like to provide to amenity to the communities and multi purpose rooms for towers and operations set up on the community room and i'll throw up on the overhead. >> obviously you know not entitled not a huge amount of information roughed out a plan by 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. limited hours on the we understand and a pattern that the communities room use and regulations after the chase bank on 14 and castro and sxhifksz suggestion we'll have a waiver and agreement that needs to be signed no type of real fees maybe a key fee to accommodate the access

the $25 public school refund this is a compact building it is flexible provides amenities for the residents and good for the communities we're trying to maximize that rooms potential. >> the space where the tourists hotel rooms with permitted could you put residential units. >> no the dresser is correct didn't meet the requirements it is a tough space and . >> so otherwise that will be otherwise what would you do with them. >> residential storage not too much actually could habitat that space. >> it's a and creative use of space we've not seen this before but given the fact you'll have the sros in a resident manager a good use of space and the final question inclusionary housing

and bmr's at one point more group housing if we're gaps in the codes inclusionary was not applicable but applicable here and the affordable housing housing applies to group housing and dwelling units this is a dwelling unit so it is okay. >> certain nothing sxeerd. >> is that a motion. >> yeah. >> i can move to not take dr and approve the project. >> second. >> commissioner wu. >> can i ask staff where the various definitions are building unit versus group housing. >> so there are two types of single-room occupancies that are group housing and sros that by definition dwelling units the difference between the two sros

dwelling units haveville cooking facilities within their units and whereas group housing the cooking facilities are shared by per floor that's the difference. >> all of those are planning code dpivengsz. >> that's correct. >> independence the difference between dwelling unit and group housing and like a good way to think how the planning codes independence an sro is a used characteristic so it is not a type of unit per say but overlayed on either a dwelling unit or group housing units. >> and independence by square footage. >> western soma between 350. >> a followup question talking about the communities room i think you mentioned you spoke about it is on this assessable

from the interior halfway. >> no, it needs doors from the streets as well. >> so the little inlet the idea maybe the communities members may have a key in exchange. >> yeah. a deposit for a key if they don't return that we'll keep the money but ideally have a residential manager and so ideal but a concession in case they're not available. >> okay. thank you. >> commissioner moore. >> i'm a little bit more wanting to see a stronger commitment at this moment i don't see storage where you

store towels and toilet paper this is serve completed by trucks and cleaning cruise and people coming everyday i don't believe building that at the positive comments about diminishing assess a neglected i'm looking for the site for the storming area unless i missed it and a first story units in the small dedicated to the manager not just as an option but a candidates. >> i think by law it requires a onsite manager; is that correct. >> he left in his description comments was vague to the commitment of the digs and not identified in the drawing so i'd like to see you comment on that, please. >> yeah. i'll address this a little bit good evening mark architecture

i hope you can see we have 3 store rooms with beacon parking. >> provided to identify the system to do a blocker system two tiered that meets the class 1 bike parking spaces and can provide additional storage that storage can be used by tenants and for supplies and towels and other things that is quite a bit of storage so i think that you know we have been thinking about that and without digging into the ground we are using the space efficiently. >> it is hard to identify your explaining that i see it. the second question while your standing there thetion your -

particularly when this commission likes to see an imagination of the building that makes us appreciate wayside i'm not really keen on seeing options knowing that some of those might be more interesting and you're presenting only options i don't know what i'm getting if there is a motion for approval i want to add to that motion the applicants continues to work with the department with the architecture group of departments to bring clarity to materials and methods including

moving options from to reality by which we have a like quality of a building rather than something the more simplistic catch up not a criticism that is what this commission does. >> understood i mean, i, show others example we're dedicated to producing high quality well dlalthsd projects all of the materials we're suggesting by no means meant to be one is necessarily better than and one a inferior their high quality a we are working on that aspect the building could be done very well in a variety of was. >> so you have a capacity i want to suggest. >> it's a dr we'll have to

take dr which is awkward to stay continue to work with staff on the project design is that appropriate or have a separate comment to do that. >> the difficulty of that the drs you have to take dr and find an exceptional or extraordinary by which you're taking dr so since i've been reviewing the motion you hear addition to the project can be permitted but in the dr action memo staff has to find you know some finding. >> i agree but i'd rather not take dr but we can recognize here in the meeting that that is the intent we want staff to continue to work we've acknowledged if with the project sponsor as this 0 evolves on the final design. >> can i - >> i'm sorry. >> no go ahead. >> i can suggest staff can add

that in the mole simply that was acknowledged a desire from the commission that the project sponsor continue to work with the findings of the material selection. >> i like to be piecing why i'm asking for is this particular safety nets drawings is rendered far less specifically thank anything i've seen for a long, long long times that reason he make that request that means next time around the department has more clarity before the building arrives here in this chamber. >> i'm fine with the memo and seconded. >> commissioners, if there's nothing further, we'll move on to there is a motion that has been seconded not take dr and approve the project as proposed with a adam finding in the memo the pardon continue to with work

staff. >> commissioner antonini. >> commissioner hillis commissioner johnson excuse me. commissioner moore. >> commissioner wu commissioner vice president richards and commissioner president fong so moved, commissioners, that motion passes unanimously 6 to zero and places us on public comment. >> any public comment this evening not seeing any, the meeting is adjourned

the time is 9:00 a.m.. item 1. roll call. president francee covington, vice-president ken cleaveland, commissioner stephen nakajo, commissioner michael hardeman. here. >> item 2. general public comment. members of the public may address the commission for up to 3 minutes on any matter within the commission's jurisdiction and does not appear on the agenda. speakers shall address their remarks to the commission as a

whole and not to individual commissioners or department personnel. commissioners are not to enter into debate or discussion with a speaker: >> thank you. is there anyone who would like to address the commission at this time? seeing none, public comment is closed. >>clerk: item 3. approval of the minutes of regular meeting on june 8, 2016. >> is there any public comment? if not, public comment is closed. >> i motion to move. >> second. >> all in favor say, "aye". >> aye. >> any opposed? >>clerk: item 4. chief df departments report. report from the chief of

department. report on current issues, activities and events within the department since the fire commission meeting of june 22, 2016, including academies, strategic planning, 150th anniversary update, rc 4 station 49 update, special events, communications and outreach other government agencies and the public. report from operations. report on overall field operations, including greater alarm fires, emergency medical services, bureau of fire prevention and investigation and airport division. >> good morning. please take a seat. this is my report since the last meeting when chief was acting chief. the general report covers the period from june 22nd. i wanted to let you know

moving right into the academies, 120th academy is in their fourth week. they were joined 2 weeks ago by station 49. that total number of members in the recruit academy is 54. we also during the month of june had a bump up academy for level 2 paramedics, sorry, level 1 emt's to become level 2. we'll get that number for you. 120 class is scheduled for the end of the year. i was told after taking some time off that i'm getting a new proposed start date for the class. it's not going to slip by much. we want to make sure we

have proper staffing and give members division training some time off because we are going to have new classes. we will have the new schedule by next meeting. 121 for that class. we adopted a new list which it incorporates new members coming into process to be retested. there was an earlier adoption this month. it captures everything going through the testing process through may. and a dhr in request sent out the survey to members on the eligible list. beginning next month, additional members will be contacted for backgrounds to begin the selection process and screening for

the 121st class. related to strategic planning, it continues to be a work in progress. i'm happy to share a current working draft with the commission per president covington's request. we have a situation where the project manager assigned to compile additional information from the subject matter experts are the heads of each subcommittee. she has taken a leave unexpectedly. i have asked to capture what has been compiled to date and provide me with where we are at and that draft will be shared with you. we are still targeting some time in the fall for development of that strategic plan. related to the 150th anniversary update, i know president covington attended the last meeting. i was unable to do so.

it was june 30th. the next is in july. at the meeting there was a discussion about having a volunteer appreciation day sometime in august. that's being headed up by member of guardians of the city. we will get that report. we are working on a 911 plan which will incorporate what we've done every year since 911. this is the 15th commemoration of 911. we will have a display and unveiling of the world trade center artifact that we were able to get. we are looking to placing that around the public safety building which is a shared facility with the police department and our station 4. more to follow on that.

the thought would be to incorporate that into the ceremony in the dedication of the world trade center artifact. we are working on the 924925 that weekend to be a department display of apparatus, parade, in conjunction with fisherman. what our fireboat, when you get a budget representation, you will get the updated information. we are expecting arrival of the fire boats next month. that has been slightly delayed and we are

looking at incorporating with commissioning with fleet week. we are in the midst as you know we had asked sf school children to participate in the naming contest. there is a panel of six of us that we are looking at. i believe there is over 350 names submitted by school children. so, we've put the names out to the panel and the panel will convene to make a final selection on naming the fireboat. the i know president covington has participated and we have down the numbers. >> for fire prevention week, we have planned for that and we have ordered additional materials

particularly in our 150th year. i know president covington is working on a field fest in november to be held in the library, and on december 3rd, the final birthday celebration event to acknowledge it at each station and then the final event at the san francisco zoo. we will be meeting with members of the zoo tomorrow to talk about planning for that event. so that covers where we are at with the 150th planning update. in relation to the station 49 supervisory model return for the rc 4, we appreciate your direction, your support. we have created with department of human resources an h 23 admin

position. we are working to have the supervisors match those that are coming in at all hours in the day with emt and paramedics and asked to work really close with mr. steve to be the lead to have those discussions, but we look forward to moving forward with that model very quickly. and also when we've had some meetings regarding this topic, we talked about additional support of a captain during the day, an additional captain's position at station 49. we did advertise for that. we committed to advertising for that prior to the end of the fiscal year. we did receive 6 or 7 resumes of interest. we will be conducting interviews soon to fill that position

which boost the supervisory level at station 49 very soon. with regard to special events and communications and outreach to other government agencies stepping back on june 21st, i had the opportunity, i was selected by mayor lee and mayor shaft to present at the bay area women's summit at moscone center. i found that to be very rewarding and valuable. i did participate half a day and was proud to participate as the san francisco fire department. many including our president joined the pride parade on june 26th. that was a great day as well. and on june 29th, i returned for that morning to present for

the public safety committee meeting. the specific agenda item was related to the fires in the mission district and specifically the fire that occurred last month 29 and mission. so, chief gonzalez and i as well as captain from the bureau fire investigation participated. and then 2 days later on the first i did return at the request of the mayor's office and attended a grart commission meeting the latino commission meeting where the mayor asked for several department heads to attend. i was attending with ms. scan lon, fire marshals and department of operations. the department of operations and department of emt was there and the planning department, probably 50 of

us in the room to discuss budgets request made by the department and some concerns they had. they related to some transit issues, homeless issues, fire was brought up very lightly toward the end of the meeting and a follow-up meeting which we'll participate in. and one of the other things that we will be participating also in conjunction with the fire and mission district and i believe president covington, you will be able to join us tomorrow for a second meeting in the missions. in may we talked about fire prevention outreach related to fire education and we would love

if 1 or 2 of you can join us for that. there will be representatives from supervisor campos' office and possibly him as well. we are a little thin in terms of command staff. a couple are on vacation and the other including the deputy chief of administration. they are attended a counter terrorism awareness workshop in the presidio. i attended yesterday. chief gonzalez. excellent presentations were made and actively participating in coordinated efforts as it relates to counter terrorism. so i felt it was valuable for staff to continue day two of that. i know you will be hearing separately from mr. korso on the budget. i'm really pleased with the

outcome of our budget. i want to acknowledge each and every fire commissioner for your advocacy and support. we made a lot of phone calls together. we have a fleet plan that will carry us through the next several years. we will be revisited obviously, but it's something we have not had and will deaven to have with commissioner nakajo remembers that and the days and coming up with the plan. we had the plan, but just didn't have the funding. to get the funding is something that is greatly needed by the men and women of the department. to get that acknowledgment was basically because it was a lot of people coming together and advocating collectively for what our priorities were. i would like to also acknowledge the budget committee made up of all the ranks in the department to come up with that. i know mr. corso provided

some details on that. deputy chief gonzalez did see that this job goes well beyond 9-5. there were late nights here in city hall particularly with the ag bag process and with local 798 were able to get restored funding for battalion 5 which spent a number of years, additional battalion chief back out in the field along the panhandle and golden gate park. that will come on board middle of january. that is also very significant and required a lot of follow up and a lot of conversations. we are very

appreciative of that. that concludes my report at this time. >> thank you, chief. >> welcome to some of the m -- members in the back. there are seats here if you would like to sit. >> okay. commissioners, do you have questions at this time or will you wait in -- until we have the operations report? >> all right. vice-president cleaveland? >> thank you for your report. it's comprehensive and very positive. i'm pleased. i had a couple of questions. one dealing when you select candidates for the academy, you know airlines over book and they feel that a few people aren't

going to show up or cancel. they always over book flights. do you pick more candidates that are going to make it into the class after the backgrounds, etc. do you select 20% more or what? what's your average wash out before they even get into the academy? >> so, prior, we do select more obviously and actually to illustrate we had for various reasons a couple people changed their mind at the last minute. there was a medical issue, a resignation. we were able to get more ready to go. usually i have 12-16 people on reserve. once a number has been selected for medical, they need to be refreshed if they don't get picked up for the class. but generally if they get selected for a medical exam, they

are slated for that class or next class. >> you say what, 10% or 10 out of 50 would be 20%. okay. those that don't get in, do they get in a holding pattern at that point and brought into the next academy? >> that's correct. >> all right. fire prevention week, i think that's very important and there is a lot of concern out there in the public about fires and ways and means to prevent them. i'm wondering if the department has put together a really comprehensive fire prevention program that can be taken to the neighborhoods in the city. is that under way and something that can be done? >> yes it is. i know we had a very successful public safety announcement campaign if you will during the month of june for the july 4th

celebration. from our perspective, it was a safe holiday. we do similarly for fire prevention week. every year, every station has an open house where information can be given out in every neighborhood. >> i really think that fire prevention should be every week, not just 1 week. quite frankly we need to come up with a program to install all of our fire houses around the city and have it as a continuous program so we educate the public on an on going basis that there are ways to prevent fires and these are the key reasons you have fires. that kind of information needs to be out in multiple languages, needs to be out on the street all the time, all the street fairs all the time. we need to be out more in educating the public on how to prevent fires if we can. i would like to see that.

>> that's a great point. i know we have some information on our website. i know for the july 4th, we published safety information in five languages. we received funding this fiscal year for an additional fire investigator and fire inspector. their roles will be to literally be out canvassing and interacting with the community. it's community outreach in the specialty of fire investigation. so i envision that if there is a fire at 29th and mission. that fire investigator will then work with fire prevention and appear at community meetings to talk about some of the things that people have asked for what will happen and how can this be. >> that's the reason for the resolution of this fire and once it's investigated and the reason why it's happened. that should

be posted so people understand how fires are started and we can dispel some of the information that people have in their minds. >> the investigators that are doing that and the additional inspector will be tasked with community presentations, community outreach, related to what you are asking for. >> i think that's excellent. we need the -- to do more on educating the public on fire prevention. thank you for that. >> when you have the latino coalition on the mission, did they have specific demands or specific request of the fire department? >> that meeting was a couple weeks ago. the agenda didn't quite touch on everything that it wanted to because there were some other very passionate issues that were brought up. so, the mayor, i believe, agreed to

meet in the mission district to have a follow-up conversation. very little at that meeting touched on fire safety issues. >> okay, lastly, i would like to compliment you and i would like to compliment mark coreso and chief gonzalez on putting together the fleet plan. it was amazing. i don't know if most of the public knows but the city had only a $10 million budget annually for the whole city for all equipment for all this. it was crazy. so perfectly underfunded budget item. i want to congratulate the department on getting a plan, a fleet plan approved on a multiyear basis and thank the mayor and his staff for supporting them. that's all i have to say. thank you.

>> thank you, vice-president cleaveland. commissioner nakajo? >> thank you. good morning, chief. welcome back. it's great to see you. i hope all goes well with your son. i hear he's doing went. i want to comment on a couple items of your report. i also want to follow up from vice-president cleaveland in terms of his positive comments towards the budget process and the comments on this year's budget process. we know that mr. coreso is going to be presenting later on and there will be more information. but i want to echo on the vice-president and myself in terms of the appreciation of the players that were able to accomplish the budget process. i particularly want to call out that vehicle replacement program, and thank you for referring to

former president and commissioner paul conroy. but we had again structure plan if you will promoted by the commission. there was paul conroy's tenure of the commission. i just wanted to point that out because that is a great example of the proactive contribution of the commission that we at least had a plan that the department could refer to. so, in terms of the budget, allocation and being able to fund that, i wanted to call that out. i will let commissioner paul conroy know about his contributions on that. i think that's very important. the other thing i wanted to acknowledge again was in your report of announcements, chief, you talked about reinstatement of battalion 5. i think that's so important

and so crucial particularly since we have had all of these presentations, "the mission fires". the fires of greater alarm. the last fires and the five alarm -- clearly with the city and battalion five is a major contribution to the city. that's the responsibility. i wanted to call out those particulars at this particular time. other than that, i will wait for the operation report mr. coreso's report. >> thank you. commissioner hardeman? >> yes, thank you. a very outstanding report, chief. very positive. things look good and hopefully no more fires in the mission.

interestingly the fire in emeryville, a six alarm. we never had a six alarm. i called chief gonzalez and tried to get his recollection on six alarm and he said, six alarm, have we had that? one thing that intrigued me about the fire was 100 firefighters personnel out with a six alarm. we do with a five alarm we have 150. chief gonzalez is very good about researching and coming back with the amount of people that the fire department would assign a particular event in order to keep everyone else available. i learned a lesson. thanks, chief. did you have any insight. did we ever have a six alarm going back in history. my wife says what about the

earthquake? that's all hands-on deck. is there a change? >> each department jurisdiction has different rules and different staffing levels to what makes up an alarm. per our rules and regulations and procedures we don't exceed a fifth alarm. if we felt that staffing was compromised because not only are we dealing with the issue at hand, but making sure other areas of the city are well protected. anytime you have a great alarm, almost 50% of our working staff was at that fire that we would contemplate request for additional resources coming in from outside the city. fortunately, in my career we have not had to do that. the big fire down when chief trevino was chief, he was

relatively new to the department. he was considering what comes after 5th because we need a lot more resources, but the crew was able to manage that fire. per protocol we do not exceed five alarm. if we need additional personnel, there is procedures in place with automatic aid. california was sort of the creator of the instant command system and mutual aid system. so we have brothers and sisters if we need additional resources to call in. >> that's what they are doing in calling in. that was a good education, thank you. >> for example, not to reference something that, you know, is necessarily a good thing. but when we lost through the fire up on berkeley way, when lieutenant perez and firefighter

anthony valero passed away, i wanted to make sure that anyone who wanted to attend their service were able to. we called some in to augment our staffing. whether for an emergency which we would be prepared to do so or even in a time of need when we wanted to grieve appropriately for our fallen members. we utilized it for that occasion. >> thank you. the other thing, you and command staff and mark coreso and the supervisors and the mayor, the collaborative effort on the budget and looking at mr. coreso's report later. so hopefully nothing surfaces at that time to negate any of these. being a commissioner is great to see

this happen after a number of years and seems like you are getting no where and paddling upstream. this is finally some good. i'm sure command staff is mostly elated. congratulations. >> we are consciously optimistic and you are right. we will stay on it until it is a done deal. >> thank you, commissioner hardeman. chief, i had a couple of things, actually two. the strategic plan is tremendously important to the department because it will be a snapshot of where we are now as well as where we want to go, and how we are going to get there in the future. so, even though the person who has been doing the coordinating for this strategic plan is going to be out, i have requested that the chief send to us this first draft so that we have time to review it and

chime in on anything that we, you know, that we want to chime in on about whether it's a compliment or something we feel may have been overlooked. so it's very important that we do give the budget committee and the fleet committee and the whole strategic plan committee our feedback on these things. i agree with the commissioner hardeman that after so long of being without , we are finally catching up the. we have a lot of catching up in terms of resources and aging equipment. it's good that we are on the path to get that done. i want to thank the fellow commissioners who have been part of that push.

please continue to enter as needed because we have a lot of work ahead of us. >> i can respond to something. >> can you hold on? thank you. >> in terms of the public safety committee, you referred to that on june 31st. i would like to at this time call upon the fire marshall to give us a short abbreviated version of his remarks for that committee. if you could, sir? >> good morning. president covington, i'm not really clear of your question. if you can give me a little bit more detail? >> a little more context? >> yes. >> if you can talk a little bit

about your presentation particularly the mission because that was the focus of that particular meeting. what it is that we have looked at in terms of the fires there, what we found, what comprises the arson task force, just those kinds of general things. >> with regards to the mission itself, the alarm was in bernal heights. we looked at the mission. we went back to 2004 to look at the working fires and greater alarms, etc. what we found is since 2004, the overall fires in the mission it fluctuates as few as 10 and as many as 28 in the year. it took an average to roughly 17 a year. that's on part of what we had last year. we had 17.

so, not discounting every fire is a concern of ours, but i think the focus should be, well the focus is on right now for what we are hearing feedback is people being displaced which is a great concern. so we looked at the greater alarms last year. if you look at the greater alarms, we had more greater alarms than we would typically have. we would have two or three greater alarms every year. last year we had seven in the mission. we had more fires. i think that's a good starting point for discussion. so we are all clear what is the problem and how to address it. so, that was part of the message i tried to convey. we talked about the fire on 29th and mission. we talked about having a greater alarm during the day and how that happened. we took a look at the structures there that were involved.

we briefly spoke on the code requirements where you couldn't build those structures today on today's code requirements, etc. that was kind of the meat and potatoes of the discussion. >> can you talk a little bit now about the composition of the arson task force? >> the arson task force we have a captain, she spoke to the committee. we have a training lieutenant. we have nine investigators that are on 24 shifts. and part of our community outreach team it will appear to be inspector for days to track data by neighborhood. we would like to track the data in san francisco and track that data and compare it and see for

any red flags and then we'll gather fire safety prevention information to go out and speak to each neighborhood what we are seeing in your neighborhood and best ways to prevent a fire. >> also, as part of the task force are there members from other departments? >> yeah, we have the police departments. i don't have the breakdown from that. i know they are part of that and the city attorney's office that heads the task force. >> so the task force is not just the fire department? >> that's correct. >> when a determination is made, it's made collaboratively? >> there are different roles. the fire department determines the origin and cause, the police department gathers information and witness statements. as far as the fire cause, that is the fire department and we team up

with that information and provide the district attorney if there is any legal action or legal course to be taken. >> very good. i know that i called you up on the spare of the moment, but do you have in your mind now how many outstanding arson cases there are or i should say open arson cases. >> thank you, chief gonzalez. >> okay, i know we have a total, we are looking at the open cases themselves under investigation. now, we call the arson task force, arson team, doesn't mean it's arson related. there are four causes. accidental, incendiary, natural, and those are the terms that we

use to complete our report. we have 135 of them over at this time. that's a reduction from 147 over a year ago. the goal is to be no more than 2 months out on our open log. we do 35 a month, roughly 70 a month would be a normal load to carry. we are at 135 now and on our way to that. related to arson, i don't have the number right here. those are determined to be incendiary at this time. >> that's okay. i called you at the spare of the moment and i know you were not prepared for a presentation. i just want people to know the backlog is being cleared up and we have many partners in determining

next steps in the investigations. >> absolutely. for those open reports many of them are not structure fires, there are many vehicle fires, outside fires, trash fires. we have 59 structure fires in that at this time. in the mission of the 135, i believe we have 7 of those are in the mission at this time. the mission gets 8-9% of the fires. we are actually lower of what we expect to see in the log. >> thank you very much. i appreciate your on the spot presentation. the chief of the department has something to add? >> thank you, briefly i wanted to add in conjunction with the team approach not only are we working with the san francisco police department but we are also working very closely, i believe

there is assigned a deputy attorney that we work with. >> very good. thank you, chief. very good news about battalion 5 and i think we'll hear more about various fires in the city in the upcoming administration report. commissioner hardeman, you had something to add? >> thank you, madam president. i just wanted to respond to the talk about the strategic plan. i was able to find the time to attend the last couple meetings and the make-up of that group bringing people from all levels of the fire department together; and being a person that gets to sit and primarily listen to discussion because my nosing in at that point would just be a waste of time. it was very valuable for me to learn, but it was nice to see the

dialogue between the highest ranking and the lowest ranking of people exchanging information and coming to conclusion. i think it's on its way. the document you received or we have received as commissioners i think is going to be a very well received item. i believe you will be happy with what's transpired so far. >> wonderful. the strategic plan in almost completion, correct me if i am wrong, chief, it will be sent to all members of the department for their feedback, is that correct? >> that was being discussed at the last meeting in terms of how before finalization how it would be conveyed. would it be a working draft sent to everyone or discussion if every rank is represented is that the

next step and whether there is a meeting held for days and times. that is to be determined. >> okay, thank you. i hope it gets distributed widely so every member of the department feel they have had a chance to respond and give input. >> i had one other thing. a friend of mine, the fire marshall as spoken. congratulations, that you are down to 70 under your leadership. that was 70 open from 400. that's remarkable in a short time. the other thing that is interesting as you talked about bernal heights where the fire was. i think the longest street in the city, in the mission, a block or two off, psychologically where there are other parts of mission. that was great points that you

brought up so people understand it how you have to define different neighborhoods. thank you for your report. >> thank you again, commissioner hardeman. vice-president cleaveland? >> thank you, madam president. i had a few questions for chief and fire marshall. i appreciate your impromptu report here. i think what you do and the investigation is that you are tasked with our front and center concerns to a lot of people in the city. i appreciate your leadership there, and i wanted to ask you a few things. you mentioned 17 fires in the mission. was that over a period of 10 years or what? i wasn't quite sure how many fires we've had. >> that was for 2015. >> that was for 2015. >> 17 working fires. >> okay. >> we had more than 17 working fires but classified as working

fires, structure fires. through our dispatch system they are designated as working fires. >> i think the point to make here is that for the public is that the fires that we see and hear about in the mission, it's not an in ordinant number? >> that's correct. what we've seen throughout the city, fires are generally declining. the mission had stayed relatively flat. they have had roughly 17 a year for the past 12 years or so. i know there a lot of talk about the percentage of fires in the mission going up. well, if your fires stay

flat and the percentages are going down, your numberser going to go down over all. the question is why is the mission staying flat and the rest of the neighbors declining. that's why we are trying to get our arms around it and understand. >> those areas in the mission and chinatown, they are densely populated. we need to get to every single department building in that area to educate them on what not to do. >> we are seeing more and more people living in closer proximity. that's a factor as well. >> in terms of major causes, you say there are four. when you do an arson

investigate you come out with a report and it's one of four things. what is the major cause of fire. >> that's a national standard. there is four determinations made, accidental, incendiary, natural or undetermined. those are the four main causes. so, for example if it's accidental, we break it down further, what was the cause. it could be electrical or discarded smoking materials. >> the reason for fires is accidental? >> i can speak to the mission because we really dug down deep in the mission. what we found in the mission, the majority are accidental. the majority of the accidental, a high percentage about a third related to electrical faults, failures,

extension cords, power strips, etc. if you look at the national data, that should be about 8%. we are at 83%. that's what we are working on. >> a lot of people are charging their cell phones ipads. >> also there are a lot of older structures. >> not only to the residents but the property owners is something to be done here. >> yes. >> thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> thank you, commissioner. thank you, vice-president, cleaveland. at this time, i think for the chief's report before we go to the report from operations, i would like to see if there is any member of the public that would like to speak at this time concerning the

chief's report at this time. okay, seeing none, public comment is closed. chief gonzalez, welcome. >> president, before chief gonzalez comes up. i do want to say something i said earlier with academy. they graduated earlier part of june. we attended that ceremony in june. the bump up, the correct number was 16 that we bumped up to become paramedics, 13, and then 3, for a total of 16 went through a modified academy. h 2's that have a paramedic license and we were able to make them to level 3. they advanced to the fire department. i just wanted to correct the record. >> thank you inform -- for

that correction. >> good morning, president, commissioners. chief gonzalez. we had a fire on 29th and mission. i would like to comment that the members that day did an excellent job concerning the fire conditions and the wind conditions. another challenge, there was a building under construction, there were structural members there were there and it lit up pretty quickly. all i remember is the look that we exchanged when that building went up because it seemed like that building was an immediate concern. the companies did a great job and lined were in place to prevent more lives lost in that fire. a concern for the city, the

supervisor and ourselves to see what we can do for those displaced occupants. also on this fire, we alerted the staff, 311 social media advocates and put out information in english and spanish. the salvation army and dph worked in parking lots for the displaced victims and putting services together immediately after the fire. the sf and water department worked on the water issue to minimize more water damage. we had a situation on the bottom of 49th street. we had to get to the

residents down there to minimize more damage. i would like to remind the public to sign up for emergency notification to alert, we also posted information last month on the radio that happened july 4th. i will instruct fire marshall to get more literature out there in more languages. we can do that when we do sunday streets and the parades, etc. to see something say, campaign, the number was to call. 311. on 6-7, lieutenant shay and the p.d. attended the merchants

association meeting to discuss fire education and fourth of july safety. june 8th, sf p.d. and ocean beach met to discuss ocean safety prevention and education. working fires during the month on the 12, 3129 clement street was a fire, good job. and there was a fire in a storage room. working 35 street and a roof fire. you did a good job with that one as well. an adult rescued off the cliff. a second rescue off the cliff as well. we had a cliff rescue

godfrey battery. and saw something add something. this resulted in a swimmer in distress which required cpr to be rescued. the victim was taken to emergency hospital. really, i feel good about that, last month we made the 10 minutes code three ambulance response. this month the call went up, we are under 10 minutes. we are at 9 minutes.73. the money infused by the city helped us with the program and a combination of other things. we are happy about that. the chief bumped up the members and 3h 2 as well were bumped up in the academy. our training continues. there are nine new members qualified to work at radio.

the control substance policy is in review phase. we have a meeting to discuss the final approval of that. and continued meetings with the ems provider groups and ems schedule to allow better opportunities to meet with the eoa requirements, percentages, we want to get to that 80%. and the station 49 update, as the chief mentioned regarding the supervisory position. we need to set up a time to meet and discuss implementing the same for that position. division of fire prevention investigation, i think fire marshall pretty much addressed everything. other than the permit totals and the accelerating totals which i have in my report for you. the fire investigation, 59

structure fires, 27 fires, that is what we like to call our queue. it has gone down from last year as the fire marshall noted. also as part of my report, i would like captain balmy from fire prevention to give his task update. he has a presentation for you. thank you. >> thank you. welcome. >> thank you, good morning, commissioners, good morning chief. i have been asked to provide a brief presentation on the task advisory staff committee and the fire department's role on that committee. even though this will be the brevity is not indicative of the importance of us being on that committee, though. >> captain, can you tell us

what task stands for? >> the task is the transportation advisory staff committee. it's known as task. tasc. >> can we go to the computer, please.

>> they are not getting a live feed. >> give us an update. >> the tasc committee has the responsibility of vetting any change to a public street or legislation regarding public streets before a

required hearing at the sf mta board. it essentially reviews proposals from different agencies and the public or individuals or it could be from an organization or city agency. basically the program overall sponsored by an sf mta member and the mta member provides documents for our review or the agency's review. the review process is such that we, the fire department requires the material be provided at least five business days before the

tasc meeting. >> thank you, captain balmy. we don't know how long it will take for this to come up. we would expect them to have been here by now. can i go back to chief gonzalez and perhaps we'll get an update on the airport just to complete his portion. >> i have the update on the airport. >> i think that was the next thing on your operation report. >> i have a summary of some of their activities. we have a record review with the san

francisco international airport safety management certification. they had a meeting with bill adams who is in charge of the communications division. they payne participated in training exercises. 101 is our sf city unit when they call and 303 is from san mateo. we wanted to make sure he had integrated training to respond to the airport for major incidents. he has done so and will continue to do so throughout the year. i also met with the new fire station with the three design team. i would also like to mention they are having state of the art h back, he can mention more about it. i believe it's a 5-tiered system at the new station we

scheduled to open next year if my recollection is correct. they also worked on during the red cap structure locations for units that respond. also i have assistant deputy chief. he's busy in the field right now, they are doing training on burning live training. they do that at dallas and for my assistant chiefs for the six of them and also for battalion 9 and 10 trying to produce a command in system of our class together. those are one of the things that our chief requested down at the airport. i think it's an important tool. the first thing they came up with is 3 days down to dallas. i don't think it's feasible to send to 3 days in dallas. i was asking to do something in a

field closer. it's a lot of our chiefs out of the area at one time is not good. i can go back to prevention if you like. >> i understand a couple of their commissioners do have questions on your report thus far. >> okay. >> vice-president cleaveland? >> thank you, madam president, and thank you, chief gonzalez. your report is very comprehensive. i appreciate that. i want to congratulate you and chief myers on getting ems response time under 10 minutes. that's great. it's been a big issue for a long time and i -- congratulate you and the department and all the departments for making that happen. all of them should be congratulated. >> thank you very much. >> i have a question on the local station 49 staffing update.

when do you think that will be resolved. i would like to know if you can estimate when you might have that resolved. we have the battalion 5 thing, that's in place and the cd 4, is that happening? what's the deal? >> the next step would be to meet with dhr, 798, the attorneys, and us to negotiate it. i don't think it would hurt to have a premeeting, maybe, again with the commissioners or maybe two of the commissioners along with 798 and the chief. obviously president o'connor to hammer out the final details to expedite it. that might be a great idea. >> it's such a critical thing and the ems services one of the most important services that our department provides to the city and the citizens. we have to get this

resolved. >> absolutely and part of that what the chief mentioned with the work. that is going to be implemented. we'll begin next week to have that implemented within the next two to 3 weeks. >> excellent. as far as the airport, the training has to be done and specialized training to be done in the airport because of the types of fires you may have there. dallas has the best training in the country, is that correct? >> that's objective. i haven't looked at all the training facilities myself. i have heard that said myself. i have to research that myself. >> i'm concerned if we send them to moffat field, is that going to be as good a training. i want the men and women in our fire department to get the best training possible. i don't care where we send them.

we don't have to send them at one time. >> i agree with what you are saying. i would never want to compromise the training, if we have to send them to the north pole, there would be a limitation. >> i agree with that. we don't want to compromise the training by not sending them there, but we don't have to send them at the same time. >> that's definitely a priority. >> thank you. >> thank you, vice-president cleaveland. commissioner nakajo. >> thank you for your report. i also want to comment on the emergency medical services report portion and refer to again the response time to a 9.73 response which was always to go up to 10 minutes. i don't know about anybody else but for me this is a very important historical accomplishment within this department. we've worked for years trying to see this, and it just doesn't happen

overnight. i know it's a budget issue, a personnel issue. again, it's related back to, i know mr. corso will be up here. in terms of the report from the mayor's office is a great report. you can wish for this to accomplish. they have to have something substantial behind that. i want to congratulate everybody on that and going forward to maintain that. that's the hardest part about all of this. the second thing i wanted to comment on and it's not particularly a report but under the categorical of emergency medical services. i needed information. there were some incidents referred to previously on an emergency call of a chp officer whose throat was slashed, and i know some of our units responded to that as

well as some privates. i'm curious as to whether there was any recognition given to that particular personnel, crew, whether it was private or with our department who responded to that officer. i do know that officer apparently is in recovery mode doing well, but i think again if it was and i'm trying to verify that by members of our staff as well as the police department and our privates. that was one other issue while we are waiting. the other issue, i will wait for mr. corso as the budget presentation to comment. but those things i wanted to really feind out. one more thing, mr. chief gonzalez, i'm glad you narrate your report so the public and the audience can hear your report because again, this report is comprehensive,

and i know that again we gave some recognition to your staff. is it particularly jenny franklin again that puts together on some basis? >> yes, sir. >> okay, for the commission this is a comprehensive report. i know the chiefs are all out there, and if there is a question, you have a responsibility, maybe that's not a strong or kind word, but we seek information and very often when you give comprehensive information like this, it answers a lot of questions. >> did you want to give reference to the chp officer? >> certainly, my recollection is that we did acknowledge by name the members of the department. there were two members and intern that day. it was during super bowl week. i got them three together and met them at the general hospital when i

found out the commissioner from the california highway patrol was going to be flown in by helicopter to meet with the chp officer that was injured. we had sort of a reunification. if you desire to bring them before the commission which i don't think we did. i remember recognizing them by name. i'm happy to do so. >> yes, chief, thank you very much for that because i do believe those individuals by name should be recognized, but also if there is an occasion for us because we have done that many times, commissioners, of recognizing individual personnel that have done outstanding work. if we can, i would appreciate that. i will leave that to you. >> the names were submitted to the meritorious committee for consideration for meritorious award which we usually have every other

year. >> okay, i appreciate that. i think that's really proper. i'm also interested in the day as well. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> thank you, commissioner nakajo. commissioner hardeman? >> thank you, madam president. chief, thanks for your intensive report and all in this document as you mentioned. one thing that caught my eye was cited when you get out there that you get out there as fast as possible. and you have seen the five alarm at 29th and mission is refreshing to see that's the only greater alarm in the whole month of june and

this fire department was able to get this fire out with a single alarm. so, the response and diligence. as you brought up, here is the natural instincts. we are lucky to have someone that also has the natural ability. one thing i didn't see is that 75 people lost their jobs and the 58 that were displaced as residents. that adds another sad wrinkle to the situation. anyway, thank you for your great report. as far as the highway patrol man, i talked to an officer with him. he was so elated and wanted me

to express to the fire department that they didn't think he was going to make it. these are experts in a lot like other safety officers in understanding severe injuries. they thought for sure the highway patrol man was a goner and if it weren't for the ability of the medical personnel out there. he was extremely grateful. >> if we do recognize the members here, i think it would be good to organize with the chp personnel as well. >> i thought i would bring that up as this is televised so the public understand how these situations work and how important it is to have the response time like you just indicated coming down. fingers have been pointed at the staff and firefighters and the union, everybody said. none of it was the

responsibility and any particular crew to have the resources to do the job. now that we are getting that, the response is coming down. i appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, sounds like we have technical difficulties. one of the ways to make it work, if the computer isn't working, we can use the overhead projection until they figure out the computers. we might be able to use the overhead projector. >> okay.

>> how long will it take? >> i have more to keep going. >> okay. the other thing perhaps we can use the overhead. why don't we use the overhead and go to mr. corso, and captain balmy we will hold on yours a little longer. mr. corso, let's have the secretary please call that item. >>clerk: item 35. overview of fire department budget. update and overview from mark corso on the current budget. >> welcome, mr. corso.

>> good morning commissioners. mark corso from planning and budget to give a brief update from the last time presented which was june 8th which was prior to any of the budget hearings we had. everything is not final. there is a couple more steps . i will roll through that as well. i wanted to keep you up to speed with where we are on the department. the overall timeframe we are looking at. the mayor released his balance budget on may 31. the planning department began discussions to work with the budget an alyst and began discussions and provided justification to those requests. the department scheduled two hearings before the budget and finance committee scheduled for june 17th, friday and second hearing coming back june 23. rd.

as i mentioned upon release of the mayor's budget, the department began working with the budget analyst on their proposed recommendations. we provided justification for our budget, answered a number of questions they had. they initially proposed some recommended cuts to the department budget surrounding recruitment, surrounding deletions in the department and potentially some project funding reductions. so from the may 30 time and over the next couple of weeks, the department worked with the budget analyst at the budget committee meeting. and fortunately this year we were able to come to an agreement with the budget analyst prior to

the first hearing which we had not done in the past. the structure this year was a little different. in the past the board requested the budget analyst to provide two reports to the finance committee one at the first and second meeting. this one was different in there was going to be more time focused at the budget analyst office. we worked with them and eventually came to an agreement. the agreement ended up, the end result was approximately $590,000 reduction in the first year made up mainly of general -- attrition salary. i'm confident we can absorb those reductions. there were no reductions to affect any of the project initiatives and equipment fund and no deletions of miss any positions. we were able to come to an

agreement prior to this meeting. we did attend and reported to the committee that we were in agreement. there's no presentation requested of us by the board. so we were in agreement. >> so while we were in agreement, we did not have to return for a second hearing which was great and that hearing was used for the board of supervisors, the budget and finances committee meeting. the remaining departments came into agreement or worked with the board on some type of reduction. at the end of that, the board of supervisors began their internal process called the ag back process where they made negotiations themselves and discussed the entire pool of recommendations that were a

total from the departments as well as the budget analyst and additional revenue sources certified by the controllers office and a group of money that the board negotiated to divvy up to different projects. this was the entire week and concluded at the budget special meeting. there was an agreement after much back and forth among the supervisors and passed the budget and recommended budget to move to the full board. as a result of that process, there were some very good news from the fire department working very closely with 798 we were able to restore battalion 5. in addition allocated some additional funding for youth firefighter training as well.

and kind of a high level summary of the budget as it currently exist. no reduction to the fleet and equipment plan. obviously the department was very excited when the mayor proposed their budget showing for our fleet equipment. there are no reduction, deletion of any existing programs or positions, uniform or civilian. that includes the initiative. we were funded quite a bit of positions for our bureau fire and prevention. those positions will still be moving forward. that's great. again, as i mentioned restoration of battalion 5 effective january and $125 for firefighter youth training in conjunction with the black firefighters association.

>> as i mentioned the process is not officially complete. the budget still needs to be heard at the board and approved. june 24th, marked the date that the board of supervisors agreed on that and the budget was recommended to the full board. july 19th, next week is the presentation before the board for the approval of the full budget. it needs to be approved twice by the board. the following week will be the second approval by the board and will go to the mayor's office for the final sign off on the ordinances and late to early august. after the mayor signs it and it's fully approved, it gets loaded into the system and the funding initiatives can move forward at that time. with that, i would like to open to

any questions and any information. before i do, i would like to thank the mayor's budget office, the board's budget analyst that helped through the process, local 798 and the fire commission for their support. i'm happy to answer any questions. >> thank you, mr. corso for your presentation. are there any members of the public that would like to comment on the budget presentations? seeing none, public comment is closed on this item. and commissioner cleaveland? >> thank you, madam president and thank you for the excellent report and for the excellent process. this has been one of the smoothest years i think for the budget department in my recollection and certainly as we are faced

with the budget analyst process and certainly to get an agreement on the first go around. i commend you and the staff at the budget analyst office to coming to accord early on. on the ag back, what was the actual cost? >> we had requested approximately over $900,000 for the entire year or effective when the budget would kick in. we were approved for half of that $450,000 and the full $900 in the second year. so starting in the half of the year. >> thank you very much and thanks to all of those people involved in the budgeting process that helped you and worked with you to create a budget that is the best we've had in many years. thanks. >> thank you. >> okay, thank you, vice-president cleaveland. commissioner

nakajo? >> thank you very much, madam president. mr. corso, thank you very much for your comprehensive summary. on chief white, i definitely want to congratulate you on your work, mr. corso, i have been participating for 21 years without offending any former mayor, mayor brown, mayor newsom, this is the best budget we have ever worked with. i know chief hayes-white, how important that is and for integrated participation. mr. corso, you have been out there on the front lines with the budget analyst to agree with us. mayor lee, i'm going to call him out. the support that we have received. the board of supervisors, the restoration of battalion 5. i want to recognize 798 for their

participation. this is a really remarkable great accomplishment within this department. i again want to make sure that again we all have participation within this, but also it is a great accomplishment. i skrus -- just want to thank you for your participation on this moving forward. it doesn't get any easier, you know that and i know that. that's why with the commissioner, with all of these parameters on fire education, all the responsibility that this department is willing to take on this responsibility, but we need some resources and help to pull this off. it doesn't just fall into our own house. we'll all do the job that we can. again, i appreciate this. madam president, vice-president cleaveland, thank you very much for your sincere efforts and hard work on this budget. thank you, madam president.

>> thank you, commissioner, nakajo. commissioner hardeman? >> i would be remiss if i didn't say anything. it is commendable. i really want to congratulate mark corso because it takes a certain style to negotiate, and with the financial problems that the city's had over the years, you having to go through this agonizing year in and year out and yes, -- your personality and understanding of the budget, really helped to achieve and the staff and their knowledge and your personality and leadership and situation with the chief giving you a promotion that you

recently received is certainly we deserved. everybody deserves a pat in the back, but you are the guy and you understood what the department's needs were more than anybody. thank you, good job. >> thank you very much, commissioner. >> thank you, commissioner hardeman. while i echo the sentiment and compliments of my fellow commissioners, and i do also want to thank especially chief gonzalez who was very diligent in roaming the halls and speaking to everyone, all of the folks on the legislative side of the city. you know, to get the resources that we need, and he was part of a dynamic duo which included

ms. olivia scannen. i ran into them frequently in the hall ways. it really shows how when we are altogether, the union, the budget committees, the commissioners, the administrative staff, the rank and file, i mean, we can do a lot of things. now is the time to get things done while we are flush in the city. because we have gone through some lean times, and now that we are not so lean, we really do need to keep the pressure on to get the things we need because we have a lot of things that are required to fulfill our mission. so, kudos to everyone. we can celebrate this, and the idea that you didn't have to go to the second meeting.

that alone is worth an ice cream cone. i just have one question, mr. corso. will the $125,000 allocation for the firefighter youth training, can you talk a little bit more about that? >> i will defer to the chief on that one. >> chief hayes-white? >> yes, we were also pleased to receive an add back of $125,000 to augment a great program which i have been a huge supporter of over seen by the black firefighters association for the youth fire academy run typically during the school year from 14-18. it various up to about 20 students that show an interest in the fire service. hopefully some day we plant

the seed and they become firefighters or paramedics. it's more about having members of the black firefighters association volunteering their time. captain pruitt who is with our fire prevention department, he runs and over sees the black firefighters association. they use sometimes our resources and use our vans for transportation and training. they are wearing a uniform and being a team player. that has gone on for a number of years. usually in june there is a graduation ceremony or an award ceremony. i have attended the last 15 years. chief attended last month. we were approached in conjunction with the black firefighters association and

>>supervisor malia cohen:'s office formalizing this type of academy. he saw in the youth fire academies that black firefighters have an opportunity to enhance or improve and bring into alignment what has been done over in the east bay. so a proposal was made and we had made the pitch, supervisor cohen, again embraced it and she was the champion for getting that back into our budget. >> wonderful. thank you, chief hayes-white for relaying that information. a question for you, mr. corso, does the budget include a grant writer? >> it does not. it was not funded. it would be needed and was

mentioned quite a few times at the budget level. it was proposed, we were not funded for it. it would be a benefit to the department. in the absence of having a dedicated grant writer, i think we do a good job in general due to the last group funded by a grant. that work will continue, but i think that is an area where we can improve for sure and i think we'll continue to work with the mayor's office to explore that possibility. >> i know we have been extremely fortunate over the last 18 months at least in securing large grants. i'm wondering if there is a plan or any talk of what we do in the interim because it's going to be at least another year before

we are budgeted for such a position. but we do need additional resources on the grant writing side because chief francisco, it falls under chief francisco's administrative umbrella, does it not? >> absolutely. >> it's very much bigger than the largest umbrella in the world. so, the resources that are required to write grants, it's quite an undertaking. i really would encourage the chief and your staff for us to come up with ways to assist us in the grant writing. >> absolutely. i have had discussions with chief and some of his training

staff have expressed interest in specifically ems and particularly grant programs. part of it in my new role would be a goal to formalize the grant process in that department and that is definitely on the radar. >> very good. thank you very much. any additional questions? okay. any public comment? on the budget? no. okay. public comment is closed. and let's see, how are we doing with captain balmy's presentation? is it good to go? okay. please return to the mic, captain balmy. >> we'll find out.

>> okay. we'll try this again. so, i will begin with just an overview of tasc. we'll discuss a couple of challenges and i will bring some recommendations forward about the challenges. so the transportation advisory staff committee is defined as an inner departmental committee. it's chaired by the sf mta and discusses proposed legislation or proposed street changes prior to proceeding to an sf mta public hearing. it provides a regular forum for the key agencies to review and comment on the changes to these

right-of-ways. and it's important to note that it's only an informal advisory board. the board does not make any decisions about approving or disapproving any of the proposals. i will go into that further on into the presentation. so some of the agencies in the cities family that are represented are the sf mta's sustainable streets division, traffic, transit operations, parking enforcement, taxi services, the planning department, the department of public works, the police department and the fire department. these are the only members of the committee at this time. the agenda items that are heard at the task meetings are for proposed legislative or street

changes that are requested by a project sponsor. the sponsors can come from a variety of fields, it can be an individual. as an example, there may be some concern from people on a street about the speed of vehicles going up and down their street. so they can petition and apply to the sf mta to provide some remedy or relief for that. typically, they will request a speed hump be placed on the street. the community and business organizations also can present proposals through a sponsor to the committee and i think it's pretty obvious that for a

community organizations going through this process also enhances the live ability of the city. so the pavement to parks program where a street is transformed from vehicular traffic to pedestrian traffic are typically sponsored by a community request. private developers, we all know the development is going on in the city. if a developer has a project, they need to go in front of the planning committee. the planning department will request they comply with the better streets plan, and the developer will implement the goals of the plan. in other words, they will widen sidewalks, implement corner bulbs at the request of the planning

department. it will become a permanent street change. and different city agencies are also required to come and bring their presentations or their projects and be presented to the tasc members. infrastructure within the city existing and then a new infrastructure and especially with all the vision zero goals that the city is achieving. these are all funneled through the tasc. >> these are some of the items heard at tasc. we don't hear everything, but the majority of them are transit calming and pedestrian safety measures. i will just focus on those. speed humps, speed cushions, bulb

outs, crosswalk, speed limit changes and traffic circle. the number of speed limit changes are the safe routes to school program where the areas are calmed by putting up speed limit signs and changing them from 35-15 miles per hour, for instance. the land reduction removals are typically result of the city's goal of reducing the amount of vehicular traffic and changing it to pedestrians. so if the land reductions are typically from a practice that considers the street and call them a road diet. in other words, a street is going to become two lane instead of the four

lane now. second street is part of the road diet program. though items are required to be heard at tasc because they have the responsibility of approving or disapproving the proposals and forwarding them to the board of supervisors. the meetings of the tasc are not open to the public, but there are avenues for private and non-governmental property parties to present or participate in the committee meetings when it's appropriate. the tasc members may review, discuss

and comment on these items at that time and each agency is allowed to either object or not object. they must state that during the conclusion of the item presentation. but we can also not object with conditions and make recommendations. committee agencies can also place an item on hold and the item is not scheduled for a public hearing until the agency issues are resolved. proposals that are not scheduled for an sf mta public hearing may also be heard at the tasc meetings, but they are for discussion or informational purposes only. so, an item that would be brought forward that was from a

non-governmental organization would be the ride share program and the commuter shuttle buses, and they would come and present their proposal to the reasons for them wanting to utilize the city streets for their business. an example of a proposal that's brought for information or discussion only would be the -- it was a project brought forward to essentially coordinate the muni transit systems bus routes on market street with colored lights along market street above ground. so, when a bus came by down

below, the light would follow. when it's traveling you can see where the bus was. that never came to fruition. it was just brought for information only. so, what the sfd review at these meetings or prior to the meetings. we request all the documents be provided at least five business days prior to the meeting. i do not believe any of the other agencies do that. we are tasked with not only reviewing them but also making a decision as to whether we would object or not object. so, many of these projects are massive in size, and the number of projects is great too. so, we need the ample

amount of time to review them. we require that drawings be provided. we are looking at a two dimensional presentation essentially for both existing conditions and then we require what the proposed conditions and then we see how it affects fire service features. on the fire service features that we review are fire vehicle access, the building access and fire department access to the connections on the buildings, fire water supply access and fire ground operation access. fire vehicle access, we look at whether we can navigate the street with the proposal, and if we have issues, we vet all these prior to the tasc meeting or try to

have them vetted. if we can't come to a compromise or to acceptance, then we place the item on hold until we can be comfortable with the present and the existing and the proposed conditions. so some examples we always consult with support services because we are looking at two dimensions when looking at plans. it's better to be able to have feedback from the field. in this particular case, the boots on the ground is very important. we also perform field

evaluations and we can see these particular scenes here from project called "annie plaza". it's at annie plaza. they are anticipating making it permanent. we are working with them to maintain fire department access and building access on this street. the reviews also may include field vehicle test where we test both the condition for the proposed change and then after or while the process is going on we have to confirm that we are able to navigate the streets.

sometimes when you are looking at two dimensions, it looks like it would work, but based on our investigation, it's not an accurate way of measuring that. this particular case, this is at 19th and dolores. we had an existing condition and the proposed condition was to put a bulb out, and the bulb out created a condition where the vehicle had to take the term wider than under normal operating conditions in a non-bulb state.

>> this is a highly route vehicle. we have meetings with the sponsor and exchange ideas or solutions to make both parties satisfied with the project. if it's unresolved, we place it on hold and it can be drawn from the agenda bean -- by the sponsor or flat out objected from us or any other of the committees. some of the challenges we have run across with this is meeting the increased demand to review the new and existing infrastructure projects.

the staffing levels are not at what is optimum for reviewing these projects. the number and quantity and size of the projects of course as you can tell by being drug around in the city has increased. it has to do with existing infrastructure projects and new projects that are consistent with reaching the goals of vision zero and the better streets plan. the other challenge that needs to be addressed is communicating to the various departments within the city family about the complex san francisco fire department operational needs and requirements. it's surprising to me that

most of these agencies do not have any understanding of how the fire department operates during an emergency and/or medical incident whether it be fire or medical. so that's a challenge. the agencies typically try to understand it in a way that it's black and white and it's difficult for them to understand it and it's not the way it really is. so some of the recommendations that we make, i would make and the committee would make are to develop a plan for a separate fire department section that includes dedicated staff to review tasc proposals over the next several years, and to include operation numbers on that section.

vision zero goal, from 14 to 16 was 24 projects in 24 months. the sf mta achieved 30 projects completed in 20 months. the next goal for 16-18 is 57 projects in 24 months. so it's the very ambitious projects to reach these goals, and our staff is one 1/2 people. request the city attorney to provide clarity regarding interpretation of which municipal codes exceed the fire and safety code and when there is a conflict. there is

still no resolution from the city attorney as to does the transportation code trump the planning code and/or the fire code? because there are competing codes within the city's family that contradict each other, and that needs to be resolved. we want to educate our sister agencies and their staff about our operations and access requirements and the needs for medical and fire and our needs in medical and fire incidents. we would recommend that the san francisco fire department's division of training create a fire department informational video or powerpoint presentation with supporting documentation of fire

response and fire ground operations and present them to our sister agencies. so educate is one of the recommendations not only within our department, but also of our operations to other departments. then, we would need to continue to work with the sf mta to better communicate on all tasc related projects. typically we meet once a month and they present their concept of a very large project, for instance, the geary street corridor from downtown to the avenues and van ness avenue which goes from market street down to bay street. these massive projects are typically given to us 5 days before the tasc hearing. so we have implemented a program where if they are going to have a project that is of

substantial size, that we need to get together and review it months ahead of time. these are not projects that just come up next day, these are all well planned out. so i will be happy to take any questions if you have any or clarifications if you need any. >> thank you, captain balmy for your presentation. i would like to ask if there are any members of the public who would like to comment on your presentation. are there any members of the public that would like to come to the opposed -- podium? seeing none, public comment is closed. i will go to my fellow commissioners beginning with vice-president cleaveland. >> thank you very much for

this very illuminating presentation. i wasn't aware of the transportation advisory committee. this is news to some of us in the commission and very interested in the operations of this task force obviously. you've mentioned that you only meet once a month. it sounds like it's a full time job and then some and the committee. the committee only meets once a month to hash out those changes, right? >> no. i wasn't clear on that. the committee itself meets bimonthly. we immediate on the second and fourth thursday of the month. we meet twice a month. however on projects with sf mta, we meet with them monthly for them to bring concepts to us to get our feedback so they can help. it helps them design the project to

meet our needs and their needs. >> so is this committee comprised of technical people? engineers, architects, people that know how to design things? >> so, the committee members are not. the people who are presenting the proposals are and sf mta, this is mostly sf mta, we are invited to be there. we are not required to be there. >> it's their committee? >> it's their committee. >> they don't have members of the public as part of that committee? >> they do not. >> i was really concerned to hear that sixth street is going to become two lanes. one in each direction. as a street that comes off interstate 280, i think it's a terrible idea to

all of a sudden bottle that into one lane. everything is going into one lane, are you kidding? >> i haven't seen the exact layout of the -- >> i think it's a terrible idea. absolutely. i will communicate that. >> in terms of the bulb outs and what not, i think it's important that getting to fires access is critical. when they are closing out streets, they are compromising the life and safety of the occupants of those buildings next to those alleys. permanent closure of alleys is a bad idea unless the fire department has access, very good access particularly in high rise situations where you have high rise buildings. i think it's a terrible idea to close them permanently. i certainly think the fire

department has to push to maintain access to every single alley in our city. >> understood. >> i'm also concerned about the codes. i think the city attorney needs to get their act together and tell us what codes prevail, is it the fire codes, transportation codes. we need that and the city attorney needs to issue their opinion. i urge that to happen. >> understood. >> have you had a chance to put some dollars and cents to your requested recommendations? we need to have some dollars and cents added to that recommendation so we know what we can adequately provide assistance to you. >> i have not and i will consult with the fire marshall and mark corso regarding that. >> all right. again, thank you for your

report. >> thank you, vice-president cleaveland. commissioner nakajo? >> thank you very much, madam president. captain, thank you very much for your report. i think i learned more from your report than a lot of people in the city. i'm speaking for myself. it's hard sometimes to be a commissioner with the information and the responsibility with the department but i also happen to be a senior director in an organization in japantown and also being in a position that affects all of us. i'm always amazed of where i can't turn and what color is this or that. i'm not here to sit and mown and grown and complain. because i'm part of the process. when i sit at these meetings and gary corridor, these are huge projects that are affecting

everyone of us and very often i wonder who the heck came up with this and came up with some kind of concept of identifying again in this city what department is part of that. now, for us not to have an invited share at these meetings or decisions, i want to hear like vice-president cleaveland, our additions or our abilities to enforce because all of these wonderful ideas have justifications, but when it comes to our members and our fire vehicles getting to our job responsibilities, that does not work. for me, in terms of our department, as you sit on this committee, i'm overwhelmed with the amount of jurisdiction and the amount of parameters that we have here. again, this is our comment for the commissioners, but i also can't believe that many of our sister and brother departments in this

city and county do not know what we do in the fire department besides put out fires and rescue people. i think it's crucial and essential that we do that. i don't see it fall all upon us even though that responsibility is there because every time we have a discussion, our request and realization with our budget request gets larger and larger and i realistically want to be able to project out there. if we have to educate some people, that's fine, but i'm concern with the amount of non-influence we have on this level if that's what i'm picking up and how better we can or how we can reinforce our kinds of concerns on a serious matter. this is serious business. so, for me, follow up of this information is very important to at least go back and try to educate some focus. you can tell there is some emotion

behind there because i'm a citizen of san francisco. but when it falls to the parameters of the department, i'm concerned. i would like to know how we can get more teeth on our reinforcement and i will wait to hear from our commissioners in terms of how we can do this. i very much appreciate that you brought this and chief gonzalez that this is now part of our presentation. my last point, vision zero and changing streets, sometimes i get to hear that the department is resistant on changes, that's no what we are about. it's about our ability to do our task and duties. thank you very much. >> commissioner hardeman. >> thank you very much for your well thought out report to us.

you have a very tough job because you are dealing with well intentions on supervisors and other commissioners and other departments that are trying to narrow streets and increase residential foot print, but at the expense of the fire department. could you explain, i'm sure you know, if not maybe another staff person about what happens when you have to hit a curb when you go to a five alarm fire in a ladder truck or -- engine, what happens to a vehicle that cost up to $50,000. can you translate that? >> i would have to defer to support services and the bureau of equipment for answers to those questions. i don't know if anybody is here, but we can look that up and research it

and get back. >> commissioner, deputy gonzalez. an example that happened on dolores and market where we had a fire. there were some safety streets and we had a problem with our truck. it did cost the city money to make that repair. what we are asking is more, our input is valued more for these projects so we don't have to correct it afterwards. >> the damage to the vehicles can be extremely significant is what i have been told in the past. i haven't seen anything recently written on it. >> if it jumps the curb, if it's over 4 inches, it can do damage to the system. it could be expensive.

>> okay. thank you, chief gonzalez. captain balmy, again, are you dealing with the southeast corridor at this point on treasure island yet. is treasure island trying to narrow the streets too or have they gotten to that situation yet? >> the major developments going on throughout the city have been reviewed or under review now. we've looked at and under the process of reviewing candlestick point, hunt ers view, treasure island, yerba buena island, also the potrero hope and the sunny dale hope projects. these are all large developments totaling close to 3,000

additional people. so, they are being vetted. the streets are being examined from access as well as access to the buildings and any features that the buildings are required for the fire department to get access to, fire escapes, fire department connections. >> so i can understand the sf mta having this group get together, but their main goal is to move that transit like commissioner cleaveland and a lot of us are concerned about eliminating lanes which seems to be not in the interest of the moving traffic for the fire department. it's not our call, but we

have to deal with that. >> the lane reduction is more towards eliminating private vehicles as opposed to actually eliminating the lane. have you been down mission street recently? they have the big red lanes down there and those are for transit only. the four lanes that anybody could be now is reduced to two. they have also forced right hand turn lanes to get the private vehicles off which creates another issue. it has a domino effect. it happened to the neighborhood next to these. >> the one area where i do agree is that ocean avenue which is not too far from my house. if you are on 19th and

going west, situated bike lanes there is such an extra wide street. but a few years ago before creating the bike lanes there it was a recent thing. and they added bike lanes and is the worst maintained street in san francisco. so cal trans controls that from 19th avenue west, put bike lanes in at pretty much one or two people's request. now the city which is not communicating with cal trans now has bike lanes on ocean avenue where it should have went in the first place. we have very, there isn't too many coordinations between the city in

terms of that property. not that it's your problem, but it certainly is when you are dealing with that. sorry about that. >> thank you for the report. >> you're welcome. >> thank you again, captain balmy. i think the proposed legislative for street changes presented at tasc really their further exposure and dialogue here at the commission level. i have gone to a couple of the meetings within the department, but not with the mta, not with the overall tasc force. it is challenging, very very challenging for our department. i would like to in an

upcoming meeting perhaps when chief lombardy is present, to go over the traffic calming and pedestrian safety measures that really impact us and go over them in detail, the speed bumps, the cushion, the bulb outs, even the park lets which make the things difficult for us. so, that would be not the next meeting, but perhaps the meeting after that to go into these things in greater detail. in the meantime i'm going to ask our chief of the department what kind of efforts are being done to make sure we

have some sort of agreement when plans come to us because in the year of making process, you know, so many meetings and then it comes to us as almost as they are complete which makes it very difficult to say, well, no, this doesn't work because of this. so, chief, do you have some feedback? and also at this time i would like to excuse commissioner nakajo. he has another pressing meeting to attend. thank you, commissioner nakajo. >> president, covington, we have articulated our desire to be at the table earlier when these plans are underdevelopment, and we have been successful for some of the larger projects including park merced, out in hunters point area. we have not formally put that in

writing if that's something we feel we need to do, we can do that, but for some of the larger projects in the last year 1/2 since chief nakajo has been the fire marshall and captain balmy, we have advocated because we don't want to have the last road block or the last agency that reviews and says no. that has changed and i'm fairly happy with that. it's worth revisiting and i will do so. >> thank you for that. chief, do you have anything to add at this time in terms of process and procedure? what i would like to add is basically it boils down to two basic things in my opinion. jurisdiction. since the state fire marshall does not adopt section in the fire code

that regulates street calming, fire calming access, they leave it up to the local. we as a local agency, the city, adopted that specific section. so it doesn't carry the weight of the state. we have competing ordinances at the local level. that's no. 1. no. 2 is we have a number of different guidelines out there whether it's better streets or subdivision projects, cpw, sf mta and everyone has their own guidelines and they are not in alignment. those are the two challenges that i see. >> thank you, that's very valuable feedback. >> president covington, if i may? >> yes. >> at the information you are requesting, we can provide that moving forward with the mta. >> that would be helpful. all right, anything else, captain balmy? >> no, thank you very much for your attention. >> thank you for your

presentation. >> all right. now we have -- we don't have any other outstanding issues. we've gone back and forth of one part of the agenda to the other. madam secretary. >> the overview of the department budget. we are now on item 6. agenda for next fire commission meeting, discussion regarding agenda for the july 27, 2016, regular meeting. >> okay, thank you. >> fellow commissioners? >> trusting your judgment, madam chair. obviously we ought to put station 49 staffing issue on the agenda to see it again in 2 weeks.

>> very well. anything else? nothing else at this time? okay. commissioner hardeman? >> madam chair, i trust your judgment in setting the agenda. >> all right. thank you for finding me trustworthy. so the vice-president and i will caucus and develop the agenda. okay. is there any public comment regarding upcoming meetings and agenda items? okay. seeing none, oh yes, please, come forward. >> good morning. i'm just curious about people displaced from the community, an update on what the fire department is doing to help us people stay in the city. so that's all i wanted to

address. >> okay, thank you. okay, are there any other members of the public that would like to speak at this time? okay. public comment is closed. and i do believe that concludes our business for the day. this meeting is hereby adjourned. [ meeting is adjourned ] >> >> the maus coney center project is transformation of the convention center and it is not only addition and increased space but also a transformation of the urban neighbor around it in a positive way.