[applause] >> supervisor safai: please call the next item. >> clerk: mr. chair, would you like to call the next two items because there appear to be duplicate speakers for the -- >> supervisor safai: sure. >> clerk: item four is a motion approving and directing the mayor's reappointment of ike kwon to the public utilities commission for a term ending august 31, 2022, and a motion approving and directing the mayor's reappointment of anson moran to the public utilities commission for a term ending august 31, 2022. >> i want to thank my colleagues and supporters who are here. i also want to thank mayor london breed -- bless you --

for her nomination for my second team in seat two. my name is ike kwon. i live in district four, outer sunset, about a stone's throw from golden gate park with my wife and two daughters and now mom. and i've been here about 11 years. i'm honored to be asked to serve again in seat two. i'll say that my first few years have been like p.u.c. 101. i have been very impressed with the work of the staff, the amount of discipline, the amount of consternation and planning that they do to provide water for all of their customers. as a matter of record, i am employed by the california academy of sciences where i serve as the head financial officer. we provide water and sewer for the 38,000 animals within our building and 1.3 million visitors who come through our front doors, and our mission is

about sustainability, so i wear a couple hats. a couple things in terms of accomplishments over the last few years, i've been proud to be part of staff's efforts to look at a number of things, and i'll just highlight a few in the interest of time. the first are rates. i sit in the rate fare advocacy seat. i've been extremely impressed with san franciscans and their ability to conserve water. the second is ssip, the sewer system improvement project. i think i shared once before to this body in a different context, my wife grew up about 200 yards from a biosolids plant in chicago, and when the wind blew the wrong way, it

would ruin your barbecue. my inlaws still live there. the amount that the agency has gone in to bake in environmental justice into the strategic plan, to look hard at communities that are directly impacted by the biosolids plant on the southeast side and on the west side has been truly impressive. it is not an effort, it is stitched into what they do. and i've had the privilege of working alongside staff, working alongside community members in scratching the itch, as i put it. what that means to me is not just saying you're heard. we put these neighborhood feedback forums out. it's actually walking the neighborhood, hearing what is important to the neighborhood, not just mitigating the smell. odor is one thing. how does it affect the day-to-day lives of people in those communities. i'll stay the san francisco public utilities commission has done an unbelievable job in making it a top priority in what they do.

the other thing is they embrace the technology aspect of that. i was able to broker a conversation with stanford university. they've pioneered a technology called safe nbr which would effectively reduce the footprint of a waste water plant by up to a third, if not one half. general manager kelly even pays attention to that, not only he's visited stanford to say why might this mean to san franciscans decades down the line so that he's thinking way ahead, so i'm proud to be part of those efforts. i think that we have concerns going forward from the way water is being used, conservation. when you fly into s.f.o., and you look at the city, you wonder how the city works, how everything moves, how we provide water, energy for all the people there, but then, you

see a natural ecosystem. also, our weather, is looks like it's becoming more extreme, we have flooding, we have areas that need to be more reinforced for seismic activity. these are also priorities that the p.u.c. has gone to great lengths to achieve, address, and i've been very attentive to those needs. i think the last thing i'll say to you, as a rate peer advocate, it's important to make it as easy for possible for people to tell you how they're affected, so my goal for the next four years is also to listen. many people that i've surrounded the issue outside of staff, the paid professionals doing this job were sort of like the five blind people touching the elephant, to use an old parable. i think my role as commissioner is to bring those conversations into one place and to make a

data driven, neighborhood informed decision. so with that, i want to thank you for your time and welcome any questions. >> supervisor safai: thank you. i think we'll -- you have any questions right now or you want to just let the other presenters speak and we'll just open it up to public comment. >> thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you, commissioner. >> good morning. supervisor, safai, members, i'm anson moran, and i am honored to be renominated to seat number four on the public utilities commission. that's the seat that requires a background in utilities management. my background comes primarily from the city. i worked for the city for 26 years. i served as general manager of hetch hetchy water and power from 1998 to -- sexcuse me, 198

to 1993, and then, chairman from 1993 to 2000. after that, i worked as senior policy advisor to senator feinstein, and then after that i had a small consulting practice in water policy. i was appointed by mayor newsom back in 2009, areappointed by mayor newsom and mayor lee, and now mayor breed. supervisor stefani, you asked why i would want to do this. in my case, it comes down to several things. i've done this for a very long time. it's baked into my d.n.a., it's part of who i am.

it also meets the four things that have guided my career for a long time, and the first is that the work is fundamentally important, and i can think of nothing more important than providing clean and reliable and safe water to the people of san francisco and the bay area communities that we serve, as well as providing healthy treatment of waste and environmentally friendly power to the people who sign up for clean power san francisco. so that's the first. second is that it's intellectually engaging and stimulating. the issues that we're dealing with are fascinating, difficult issues, and they demand your full attention and time. third is the people that i get to work with. i am amazed in my career and then as on the commission, some of the best people that i know are people who have been called to public service and work for san francisco. and working with my fellow

commissioners, working with the staff is just a tremendous honor and pleasure. and then, the final thing is whether or not i think i can make a difference, make a contribution, and this is an area where i think i can. i think my experience creates some opportunities to contribute in ways that may be unique, and i'm very pleased to be able to do that and to give back to the city which has meant so much to me. couple areas of particular interest, we have been entrusted by the people of san francisco to spend a great deal of their money, about $10 billion in capital programs. and one of the things that i am acutely aware of is that we need to earn that trust and reearn that trust every single day. one of the things that we did was adopt a rate peer assurance

policy, which establishes the groundwork for how management and staff make the discretionary decisions that they have that affect the bottom line and affect rates. example of that is that as we budget, we meet new needs to the extent possible by taking advantage of efficiencies that we have ae bebeen able to crea somewhere, so the effect is a pretty flat budget over time of increasing needs. as i look to my next term hopefully on the commission, i think that need continues. i think we are faced with a need to meet the twin needs of environmental stewardship as well as reliable water supply. there is some tension there and managing that tension and making sure that we do our job in a responsible way is very

important. i think we're also faced with retirements coming up, a significant number of retirements, and we need to make sure that we have staff that is sufficient and is well trained and has a career path forward throughout their lifetime. and also, that we have a reliable staffing pattern, that there are people who are trained to take over for responsibilities as people retire and move on. and then, the final thing i'll mention is if you're dealing with three major utilities and $10 billion worth of capital program, it's easy for some of the life quality issues to get lost. i'm very pleased -- excuse me -- that we are dealing, i think aggressively and constructively on several areas that have been with us for a long time, and commissioner kwon mentioned them, that

owners in the southeast section and our -- our presence in that neighborhood and whether we're a good neighborhood or bad neighbor, that has been an issue that has been quite literally festering for decades, and i think we are finally getting on top of that in dealing with it. the second one is flooding, and it's an area where most of the city is in pretty good shape as far as that goes. there are some problem areas. there are also a surprising number of areas that don't have the big inundations, but they have lesser inundations that are still annoying and affect the quality of life. the worst of those are cayuga, 17 and folsom, pomona and 14th. those are areas that have our very intent focus, but there are areas throughout the city that need our attention as well. so those are the areas that i

look forward to working in the next term. thank you. >> supervisor safai: so thank you very much. we'll call you back if we have questions, but first, we're going to take public comment. folks can lineup so i can get an idea of how many people are here. we'll do two minutes. go ahead. please proceed. >> good morning, supervisors, apprais supervisor safai, supervisor stefani, it's good to be back in front of you. today i stand before you in full support of ike kwon. i first got the opportunity to meet him on my way to a city hall meeting, and he was across the street having a hot dog, and a san francisco approached him and thought he was an elected official. but the way he handled himself and held that conversation together as i was walking in told me something about commissioner kwon at the time. so i come before you all today as a resident of district ten,

and as the deputy director of young community developers and just really want to highlight and touch on, i know commissioner moran, who i fully support, as well, spoke about the sewer system improvement program that's going on in the southeast, which is a 30-year project. billions of dollars going into the project. one of the things that they've been working on is creating the city sewer system called city works. we've worked with 70 young people over the last several summers, placing them in engineering opportunities, within accounting opportunities. we have placed them in the public utilities commission. those are the type of commissioners that we need to have and be in support of, folks who understand the systems, folks who understand that as we continue to move forward, we need to make sure

that we uplift and bring up our young people. i had the pleasure of serving alongside commissioner kwon and commissioner moran as commissioner of the southeast facility as we looked together at working together collaboratively, and that was one of the things that really attracted me to the two of them, so i fully support both of them. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning. eddie on of bright line defense, speaking strongly in support of ike kwon for his commission appointment. he has attended multiple policy summits, and bringing together bayview residents, and his ties to this community would be much appreciated bd on this commission. san francisco myself on the san francisco commission on the environment and ccdc, i'm

always mindful of connecting commissions to regular citizens as the former speaker just talked about, and one thing that ike kwon has done is talked to youth particularly from the richmond neighborhood center, and that's rare to see for someone who holds important position in terms of our local infrastructure. thanks. >> supervisor safai: next speaker. >> good morning. my name's donna hood and i'm the commission secretary to the san francisco p.u.c. i'm here on behalf of ann caen who sends her regrets that she could not be here, but she sent some statements to support both nominees. i've had the pleasure of serving with commissioner kwon since his initial appointment in 2015.

seat two requires a member with experience in rate pair or community advocacy. it is important to ike that he represent the diversity of san francisco in his role as a commissioner and he does so with great passion. he understands the challenges faced by san franciscans and incorporates those into his views. i thank you for your consideration of his reappointment to the commission and urge your support. the second letter is she's writing to express her support of anson moran to seat four. during the last 21, i've had the pleasure of working with andy in his capacity as general manager and his commissioner. i've seen how his vast national has led the sfpuc to be a recognized national leader in the water, waste water and clean power sectors, and his

extensive background and experience reflected the highest experience in these

areas. >> i think finally, the whole -- whole discussion of water works in california, the water issues will be with us forever. it's historical kinds of things that happen in water in california and having somebody on the commission who understands the policies, the politics, the people that are involved in all of that is really, really important, so again, i would encourage you to approve the reappointment of andy moran. thank you very much. >> supervisor safai: thank you. >> commissioners. good afternoon. my name is vince cornyn. i'm the vice president of the public utilities commission. i want to thank you supervisor yee for starting off this meeting with a real prolabor,

proworker message. those people at kaiser are being treating in an unbelievable way. supervisor stefani, my former boss, i want to thank you for your leadership you've given us at the rec and parks department. we're under attack, obviously, chairman safai being a director of our foundation, training workers and putting them into career pathways really started with you and i back in 2007, 8, 9, and 10. the reason i mention those things is because my silo really has a lot to do with workforce at the public utilities commission. i really enjoyed the conversation we had with that lady who just moved forward to the m.t.a. because the frustration is real. i honestly don't know how you guys sleep with 70 to 77,000

cop stit constituents. we have a saying in labor that we will not get up from the table until we have a deal worked out that benefits everyone. staff can be reluctant and they're not always seeing things our way. we need people in government who will fight government to make sure that government works. commissioner moran, my relationship is a little more complicated. he is a mentor of mine. i hope that he's proud to call me his protege. he is at the upper echelon of our commissioners. ike kwon is the chair of our commission. he's thoughtful and deliberate, he's a joy to work with, and i don't think we can get any better than those two. thank you very much. >> supervisor safai: thank you, commissioner. any other member of the public wishing to comment on this? seeing none, public comment is closed. [ gavel ]. >> supervisor safai: before we have -- i don't really have any comments for the commissioners.

i asked them all when we met. i want to make note that we have three former general managers in the room and one current general manager. i think it speaks to the work that these commissioners have done, so having a former general manager as a commissioner, i think it's a true asset to any commission or agency as commissioner courtney said. having the ability to have someone take you under their wing and show you the ropes and guide you when you're on a commission in partnership and work with people. that's how you become an effective agency and it's well led. i think there's tremendous support in general for the p . p.u.c., and i think they have tremendous satisfaction. one area of frustration, and i think commissioner moran pointed to it, and i know we've been working with general manager kelly on it, myself and

supervisor yee, is an area of flooding. we have an area of our districts that is just consistently hit by floods. we understand that global warming is happening, and it's happening in a very rapid way. the wildfires on the west coast that we've never seen before, hurricanes on the east coast that we've never seen before. temperature rising. and then, during the rainy season, essentially flash floods in a way, and it's almost impossible to design a sewer system that would be able to handle that. that being said, we have an area of the district on cayuga that is constantly barraged with flooding. i know it's not a new thing. former general manager addressing it. we have an idea of how we can release some of that in terms of building -- upgrading the system that will help release some of the pressure. i just want to highlight two

things for the commissioners. i've said this as general manager. we want to push caltrans and continue to work with caltrans to have a water catch basin or some type of capture improvement there. i know that the many is there, the will is there, we just have to expedite that. we've been fortunate in the sense that there hasn't been any flash flooding and a 100-year storm in the last two years. but when they do come, we all wake up at night and they've been on the front lines in the community when it's just not acceptable to have waste water in someone's garage in someone's home, flooding their homes. i know we're working with creative solutions. i just want to put that on the radar for the commissioners and on the record. it's very important for me and supervisor mandelman. we share that area. and i know supervisor yee has

been working on that. i just want to put that on the record. i don't have any specific questions for the commissioners, but i just wanted to get that -- supervisor stefani, any questions? >> supervisor stefani: i don't have any questions, either. i just wanted to thank everybody for coming out. i think the public comment was great. it was great to see ed harrington. i haven't seen you in a while. i think what ed harrington says, experience does count, and then vince said we need people in government to fight government to make sure government works. i think that's a great tag line. i might steal that. but i think that's true, and i think that some of the best people that are on commissions are people who care so greatly about public service and add such value to city government, and i thank you for your

service, and i'm just -- i'm very supportsiive of both of these candidates. i'm looking forward to talking to you about sterling park, and cleanpowersf, which i'm really looking forward to a big push in district two. thank you for taking the time to speak with me about your candidacy, and i'm very excited to support you today. >> supervisor safai: i'm also very excited two support these commissioners. i think they work in partnership with the agency. i think i would like to echo the comments that supervisor stefani made, having people that fundamentally understand the delivery system and the entire utility delivery system is extremely important, so i'm in full support of these two commissioners being reappointed. commissioner yee? >> supervisor yee: my silence is positive.

>> supervisor safai: okay. so can we move this forward to the full board with a positive recommendation, these two commissioners? okay. great. without objection. congratulations. [applause] >> supervisor safai: please call the next item. >> clerk: next on the agenda is item number six is a hearing to appointing four members term ending june 1, 2020 to the reentry council. there are four seats, nine applicants. >> supervisor safai: okay. call -- get it going. call the first applicant, please. >> clerk: norma ruiz. >> supervisor safai: ruiz. >> clerk: ruiz. >> good morning, supervisors. first of all, i want to clarify

that i'm running for seats one, two, and four, i didn't know you could run for multiple seats, and i'm qualified under those three. thank you for this opportunity. i come before you to ask for your full support in my appointment for s.f. reentry council. my name is norma ruiz. i'm a resident of district six, and currently live on treasure island and grew up in the mission. i was only 14 when confronted with a gang enhancement and for years i was stuck in the resolving door that the criminal justice strongly holds. it wasn't until i was 27 when i was able to exit the adult justice system? being personally impacted i am aware of some of the barriers that exist when reentering society. i know what it's like -- i know what it's like to be cutoff of

ca cal works benefits and denied housing. in all honesty, i'm still paying the city -- the city money that was given to me as a single mother to help pay myself through college, and i do not want others to go through some of the obstacles that i faced. at the age of 27 i was able to exit the criminal justice system. i enrolled in school and did not reoffend there after. with the support and guidance of educational programs such as project rebound at san francisco state university, young women's freedom center, i was able to breakdown some of those barriers and eventually went off to san francisco state university. i recently graduated with a degree in health education and community health. if i were to serve on the council, there are a variety of issues that i would like to tackle. issues such as homelessness, immigration status, educational

health and equity among others. although there has been strides in creating opportunities through educational and workforce development, there is more work to do. i would like to offer my perspective to offer more opportunities. i would also like to continue to push to end gang injunctions in san francisco as i see them stifling and hindering our community from successful reentry. i believe in elevating those voices directly impacted by the criminal justice system. currently i work as a case worker of neighborhood girls. i have more than 15 years experience community organizing and working in s.f. at a variety of nonprofits such as the hospitality house, and the mission resource center. i have provided services to a

diverse group of people whose most of the time issues intersect with incarceration. i not only have experience to serve on a council such as reentry, i have the heart and commitment to be a voice for justice involved folks in s.f. thank you. >> supervisor yee: okay. can you -- i want to ask the same question of pima plying for this position -- these positions, and i think you partially answered. my question is really, what are your ideas on how to better support formerly incarcerated individuals when reentering society, especially around -- when it comes to workforce and housing? >> well, i think that first and foremost, we have to include those voices, and meet folks where they're at, but i think

in san francisco, one of the big issues faced by folks reentering is gentrification and homelessness. when folks are homelessness, other issues follow like mental issues and social well-being. i think by focusing on programs that helped me, i think folks can successfully reenter and help them in workforce development and equity among health insurance and all areas that affect them. >> supervisor yee: thank you. >> supervisor safai: if we have any other questions, we'll call you back up. >> thank you. >> supervisor safai: please call the next person. >> clerk: jose bernal.

>> my name's jose bernal. i'm seeking reappointment to the reentry council. i want to up lift the folks that are coming up here. it's not easy to speak about yourself. just to give you a little bit of history, me, my journey, what has brought me here today. i grew up in san francisco's tenderloin district. you know, growing up as a child, we moved around a lot, s.r.o. to s.r.o., relative's house to relative's house, and i grew up to a single mother. and most people will think, you grew up in the tenderloin, you grew up moving around a lot. most people would think you grew up under privileged and poor, but i would say i grew up

privileged, very loving mother who worked hard to ensure that i grew up right. as a youth in the tenderloin, i did the best i could to stay out of trouble. inevitably, life happens, and i can tell you i made several mistakes. one day, i made a mistake, and i ended up getting incarcerated, and while incarcerated, i really went through it, i reallyy experienced a lot, was unsure what i was going to do with my life, what am i doing here? and i am a going to tell you a story, because this was a defining moment in my life. if i could go back, not too far here from bryant street, where our county jail is, i was in krsh-pod, charlie pod, and that's where they put people where they consider a danger to

themselves or a danger to others, and i was a danger to myself. i shoulder a lot of emotions. i remember being stripped of my clothes, and i was given a green garment. and i get what it's for, so you don't hurt yourself. i remember them kind of feeding me food without a spoon because the theory is you're going to hurt yourself if you have a spoon. i remember jail psychiatric services would come around, and there's a little opening -- big plexiglass, and brite lights everywhere, and they would come around, mr. bernal, are you okay? mr. bernal, do you want to hurt yourself, and that's the way it was dealt with. someone who maybe wants to hurt themselves that wasn't very helpful. so i remember not feeling like a human being, i remember not feeling human dignity, but i'll always remember this. this was someone who was housed next to me, and i was housed in

isolation. i was up there for 1.5 years, and there was a young man housed next to me, and every night, i heard him screaming and yell, get out, get out. i'd hear him every night, and thinking this man is tormented, and he doesn't belong in a cage. one day, there were two guards, and i remember, i woke up to it, and i could hear them mocking him. i can hear them poking fun at him, and i remember that -- i'll always remember vividly, they were throwing hot cheetos at him, and they were saying, are you hungry, are you hungry? are you going to cry? and i remember every other prisoners that were there, we all stood up, and there was a big plexiglass, and i remember standing up, and i remember wanting to say something. i remember wanting to do something, and i didn't do

anything. one, because i didn't feel like a human being. two, because i was afraid of what would happen to me if i spoke up. and in my life journey, i think about it now, where i no longer have the plexiglass in front of me, where i no longer have the green garment on me, where i no longer have the chains and shackles on me, where i should say something, i should do something, and i'm no longer afraid. but at the same time i think about the hundreds -- hundreds and thousands of people who are in our city right now, who even though they don't have a physical plexiglass in front of them or chains in front of them, they do have them invisibly, and we see them every day on the streets. so my mission is to empower those people and break those chains in front of them and that plexiglass in front of them, and tell them you are a human being, you do have a voice, you are important.

so when i got out of incarceration, i came back to the very same neighborhood where i grew up in. i went back to tenderloin, worked for a wonderful organization, hospitality house. really helped me grow as a leader. came in as a pieer advocate, worked my way up to running the shelter program. i worked with people experiencing homelessness to empower them. i was always very passionate about this line of work. i went onto, you know, go to the reentry council, went onto the subcommittee, and i eventually worked my way up to the chair of the legislation policy subcommittee. had a wonderful opportunity to go to stanford through project remade, where i had wonderful mentorship down there, as well. today i'm a senior organizer and advocate for the ellen baker center for human rights where i work with folks to move

resources away from punishment and prisons and reinvest them back into community. i am reapplying for a seat, my seat because there's still a lot of work to do. while on the council i took on the issue of private reentry services and also i took on the issue of gang injurngss, ancti we've made some strides, but there's still work to do. the other thing i'd like to do is civic engagement. i just got back from a conference down in florida. they have a constitutional amendment that they're trying to get through, amendment four. it's voter disenfranchisement, people with former -- they can't -- here, we're fortunate

enough where we're not in that situation, but i would like to see more people ampowerempower vote. >> supervisor safai: great job. i don't have any questions. i think you would make a phenomenal appointment. i think the story you shared was so moving. i think to have someone that can speak from the heart and has leadership abilities and ability to guide on these policy issues. we look forward to working with you. >> absolutely thank you. >> supervisor safai: and i'm happy to have you as a constituent in my district. >> yeah, i just moved to the excelsior. >> supervisor safai: sorry. all the best are coming our way. next person, please. >> clerk: victoria westbrook.

>> good morning. thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you this morning. my name is victoria westbrook, and i'm applying for seats, one, two, or three. just to qualify, i was released from federal prison on september 6, 2017 -- i mean, 2016, to the halfway house at 111 taylor. i'm a survivor of domestic violence and incest. i have assisted numerous justice involved individuals in their successful reentry through extensive job training, job readiness and job placement. i didn't plan on being justice involved. it wasn't something that i expected for my life. and although i experienced trauma as a youth, i was able to do well in school, go to

college, and graduate from georgia tech with an engineering degree on the dean's list. i had a successful career for many years, but my occasional partiying turned into daily methamphetamine use after my twin died. after losing my job and starting to sell drugs, my 20 plus year addiction culminated in my getting indicted by the federal government on drug and conspiracy charges. although i don't recommend it as a way of getting your life together, it was the best thing that could have happen to me. i began the journey back to me. i made a commitment to myself before going in to be a better woman on the other side, and that's what i did. and even though i worked on myself inside by taking all the psychology classes offered, becoming a leader and graduating from the challenging residential drug abuse program, and participating in weekly

one-on-one counseling sessions, i had very little hope for my future. you see anyone that comes back to prison tells you that there's nothing out there for you, that you're not wanted, that you're not going to get a job and that there's no support for you. i should have been in a position to fluorish upon my release. i was the strongest internally i had been in my entire adult life, and i was getting out of prison at 50. i dealt with my trauma related to incest and domestic violence. i addressed my substance abuse issues, and i had gained a real sense of self-worth, but instead of feeling confident and grateful, i felt scared and hopeless about getting out of prison. i would like to tell you that my fears were unwarranted but i can't, and unfortunately, my experience returning home is not unusual. my passion is empowerment and helping others coming out of

jails and prisons and creating a more inclusive system for people coming out of jail and prison like me. i want to become a member of the reentry council to further assist in making systemic changes in order to better support justice involved individuals reentering our communities. san francisco is far and ahead many cities, but there's still a lot of work to do. i hope to help and lead initiatives for more reentry navigation, and once i'm off paper, i want to go into the jails and prisons and work on actually what i heard when i first landed in federal prison, that reentry starts the day you're incarcerated, but that wasn't my experience, either. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you very much. any questions? nope? okay. next person -- no, it's okay.

>> clerk: theodore tolliver. >> good day, chair safai, supervisor stefani, supervisor yee. my name is theodore tolliver, but i prefer to be called ted, and i have a miraculous life, and it's only the beginning of it. i was born in the turkmore projects in the western addition, and at the age of eight years old, i had to end up in -- in board member's safai's lakeview district. you know, that district, you know? when i was 11 years old, i was sold by my friend who was

younger than i was that i could sell drugs, i could sell these little rocks in my hand, and i could get $100 for this. when i went to my guardian, my aunt, i told her what my friend proposed to me, and she gave me some money even though we were poor to flip the money, make some money with the money that she gave me, so selling drugs and committing crime never was a problem for me because the people that i trusted raising me right gave me information, my mom, my dad, and my aunt, gave me this information that they were good, so it was never wrong to me. so now that -- before i even got to that point in my life, at, like, five years old, i wanted to be a police officer or a firearm. so i'm going through -- fireman, so i'm going through life, and i'm learning these things that's on the other side of the law. but i got to a point in my life

where this isn't what i wanted to do. i didn't want to go to prison no more, i didn't want to do no jail time, i didn't want to keep starting over. so when i went back to that thought when i was five years old -- i was 41 at this time, and i went back to five years old, and i said okay, i've got to do something different. so i entered treatment. and by -- when i entered treatment, i was open to a whole bunch of other stuff. and -- and to give you an example of how cloudy my mind was, i didn't know -- my son was born on buchanan and grove. i didn't know right up the street, around the corner, which is where the program i was at, health rigealthright 3 mansions and victorian homes. i'm so cloudy and whacked out of my mind, i didn't know that

these beautiful things existed in my city. so as i'm going through life since treatment, and i'm learning all these beautiful new things, you know, i'm advocating for people, you know, for change. you know, there's a lot of people that's given the wrong information like me. the information i was given me helped land me in prison, you know, but it doesn't -- i don't hold any bad thoughts up against my parents or anybody else. what i learned is that you know, i've just got to give back to the people that helped me or extend my hand. so by me doing these, having my thoughts in the head, i was given the aspiring change in word by the san francisco adult protection department and the senior ex-offender program. and it kind of threw me for a loop because i wasn't doing this to get a reward, i was just doing this to be doing what i'm doing.

i also became the face of the free city initiative. they have my face on bill boards everywhere, and in the city, it gave people hope, like, i know tedi. he was out there with us, he was living in a tent. look at him. he's doing something different. maybe i can do that. i'm also a member of m-3, and also a survivor for safety and justice member. i've been doing all these things, going into the jails, mentoring, you know, just really preaching change. and people are buying into this change. and i'm so -- you know, i'm so avid about this change because i remember when i was in jail about 18 to 20 years old, and positive direction equals change used to come do groups in there, and i was not trying to do none of that what they were talking about.

i was like i'm not doing that, i'm about to use drugs and commit crime, but those were the same people that my mentor is today. and i know, like, no matter what i go through with people that wasn't some help or trying to -- want some help or trying to change, i've got to extend my handout to someone that needs a pull up, and that's what my life is about today. i'm currently working at golden gat gate for seniors. we have a 94% success rate, people 55 and older going to treatment and getting out and doing something different. the reason i hold it so dear, i went to the power house, healthright 360, and out of all the people i was in the house with, only five of us today are not actively using, so i'm glad to be a part of that.

i was born and raised in san francisco. i was part of the problem for so many years. now i'm thankful i can be part of the solution, and by me being on the reentry council, i'll be able to help -- not help, but put my 'emphasis on some policies to help people transition out of the jails prisons, and institutions different. so, you know, i'm down for that. i want to do that. i appreciate being given the honor, and i just want to do something different and continue to life my life on this great path that i'm going on. i also graduated from city college, and i'm on my way -- well, i'm at san francisco state now to get my health ed degree. and i'm just, like, i can't believe it. i want to well up every day because i can't believe the lifestyle i'm living. >> supervisor safai: thank you so much. congratulations. >> yes. >> supervisor safai: we'll call you back up if we have any

questions. please call the next person. >> clerk: nathaniel williams. >> supervisor safai: not here. next person. >> clerk: next person is william dearmund. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is william dearmund. after receiving your e-mails, and the qualifications for this position, i was reluctant at coming first because i really don't have much in the past because of doing this, but then, i've got 12 prison commitments in five separate states. i was a heroin addict for 40 years, crack addict for 20

years. when i came to san francisco in 2007, i was in -- i was in a shelter, and then, i was -- went to the tenderloin, to the cadillac hotel. and while i was there, as i was going to my room, i would see people on the sidewalk, snorting up dope, smoking crack, and i would go to my room, do the same. and i thought if i keep doing that, i'm going to be down there with them. but i've been in prison for all of my life. from 1996 to 2006, i was heert on parole, in prison or either on the run. i was probably on the streets for one year during all that time at the time. i always had confidence in myself, i always knew i could do something different, but the

streets was my life. the streets was my home. i left home when i was 14, got married when i was 16. i was a member of the b.r.p., the black revolutionary party, but after disenchantment, i became a criminal. after 18 years in prison, i was offered felony offense of forgeries. however i went to the law library and became a paralegal, and i ended up doing 18 months because i filed my own motions and learned how to fight for myself. and as a result, i want to continue to work with youngsters to stop them from doing what i had done. and it's -- it's an opportunity that i look forward to and something that i'm going to do, whether i do it here, i'm going to do it somewhere because i think that our system now is --

is, like -- it's like the new jim crow, especially for people that's black. young black people are -- they've been raised up to go to prison. that's exactly what it is. and our system is made in such a way that if they're not turned around at an early age, that's exactly how it's going to be. and it's going to be like me or those like me to keep them from doing that. and i hope that i get the opportunity to do that here. >> supervisor safai: thank you so much. we'll call you back up if we have any questions. call the next person. >> clerk: angela coleman. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is angela coleman, and i'm seeking reappointment to seat number two. this will be my third term.

i am a native of san francisco, although i reside in oakland now. i am also a survivor of sexual child abuse, domestic violence. i used drugs since i was 14. 30 years on heroin and other drugs. i went to prison in '79 and got out in '81, and resorted back to my old behavior. there was no recovery support while i was in prison. a few -- a few years later, i was arrested and went to county jail, got eight years -- i mean, excuse me. i did a year, but i was looking

at 25 to life because i was a third-striker, but by the grace of god, i got a year in county jail and a year in walden house. i was through with that type of lifestyle, and i took every class that was available to me, and i haven't looked back since. i've been clean for 14 years now. i've been working at glide for 13 years, as a case manager for five. i went to city college, and i got my certificate as a drug and alcohol counselor. during my last appointment, i became a member of the subcommittee for the reentry council on direct services, and

we're breaking down our work groups, and i have children -- the alternatives to our incarceration. and i'm also a member of the policy committee for l.e.a.d., law enforcement assistance diversion program. i was appointed by the reentry council, representing the reentry council. this has been a great opportunity for me learning about the criminal justice system regarding changes needed inside the jails. i've been going inside county jail number two for approximately five years, supporting the women that are existing soon, up to 45 days of supporting them and give them resources and a place to come when they exit.

being on the reentry council has been a great opportunity for me to learn about the criminal justice system regarding changes needed inside the jails, women's reentry services, for them having somewhere to go, and the -- to change the release hours, so most -- especially the women that release at midnight, they don't have anywhere to go. i know at glide, we are a reservation station, but we do close at 9:00, and we need for the women couto have somewhere go when exiting jail at night. i remember when i was being released at night, and i'd have a few dollars in my pocket, and

nowhere to go, and being involved with drugs, i'd go and buy drugs and use 'cause there was nowhere for me to go. during my appointment, we have been discussing the mental illness issues inside and outside of the jail and what resources are available to people that are dealing with mental illness with the department of public health. i have been prior involved in facilitating meetings in african american communities, working with the protection department, the reentry division. i've been learning how the criminal justice system works and doesn't work for the incarcerated population, barriers that people face and just disparit