in regards to ems week, i have a huge appreciation for what ems does. and i just want to congratulate anybody who has anything to do with ems. i guess that includes alas and what's the acronym? >> els. >> commissioner veronese: e will,s. >> i highlighted station 49 because i think sometimes their work is not as highlighted as the great work that happens in the stations, the fire houses. but it is really everyone. it touches everyone. everyone since 1989 has been part -- minimum requirement is that they are emts and they work at every station. i'm an emt and anybody who has been hired since '89 has to keep up their emt certification. and we have the subset that provides life support.

so, ems week should be appreciated by all because it's the firefighters, emts in the stations and the paramedics that work at some at the stations and some at station 49. everyone on the command staff that i'm looking at, including chief ollie, who is the senior member, is an emt. [laughter] >> senior member in terms of seniority. senior member too i think as i'm looking out. so, we're real proud to be cross trained as emts and firefighters. it's a proud week for us. looking back, there was some roadblocks and stops and starts. but i think we have a very, very good service that we provide on both the fire side and ems side. >> commissioner veronese: my hat's off to everybody because you are all truly lifesavers. i know you don't like to hear that you are heros. but i have a lot of people that

i care about personally that wouldn't be around today. so, i have a deep appreciation for you. the barbecue i'm sorry i'm going to miss that. like commissioner covington, my -- the invitation didn't catch my calendar and that's unfortunate for the event today. but i will try to be better about that. because of the long weekend, i will be out of town. and then one final note, the civic center plaza that is out in front is the joseph l. a owe to perform -- a -- alioto performing arts plaza. >> duly noted. >> commissioner veronese: thank you. chief. i will remind you and minute --

anyone else. [laughter] >> commissioner veronese: that's it. thank you. >> president cleaveland: vice president nakajo. >> vice president nakajo: thank you. to continue this discussion or presentation in terms of the retirement information. i appreciate this. we all appreciate it very much, chief. thank you very much, commissioner covington. as commissioner covington added up the years in terms of retirement, what we all pretty much understand and realize is the amount of years of experience that goes along with this. it's interesting that during the time -- and i appreciate chief when you narrate some history. in terms of your reference in terms to mayor lee and our hiring plan. because subsequently before that, commissioners, in the year

'82-'87 when we didn't have a class during that five-year period, no class during that five-year period, we as a commission in the department can never go through that every again. we are paying the price of that in some ways. it's interesting in terms of statistics when i hear numbers like 190 members might be about 55 years old or over and such. what it tells me come parrive to the good -- comparative to the good old days they stayed past certain years. when i first came on the commission, it was quite common to run into members that did 30 years, 27 years, 28 years and were proud of it. i think the circumstances of the health related factors in fire suppression is a factor. i think health and longevity is a factor.

i think that the whole mentality is that you can serve in this department, but if there's some factor between age and health, that folks will make a decision that's right for them. so, in terms of this kind of data, it is so important for us to be able to look at this and to be able to have some evaluation. i'm glad, chief, that you mentioned the number in terms of civilian hiring or civilian retirements. so, just in terms of basics when we have a civilian retire from our department, we go through the normal process of civil service and posting and such for those positions, chief? >> that's correct. >> vice president nakajo: and do we know how many civilians we have the department approximately? >> i'm looking at -- between 60 and 70. >> vice president nakajo: with personnel number of about 1,400

to 1,500? >> closer to 1,600 incorporating the civilian employees. >> vice president nakajo: for us commissioners, you see the balance between the uniform to the civilians. as much as we acknowledge ems, we need to acknowledge all the civilians that serve in this department because every one of them is an integrate come poentsds -- component as well. i wanted to note the ageing process. members are going out earlier. i wanted to note the valuable experiences that we are losing in terms of retirement. and then finally, if we don't have a hiring plan with numbers in terms of two classes per year with the kind of numbers that we're talking about, if we don't have the buy-in by the mayor coming in june and the mayor that's coming in 2012 -- 2020, we're going to have a tough time at this. because that starts with that particular budget identification

and thank you very much, commissioner veronese, to talk about the expansion. because station four was a good example for us to get ready in an area with a station to make us move towards numbers of personnel we needed to fill. but also associated with trucks and engines. naturally with on coming population and growth in hunter's point, that's another projection that's going to be here very, very soon as all of us start to visualize san francisco and it's growth. i wanted to say those points as well and congratulate the ems for the ems week as well. thank you very much, mr. president, chief. >> president cleaveland: thank you, mr. vice president. and chief hayes-white would like a follow up. >> yes. and i appreciate the work of my assistant who put this together. and so, i commit to you that i

want to get this further refined. i'm hearing -- and i know you did the math on the red in particular, the uniformed members. of this number like i said incorporates resignations as well as retirements. so, i'm hearing roughly 343 are official retirements and then we have some disability retirements. a lot of separations, 86, i believe, i'm hearing were people we hired as part time. so, the numbers are a little higher than -- you referenced the 500 plus numbers. so, actual retirements where people reefed the age of 50, 343 during that time. so, i'm going to break it down even further for you and i can follow up with you on that. thank you for your clarification as well as the updated information. i will get that for you and put it in writing. thank you. >> president cleaveland: thank

you. chief. vice president nakajo. >> vice president nakajo: just one more comment since we're talking about civilians. i have to acknowledge our commissioner secretary. without her in terms of our business on a day by basis as well as the commission meetings. just another example of the kind of team that we have. the other comment in terms of how many retirees and veterans and experienced are going out in terms of retirement for me puts pressures on our officers and operati operati operational levels. and responding to the same qualification and dedication, but with skill and technique. i think that's where the name of the game is and in terms of our endeavors moving towards as commissioner veronese stated many times, moving towards the 21st century. i think those kind of factors are all very important. thank you again, mr. president. >> president cleaveland: thank you, mr. vice president. i will certainly second and i think all of us as commissioners will second the fine work that

maureen does for us on the commission. much appreciated, maureen for all of your time and efforts. and i agree, i think all of us as commissioners certainly the four of us that have been on the commission for a number of years here will agree with the chief that the key thing is to keep the replacement of both the equipment and personnel as the top priorities for our future budget. so, whomever the mayor is in the future, that will be our message from the commission is that we need to continue our recruitment and retention of employees and we have to continue our replacement of our fleet so that we have a modern and up to date fleet. so, that's really our mission as commissioners is to continue that message with the future mayor and with the board of supervisors. thank you very much. let's have our assistant chief

jeanine nicholson come up and give us a report. welcome. >> good evening, president cleaveland, commissioners, chief. assistant maureen. deputy chief jeanine nicholson. this is my report for the month of april with a few things from may thrown in. first of all, just to tag on to what the chief was saying about the interstation run that she and i went to. it is -- it was founded by jim gallagher and the funds they raise from it go directly to the san francisco's firefighters cancer prevention foundation. so, it's a really wonderful -- wonderful on many levels. in any case, i will begin with

my administrative divisions. this is the second time i'm see you today, president. people are going to start talking. [laughter] >> let's get down to business. the physician's office conducted 33 probationary physicals and 50 return to work evaluations. the investigatives service bureau, 107 alcohol tests all negative. and the background investigations for the next academy are ongoing. he's conducted -- captain smith has conducted 21 of them. and we are still determining the start date for that. it was originally set for august 27th. but we have to dial a few things in before we determine the exact date. we will update you with that when we know. moving on to support services. assistant deputy chief tony rivera is in charge of that.

we had quite a few facility requests in april, 149. and i just want to commend chief rivera and olivia for their diligence working with dpw to really streamline our station repairs and improvement process. they had another meeting today we have gotten them to prioritize all of our health and safety repairs and some of the other lists like the plumbing list has decreased exponentially over the last month and a half. so, we're really pleased with that and i thank chief rivera and oh livial -- olivia for their due diligence. the division of training is about to receive two new passenger vans which is great

news. they have arrived. i think they started the process today. so, they should be getting those shortly. station 35 update. for the new station 35, we have an important meeting with them on june 11th, with bcdc, bay coastal development commission i believe. we have a meeting that the chief will be attending. this is for the station 35 permit approval. we've been working with bcdc for quite a while in terms of what the building looks like and it's footprint and all of that. so, this will be a big step in the process for us getting that permit approval. and then we will be able to move forward with other permits that we need to get. but bcdc is really the big one for us. the adf. ambulance deployment facility. there's been plenty of talk

about that. determinelation and abatement -- determinelation and abatement has begun behind station nine that were filled with asbestos and some other things. but that has begun and dpw, bless their little hearts, has already pulled all the construction permits for adf. which is great and they're currently preparing the contract proposal to go out to bid. so that's great news. station 16, again, seeing president cleaveland a lot, we did a walk through a week or so ago on that. and we are meeting chief rivera and olivia and myself will be meeting with the contractor who is working on the station 16 project tomorrow and we will have further updates after that. station five, now comes time for the show and tell. [laughter] >> show and tell portion.

you all have a photo of that that i brought for you. this was taken last week by chief rivera at station five. you can see they are doing the framing and you can see what a large building it is. the framing is going in on the second and third floors now and the rough plumbing and electrical is also happening there. so, we're really pleased with the progress at station five. and i know chief gonzales is pleased about that. that concludes my show and tell portion. what else can i tell you about? our ppe, person protective equipment proposals were sent to the office of contract administration, oca.

from three different vendors and our clothing depot has received three sets six our ppe -- sets of our ppe turnouts to make sure they are meeting everything in the contract and all of our needs. so, that's good news. all right. let's move on to the training division under assistant deputy chief joe. the 124th class is currently in their ninth week. they split the class into half on the engine and half on the truck because it is a class of 54. so, that makes it more manageable for everyone. so, they finished last week so they have now switched engine and truck. they will be -- so, they had five weeks of testing on the engine and five weeks on the truck. so, they are halfway through that testing. we did lose two recruits resigned due to illness or

injury. and then just for the numbers in terms of training our in service suppression training sent approximately 270 members through. over 2,200 hours of training. that included surf rescue, wild land, peer support, wild fire. they did quite a lot of work in april. under special projects, what vice president nakajo just spoke of in terms of veterans retiring and the importance of good officers, under special projects i have chief sato and captain cristobal working on our officer's academy we hope to get out in august or september of this year. it will be a five-day class for new officers and any officers who are maybe not new, but have not gone through this class.

i went through it several -- quite a few years ago and it was really beneficial. so, looking forward to that. and then some more numbers for the ems academy and in service training. actually, just ems training. over 1,300 members did over 56 hundred hours of training. so, that's great. give a shutout to our fire reserves as always. 293 hours of drills, greater alarms and volunteer work. n.e.r.t in april did 29 events, classes, outreach presentations and they had the n.e.r.t city wide drill. they had over 2,200 volunteers and we will have another drill in october. and this time we are coordinating our disaster committee with n.e.r.t to enhance some of the stuff we do. turning to homeland security.

assistant deputy chief cochran, he and another chief worked this weekend during breakers. we had very successful. chief cochran staffed the s.f.p.d. emergency operation. things went very smoothly and i thank them for working on sunday. last week i was able to attend a meeting at the dem on fleet week. we are already prepping for it. we met with multiple agencies, including department of homeland security, the f.b.i., coast guard, sfpd. this has been declared -- this was some new terminology that i learned, a level two sear event. so, sear is a special event assessmented rating. there are levels one through five. what a level two means is it is a significant event with national and possibly

international importance that may require direct federal support and situational resources. the good news is, we're already doing that -- we're already collaborating and coordinating with these agencies to ensure a safe week. also chief cochran has been working with mark corso and some i.t. people in determining our equipment needs for updating our command vehicle. the command vehicle is the one that looks like an rv, and we will be able to in the future utilize that in the event of a big incident like an earthquake for our continuity of our operations. they're working on that. i also want to recognize under homeland security our fire department canine unit. they continue to be extremely active. i want to recognize all their diligent work. they do six trainings per month.

i believe once a week and they also go to many of our public events, our outreach events. so, i really commend them. and then the chief already talked about future hiring. so, i don't need to go over that. and that concludes my report. >> president cleaveland: thank you, chief nicholson. any public comment for this report? seeing none, public comment is closed. chief hayes-white, you had a comment? >> i did. just briefly. i wanted to sort of piggy back off what chief nicholson said. i try and take every opportunity but sometimes i don't. but i just want to appreciate the team that i put together both uniformed and civilian. i don't take a lot of time off of work. lately i have taken a day or two here and there. probably more so than i have in last 14, 15 years.

significant in that this weekend my youngest graduates from high school. it gives me -- i'm very proud. they grew up with their mom in this job. they were ten, 7 and 4. i appreciate the work from everyone that assists me and supports me. i have high demands for people. but i really appreciate to the letter each one of you for being able to kind of have them plug in. whether i can look at every one of you and tell a story. the other day chief cochran, there's a group of people at headquarters. we're on a city tour map now. and usually i stop and talk -- i love to do that. i was rushing to get to a call with mark corso and i looked at chief cochran and i pointed at him and he said got it. every single one of them

assists. we are all similar and we are also very different. that's what makes a great team. i'm just reflecting on how time has passed so quickly. i see it in my boys. i don't see it in me, but i see it more in they are grown men now. i have been able to succeed in being a good mom and good fire chief because of everyone i have. and thank you to the commission for their support. >> president cleaveland: thank you, chief. commissioner veronese had a question. >> commissioner veronese: i appreciate the high school congratulationsuation of your youngest -- graduation of your youngest child. chief, could you give me -- if you don't know right now or at a future meeting, several months ago i had the privilege of

visiting station eight and next door to station eight there is an empty lot that the station was using as their parking/they had a park and fountain. and that space had been torn up by agreement of the city and next door. i think it was linked in maybe building a monstrosity next door. when i was there the whole thing was torn up and i had seen pictures when it wasn't torn up. it was pretty nice. i was wondering what the status is of that side yard for that station. if you could give us an idea. i believe linked in offered to pay for -- if it is linked in. had offered to pay for a new side yard and some amenities out there. i just wanted to know what the status of it was, if you know.

it doesn't have to be today. >> he is reluctant but he usually has some good information. >> president cleaveland: welcome chief rivera. >> good evening everyone. chief, commissioners. so, i do have some information. i don't know how up to date it is. but there was -- you are correct. there was an agreement before the developer of that large building to pay for the repavement and also a couple of amenities. the area was used as a staging area for a lot of construction equipment, which did cause damage to the parking and that rear area of station eight. we're currently trying to come up with an agreement. i think initially the developer thought it was going to be a pretty easy fix. but then we find out that there was some sewage and drainage

problems. so, we are actively working with the developer to come up with a resolution and the members are aware of it. so, it's kind of a work in process. i don't have an update, but i can definitely get you one in the next couple of days. >> commissioner veronese: could you continue to update us monthly until it is done? >> absolutely. >> commissioner veronese: i know having been there, that this is a side yard that was important to the people that were there. >> yes. >> commissioner veronese: they had spent time building a fountain and a ponds and a barbecue area. and when i was there, it was just a big dirt pit. [laughter] >> commissioner veronese: not a whole lot of sympathy i have for a developer that uses the lot and doesn't replace it quickly. so, if you could keep us updated, i will keep my eye on it because i would like to see

that get done and returned back to the men and women of that station. >> yes, sir. >> commissioner veronese: and if there are plans, if you could show the commission the plans that would be great of what they intend on putting there. it was pretty nice before. i would like to see it go back to something really nice especially if it is linked in or another company that has foundations or endowments or something like that. thank you. >> president cleaveland: thank you commissioner veronese. commissioner hardeman. >> commissioner hardeman: i don't have a lot to say. but as usual, chief has had a very busy time. sounds like all your responsibilities are moving along. the training, having 50 would be great if the 50 could make it through. i think a few meetings back there was a report talking about the oakland police department and their failure rate, which is

fire department and a police department. but it was like 70% where they had a hard time getting people through the training. so, it's nice to see that 90% success rate, something like that, over the years, i guess maybe higher for retention and injuries are generally the problem. this is a physical job, so those are going to happen. so, those are in some cases unavoidable. we'll have a new mayor the next time we meet. so, i hope this budget goes well. whoever the new mayor is, looks like we will have a good relationship with the fire department. i think we have been fortunate. mark farrell has over the years i think had a good relationship with the fire department and he's really doing a fine job in

my opinion as mayor, which isn't going to get me anything. but he has been aggressive. i like to see him put his actions on some of the drug paraphernalia and people in bart and et cetera. those are the same people that our fire department has to deal with. and i think it was interesting for the public to see some of those people sprawled out 6:00 or 5:00 in the morning. and those are the same people later in the day that our emts and paramedics and firefighters have to work with and trying to be very diplomatic with and trying to be kind and gentle and treat them like family. it's a very hard job. so, i hope the public has taken note of some of those people, the way they look and then how

they are later in the day. sometimes in a situation where they have to be cared for by emt or paramedic. and the police also have to deal with them. so, i just say kudos and thank the mayor at least for trying. [captioner switch]

>> i guess... that's it. yep, thanks for all your work. oh,, i know. i want to talk about the command staff and when i was head of the union. i worked for -- everyone was similarly paid. it was 40 hours. i always told him, tried to work 40 hours. not try to work up to 40 hours, don't try to work over.

it is really hard, the public doesn't realize how much of volunteer time goes into the job. they do the job friday through sunday, and the command staff is out there representing the fire department, basically out of the goodness of their heart. they all know it's sort of part of the job, but i really appreciate that we have a great command staff and it's nice that they take that extra time. >> thank you commissioner. >> thank you commissioner. >> thank you very much president cleveland. >> vice-president nakajo: i also like your style, chief. it is the life that the commission needs. the energy as positive as i appreciate that. the humour as well, it is all packaged, it is all good. >> thank you. >> i wanted to ask you two questions. one is, when you do your session, with the commissioners

be invited to in -- observed that particular section? can they be? >> absolutely. >> i'm not sure what material is taught or what kind of concepts are developed. leadership development should have a concentration. there's always an assumption that because you have a title, therefore you must be a leader. that ain't the way it works. it works with a lot of experience and a lot of know h how. and a lot of personality. from years ago when we were... things were so difficult and trying to position conflicts around -- among the neighbours -- the members, i attended a session like this similarly. and in these -- in those days we hired a consultant. but it was received very well. there was a place by which the membership had to die alone.

i just really, really believed in that. the second question i wanted to ask you, in terms of the classes that are currently occurring, if a member resigns due to injury, what happens to that member? does that member have another opportunity? or is that it for the member? >> if they want to get back on the list, yes, they can put in their paperwork. both the members, both of the recruits, who resigned and went through human resources and got their names back on the list. >> okay. so there is a mechanism by which you can give them an option? >> there is a possibility, we don't guarantee everything but there is a possibility. >> those members would have to comply with whatever is requir required, ok? last thing, i know that we acknowledged the civilians and e.m.s. and such. and i think that -- we can't

conclude a meeting without acknowledging our civilians. i have to do an acknowledgement. but also to our lobbyists for all of the hard work and the hours that they put in. and finally, i think you hit it right on the head. this career, and your participation in this career it not only produced a good chief, but produced a good mom. i don't think is -- anyone is better to say that -- your boys were small. and now they tower over me, commissioners. i guess we call it the aging process, chief. [laughter] i know we all feel that. congratulations on that great accomplishment. thank you very much chief. >> thank you. if i can just respond briefly, yes, in terms of the officer's academy we will keep you apprised of that and we certainly do have a leadership

component in there. we have everything from paperwork, health and wellness, leadership, operations, and they are -- i note a couple of chiefs are working with getting the proper people in place from within our department. we deliver those portions of the academy. is there a discipline component and the-- >> officers briefing? >> yes. >> thank you very much, chief. >> thank you. >> thank you mr vice president. commissioner covington? >> commissioner covington: thank you witt m bit mr presidei would also like to congratulate

sfpd and her youngest graduating. that is amazing that john is off to college. that is wild. it takes the youngsters to let us know how much time has passed. [laughter] congratulations on that, chief. >> thank you. >> commissioner covington: i also have some questions for you regarding the officer's academy. this is just for the san francisco fire department, or are we inviting other members from other areas? >> it is simply for san francisco fire department. >> commissioner covington: ok. and you have any experts that are not within the department that will be coming in for the officer's academy? >> not that i know of. we will have a civilian member is doing some of the portions of it, and most of our teachers, i

believe, if not all, come from within the department. >> commissioner covington: do you have a syllabus or a curriculum for this? >> yes. it is currently in the development stage. i know the division of training looked at the last one we had several years back and is picking and choosing some from that and expanding on parts of it. it is not completely developed yet. >> how long is the academy? >> it will likely be a five day academy. >> a week? >> yes. they maybe able to do one of the days in online portion. >> commissioner covington: so would you be able to share that with us as soon as it's formulated? >> absolutely. >> commissioner covington: i particularly would be interested in anything having to do with, i

don't know you have health and wellness and i think that's great. health in one is for the officers as well as those people who work under them, but i think it might be helpful to have something related to what it means to be at paramilitary operations. because even though there is a military framework, i'm not the military. [laughter] so what are the point differences, and, you know, what are the points of magnification? i don't know if i'm expressing that so that you understand what i'm saying. >> yes commissioner. i think some of that will indeed be coverage during the leadership portion, leadership and management. >> good.

and you said that it was held maybe five years ago or so? we've had a lot of promotions. is there any thought of having this on a regular basis, like every two years or every three years or some kind of such program so that we know, when this person is promoted, it will be no longer than this period of time before they go through officer training? >> what we did the last time, as we had it all videotaped so people could access it online on our report, the entire class. obviously it's better to be there, but for those who were not able to attend it, but, yes,, i think that is a great idea to do it more frequently, and not just online. we will look at that for sure. >> and in today's meeting earlier, we talked about the

number of retirements, so with this fairly rapid turnover i think it is essential to give new officers as much support as possible, as soon as possible, rather than, you know, it being piecemeal and you getting information from one person at information from another. i know people have great pride in having been classmates in a particular academy, so perhaps this will carry on the tradition, although we are it where you were in officers training together. that would be nice. >> yes, it if i may interrupt, commissioner, this is the first thing i passed the chief with when he came on board. we were already working on some of it, but it is very important to me that we get the same message out to all of our officers. even ones that were promoted a couple of years ago. we are going to include them in this process.

>> commissioner covington: it's very important when you are part of a cohort and part of a group that faces the and jewels who face very similar circumstances and you work for the same organization. being in the same room together, to brainstorm, to commiserate, it is very important, because it's not only is it an opportunity for the transfer of information, budget builds collegiality. i think we are on the right track with that. i'm glad to hear about it. and i'm also happy to hear about the btw in the list of plumbing problems being short quite a bit. the dtw is really such a wonderful partner with us, you know, you think that all they do is, you know, pick up trash here and there, or trim some trees,

but they do design and oversee builds and it's just amazing, the scope. that it's within their portfolio, and the expertise that they have within their organization. >> we are pleased with how we've been working with them recently to really bring our fire stations up to snuff. >> commissioner covington: very good. that's all i have. thank you. >> thank you at commissioner covington. thank you chief nicholson. i have to agree with commissioner coupling -- covington. several years ago, seem like it took a long time to get repairs done at some of the houses and certainly on the fleet, and we talked to public works about, you know, working more closely with the public safety sector of

our city, police, fire, the share's office, you know, to prioritize our work orders, if you will. i am happy to see that. i appreciate that they appreciate the director of public works with reaching out to us and working with the fire department to expedite our problem, you know, with our projects. expedite our project so would we make sure they get fixed. our firehouses cannot go weeks without proper plumbing, or, you know, appropriate electrical work. so it's been one of our issues. the commission has said that we need a closer relationship with the public works and i am pleased to see it is happening. that is a positive. i agree. i went to station 1 station 16 u and had a look around. the firehouses almost completed.

the workmanship is first class. i'm very pleased. i had a question on fleet week. what are the dates of that? >> do you know the dates of fleet week? >> october 2nd through the tenth. >> and final question, i know that one of our priorities in the department has been to update our fleet, whether it be fire engines for trucks, or our ambulances, and i had a question for you. just how many of our rigs currently are old and need to be replaced, if you had to give a guesstimate? one of our priorities in the department is to replace the old fleet to make sure that we have the best that we can get. i just wondered how many of the old ambulances need to be replaced of the 300,000 miles on

them, as well as trucks and fire engines? >> i can get those numbers for you. i don't have them off the top of my head, but i do know that we do have three trucks in the works and six new engines in the works. july 1st, we will be developed -- developing the new spender sr ambulances because they would have been in the field for some time. we will take them down to the central shops and have them identified and take all the evaluations that we've gotten from all of our personnel and see if and how we can move forward with those, or in some other way. so we want to get good information from this pilot program before we pull the trigger on any city. >> how many miles to be pu we pn ambulance before we retire it?

>> how many miles to put on an ambulance? >> i bet it's 300,000. >> no. i would say no. in this city with the topography, there is no way we would run them 300,000 miles. >> i've seen some old ones with 150, 150. >> do we need to start retiring them around 100,000 miles or hundred 50,000 miles. >> yes. >> just to add, i think we can drill down those numbers. i do know that since 1997 when i talked about taking over the ems division and to the san francisco fire department, our fleet has never been in such a good condition in terms of i would say more than 50% of our fleet is within the last 5-6 years, which is for us, and her tough. we really have been making great progress with your support. >> i think, looking ahead here, i think it is important that we budget this year coming up, and future five years worth of

budgets to continue to replace our fleet and make sure we have the most up-to-date possible. and so that is important to know just how old the fleet is. make sure that the board of supervisors and the mayor, whoever that maybe, understand that is a priority for the city and for the citizens and certainly for the department. thank you for your work. >> thank you. >> madam secretary, will you call the next item? >> item six. commission reports. report on commission activity since lasactivitiessince last m, 2018. >> is there any public comment on this item? seeing then, public comment is closed. commissioners?

>> commissioner veronese: thank you at commissioner. so far, last meeting, i have been working, in our last meeting, i mentioned i was working with -- met with the chief about the peer support unit resolution. since that time, i took it off to local 798 and had some conversations with them about it. they seem to be ok with the current language. i'll discuss further in the next agenda item. and then i did have the pleasure of visiting the arson station down at the old toy program building. a great little building over there. they can build to the law enforcement building around it, essentially. on my way there i got lost and i stopped in station four and they were more than happy to take some of the deserts i brought for the arson guys. i got to hang out with them, and take a look at it and get a tour of the station.

it really is beautiful, a state-of-the-art station. it is worthy of this department, and it's cool to see. so i was there for a little barrett and i went over to station two, the arson task force over there and had lunch with them, and that was it wase experience. a lot like station 35. thirty-five is a lot older, it seems. it is a little station and needs some work, but it was really interesting and good to see the relationship between the police department, because the police department heads of people station there, as well, for obvious reasons. i didn't know we actually had members of our departments that are armed, for purposes of arson. i guess that totally, it makes sense, thinking about it but i did not know. it was interesting to see. it was an interesting experience to learn more about fire and what they do and hats off to the

chief, because they express the support they've been getting from the chief's office, to make sure that that unit even existed. i don't think too far back it was a struggling unit. it has gotten a lot of good things there. and then, today, i had the pleasure of visiting the ladies and gentlemen that participate in the search and rescue training. that was happening out out at china beach. we visited last year and it was around this time. and i was ready to spend -- i was able to spend a couple of hours with them. i didn't think they expected me to jump in the water, but i did. i played a victim for a little bit, sorry chief. i was safe. i was used to that water. i have a lot of experience in that water. i was able to get a real sense

of what these ladies and gentlemen do, and to the public out there, i actually have some pictures i can share with the commission if they want to see them. or maybe we can get that-- >> on the overhead? >> sure. [laughter] >> no muscles, commissioner. >> you can start your three minutes now. commissioners, this happened, as you know, at the china beach, actually this is a five-day program. i've been trying to figure out

-- make sure nobody calls. >> that is for the overhead. >> it is a five-day program. it starts off with 8400-yard qualification on monday. i actually, for the last 2-3 weeks, knowing that i would go out there and visit these ladies and gentlemen out there, i practised it. let me tell you, it is no small feat. i couldn't do it myself. i got to about 200 yards and almost had a heart attack. but that being said,. >> that's my concern. [laughter] >> i think technically i'm an employee, so i'm covered and i get paid 20 bucks at the end of these meetings. so, the first day -- >> forty-seven dollars. >> forty-seven dollars. not after taxes. the first days a qualification in the swimming pool on the second day is over at aquatic park where the water is a little

bit calmer and still cold. and then the third day, they make their way towards the ocean. it is china beach which was this morning and really an amazing experience. and then i believe the fourth and fifth day are out in the rougher waters at ocean beach. i used to serve as a kid. >> he wants the overhead? >> china beach started off the there. this is them. they start the morning off there. with about an hour and a half less in learning about the titles and the water coming in and out and how that actually affects the water and the tide affects the currents coming in and out. i was there around 10:00. and the tide was going out.

at the water line, the water was pushing us towards the bridge. if you sat out there, you would move about 100 yards in less than a minute. it was actually pretty powerful. what these individuals do is pretty moving. they start off with a 400-yard swimming you can see the far rock there where the water is out at the end here. from there to the end and about here, it is about 400 yards. in that title water, it is pretty intense. i'm not in that picture. i did not do that. and then it broke up into four stations. the four stations where the rescue of somebody who had -- the first person was a person who was conscious, the second one is a person who is unconscious, which is taught what very different experiences, and the third was using the board, and the fourth was using

the jet ski is that you see here and here. chief stiles is explaining the current study actual jet ski itself, the undercurrents from the water being pulled in is really interesting and lots of dangerous there as well. moving on, more great pictures. i actually got in the water. i got a picture of you here. in real life, i have more hair, in real life my hair is more like the chief's hair. in this case, when it is matted down you can't tell. so these are just the stations are dead. this is me as a victim. i played that one really well. i made it out of the water, and then the last portion of it, i thought this was actually very

instructional, as well, i did not originally see the utility and it but i got to see the view of the water out by dead man's point and by the point where if you recall, tory fell back last june. seeing that perspective, as opposed to the prospective up on the cliff, brought me an appreciation for a bunch of things. for the equipment that we really need out there and i know this e commission talks about a marine unit as well. and there is me. you can see they are actually holding me up there. i don't have my arm around somebody. i am being held up. all in all it was a really good experience. but it did bring me appreciation that i have for, like i said, the drones, that we really need to get moving on. that is on my desk. the marine unit, which is super important, floated around some ideas in my own client about maybe working with the nra

because they have a unit out there as well it maybe working with the police department but it is something we should start wrapping our hands around. and that is it. i just wanted to personally thank the crew who was out there. they were very, very nice and welcoming, and especially the battalion chiefs and the crew of instructors who really do a top-notch job. one thing i did wanted to mention, one of my observations with some of the people that were there, they were so dedicated that they were there to become a part of this team on their own time. not even on department time, i thought it was pretty amazing. the wetsuits were donated by a's foundation. and , of course,, that just goes to show, you know, how we really need this grant writer because i know some of those other grants could really help us get these men and women the right type of equipment be. because if they had the right type of equipment, they would be able to save some better lives.

on my tour of that cliff side, which is pretty amazing how dangerous those cliffs are, and how rough that water is out there, i noticed, not less than, this is about 11:00 o'clock this morning, not less than four people that were literally sitting on the edges of those cliffs with their legs hanging over, taking pictures. i mean these people were future victims. there's no question about it. i was just there for a minute or two and i saw at least four people. it just goes to show how we probably need some better education along those coasts and i know that earlier this year i proposed a task force to the mayors office prior -- prior to apparently passing away, i will reoppose that because i think it is important that people stay as far away from those cliffs as possible. as beautiful as it is, so dangerous and i could easily see one of those people falling from one of those cliffs, 200 feet into the water and i couldee