>> supervisor safai: good of the good afternoon. i'm safahsha safai, and to my l, supervisor yee and supervisor stefani. i would like to thank sfgov tv for staffing the meeting. mr. clerk, do we have any announcements before we begin? >> clerk: yes, be sure to silence all cell phones. completed speaker cards should be submitted to the clerk. items acted on today will be on the july 31 board of supervisors agenda. item 1 is a motion approving or rejecting malia cohen,

nominations for the reappointment of dennis richards to the planning commission, for a four-year term. >> supervisor safai: unless there are additional comments, i would like commissioner richards to come up and address the committee. >> 2 or 3 minutes? >> supervisor safai: there's really no time. brevity is appreciated. >> i will be brief. it's weird being on this side of the railing. i'm nervous. to supervisor stefani, i always tell people, please don't call me or write me the morning of the commission meeting to try to talk to me or send some substantive communications, and i did the same thing with you this morning, so i apologize. i'm happy to meet with you any time day or night between now and the board vote if you would like to get to know me better. i would like to get to know you

better. i turned in my community resume, which you have in front of you. there was so little space, the type font got so tiny that supervisor safai had a hard time reading it, so i know it didn't show up that well. i have 20 years of community service, volunteering, advocacy around the neighborhoods, especially around land use. the octavia plan in 2005 and serving on that c.a.c. in 2014 when i assumed the commission -- being a commissioner. prior to that, i was in tech for 30 years. on the 30th day of my career, i left and did something fun. the last four years, i've been on the planning commission. i tell people, never before have i worked so hard, made so little money, but had so much fun, being a planning commissioner, and i seek your reappointment today. one of the things -- i had some

reflection on this. i work with all sides, neighborhood groups, community groups, developers, mayor's office, supervisors, in fact, after this meeting, i will be sitting down with the mayor's office of housing, ken rich to go over the india basin project that we'll hear tomorrow at the commission. i tend to balance out the needs and am collaborative, but when i believe in something, i stay firm to that. a couple of things that happened recently, we have a historic resource in the gay and lesbian community that was going to be demolished and worked to delaying the certification or the e.i.r. and we got word from the sponsor that he will add more units. so that's a win there. so it's an example of being collaborative and firm, so a win for everyone.

when i got into the planning commission, we would talk on things and we didn't know if anything would happen. but learning from tech, the action item list. i have in my hand, it's four years old, we have a lot of items on it. i've contributed a lot to it. we have some larger policy initiatives that will come out of that. during the hearing, people were talking about housing stabilization. i want to know from a radius of the 5m project, where they're stabilized. they produced a map for me. out of that, came the capacity of -- understanding the capacity of zoning of 141,000 units. subsequent to that, housing affordability study that was a couple of weeks ago at the planning commission. from the things that we talk about, there's a genesis and the department runs with them and then the action item list is the thing that did that. we also came up with a

commission policy. we saw affordable housing being lost because two identical flats are being changed. one made into a tiny unit. one made into a large unit. and then being sold as a single-family house. we have discussions around that. and commissioner hillis and i pushed for that and i'm happy to say that we're in place. the other big one i have under my hat is the demolition of definition and reform. we have a lot of smaller units that have been lost. we don't have a standard definition between d.b.i. and planning on demolitions resulting in a mismatch. we consider something a demo. d.b.i. doesn't consider it a demo. we tried to come up with a solution to that called the residential expansion threshold. it didn't work, but now supervisor peskin is coming up with legislation to harmonize the legislations, and it will go a long way for the development

community and neighborhoods in the city on attaining affordable housing. i served on the rule subcommittee, updating the commission rules. i advocated in the budget for a process person and i got the looks from people, what is a process person? planning is a factory with 8,000 ins and outs. at times i would get different answers from different people. and we hired somebody this past fiscal year and working on the process improvement legislation, so i believe your board has passed in the last couple of weeks. lastly, i advocated in the f.y. '19 for a tenant advocate. we've had so many times where projects come before us and the tenant comes that lives in the building that they will be displaced because the project will displace them. and i only knew about the project when the sign went up on the building.

myself and fellow commissioners asked for a tenant advocate in the f.y. '19 hiring plan and that's going to happen and we can understand and take into account the effect of projects on displacement of existing tenants in buildings that will be refurbished. goals for the next four years. retail is a big issue in most districts. on the action item list, i'm pushing for n.c. 30. we had an n.c. 20 at the department 10 years ago that got a lot of fanfare and publicity, but nothing came out of it. eating and drinking establishments need to be looked at and i'm pushing for, joint hearing with the small business commission to understand our decisions and how they affect retail. the second goal, housing affordability study. that was put before us a couple of weeks ago. i think what we need to understand is what will come out

of it. short term, medium term and long term. we have to triage what we have before us right now and we need long term solutions to figure out how to keep the middle class we've been losing. it's been about 10 years in the making and it's just sitting there. and there's been a lot of other projects that have floated to the top and given the development pressure, preservation is needed. a look at live-work and a policy around amnesty. we had projects come before us and found that half live-work are not being used and they're considered dwelling units and avoided the impact fees when they were built. my estimation is there could be $100 million left on the table for people that want to come out of the shadows and say that they

live in a dwelling unit. and the last is parking standards for the city. we had a project coming before us with a parking garage into office space. we don't have any standards that are parking wise. a look at that is warranted in the next four years. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you, commissioner richards. i was thinking maybe, supervisor yee, we would open it up for public comment unless you want to ask your question first. >> supervisor yee: doesn't matter when. >> supervisor safai: okay. we'll open it up for public comment and then come back to folks here. anyone like to comment on this item, line up to the right, or i can call your name out. i see there's a bunch of people that have come to speak on this. >> good afternoon, supervisor safai, stefani and yee.

>> supervisor safai: i'm trying to get an idea of how many people are going to comment on this. we're going to limit public comment to 1 minute. please start over. >> yes, please. i will be short and tell the commissioners to be short in their presentation to support commissioners richards, moore, johnson and fong. i know that the diversity -- they bring diversity to this city. i don't always get what i want when i go there, but they bring a different perspective and that's what it is and that's what your rules committee has tried to uphold. i can tell you that we need them collectively. please pass all of them on. they're good for this city. they work hard. thank you. >> supervisor safai: is your comment for all four commissioners? >> yes. >> i'm jerry dratler.

to save time, would i like to comment about agenda items 1 and 2. ms. moore is an architect and urban designer and brings 38 years of professional experience to the commission. she was recently awarded an acip, lifetime award by urban land institute. land use policies and environmental impact reports are reviewed, and those can be 700 pages. mr. richards says it takes 20 to 30 hours a week to be an effective commissioner. i've observed ms. moore and mr. richards in planning commission meetings dealing with a variety of agenda items. they're always well prepared, ask insightful questions and lead to fair and logical conclusions. they comment on site bureaus they've had made and that demonstrates their personal commitment to understanding all neighborhood impacts of the project. the citizens of san francisco

are fortunate to have able and committed individuals willing to serve. >> supervisor safai: thank you, sir. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i'm ken hogart. i'm here to advocate for commissioners richards and moore being reappointed. i've personally met with mr. richards concerning an eviction that was going to take place. i can assure you, mr. richards is -- has utmost sensitivity for those who are vulnerable among our citizenry. he's got a heart of gold, in my opinion. i've been a real estate agent for 43 years in san francisco. and i can see how things have changed.

when i started in the 1970s, the affordability index was 23%. today it's less than 7%. we need people like mr. richards and ms. moore to help -- >> supervisor safai: thank you, sir. next speaker. i will interrupt for one second. trying to get a gauge if everyone in line is here to comment on items 1 and 2. it may make more sense to allow public comment and allow commissioner moore to come up and speak and then allow more public comment. is everyone here going to speak on items 1 and 2? okay. let's have commissioner moore come up and speak and then we'll resume public comment. before you do that, we have to call item 2. just sit there and wait for one second. >> clerk: motion approving or rejecting president of the board of supervisors malia cohen's

reappointment of kathrin moore to the planning commission board for a term ending july 1, 2022. >> hello, supervisors. let me begin by looking back and reflecting on how i engaged with the city. working as an urban designer and architect since the early '70s, i've found myself on the opposite side of the table, explaining to city officials like yourselves, planning directors, commissions, while planning and urban design matters. over the years, people started to recognize my voice. so in 2001, i was asked to sit on the treasure island citizen advisory board, which i continued for 15 years until 2015. in 2005, i was appointed to the san francisco waterfront advisory committee.

and i continue to serve on that body. earlier this year, elaine forbes asked me to join the pier 70 design review, this is sprinkled in between my three terms on the planning commission. i was first appointed to the planning commission, if you count backwards, in 2006. i'm speaking with the unchanged conviction that as an urban design architect, i'm able to bring a broad perspective and raise the bar in discuecembe did decision making, which is coupled with institutional memory. what other milestones during my time on the commission? there are many, but i will mention a few just for reference. there's a market octavia plan, the first time i met now-commissioner richards. there's the eastern neighborhood

plan, merced, shipyard two, japantown cultural heritage. the commission 2020 plan, 5m, the hub, central soma and the list goes on. there are many other projects large and small and all that have mattered to me. i remained anchored in my profession, shaped and challenged by circumstances inside and out side the city and by an ever increasing amount of planning in san francisco, including gentrification. today i find myself expand and shaped by my past 12 years on the commission and my professional skills remain one of my strengths, i find i've become more consistent and stronger voice for neighborhood concerns including ethnicity, race, age, sexual orientation,

gender identity, types of disabilities and other relevant demographic qualities of the city at large. with an urgent awareness of the enormous, increasing imbalance in our affordability for housing, rising income gaps, i believe that a balance has to be balanced somewhere so we can be livable and our way of life sustainable for all that can regain an element sustainable for all. i'm actually rooted in the conviction that a balanced position between social and environmental equity are more important than economic considerations on their own. to that end, my objective for serving on the planning commission reflects my

commitment to supporting the committee. we will continue to engage in authentic discussions and bring new insights when we look at the environmental and social and city-wide planning. those are challenges that we face every thursday and i reflect on them every week. i believe we need to add a new ingredient into the process, which is a comprehensive, broader view of the city of the future, where we can -- where we need to balance the important qualities of our city with a step-by-step thoughtfulness. it's not about good plans and long visions but how we achieve formulating that. in closing, i'm honored to serve again on the planning commission and today i ask for your

support. i'm firmly committed to bring what i can to preserve and enhance a strong, traditional planning in the city that for me includes a voice for all neighborhoods. i would like to thank the many supporters that have written and spoken on my behalf and especially those who have come today to voice their support. i do also want to mention that i strongly support my three fellow commissioners in front of you today. as a team, think we're unbeatable. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. we'll reserve our questions until after public comment. please come forward. >> good afternoon. i'm here to support the appointment of dennis richards and kathrin moore. i've lived in san francisco for 30 years. i've seen planning commissions and directors come and go along

with land use and aesthetics. i believe that in commissioners moore and richards, we have individuals that can bring a measured, balanced perspective that bodes well for the san francisco of the future. no one can deny the credentials that commissioner moore brings to her role. commissioner richards is tireless in his commitment to the community. both of them are willing to speak up to question and to compromise when it's the best option. the presence on the planning commission assures me there will be accountability to the residents of san francisco for the important decisions being made. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon. i'm stephanie peak. i'm here also to support katherin moore and dennis richards as their appointment to the planning commission. and i'm not speaking just for myself, but a lot of

neighborhoods couldn't come due to work, such as chris and duta hockett. especially these days when we're tempted with short-term housing solutions, we need critical thinkers with years of experience like mr. richards and ms. moore. ms. moore is one of the few who have been around long enough to understand exactly how the building and planning departments function together. we need someone who understands this system in need of rehabilitati rehabilitation. mr. moore spoke out strongly in the last couple of weeks, exposing the machinations of scoff law developers who have been making people's lives miserable for years. >> supervisor safai: thank you, ma'am. i appreciate it. next speaker. >> good afternoon, members of

the committee. i'm john buruso. i'm here to thank president cohen and the board of supervisors for reappointing dennis richards and katherin moore and to thank them both for ongoing service to the city. my brother and i encountered them when we joined the russian hill association responding to a project on my block . commissioners moore and richards demonstrated their job dedication when they agreed to site visits, assessing the block's homes and streetscapes firsthand. over the course of two hearings, commissioners moore and richards showed patience and resolve working through circumstances drawing on backgrounds in architecture, land use and reaching a solution. commissioner moore and commissioner richards are committed to ensuring the

environment serves the purposes of the community, the neighborhood, and the city of -- >> supervisor safai: thank you, sir. next speaker. >> good afternoon, chair safai, supervisors yee and stefani. here in solidarity to support my sisters and brothers of the commission and urge to you reappoint all two of them, as the items are called today. i value both commissioner richards and commissioner moore. the roles on the commission are very important. dennis with his lgbtq background is valued as well aztec. he's objective, logical and fair. i also highly value commissioner moore, with her european background and architectural design, she is experienced, thorough and detailed. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you, commissioner. next speaker.

>> rick hall, cultural action network. we have a very good balanced, planning commission at this time. knowledge and experience, people with judgment that are reasoned and fair and recognize that planning is not just about buildings, but about people and community. both commissioner richards and moore exceed my expectations in all of those areas. commissioner richards is well-read, always brings new information to commissioner comment that is relevant and stimulating. he asks thoughtful questions and brings the right issues to discussion and judgments. commissioner moore brings her rich design perspectives based on her back ground world travels and also is very thoughtful in

discussions and judgments and both bring a human quality. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon. i want to associate myself with the comments of the people before me and want to thank the -- i appreciate the reappointment of all the commissioners. they all bring their own perspectives. and even though they're closer than some than others, i appreciate the appointment of everyone. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> i'm jim orshell, i'm representing van ness neighborhood groups and victoria alliance, of which i'm president. on behalf of those groups, i'd like to heartily endorse both

commissioner richards and katherin moore's reappointment. anyone who attended katherin moore's board of supervisors meeting where she was acknowledged sees what her outstanding qualities are, recognized by her peers. she represents experienced professionalism and commitment. dennis, unbelievable openness, accessibility, preparation and caring. as a d.b.i. commissioner, i look forward to working with them and collaborating with these excellent, excellent people. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you, sir. next speaker. >> i'm a neighbor, small business owner and developer and i have the pleasure of working with commissioner richards on projects, some big, some small. i will tell you that he listens

to all sides. in my experience, he's challenged every project he's worked on. i wholeheartedly support his nomination and am glad he's back up here. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon. i'm chris shulman, lower polk neighbors. we enthusiastically support the appointment of commissioner moore and commissioner richards. they're thoughtful, well prepared. and we look forward to working with them for an additional four years on the commission. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i support the reappointment of commissioner richards and commissioner moore. commissioner richards is fair and unbiased. he's not an idealogue or

partisan. commissioner moore, we support her because she has an extensive background in planning and she has integrity and she has the commitment to balance new projects. both commissioners have been sensitive to the tenants issues and unlike the partisan issues of not being tenants in a city that's made up of 65% tenants. these two have stood up to tenants that are victims of rent eviction and saved them. thank you very much. >> supervisor safai: thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. coalition for san francisco neighborhoods. i congratulate all of you for your nomination and support of katherin moore and dennis

richards. they've proven to be excellent, excellent planning commissioners and they've supported the neighborhoods many times, not always the traditional, wealthy contributors that seem to run the city so often. so it's very nice to see justice prevail in this one moment. thank you very much. >> supervisor safai: thank you, sir. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. gary weiss, president corbett heights neighbors and part of the san francisco land use coalition. the feeling from all of us who have worked for better neighborhoods has always felt that commissioners moore and richards have proved to be two members we can always depend on despite not always voting our way to approach each project with thoughtful, considerate

insight. we appreciate supervisor cohen's reappointment of them and hope you do as well. >> i'm pat hayes, telegraph hill dwellers. you are discussing reappointment of four commissioners. taken down, these four commissioners provide balanced perspective, experience, continuity and diversity. as a package, they all four warrant reappointment and thanks for the willingness to continue a tough job. i especially want to thank commissioner richards with his work with neighborhood activism, his preparedness and talking to all sides. we had exceptional, small, insight, all the adjectives i can think of for commissioner moore. named as a fellow of the american institute of certified

planners that says about fellows, the highest honor that can be bestowed on a member. we look forward to her well-earned reappointment along with that of dennis richards and the others. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon. i'm paul webber. i'm a north beach resident and member of telegraph hill geters and delegate for san francisco neighborhoods, to support the nominations of commissioners riches -- richards and moore. each brings a different perspective. both are meticulously prepared when they're listening to matters. they have a compassion that is not necessarily thought of when one is talking about cold land use matters. their presence is going to be very important as we try to navigate through the efforts by the state to take away local

controls of land use. so i urge you to reappoint both of them to the commission for another four-year term. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good day. i'm anastasia from district 8. commissioner richards has integrity and dedicated it his job, keeping core values, affordable housing, and keeping people in their homes at the fore front. he always keeps an open mind as he evaluates every aspect of a project and listens to all sides before making a decision. his thoughtful, balanced approach to development of our city makes him a valuable asset. katherin moore has planning and design expertise that others on the san francisco planning commission don't have. we're lucky to have here. commissioner moore's opinions are grounded and based on san francisco's housing policies. she's held in high regard by

city officials, members of the public and fellow commissioner

into public policy with us and one thing that i personally have experienced having worked as a legislative aide, there is not much different in a thoughtful basis working with both commissioners. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> hello, supervisors. david wu, south of market community action network. we urge you to please reappoint both commissioners katherin moore and dennis richards to the planning commission. commissioners moore and richards both bring much-needed perspectives to the planning commission, where they look at the impacts of a development or project in a neighborhood or community. while we do not always support their decisions, commissioners moore and richards consistently voice and raise community concerns in addition to community needs. these are aspects to planning

that are often greatly lacking in formal planning processes. it's important and valuable and we support both their reappointments to the planning commission. thank you very much. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> cynthia gomez, unite here local 2. the planning commission has seven dedicated members who are dedicated public servants, four of whom are up fore appointment. i'm here to speak about two of them in particular, dennis richards and katherin moore. they're

>> disappointed there is so little time, but i'm here in support of katherin moore and dennis richards. both of them make up a very important core, which is a core that is dedicated to looking,

not only at today but also into the future, looking at community, what are the community needs, what is already needing to be there. i think it's a balanced view of, not just about a building, but about homes and homes for whom. both of them pay close attention to details and ensure the best for the city and we would be totally lost without them. i also appreciate having been at the commendation of katherin moore getting the nobel prize of planning and i appreciate her expertise and dennis, above all, his show and tell, which is a part of teaching, not only his fellow commissioners -- >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> tony robles, sta. commissioners moore and richards have been bright lights on the planning commission. planning, of course, involves

fore thought with developments that have come and continued to come at the speed of a comet. commissioners moore and richards' thoughtful analysis are an asset to san francisco as a whole. both commissioners understand that community and development is far more than just brick and mortar, that it involves eyes, ears, tendons, and inner workings of all to make our city the one that we know that it can be. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you very much. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. carlos montenegro coming to encourage reappointment of commissioners moore and richards. not much can be said that hasn't already been said.

they're intelligent, thoughtful and members of integrity. and most importantly, they bring a thoughtful understanding that planning is not just about the buildings, housing stock, but the people that exist in the community and the community itself. and further, an empathy that they have that are not as privileged to take time out of their days to bring out their concerns about a given project in a given community. and their ability to empathize and have it in their thought process as they're discussing the projects is something that we greatly appreciate along with their accessibility to both sides of the issue. we support their reappointment. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> there's very little that i can add to all of the public comment that's been made in support of katherin moore and dennis richards for the

reappointment. i think that the overwhelming outpouring that you have seen today is a testament to the fact that everyone is pretty much in agreement that these are excellent, excellent choices, both of them serve to really move the planning commission forward in a way that is fair to everyone here. again, it's really about the challenges that are going to face us. i think they're excellent appointments. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, commissioners. mike buehler, president of san francisco heritage. yes, there is little i can add to the previous comments before us. commissioners moore and richards are incredibly engaged, detail-oriented, thoughtful and

intelligent. i would like to highlight their presence in the community and their engagement with community groups. obviously, evidence of the showing here today is of their efforts beyond city hall. i strongly support them. thank you. >> good afternoon. i'm bob herman, architect. i've come here to support both candidates. in the short period of time, i would like it say something about katherin moore, who brings a priceless understanding of both developers and designers' outlooks from her former role in the private sector. she senses when a proposed project seeks to balance the private and community needs.

we need both. the jargon understanding of proposals has been invaluable to the planning department and commission as a whole. in particular, she taps into the urban design conscience. and her rare -- >> supervisor safai: thank you, sir. thank you. next speaker. >> esther marks. i'm here also to speak in support of katherin moore and dennis richards' reappointments of the planning commission. it's very gratifying to see so many people here coming from diverse backgrounds supporting their reappointments. thank you. >> supervisor safai: next speaker. >> hi.

i'm kevin ortiz, latino democratic club the planning commission is one of the most important commissions in the city. commissioners richards and moore have fought to have the commission be balanced and fair. the integrity is unquestionable and the dedication to projects with hours of research they put in on their own time to make sure that design is taken into account as well as how the design affects the neighborhood. we've seen a lot of people from different backgrounds come together. commissioner moore is a world-reef found architect whose vast knowledge is unrivalled and commissioner richards has been a fierce advocate for community input with each developer. they've made our city better and it would be in our best interests to keep them on the commission. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors.

historically, commissioners who have held these two seats have been able to take the simple way out and just vote no. commissioner moore and richards take a different approach. they do their home work. they read the entire package and they come prepared to discuss the items. i've seen each of these commissioners tell project sponsors to go back to the drawing board and come back to us in two months. i've seen them offer words of compromise. and i've also seen them tell a room full of neighbors in a respectful tone, relax. it will be okay and they articulate the reasons why. they're uniquely qualified to deliver these messages, especially that last one, because they've earned the community's trust. commissioner moore and commissioner richards are a big reason our --

>> supervisor safai: thank you. any other members of the public wish to comment on items 1 or 2? seeing none, public comment's closed. supervisor yee? >> supervisor yee: yes. commissioner richards, i'm going to ask these questions of all four. >> sure. >> supervisor yee: people up for appointment. so i think the first question is -- may have been answered for you by the speakers, but i wanted to know your views of -- on neighborhood input when it comes to planning for improvement processes and you probably need to say, yes, i believe in it, because i think i heard everybody else say that you believe in it, community input. [please stand by]