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 been solid 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. ?oo sfoo we are live again rules committee, and we can on to item no. 6 ?oo . >> item 6, hearing to determine seats on the forestry council. there are 6 seats and 6 applicants. >> great. thank you everyone for hanging in with us on a fairly long meeting. we're going to take things out of order this time just for one applicant who i believe has to leave soon and other people might have to leave for her and

that's meg loman are we live? okay. glass of water real quick. . >> imspeaking on behalf of meg loman, who could not make it here. we had another

commitment. we have incredibly luck to have meg loman applying for a position on the urban forestry council. one of the objectives i have had as chair is getting the best minds in urban forestry on to the council and she clearly ticks off that box. if you have looked at her application, and i don't think anyone has competed with her in terms of length of a cv, 13 pages was quite impressive. she brings enormous background, not only in scientific inquiry based science but also in experience and knowing a lot about trees, about eucalyptus, she has done a lot of study on eucalyptus, she also very committed to the citizens of san francisco by working at cal academy. we have a speaker who will speak on her behalf also who is from cal academy and he can go into greater depth but i think she will be an enormous asset to the council and we are lucky to have her to apply. thank you very much. >> i did get started on wanted

to hear from the applicants themselves and generally the public comment comes afterward and speaking on behalf of someone else is basically speaking for public comment. miss loman cannot be here today, so i understand that so i will make an exception. i already have. and i will make another exception for another member of the public who also serves on the public utility commission to come forward and speak on behalf of miss loman and that will be public comment briefly for mr. kwan to come and speak on her behalf. commissioner kwan. >> thank you, chair avalos, supervisors tang and cohen. i feel like i've been here recently. i am here to express my strong support for dr. meg loman, who is also a close colleague and a friend of mine. from my day job at the academy of sciences,

meg is our chief of science and accountability so she is our head scientist. we are one of the leaders in propriding stem education and support to both the children and teachers of san francisco. meg is one of our primary leaders in that effort. beyond this, the academy is very active and involved in serving this city and we put a significant amount of our resources to reach the underserved and underrepresented communities. we are one of the leading employers in this city of individuals with disabilities .d one illustration of meg's work align these lines is tree climbs. i know we have opened this ub opened this up to the public and supervisor tang went up our big tree, it's more than just a big climb, it's studying the health of the tree. she

also has had people with disabilities up in that tree. we have dedicated apparatus up in the tree. so this is an important aspect to embrace urban forestry. outside the academy, meg is well known by her twitter handle, canopy meg. she is a global champion for forest conservation. she is a role model for women in science. my oldest daughter included. meg is a subject matter expert in a number of tree species, especially eucalyptus, having advised the government of australia along such matters. meg is not only immensely knowledgeable but she is also solutions oriented. it's not just the collection of information, it's how to solve problems. pardon the pun, meg can really see the forest for the trees. on top of all this, meg is an exceptional person. she is a very caring, it's her kindness and integrity that

really drive her work so i would ask that you find in her a strong candidate. thank you for your time. >> thank you very much. okay, that was public comment. we will close it until all the other applicants present and i have mr. hillen is not going to be attending but in case he is here he can come. okay he is not. so we'll go on to the next, who is andrew sullivan. mr. sullivan maybe had to leave as well. dan kito is not going to be attending and i don't see anyone named dan kito standing up, so mr. flan nigan, you are back. welcome to the rules committee. >> thank you very much. i will keep this brief. i would like to reapply for seat no. 4. i have been chair of the council the last two years. i basically once i got to become

chair i led a strategic planning process to try to identify the areas of interest and necessity for us to study to be relevant to the board of supervisors and the mayor. for the last two years we have basically followed that road map and we have made some great progress on studying issues around mount davidson, we are currently in the middle of trying to come up with best management practices in order to deal with historic tree stands in san francisco in order to review issues such as sin wrap that you coming in front of the board and we would like to come before the board for or against sin wrap that touch on urban forestry. we have looked at the nsbrt, on the next agenda we are looking at the transformation of

masonic and how it affects trees so we are trying to be as relevant as possible and the good news is we have some really good folks on the council and with the addition of folks like meg loman we are fortunate to have the best minds working. so i am honored to be working in this position and hope i can come back and do more. >> thank you, i'm always curious. i may have asked this before but can you me your favorite trees in san francisco? >> i can tell you my least favorite trees. a micale is my favorite which is a magnolia that comes from tibet. my least favorite is purple plum they don't last very long the tree doesn't last very long. everyone thinks it's a great flowering tree but 15 years later you have to put in a new tree.

>> is that so? i still see the same trees i appreciated 20 years ago. >> they're dying, buddy,. we need trees that can last for a long period of time and not just look pretty for two weeks. >> how much is urban forestry responsible for planning our can pi canopy for the future. >> we were literally, we reviewed that plan at every stage, it was urban forestry council -- this council, friends of urban forest and the planning department and dpw all got together. we are deeply committed to not only working on the first phase but trying to jump start the second and third phase also which is really critical to the canopy. >> i live in a district where