that they all have served well and continue to serve well and put their heart and soul into it. specifically that would be john caldera, steve nutsell and mr. baldanado and i think they represent the best of the veterans in this city and i think they would really serve well. i have also worked with latonya dixon, she is the commander of my american legion post and she has done tremendous work in this city on behalf of veterans for many years and i look forward to her moving back to san francisco. i wasn't planning on recommending anybody for seat 1. i don't envy you, actually,ing rather than reduce the -- you might increase it to 22. but i wasn't aware that kevin miller, who i have worked with in swords and he works in swords, i am on the board, was

applying for this position. i have encouraged him to do that and i wasn't aware he had. kevin is very hard-working and very talented employee at swords to plow shares and knows a lot about what veterans need in this city. as for what i think the veterans commission should be doing in the next few years, i think homelessness is no. 1. the va, as we know, has messed up and the city has very little opportunity to do much about that, but the city has a great deal of influence over homelessness. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> supervisor tang, supervisor cohen, supervisor avalos, thank you for the opportunity to speak in front of you. my name is eddie ramirez, i served 22 years in the air force, native to san francisco, recently retired from the va medical center as the administrative

officer for mental health. i am currently the coowner of mama art cafe and i am founder of one vet, one voice, a nonprofit that focuses on health care, education, housing and employment for our veterans here in san francisco. for the last 5 years i've been doing the san francisco veterans town hall collaborative where i bring federal, state, local and community partners all together into a one stop shop. our next home will be the veterans building when it opens. the commission. i have served on the commission for 4 years. i was the president of this commission and i am not running for another term the reason being that i feel that this commission needs a stronger voice in the city and county of san francisco. we need the support from the board of supervisors, from the mayor's office.

san francisco can be the best city of services for veterans and our military families but we got a lot of work to do. i am here to say when you have people on a commission for many many many years, the commission gets stagnant. you need fresh blood. the four people, i didn't know i was going to speak for all four, but i am, brendan rogers, coast guard, lieutenant, comes up from the ranks. this used to be a military town. he should be on the commission. latonya dixon, i know her personally, we go back a long ways together. she should be on the commission. mr. vargas. >> that was your time. >> i would highly recommend all four to be on the commission. >> i'm sorry, if he could just

finish his list that would be helpful to me. >> vargas and (inaudible) i know all of them and they would all be excellent on the commission. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> thank you, supervisor, my name is trepbt tano, i am here to support brendan rogers for a seat on the committee. as a fellow veteran in all my circles of friends there's only two i can really talk to about being a veteran and my time in the army and brendan is one of them. he's a really open guy, really friendly, easy to talk to. he's the kind of guy who, if you have a problem he's very focused on helping you solving it and he's a great problem solver, great leader and i want to avoid the cylon detector so

i will wrap it up and really give my support for brendan thank you very much. >> thank you, next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, my name is dottie guard, i'm currently on the san francisco veteran's affairs commission and i work as a veteran's coordinator. the three incumbents, i recommend them but i would love to recommend kevin (inaudible) i can always depend on him to know the answer and to know how to help our veterans in this city. and i am also a student at city college and i know how hard it is to be there as a student and to have so many obstacles. it's really hard and they are working very hard to be more i inclusive and i think miss vargas would be a great addition to the commission. >> thank you very much. you

are making our work very hard for us. >> hello, i am here today in support of brendan rogers. i know brendan rogers is committed to helping end homelessness and working with the coalition on homelessness in the library to help policies and everything else, i just think that he would be a great applicant and i'm pretty sure that it will work. that's all i have to say. thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon again, supervisors, i am supporting two of the incumbents. one is commissioner john caldera, i found that he has been a compassionate leader and he has also worked well with a lot of people to include in the american legion as well as the commission that i found there's been a lot of synergy. every time i've gone to the meetings he's -- every time when there's

something to be done, he does it. i mean he moves forward everything. i also would like to support commissioner steven nutsell. i watched him as, this is his second term as president and i feel like he will continue to be a good leader on the commission. thank you. >> thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> thank you, supervisors, again, my name is john caldera and it's a pleasure to speak to you during public comment. i'd like to speak to you on behalf of latonya dixon when i first joined the commission there were only two women and now there are four. i would also like to speak of the glass ceiling. the only title a woman has held is that of secretary. we've never had a female president, we've never had a female vice president on this commission. we need more representation from women on this commission so i advocate

for latonya dixon thank you. >> next speaker, please. anyone else who would like to comment on this item please line up here along the wall otherwise we will post comments after the last speaker who is here. >> good afternoon, supervisors, my name is amanda allen and i work with kevin at swords to plow shares. as a young veteran he is in a unique position in that he is aware of the position of our young veterans but also bridges the gap with elderly and aging veterans in san francisco. he works feir a direct service organization, not only does he do advocacy but he knows what the solutions are and he has seen them in practice here at swords to plowshares. i know his recommendations are quite strong and as a service leader with americorps he brings fresh light but also the knowledge of what works in an urban setting. thank you.

>> thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, my name is robert cane, i work with swords to plowshares, i work closely with kevin miller. i want to endorse him or at least recommend him to you supervisors. he is dedicated and hard-working. he knows solutions and you would be remiss to not appoint him to the position. he's tireless in his efforts, mainly to do with his insomnia from ptsd, i think. it's been a real honor to work with him and i think the vision and the ideal of service that he brings are beyond parallel. thank you. >> thank you very much. seeing no other members of the

public coming forward we will close public comment on this item and colleagues this is very, very challenging decision here. like we commonly have here at the rules committee, i just want to thank everyone for coming and presenting and their interest in the veterans affair commission, but also their work already. it's very rare that we have so many people come forward with such great experience and passion for this work and real knowledge about different points of view what veterans need in san francisco. so it is very, very challenging. i'm going to throw a few names out and see what we can do in terms of coming to consensus. i was impressed by all the candidates and so it's really hard not to even mention everyone's name here but i believe i really appreciated the presentation of mr. rogers

mr. miller, mr. pandy, i thought all of them really showed great depth of experience and passion and knowledge for the work supporting veterans and of course all the experience of being veterans. i am also inclined to support the current incumbents as well. i also was very impressed with miss dixon and miss vargas as well so i have more people than i want to be able to assign seats and that's a really difficult thing. but here are the things that i think are going to be important. the fact that there are have you few women that have served on the veterans affair commission it is important that we increase the number of women and it was actually something that many people spoke today about the need to support women better and even men, some of the men applicants spoke about that today too. i think that's

something i'm going to be inclined to support is adding more women to this commission. given mr. baldanado's experience with the philipino community as a philipino veteran from world war ii, i think that's a voice that needs to stay on this commission. that's my point of view. so i'm not making it any easier for us but these are my thoughts moving forward, that i want to figure out how we can have some alignment on the seats that are not incumbents. i would be inclined to support the incumbents that are before us today. supervisor tang. >> thank you, supervisor avalos, i think you named practically everyone. i want to say again thank you to all the applicants. it's really an honor to be here with you today. on behalf of the board we're so grateful for your service to the country. we had 5 seats, 11 applicants, three of which were current commissioners. as supervisor avalos alluded to it's a very

difficult decision. today i would just say that i am inclined to support the reappointment of our current president, mr. steven nutsell, mr. baldanado as well. in terms of seat 7, i was actually -- there were a few people who were qualifid for that so i would say i would love to see mr. kefrpb -- kevin miller serve in that role. i think what he does at swords to plowshares and what he would bring to that role i would love to see on that board. in terms of seat 1 i would like to give my endorsement to mr. brendan rogers, not only in terms of his work at the library, which is really creative when you think about it, it is a place that people enter especially if they are homeless. i am grateful that you took on a leadership role to start a program there, as well as again the representation from the coast guard. in terms of seat 4, very torn

about that but i'll wait to hear from supervisor cohen but i think that the representation from whether it's the women or lgbt community is really important so i would be happy to support miss vargas. mr. pandy i thought brought great insight and also i was impressed by mr. joinder's interest because i think both he and mr. pandy bring the younger voice to this particular commission, which is kind of lacking at the moment, also in terms of mr. joiner the private sector i think that connection is also really important in terms of job creation and connections for employment. so again i will just reiterate that firmly i think we have some agreement with mr. nutsell, mr. baldanado, seat 7 i would like to see mr. miller, seat 1 mr. brendan rogers and seat 4 i

think between mr. pandy and mr. joiner. >> i think you mentioned everyone. commissioner cohen. >> thank you. good afternoon everyone again. i appreciate you sticking with us through this process. it's actually a really difficult process and my apologies if i come across as being too hard but just by way of background, i'm the daughter of a vietnam veteran and veterans issues in particular is something that's extremely important to me. my father is a, earned a purple heart from being wounded in the war and so the veterans issues are personal as well as extremely critical to the health and life and vitality of our san franciscoans. i have attended many events in support of the veterans community. i have spoken on

many different occasions about the contributions that veterans have made to our city and overall to our world. so with that i just wanted to acknowledge every person that's ever signed up to serve our country. it can never be overstated enough to say thank you for your leadership and your service. i also want to compliment those that had some kind of influence or relationship with the opening of the new veterans memorial. absolutely gorgeous and i think it's a beautiful way to commemorate those that have lost their lives. i also want to recognize the representative from swords to plowshares. you guys do a tremendous great work in san francisco and should be modeled across the entire country and it is absolutely incredible to attend your events, your annual gala events, and see how you are having an impact on

people's lives in a very, very positive and meaningful way. ironically that is the reason why many of us call to serve is to step beyond our own almost human limitations, join a larger collective body to move in a coordinated, thoughtful manner forward. i also wanted to share that there are some very important things that are values that i cannot divorce myself from. one is diversity, it's always a priority to continue to bring diversity to any body, particularly a body that serves as policy body such as this particular commission. the other thing that is also interesting is recognizing leadership and new talent. now, you heard me express concern over folks who didn't reach the office and i believe that that really has to do with naivete, an unfamiliarity with the process and how it works.

president nutsell gave a very thoughtful response saying in years past he's experienced commissioners who have expressed an interest -- not commissioners -- but supervisors who expressed an interest in not meeting with members prior to the committee and that is correct, there is no rule rote process, but it speaks volumes when a person takes time to outreach and just say, hey, listen, i'd love to talk to you, here i am because, again, here in committee you have a very small window of opportunity to see the true depth of a person. so you heard from my questioning some of the things that i am interested in hearing and seeing. i am interested in accomplishments. if you are up for reappointment what have you done since you've been there? that's absolutely critical and i think as i said earlier it's an indicator of future success if you can build on your past success. with that said i'm interested

in supporting mr. baldanado for seat no. 11 mr. nutsell for seat no. 8, you two gentlemen will get a pass from me for not reaching out, mr. baldanado just because he is a world war ii vet out of respect, but mr. nutsell, you are a leader, you should know better. i am still torn about mr. caldera's reappointment so i will entertain definitely some conversation around his appointment. i've got to tell you, kevin miller, you made a phenomenal -- where are you? -- made a phenomenal impression on me. i particularly was able to connect with your personal story. also was extremely impressed with brendan rogers, i'm always impressed with a person who comes with fierce diligence and after applying three times to this body to me that speaks to a sincere

unwavering commitment to this body. and i am also interested in seeing latanya dixon be appointed. i want to speak to miss vargas, mr. joinder and mr. pandy first of all i want you to leave this committee, i don't know how things will go, but you should feel encouraged and i think you are giving voice to particular communities that have not had an opportunity to be at the table, particularly miss vargas. i think you have phenomenal inner strength that should be recognized and don't want anyone to leave feeling discouraged, but on the contrary, feeling empowered. joiner and pandy, we talk about diversity sometimes we talk about gender but also age is important. many of the

veterans that are coming back from war are young and looking to re-enter into the community, reconnect with family, and it is a real challenge, a challenge that certainly vietnam vets and world war ii vets have overcome. we fight wars in a very different way than previous wars and i think it's important to have that particular verse. there are going to be other appointments that are going to be coming up, if you are unsuccessful i want to encourage you to put your name in again and to not get discouraged. so again, i don't know if i helped or helped at some context. i'd like to suggest that maybe we move brendan rogers into the seat 4 position

and not -- move brendan rogers into the seat 4 position as opposed to him applying to -- just by way of background, although you have applied for a seat, we as a body have the jurisdiction and oversight to move you around a little bit, particularly if you have reached the basic requirement. so seat no. 4, brendan, i believe you have applied for seat no. 1 but you do satisfy the requirements for seat no. 4. so, what say you? >> i can see the writing on the wall. >> okay. >> my preference would be to want to keep mr. caldera on, despite some of the controversy raised. he has been appointed a couple times since then. i don't see that that's actually seems to be the temperature here on the commission. i also want to make sure that we are

adding at least one woman on to the commission and so i think that there has been expression of that here as well. and i think that what's been expressed in terms of supporting current members outside of caldera is also there, so -- i also want to make sure that if you are not considered here today the next openings or expired seats are going to be january 1st of next year. i know it's a year from now but it's not too far away and your work clearly, the people's work has beensolid over these years and i think no today does not mean no in the future if you are interested in this commission. so what i've been hearing is dixon for seat 1, rogers for seat 4, nutsell for seat 8, miller for seat 7 and baldanado

for seat 11. >> i'm sorry. >> dixon for seat 1, rogers for seat 4, nutsell for seat 8, niler for seat 7 and baldanado for seat 11. >> i would make a motion based on what supervisor avalos just said and city attorney. >> deputy city attorney john givner. one of the requirements is that each member be an elector. miss dixon is not currently but will move april 1st and will register to vote thereafter. what i suggest you do is duplicate the file send 4 names to the board for the march 24th meeting, then send

miss dixon's meeting to the board for the april 7 meeting and sometime before april 7 she can confirm she has become a registered voter from the city and county of san francisco. >> very good. we can make a motion based on that. >> just like will the chair said, first of all duplicate the file, second of all send forward of 4 names of mr. rogers to the full board and then our duplicate file will be latonya dixon for seat 1. >> we can take that without objection and the motion passes. we'll take a momentary break. >> thank you. (brief recess).