about what each of us does and the, you know, frequent problems we encounter and our investigations, and it was good to hear ideas and realize we're not alone in our struggles. update on an investigative caseload, we were only able to open one investigation. we have, again, 29 matters pending review for dismissal. so we went -- our staff investigators are doing a great job getting through materials and we're hopeful that we'll be able to clear out anything older than -- what month are we on? we're looking at older than 18 months or so. so probably we'll get done within a year. i asked staff to prioritize the investigations that are older than a year, so we can get down to under a year in complaints.

regarding the bureau of revenue, looking to move our cases toward execution. i will say that in december, i attended a meeting of the creditors for lynette sweet, who owes the city $74,000 as the result of an order that this body imposed on her for misused finance funds. it looks like we have a chance of recovering as a result of that proceeding, but we learned that a lot of other debtors are owed money including the i.r.s., which has priority. so we're not higher priority than the i.r.s., unfortunately. so we'll monitor that and appear at hearings for the city. pay-it plans are up to date. and on pages 5 and 6, you can see our customary charts that

list the caseload statistics in graphic form. i will take any questions. >> commissioners? >> commissioner chiu? >> yes. in your write up, the new york city campaign finance board, the director talked about using data to investigate and uncover wrongdoing. is that something that we could do here? >> i think so, yes. we track and require disclosure of a lot of the same information and we dump it into a portal called s.f. open data, where we can put in criteria and search. to some extent, my investigators are doing that already, but i did get ideas from that speaker of what to look for and the data and she gave a couple of

examples to get at dark-money usage and coordination among campaigns. i was excited about that presentation. >> great. i hope we can also take advantage of those red flags and their experience and hopefully there won't be, but to use that to our advantage. >> yep. >> we'll take public comment on this matter. >> sorry to be so talkative today. i wanted to thank staff for moving so forcefully on the lynette sweet matter. this was a 2010 public financing report that we extended to ms. sweet for the board of

supervisors. it's been in away -- abeyance far too long. obviously now the matter is in bankruptcy court. i had a question -- since these were public funds that were absconded in part with, have we submitted to the court that fact and that as a result, has it put us closer to the i.r.s. than not? because otherwise, public funds may have been lost? [inaudible] >> secured creditor of highest priority. and we're not. the municipalities are not in the bankruptcy code specifically. we're a general creditor, the same way as anyone else. >> this is a u.s. court. >> u.s. federal court for

bankruptcy. >> at least we'll get due process, one way to view it. thank you very much. >> any further public comment? okay. if not, we'll move on to item 9. discussion of the executive director's report. >> thank you, chair keane. i have a brief report summarizing some of what you heard from director bloom about our attendance at the conference. it was exciting to have a strong measure of staff that were not just passive participates, but shaping ideas. so we look fehr ward to the idea to send additional staff to additional sessions in the years ahead. i did want to highlight one note of a report that we were asked

to submit to the acting mayor's office after the executive director's report was complete, because it speaks to some victims under discussion today. i will be happy to make that available to those on the commission, but we were asked on wednesday to provide to chief of staff's office for the acting mayor's briefing a continuity of work report. and this specifically asked for three things. one, what were the items where there were key deadlines or mile stoepz that were -- stones that were a priority in the next 30 days, next 6 months and then also 12 months. just to highlight what we provided. in the next 30 days, we cited the focus on successfully implementing our new laws that are operational on january 1. this includes implementation of prop t, lobbyist measure that

campaigns campaign contributions from lobbyisting bundling and giving gifts. and also super peskin's payments reporting by board and commission members. both of these are significant because they were requiring us to complete the technological innovations to enable the disclosure requirements to be in place. steven massie and team have been working to make that happen in a digital format. we also know we need to provide those who are affected by these laws with information so they are aware of and know how to comply. for the next six months, we cited our core initiatives for enactment. in addition to providing election-related compliance guidance to those to the upcoming, under the legislative initiatives we cited two.

one was anti-corruption and accountability that the commission referred, and, secondly, whistle-blower ordinance, that when were helping to move those along. those were the two priority items we noted. and thirdly, election 2018 work, under the leadership of our new programs officer and her team. and for the coming year, we did cite -- they asked for issues or items that were going to require -- that they called potential threats and they other top priorities. and the election of the campaign fund, so it speaks to commissioner kopp's point. we need to assess the fund and make sure that it has adequate funds to sustain levels for june, 2018, as well as 2019

mayoral election, as well as 2018, november election. we'll be working with the city attorney's office and control r controller's office to make sure that we have the bases covered. and also the i.t. development, the technologies in place, and moving along to help convert our paper files to an electronic environment. so we had that in the briefing of the new, acting mayor. and, lastly -- well, two other items. we've made very good progress on the hiring-related work. i will have some very good news to share with you and others about one of our technology

positions and tomorrow and this week we have -- we're focusing on moving the senior auditor and senior investigative position further along through the exam assessment and interview process. so we'll proceed on that front. steven massie, who has been acting as our key on all things technology, was moved into our -- the principal position for that division. it had been reclassified as part of the budget, investigating the expanded technology work that we need to do that's fundamental it all of our work. and we had a competitive position-based or exam-based process for that. as a result of that, steven was the successful candidate and is today moved to an expanded position that recognizes the work and increased

responsibility for supervising a broader number of people. the position he was in will be posted. but there is progress. we want to thank doris laura, who has been working with us under the work order for the past year. she's been very much a good and strong and steady ally in moving the process as far as its come. we'll rely on the department of human resources in the coming months to get them past the posts and get people in seats so we can do the job we know we have to do. >> commissioner chiu? >> director pelham, since we're losing the services of ms ms. lorio, will it negatively impact the ability to fill the seven positions? since there's salary savings from the oppositioen positions,

we engage her for another quarter? >> that's a good suggestion. and we have a meeting to make sure that we identify the needs so we can identify how we need to fill them. we know we need to put resources on them, because when there are exam-based positions, it requires a significant amount of work to accomplish that. our goal is to not let it slip up in any way in terms of priority emphasis. one other note on the budget for the january meeting and now on to february, we would be preparing to submit at the end of february, the mayor's office in early december gave us two targets, asking all departments to cut 2.5% in fy, '19 and fy,

'20. because we're 90% salaries, we have very little overhead it. would require us to lose positions, in my view, we're ramping up. we need to make sure that the people are in their seats, doing the work, paid to do the work and have the tools to do the work. that will be our budget request that we bring forward to you in january. i'm hopeful with the continued support with the leadership from the board that has embraced this, we'll show that we're a good investment for the work and resources that the city has been given us. as we approach the end of the calendar year, i want to convey deep thanks to our staff, who

have been working hard to try to support your process and public information. we have some folks here around this table in the room with us, but i wanted to take a note to say how much we have a terrific team and we're very, very pleased to see the work that's being done. we have a lot of work ahead in 2018. i'm hopeful that you share the enthusiasm. and, lastly, obviously, with the mayor's passing this week, the staff and i spent some time reflecting on publicer is vits and significant lifetime service and we share condolences with his family and staff and we want to make note what he give to the city and continue to be inspired by those that give a lifetime to public service.

wanted to end on that note. >> thank you. commissioners? we'll take public comment. >> i'm bob plantold. some of us on this side of the podium are concerned about the possibility of reduction in budget when, as your director said, trying to ramp up. i think it's still possible to pass the budget at the february meeting if you seek an extension and that's been done a couple of times before by ethics. a meeting on the 16th is close enough to the deadline that's been granted before. and i bring that up because i suggested it may be worth looking at how much progress there's been in the last 1 1/2 years towards reducing some of the backlog of complaints, reducing some of the analysis on

pending legislation and enforcement proceedings and, therefore, saying we still have staff we need to hire to bring all these backlogs to zero to keep us current and timely, to put out a case that 2.5% per year is inappropriate. it would put you going backwards. it would not keep you where you are. it would push you backwards, if you have a statistical report showing what you have gained and what you need to reduce and, therefore, find a way to impress the supervisors to not cut you by 2.5% to 5%. thank you. >> thank you. there being no further -- oh, i'm sorry. mr. bush. pardon me. >> we also want to know on behalf of friends of ethics that

we posted on facebook our work we had done with mayor lee going back many years. that he had supported all the ballot members or didn't oppose the ethics ballot measures. my first time of coming to ethics was about 1992, when he was the chief administrative officer to give a tutorial to the ethics staff about how to monitor city contracts in coordination with the ethics commission. he is a man that did understand and support the work we were doing. in terms of the budget, and looking ahead, as i recall, budgets are ordinances and you would have the ability to put full funding for next year on the ballot in june to take effect on july 1.

and so, might want to have that as a fallback position in the event that it appears that you would reduce the staff or ability to get things done. i certainly support and i think the public will support full funding for ethics. thank you. >> good observation, mr. bush. any further public comment? if not, we'll then move to item 10, discussion possible action regarding status of complaints received or initiated by the ethics commission. commissioner kopp? >> i request a closed session. >> is there a second for that request? >> i will second it. >> motion has been made and seconded. we don't need public comment on that, do we? >> i don't think so. >> all those in favor of the

motion? we'll get it anyway. >> f.o.e. wants to wish you a happy holiday season. thank you for your amazing work this year and how as a unit you have come together so well. and i think the public is aware of what it is you're doing for the city and i think by in large seeing us on tv is sometimes hard, but they appreciate what it is we're doing. so thank you. >> thank you, charlie. >> and have a good holiday season. and while you're in executive session, i hope somebody brings in a box of cookies or something. >> you were going to bring pizza, remember? >> yes, we discussed pizza. >> and i'm sure the chair will deep that germane to item 10 on the calendar. >> yes. christmas cookies

>> back in open session for the ethics commission, decemb december session. is there a motion pursuing to what we did in our closed session? >> i would move that we keep the closed session in confidence. >> second? >> second. >> all those in favor of the motion? >> aye. >> motion passes unanimously. so we then go to item 11. discussion of possible action of items for future meetings.

i think some of the things that have come up tonight indicate things that we'll be doing at future meetings in record to putting matters on the ballot and just listening to what has been said. i would anticipate that in february we would have agendaized putting on the ballot the whistle-blower item and also our ordinance that we passed the last time in -- so that we get it on the ballot, both of them on the ballot in june, and have them effective as soon as possible. the third thing, which did come up tonight and i think it would be important, unless we get an indication from the city, the

danger of the pudge the of the ethics commission being cut at this point when we've been able to protect it so fiercely the last few years, i think, is fairly substantial. we used to be not protected at all under the former executive director. we've done it with the executive director and also indicating from the commission that we would go forward with an ordinance relating to the budget, if they didn't pass our budget. so i think we ought to think about it, but also adding what was recommended by charlie marsteader, in that we put a measure on the ballot in june that the commission be fully funded, because we are now up and running. we're starting to get going, and to have a hole in the budget at

this point, would be, i think, very sad thing to happen and destructive thing to happen. i'm just ruminating out loud regarding things that i would like to see perhaps agendaized for february. commissioner kopp? >> commissioner kopp: i never asked the executive director or you, mr. chairman, about a member requesting an item on the agenda. can that be done outside of our public meeting? >> commissioner keane: yeah. a member can request it and then there would be a discussion between director pelham and me as chair and the likelihood -- i can't see that i would not exceed to that request. >> commissioner kopp: all right. i will defer until the new year. >> commissioner keane: okay.

any other discussion on matters for future meetings? any public comment on that? >> i have one. >> commissioner chiu: wee -- reflecting on the budget, if we were to explore a ballot initiative related to the ethics commission, i would suggest that we explore more broadly. that's not just for this upcoming fiscal year, but that we look at independent funding for the budget, so we won't necessarily always be subject to 5%, 2.5% increase over time, but that's the budgeting process so that the commission could be -- i don't know how it would work and that would be the work to be done, would be to have it it on the stand-alone basis and have approval be -- whether it's through a voting mechanism through the public or a mayor,

but some alternative mechanism that could preserve the integrity of our budget. as i think back to where we started from when i joined the commission, we were sorely understaffed and have been chroniclely understaffed over the last 12 months. we were able to get increased funding, but with the decrease in fiscal year and subsequent year, it would gut completely the strides we've made in building up the team to do the work. and i take mr. plantead's suggestion to use the data to show the backlog of complaints. when we began this work, there were complaints stretching back to 2014 and now we're on the cusp of 2018 and now we don't have things pending from two months ago or two years ago and

so that's very powerful evidence to show the resources that the city has committed to us and mayor lee was instrumental in that. when cuts were being asked for across the board, you know, he didn't mandate that we had to go along with those cuts. and i think that's part of his legacy, is the support for the commission and i would like to explore ways in the upcoming couple of months to see whether or not that support can be institutionalized in some legislative fashion that would help to preserve the independence and integrity and resources to do the work. >> commissioner keane: you made a very important point about mayor lee. ever since we started to emphasize it to him, he's been responsive to that.

now we have a new day and everything starts from zero in san francisco when you get a shake-up like this. and so the new mayor, whatever the board of supervisors's views are, they're not necessarily going to or at all going to reflect what mayor lee's been doing. so these are things, i think, we should definitely do in order to instituti institutionalize what we've done so far. any other thoughts on that? okay. so additional opportunity for public comment on matters appearing or not appearing on the agenda pursuant to ethics commission's bylaws article 7, section 2. i see no public comment. and i suggest, commissioners, that someone make a motion to adjourn and adjourn in the

memory of mayored lee. and the significant loss of his passing. i knew him since the 1980s and he headed the asian law caucus and i was involved with him in a number of matters over the years. and he's someone who made a big difference in record to our community and i would entertain such a motion. commissioner lee made the motion. >> second. >> commissioner keane: all those in favor, aye. >> passes unanimously. best wishes to everybody.

>> the office of controllers whistle blower program is how city employees and recipient sound the alarm an fraud address wait in city government charitable complaints results in investigation that improves the efficiency of city government that. >> you can below the what if anything, by assess though the club program website arrest call 4147 or 311 and stating you

wishing to file and complaint point controller's office the charitable program also accepts complaints by e-mail or 0 folk you can file a complaint or provide contact information seen by whistle blower investigates some examples of issues to be recorded to the whistle blower program face of misuse of city government money equipment supplies or materials exposure activities by city clez deficiencies the quality and delivery of city government services waste and inefficient government practices when you submit a complaint to the charitable online complaint form you'll receive a unique tracking number that inturgz to detector or determine in investigators need additional

information by law the city employee that provide information to the whistle blower program are protected and an employer may not retaliate against an employee that is a whistle blower any employee that retaliates against another that employee is subjected up to including submittal employees that retaliate will personal be liable please visit the sf ethics.org and information on reporting retaliation that when fraud is loudly to continue it jeopardizes the level of service that city government can provide in you hear or see any dishelicopter behavior boy an employee please report it to say whistle blower program more information and the whistle blower protections please seek www.

>> hello, everyone. i'm supervisor katy tang. welcome to 12 days of kittens. my staff came up with an idea of hosting animals in our office so people can come and not only find animals that they might want to adopt, but we found it's a great stress reliever for people that work in city hall. they come around all day,

whether it's the shift department or upstairs or the mta, just want to pet the animals and it helps people feel better. a lot of people proactively ask us, are you bringing back the kittens? we've been doing this for five years. it usually culminates in a party in december. we'll see animals adopted throughout the year. if people are thinking about animals to adopt, they may go to a pet store, buy from a breeder, go to spca, but we want people to know that the acc has animals that need homes. >> every year, her office does the 12 days of kittens. and she picks up every morning cute, adoptable kittens. she has different groups of kittens every day and brings them to her city hall office and they're there all day for

everybody that goes through to see and enjoy. we adopt out 900 kittens every year, cats and kittens. we're working all year long promoting adoption, getting people in to see the cats. so it's a pleasure it have the opportunity to showcase some of them in supervisor tang's office. kittens love to play and they're frolicking and all that and it's super fun. >> sometimes they will roam around people's desks. if someone wants to adopt a cat, they can identify any of them that might be hanging around our office, but we have to go through animal care and control, make sure they pay a fee. it's very affordable, as well as they receive the proper vaccination. >> come on down, adopt a cat. there's a lot of kitties waiting for a beautiful home. >> how can you resist this face? >> i think everyone needs a pet in their life. it makes your day so much better. i hope you will support us in

>> 7 and a half million renovation is part of the clean and safe neighbor's park fund which was on the ballot four years ago and look at how that public investment has transformed our neighborhood. >> the playground is unique in that it serves a number of age groups, unlike many of the other properties, it serves small children with the children's play grounds and clubhouses that has basketball courts, it has an outdoor soccer field and so there were a lot of people that came to the table that had their wish list and we did our best to make sure that we kind of

divided up spaces and made sure that we kept the old features of the playground but we were able to enhance all of those features. >> the playground and the soccer field and the tennis fields and it is such a key part of this neighborhood. >> we want kids to be here. we want families to be here and we want people to have athletic opportunities. >> we are given a real responsibility to insure that the public's money is used appropriately and that something really special comes of these projects.

we generally have about an opportunity every 50 years to redo these spaces. and it is really, really rewarding to see children and families benefit, you know, from the change of culture, at each one of these properties >> and as a result of, what you see behind us, more kids are playing on our soccer fields than ever before. we have more girls playing sports than we have ever had before. [ applause ] fp >> and we are sending a strong message that san francisco families are welcome and we want you to stay. >> this park is open. ♪

when a resident of san francisco is looking for health care, you look in your neighborhood first. what is closest to you?

if you come to a neighborhood health center or a clinic, you then have access it a system of care in the community health network. we are a system of care that was probably based on the family practice model, but it was really clear that there are special populations with special needs. the cole street clinic is a youth clinic in the heart of the haight ashbury and they target youth. tom woodell takes care of many of the central city residents and they have great expertise in providing services for many of the homeless. potrero hill and southeast health centers are health centers in those particular communities that are family health centers, so they provide health care to patients across the age span. . >> many of our clients are working poor.

they pay their taxes. they may run into a rough patch now and then and what we're able to provide is a bridge towards getting them back on their feet. the center averages about 14,000 visits a year in the health clinic alone. one of the areas that we specialize in is family medicine, but the additional focus of that is is to provide care to women and children. women find out they're pregnant, we talk to them about the importance of getting good prenatal care which takes many visits. we initially will see them for their full physical to determine their base line health, and then enroll them in prenatal care which occurs over the next 9 months. group prenatal care is designed to give women the opportunity to bond during their pregnancy with other women that have similar due dates. our doctors here are family doctors. they are able to help these women deliver their babies at

the hospital, at general hospital. we also have the wic program, which is a program that provides food vouchers for our families after they have their children, up to age 5 they are able to receive food vouchers to get milk and cereal for their children. >> it's for the city, not only our clinic, but the city. we have all our children in san francisco should have insurance now because if they are low income enough, they get medical. if they actually have a little more assets, a little more income, they can get happy family. we do have family who come outside of our neighborhood to come on our clinic. one thing i learn from our clients, no matter how old they are, no matter how little english they know, they know how to get to chinatown, meaning they know how to get to our clinic. 85 percent of our staff is

bilingual because we are serving many monolingual chinese patients. they can be child care providers so our clients can go out and work. >> we found more and more women of child bearing age come down with cancer and they have kids and the kids were having a horrible time and parents were having a horrible time. how do parents tell their kids they may not be here? what we do is provide a place and the material and support and then they figure out their own truth, what it means to them. i see the behavior change in front of my eyes. maybe they have never been able to go out of boundaries, their lives have been so rigid to sort of expressing that makes tremendous changes. because we did what we did, it

is now sort of a nationwide model. >> i think you would be surprised if you come to these clinics. many of them i think would be your neighbors if you knew that. often times we just don't discuss that. we treat husband and wife and they bring in their kids or we treat the grandparents and then the next generation. there are people who come in who need treatment for their heart disease or for their diabetes or their high blood pressure or their cholesterol or their hepatitis b. we actually provide group medical visits and group education classes and meeting people who have similar chronic illnesses as you do really helps you understand that you are not alone in dealing with this. and it validates the experiences that you have and so you learn from each other. >> i think it's very important to try to be in tune with the needs of the community and a

lot of our patients have -- a lot of our patients are actually immigrants who have a lot of competing priorities, family issues, child care issues, maybe not being able to find work or finding work and not being insured and health care sometimes isn't the top priority for them. we need to understand that so that we can help them take care of themselves physically and emotionally to deal with all these other things. they also have to be working through with people living longer and living with more chronic conditions i think we're going to see more patients coming through. >> starting next year, every day 10,000 people will hit the age of 60 until 2020. . >> the needs of the patients that we see at kerr senior center often have to do with the consequences of long

standing substance abuse and mental illness, linked to their chronic diseases. heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, stroke, those kinds of chronic illnesses. when you get them in your 30's and 40's and you have them into your aging process, you are not going to have a comfortable old age. you are also seeing in terms of epidemics, an increase in alzheimer's and it is going to increase as the population increases. there are quite a few seniors who have mental health problems but they are also, the majority of seniors, who are hard-working, who had minimum wage jobs their whole lives, who paid social security. think about living on $889 a month in the city of san francisco needing to buy

medication, one meal a day, hopefully, and health care. if we could provide health care early on we might prevent (inaudible) and people would be less likely to end up in the emergency room with a drastic outcome. we could actually provide prevention and health care to people who had no other way of getting health care, those without insurance, it might be >> good afternoon, the commissioner will please come to order and the secretary please call the roll. >> present. >> present. >> commissioner chow. >> present. >> chung. >> present. >> sanchez. >> present. >> the