that we are working on and have been in close lock step with the american legion war memorial commission on is the, to ensure that when the war memorial veterans building reopens later this year in september that we have a fair shot at equal -- at appropriate space allocation and representation for veterans' organizations in that building. some of you know there have been forces over the years that have advocated or have been influencing the pressuring of veterans' groups to have less and less space allocation in that building and we would like to ensure and make sure that veterans have an appropriate -- we're not looking for the whole

building, obviously, as it was once when it was first built and designed and so on, but we think it's a locale that is important to be a one-stop location for veterans requiring services in the city of san francisco. so that's something we're working very strongly on. we have other local issues like the relocation of the vietnam war memorial, veterans' war memorial san francisco, which is now in disrepair and in a poor location on a concrete block down near justin herman plaza. we are working with supervisor farrell and some of his people have facilitated us dealing with the park and recs department to have that memorial refurbished and replaced into the lobby of the newly refurbished war

memorial building after it reopens. that's just one more minor issue but we have broaderish shies that we are having great success on as well, which some of it has been alouded to, the port chicago sailers restoretive justice for those sailors and we have had great response. we hope the board of supervisors will affect a mirror resolution similar to ours but when we sent copies of our resolution to members of congress we have had great response from the offices of senator feinstein senator boxer and representative lee. we have had meetings with the two senators and they are looking into the potential for federal legislation to affect a change and res store tif justice for the port chicago 50. they oo*isz us that any support we can get from the city in terms

of another resolution would be hpful in affecting that reservation. so that's what i'm working on. >> we will be working together on that. >> i know you are working with commissioner caldera on that and we have a small committee working on that. you will hear perhaps from commissioner jenkins and we are making good progress on that. >> so, mr. notesell, you are the current president. how many times have you been reappointed to this committee? >> that would be my third appointment. >> so this is your third appointment to this committee? >> yes, it is. >> so you generally know the rule to reach out to the supervisors? >> i would like to take issue with that. there have been times when we before a committee hearing, with different rules committee members and different groups, where we have been shut out

when coming to the supervisors before the hearing. we have been told on a couple of occasions, you will have your opportunity to speak in public and make your presentation then. so they have felt perhaps, previous commissioners, i don't know, that maybe it's unfair to have some people come before them in their office and state why they are interested in this and others not have that opportunity or not being able to make it for whatever reason. >> okay fair enough, thank you. let me ask you a couple questions. can you smair with me since you've been on the body several years what are your accomplishments in your role? >> last year -- trying to think of some of the things we passed. we recently the commission has been involved

for a long time and finally sought to come to fruition the establishment of the veteran's court. we advocated for that for a long time. also there have been a few different veterans that have come before the commission with very specific issues. one of them was, for example, the fact that there was a tax abatement program for veterans who were vendors or had food vending licenses and there was a special provision made that those veterans, that they would receive special tax abatement for profits made on those businesses and the veterans came before us and said that they had been billed by the tax department and we finally worked through the back channels and made sure they

received the tax abatement that was promised in the legislation. that's just a few cases but we do work on things like that. >> no other questions from the committee? thank you for your service and your presentation and we'll go on to our next presenter. that will be mr. baldanado >> good afternoon, supervisors, thank you so much for having me. >> thank you, mr. baldanado, could you pull the mic closer to you? there you go. if you could just talk about your experience on the veterans affairs commission, what your work has been, what you are most proud of and ba your contribution would be moving for the next term.

>> what's my ambitions, did you say? i wanted to stay on the commission because i am following up bills for the philipino american veterans. it has been 63 years since we became resident but the senate is not approving compensation for all those veterans and this is what i am, i need to be on the commission to follow-up this with the supervisors. we always sent letters to the board of supervisors to follow-up with the congress and the senate so that the senate and the congress will always approve the bill of congressmen and senators regarding this philipino veterans equity.

i trust that you will give me the opportunity again to serve because of this and also the housing for housing, family housing for veterans. i was in the center, the veterans center the other day, and they said there is no appropriation from the senate and the congress for family housing for veterans. and the treasure island and all the other facilities of the army and navy are vacant. they should give up (inaudible) so that the veterans can have their families in there. this is what i got to follow-up, you know, and thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to give my ideas and also

regarding the one i have been following up, this thing in congress and hospitals, veterans hospitals, veterans are complaining. before they can see a doctor it takes them 4 months, 6 months. when they are sick already they cannot get a doctor. i would like to tell the supervisors about this and have it be punishable by the veterans affairs to change

their system. put more doctors, put more nurses so that they can accept the needs of the veterans in time before they die, before they die. this is what i found out and i would like to follow this up. thank you so much. >> thank you, mr. baldanado mr. baldanado, in your work to assert benefits for pill philipino how has the commission been receptive to that work and helped you to get support from the federal government or from the board of supervisors? >> i can only support these veterans by requesting the board to call on the congress and the senate. that's all they can do. that's all i can

do because i have nothing, i cannot represent those veterans through any other offices but we have to give the request to the board and then the board will continue to request it from congress and the senate. >> and what support do you see, do philipino veterans from world war ii receive elsewhere in the city, other organizations or community groups that you work with? i know sometimes it seems the number is dwindling but how do you get support or where do you go for support outside the veterans affair commission? >> how? >> are there other communication groups or organizations you work closely with around your veteran status. >> i didn't get it, sir. >> i'm curious who, you know,

if the philipino community, in the senior community, are there groups of people that you work with to help with your work to support veterans? >> for veterans i am board member of the veteran's equity center, i am, have been commander of post no. 1 of the american legion. i am a lifetime member of the veterans of foreign wars. i have been very -- i am in support of veterans working in support of veterans. that's why i know already the problems of veterans. i know the problems of the government also. the board should request senate and congress to improve this system. because if -- this is only our part, to request the

-- make a recommendation to 60 board of supervisors for them to ask congress and the senate and most probably the president, i don't know. >> thank you, i appreciate your response. supervisor tang. >> thank you so much, mr. baldanado, for your service in sitting on this commission and of course your service in world war ii. i think that's incredible. just one question because this was brought up in terms of core issues. it looks like in the past you had 4 excused absences and if you are the reasoning behind that if, you feel you will be able to make the meetings if you are reappointment. >> my operation on my right eye and i was sick sometimes before. that's why i have to be excused from attending the commission. >> okay thank you.

>> thank you very much, mr. baldanado, we'll go on to our next applicant and again i appreciate your service both on the veterans' affairs commission and both world war ii in the philippines. >> thank you very much. >> our next person is the list is alfred qwok but it looks like he's not here, he's not coming, okay, so we'll go on to brendan rogers. >> good afternoon, supervisors, my name is brendan rogers, this is my third application to the vic in my home there was abuse and neglect so i became homeless sleeping on the streets and in shelters. but i got my ged