there's an outstanding need for policy framework for the heating electrification which is basically building, water, and space heating, natural gas. something we've suggested that the air district institute future effective dates to ban the sale of natural gas furnaces in the bay area to basicy put the marker down by x year, we're going to need to be total electric? that is something we can do at the local level while we are getting our ducks in a row, and i would suggest that we pursue that. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. any other public speakers? seeing none, public comment is now closed. thank you very much, director raphael for this. i have one question for you, and this is just something that just triggered my thought was that are we by any means promoting the discontinuation of water heaters, those really

big gas ones that everyone installs in their homes or are we going -- i have one of these water heaters. we had one of those things that was heating water continuously. and now, it's an electric things that goes through the pipes. like, they do it in germany and japan and everything else. and what are we -- are we doing anything about that? >> thank you for the question, chairman. we are. so with the bayren program we have a pilot where we're using district money to try to persuade a certain number of single-family homes as well as 250 multifamily to convert from natural gas water heating to heat pump electric water heating, and that was a pilot

that just started in january and we're actively recruiting interested test homes. >> chair fewer: so i would love to work with you in my districts because they have a lot of single-family homes, and they have these big water heaters. we converted maybe about seven years ago i guess to this new heating system, but i just think is so -- which i just think is so much more efficient. but i would love to partner with you if you're doing an upgrade in my district. >> i just want to say, we're also looking proactively at our building codes to try and make sure that we can have the latest version -- the best and most strict building codes so that as people do major remodels and as we have major construction, we're moving this in. it's a multipronged, but it's

definitely coming back to the board of supervisors. we're going to need legislation and leadership to lead up to that. >> chair fewer: i would love to work with you on that. there is another public commenter. did i close public comment, mad madam clerk? >> clerk: you can reopen. >> chair fewer: okay. we can reopen public comment. >> i know tha lot of things in getting things like mcdonald's and burger king to add to alternative power activities in the community. i wanted to know if the city had any feelings about that or willingness to work with those

businesses or others on seeing through a vegetable diesel component to alternative energy experiments or funding of some sort in. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. are there any other members of the public that would like to comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is now closed. and thank you for your presentation. madam clerk, can you please call item five? >> clerk: yes. and just for the record, no action was taken on item four. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. [agenda item read]. >> chair fewer: mr. goebel, i think you have a presentation for us. >> yes. brian goebel, chief executive officer. today, i am asking for your request for qualifications for

a renewable energy expert. as the sfpuc start developing their local energy access and a build out of local energy projects, this would allow us to have an energy expert in place at lafco to help provide effective oversight feedback and what i hope are going to be some really graeat ideas. that person would work with lafco, community groups and other stakeholders to provide feedback during the capital planning process at the p.u.c. in an effort that supports clean energy for all san franciscans. this firm or person would ideally also have some experience on power issues to assist us there, should the need come from lafco.

sfpuc staff, mike hyams who's here today are supportive for extending the m.o.u. for this purpose. i had a really great meeting with general manager harlan kelly, so i would work with commissioners, the advocates, other stakeholders to develop the r.f.q., and i have one slight change to my recommendations. in your memo, i ask for authorization to issue an r.f.q. for cleanpowersf consulting services. i'd like to request we broaden the title to renewable energy expert. this gives us a little more flexibility in case we want to call on this person to advise us on energy issues outside of cleanpowersf. so with that, i'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> chair fewer: sure. commissioners? commissioner pollock.

>> commissioner pollock: sure. thank you -- excuse me. thank you, mr. goebel. i'm really excited that you want to broaden the scope just a bit? we learned a couple meetings ago that cleanpowersf could potentially buy energy from a hetch hetchy project that is built out of renewables -- out of hetch hetchy and clean po r cleanpowersf. and i think if we have the scope so narrow, maybe we're missing that has to do with the operation which is included in the -- in the m.o.u. language but could be missed by just having it as a cleanpowersf consulting services. >> thank you, commissioner pollock, and i'll be happy to work with you on the r.f.q. and

the language to make sure it's comprehensive. >> commissioner pollock: is there a reason that we're doing an r.f.q. instead of an r.f.p.? >> i think this gives us the option of potentially having a few experts if we want them, so we would qualify a firm or person to do work and then hand them a specific project. >> commissioner pollock: and then, could you just summarize for us any amendments or feedback that you got from the sfpuc on this proposal? >> well, i will just tell you that the memo that i gave you was done with feedback from the p.u.c., and they particularly wanted me to address in the memo providing feedback on the integrated resource plan, which is really their road map for cleanpowersf going forward. and the job description that you have in your memo, as well, that was also -- that was

also -- i got the advice of the p.u.c. on that, as well. >> commissioner pollock: okay. thank you. i know there are a number of updates that you receive from the p.u.c. just to keep this commission apprised of what's going on? and i think that the addition of this subject matter expert could help in the way that you update commissioners on just the progress of the program so we aren't so reliant on the p.u.c. to give us incremental updates. >> for sure. thank you. >> commissioner pollock: if no one else has comments, i would like to move that the commission adopt and authorize the r.f.q. for executive officer to develop -- or to issue the request for qualifications for a renewable energy expert.

>> chair fewer: thank you, commissioner. before we take a vote on that and make a motion, i think we should open it up for public comment. >> commissioner pollock: okay, my apologies. >> chair fewer: is there any member of the public that would like to comment on these items? >> one more time, eric brooks. so i just want to stand in strong support of this motion. it's crucial that we do this first contracting process to get the ball rolling on a citywide and county wide local build out for renewable energy. so -- and i would also support expanding the scope because that's crucial. if we add public power. that totally changes the game and we've got to be able to have consultants to tell us what to do on that. just as a side note, if we adopt public power, we've got

to make sure we're mandating these things. this is what we're going to do on clean energy under the public power system. i would just like to reiterate what i and many others have said over and over at this podium for last decade. it's great to have consultants advise the p.u.c. on what to do with their integrated resource plan and what to do with their projects, but we need to make sure we're couching that within the vision of a sydney, australia style green new deal vision so that sfpuc vision is just a component. it leads to a whole thing in an integrated way as i just said on the last item so we're

creating what's called a virtual power plant. the goal needs to be what's called a virtual power plant and that means you're implementing so many different types of energy, efficiency and battery storage it's like you've always got a 24-hour always on power plant. >> chair fewer: thank you. next speaker, please. >> jed holtsman. i would -- i do support this, and i'm sorry, i haven't gotten around to reading the proposal. -- that we need to meet our greenhouse gas targets as well as our kind of vision for

workforce development and green jobs and local resiliency from earthquake, storm surge, sea level rise, etc. that we've all talked about or not. and just feeding into existing processes or not, i think, is -- is not necessarily representing the discussion at this commission, i would say. i think the commission or the board of supervisors and/or the public of san francisco might already or at time goes on have a broader ambition or driving to take care of energy or climate issues than are being handles through existing sfpuc processes? so i think that this commission and this consultant or set of third parties needs to be able to analyze kind of the big picture of what it would take the city and county to get where it needs to go up to and

including changing the charter in various ways. not suggesting that today, but very much dedicated to the goal -- excuse me -- to the goal rather than the process and kind of setting the process up to meet the goal that we want to meet most effectively. so i would hope that -- that part of the advising and feedback to the sfpuc is be kind of a gap analysis of where we want to get to and what still needs to be done by on folks. thanks so much. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. >> good afternoon, madam chair. my name is bruce wolf from the haight-ashbury council. we're a members of san francisco advocates and californiians for energy choice. i agree with all the previous commenters, my colleagues, and just want to say it's an interesting and smart idea to do the r.f.q.

that way, i agree, if you have -- can develop multiple projects and you have them all at the same time or close together so that we can achieve the goals faster. so i urge your aye vote. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. any other public speakers for this item? seeing none, public comment is now closed. i believe there's a motion on the floor now. i'd like to second the motion by commissioner pollock, and if we can take that without objection, thank you very much. [gavel]. >> chair fewer: madam clerk, can you please call item number six. [agenda item read]. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. mr. goebel. >> commissioner goebel: thank you, madam chair. brian goebel, executive officer. i'd like to update you on the study of on demand workers in

san francisco. i've told you that our survey which will be the largest survey to date of on-demand workers in the u.s. is estimated to cost about $300,000. that figure was based on feedback from the washington state department of commerce which is conducting a similar survey? our survey will happen in three phases, and this body has allocated $55,000 for the first phase. that will allow the contractor to work with us to develop the methodology and questions and what type of incentives we're going to offer to workers. the update is that this week, i had some very positive discussions with a local foundation, and there was strong interest in helping us close our funding gap for this survey. i can't really say much more than that, but it is encouraging. we are expecting proposals from some really qualified bidders who are ae reached out -- what have ae reached out to express

interest, and i've been working with them to get their answers. this is taking a little more time. today was the deadline for proposals, but i've now extended the deadline to march 29 and now expect to award a contract by the end of april. so that's the update on our labor survey. and then finally, i've provided, as i do as every meeting in your packets, an expenditure update. really no surprises there. next month, i will be bringing a draft budget for the next fiscal year to you for your approval. and that's it. thank you. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. colleagues, any questions for mr. goebel at all, or comments. thank you. there's no action taken on this item. mad madam clerk, can you please call item number seven. >> clerk: number seven is

public comment. >> chair fewer: are there any members of the public that would like to speak during public comment. >> hello, again. eric brooks, our city san francisco. just wanted to touch on something that got raised in the environment department report but that is a tangential issue that's really important that no city agencies or committees have dealt with yet, and it has to do with these big water -- gas powered water boilers in large old buildings, like the one i live in, which is why i know about this problem. as you know from reports in the news from meteorologists, it's getting hotter, and it's getting a lot hotter. and i don't know if you've ever lived in one of those buildings that has piped water heat, but during the summer, the way you have to time the turn on and turnoff of those big boilers, you will get 80, 90, 100°

temperatures, and the hot water's also running, and the building becomes an oven, and especially people with compromised immune systems, and people with other problems. it's gotten to where every summer, i have to put a fan in my window and pull air in from outside. i'm thinking of getting an air conditioner. so at some -- at some future agenda item as we're deal wg this issue of the boilers and -- dealing with this issue of the boilers and energy efficiency, we need to solve this problem before the temperature gets so high and combines with this crisis that it kills people. it could actually be a scenario like the one that happened in europe when they got that big heat wave. these buildings are really dangerous in that respect and we need to address that. no agencies or committees have done so yet. thank you very much. >> chair fewer: thank you. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is

now closed. madam clerk, can you please call item number eight. [agenda item read]. >> chair fewer: commissioners, are there any future agenda items to note? seeing none, let's open this up for public comment. hello, mr. brooks. >> last time, i promise. eric brooks, our city san francisco. so this is about treasure island. we -- there was a report in the examiner today that was really good about treasure island. treasure island is opening up to become exactly the same sort of crisis that we're experiencing in the bayview-hunters point. as i said last meeting, a key part of the treasure island problem is the agencies and especially the treasure island development authority, which is sort of an independent rogue agency that is acting very badly, and its director, bob beck, has gone around literally telling all your offices that,

for example, tetratech didn't do any cleanup work on treasure island, which is totally false, and i can send you the documents to show that. so that's -- i think it's a perfect position for lafco because tida is a separately independent agency. it's a perfect thing for the lafco to have part of one of its future meetings to be about tida's roll and how it's caused this chaos on treasure island, and whether we need to disband tida and get some elected access like that or maybe what we do with lafco, appoint supervisors to run the treasure island authority so we've got real democratic oversight. i don't see other agencies doing that or other committees talking about this, and it seems to me that lafco would be the perfect place to talk about the role of tida and what it's

doing wrong and how it probably should be replaced with a public process. thanks. >> chair fewer: thank you very much. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is now closed. madam clerk, is there any other business before us today? >> clerk: that concludes the business before us today. >> chair fewer: our meeting is adjourned. thank you. in this san francisco office, there are about 1400 employees.

and they're working in roughly 400,000 square feet. we were especially pleased that cleanpowersf offers the super green 100% clean energy, not only for commercial entities like ours, but also for residents of the city of san francisco. we were pleased with the package of services they offered and we're now encouraging our employees who have residence in san francisco to sign on as well. we didn't have any interruption of service or any problems with the switch over to cleanpowersf. this clean power opportunity reflects that. i would encourage any large business in san francisco to seriously consider converting and upgrading to the cleanpowersf service. it's good for the environment, it's good for business and it's

san francisco is surrounded on three sides by water, the fire boat station is intergal to maritime rescue and preparedness, not only for san francisco, but for all of the bay area. [sirens] >> fire station 35 was built in 1915. so it is over 100 years old. and helped it, we're going to build fire boat station 35. >> so the finished capital planning committee, i think about three years ago, issued a guidance that all city facilities must exist on sea level rise. >> the station 35, construction cost is approximately $30 million.

and the schedule was complicated because of what you call a float. it is being fabricated in china, and will be brought to treasure island, where the building site efficient will be constructed on top of it, and then brought to pier 22 and a half for installation. >> we're looking at late 2020 for final completion of the fire boat float. the historic firehouse will remain on the embarcadero, and we will still respond out of the historic firehouse with our fire engine, and respond to medical calls and other incidences in the district. >> this totally has to incorporate between three to six feet of sea level rise over the next 100 years. that's what the city's guidance is requiring. it is built on the float, that can move up and down

as the water level rises, and sits on four fixed guide piles. so if the seas go up, it can move up and down with that. >> it does have a full range of travel, from low tide to high tide of about 16 feet. so that allows for current tidal movements and sea lisle rises in the coming decades. >> the fire boat station float will also incorporate a ramp for ambulance deployment and access. >> the access ramp is rigidly connected to the land side, with more of a pivot or hinge connection, and then it is sliding over the top of the float. in that way the ramp can flex up and down like a hinge, and also allow for a slight few inches of lateral motion of the float. both the access ramps, which there is two, and the utility's only

flexible connection connecting from the float to the back of the building. so electrical power, water, sewage, it all has flexible connection to the boat. >> high boat station number 35 will provide mooring for three fire boats and one rescue boat. >> currently we're staffed with seven members per day, but the fire department would like to establish a new dedicated marine unit that would be able to respond to multiple incidences. looking into the future, we have not only at&t park, where we have a lot of kayakers, but we have a lot of developments in the southeast side, including the stadium, and we want to have the ability to respond to any marine or maritime incident along these new developments. >> there are very few designs for people sleeping on the water. we're looking at

cruiseships, which are larger structures, several times the size of harbor station 35, but they're the only good reference point. we look to the cruiseship industry who has kind of an index for how much acceleration they were accommodate. >> it is very unique. i don't know that any other fire station built on the water is in the united states. >> the fire boat is a regionalesset tharegional assete used for water rescue, but we also do environmental cleanup. we have special rigging that we carry that will contain oil spills until an environmental unit can come out. this is a job for us, but it is also a way of life and a lifestyle. we're proud to serve our community. and we're willing to help people in any way we can.good a

mayor's disability council this friday, march 15th, 2019 in room 400 of san francisco city hall. city hall is accessible to persons using wheelchairs and other assistive mobility devices. wheelchair access is provided at the grove, van ness and mcallister streets via ramps. wheelchair access at the polk street, carlton b. goodlett entrance is provided via

wheelchair lift. assistive listening devices are available and our meeting is open captioned in sign language interpreted. our agendas are also available in large print and braille. please ask staff for any additional assistance. to prevent electronic interference with this room sound system, and to respect everyone's ability to focus on the presentation, please silence all mobile phones and pdas. your cooperation is appreciated. we welcome the public's participation during public comment periods. there will be opportunity for public comment at the beginning and end of the meeting as well as after every item on today's agenda. each comment is limited to three

minutes. and a council will respond to your comments following the meeting if you provide your contact information. you may complete a speaker's card, available in the front of the room, approach the microphone during public comment, or call our bridge line at 1-415-554-9632. where a staff person will handle requests to speak at the most appropriate time. the mayor's disability council meetings are generally held on the 3rd friday of the month. our next regular meeting will be held on friday, may 17, 2019, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. right here at san francisco city hall in room 400.

please call the mayor's office on disability for further information or to request accommodations at 1-415-554-6789 voice, or e-mail them at mod@sfgov.org. a reminder to all of our guests today to speak slowly into the microphone. i had to learn that myself. to assist our captioners and interpreters, we thank you. -- for joining us. so what i'd like to do is ask roll call of the council members here today. >> co-chair denise senhaux?

>> present. jim blacksten? present. alex madrid, here. council member sally coghlan mcdonald. present. council member orkid. >> co-chair blacksten: i believe we have a quorum. only missing one person. let's move to item number 2, action item, it's the reading of the agenda by staff. >> item 1, welcome, introduction and roll call. item 2 action item, reading and approval of the agenda. item 3, public comment. items not on today's agenda but within the jurisdiction of the

mdc. we welcome the public's participation during public comment periods. there will be an opportunity for public comment at the beginning and end of the meeting as well as after every item on today's agenda. each comment is limited to three minutes and the council will respond to your comments following the meeting if you provide your contact information. you may complete a speaker's card available in the front of the room, approach the microphone during public comment or call our bridge line at 1-415-554-9632. where a staff person will handle requests to speak at the appropriate time. item 4. information item. co-chair report. item 5. information item. report from the mayor's office on disability. please neat that the director's report can be found on the what's new section of mod's website. item 6, information item. better market street project updates.

this presentation will provide an update on the better market street project including status, schedule and conceptual design. the design will include the proposed loading zones and kent and curbside boarding islands. presentation by cristina calderon olea, better market street project manager, san francisco doesn't of public works. break. the council will take a 15-minute break. item 7, information item. san francisco's housing strategic plan. this presentation will include san francisco's five-year planning process for the consolidated housing plan, analysis of impediments to fair housing choice and specific h.i.v. housing plan. presentation by teresa yanga. item 8, ceremonial item,

honoring donna adkins, former programmatic access specialist and council clerk who left her position in january. item 9, public comment. items not on today's agenda but within the jurisdiction of the mdc. each speaker is limited to three minutes. please approach the microphone or give your comment card to the mod staff. item 10, information item. correspondence. item 11, discussion item, council member comments and announcements. item 12, adjourned. >> co-chair blacksten: thank you, heather, appreciate it very much. so let's see, now that we've done that. let's move on to number 3, which is -- do we have any speaker's card for public comment? >> yeah, we do. the first is bob.

>> excuse me, is this where you wanted to speak? you'll go next. >> do we need to approve the agenda? >> yeah, we need to do a motion. >> co-chair blacksten: i'm sorry. do i have a motion to approve the agenda? >> motion to approve. >> co-chair blacksten: do i hear a second? it's been moved and seconded. all those in favor? abstentions? motion carries. all right. so i missed that one. >> as to public comment my name is bob plant hold. i've come to talk about what is called the eir, the environmental impact report and its lack of accessibility. in the 1970s when air pollution was considered obviously a new

but dangerous aspect of construction and development, there were both state and federal laws passed that said when you're going through a major construction, whether it's rehab or new, you've got to consider these type of impacts. they specified the type of impacts, but this was in the 1970s so there was nothing about accessibility. there still isn't anything about accessibility. there is some people who treasure buildings or structures in such a way that they will ignore accessibility and say, that's another law, that's another group of people, that's not my concern. my concern is the historic character of "x". some people would say, well, sure we're concerned, but we look at the material that is planned and it's all safe. well, there again is a problem with the safety of materials

that we walk on. the standards developed for testing whether material is slippery, whether it's unsafe, it has to be cleaned and dry. so there is some materials, like brick, that when wet can be slippery. that doesn't count in terms of the determination or the statement that this material meets code and is safe to walk on. so those of us who may use crutches or who may drag, slide our feet, who have any number of variable mobility patterns that does not make us fully stable, we could slip and fall on material that is wet, though it's considered safe. i want you to keep that in mind when you start to hear about eirs. there is nothing about accessibility. and that always has to be added in by the advocates to make sure they are paid attention to.

i've been a part of various rehab and building projects where the history has preempted access in such a way that the access is cumbersome, costly and seldom used. i can give you information about that. i'm done for now. start asking lots of questions about eir and accessibility whenever it comes in front of you. thank you. >> co-chair blacksten: thank you, bob. >> we have two more. edward mason. >> thank you. my name is edward mason and i would like to speak generally about the light rail vehicles that are coming into service now. i would like to share with you a sad observation i had recently that was an individual in a wheelchair, and that had adaptive devices to have their

leg extended out wards as opposed to being perpendicular. as a consequence, when the individual attempted to board through the front door, behind the operator's circular cab, he was unable to navigate is that way and was then forced to remove the adaptive devices, put them on his lap, and then, you know, try to go to a place. and then also, he had to exit that way also impeding his mobility and also delaying the operation. so i thought that this was -- i was just totally mortified when i saw this, that had not been considered in the design of the equipment. the second topic relates to the bench seating. there has been so much outcry on that, that, yes, muni is initiating the process to come up with a new seating arrangement. one of the things that i would

recommend is there be more blue seats, rather than just the two on each side that are there now. and whatever configuration for the transfer seating, the front and back type seating, be included for more. and lastly, i'd like to advise everyone here that on wednesday, march 20 at 3:30 p.m., the citizens advisory council for muni will have a finance and administration committee meeting. and the topic, one of the topics on there, is the procurement of the light rail vehicles and modifications that would be coming forward. that would be an opportunity to make your comments regarding the configuration, especially of the seating, and any other modifications that may be necessary. so again, that's wednesday,

march 20 at 3:30 p.m. at 1 south van ness avenue on the 7th floor in the conference room. and the agenda is on the website for muni, but you have to go to the citizens committee and then go to the finance and administration to locate that agenda item. thank you very much for your time. >> co-chair blacksten: thank you. >> we have one more, robin crop. >> hello, everyone. i'm robin. i'm going to speak on the -- oh [laughter]. sorry, not done yet. i want to speak on the muni situation as well. i want to add there is a meeting next thursday of the council for multi-accessible, that is also another disability group

meeting -- not sure what time it is on thursday. hi, i think you have a connection with the mayor's office on disability, at least that's what i was told when i visited there recently. i looked at the mission statement it says any entity funded by the city must be accessible and usable to people with disabilities and muni is funded by by the city and i got hurt on the new trains. i got hurt riding sideways last summer, my pelvis, neck and back went out. i cannot ride the new trains. i have to wait for the current train to come. i'm very concerned about what is going on because they're going to be ordering more trains. i then did a survey of around 100 people, muni riders, and found out it was 50-50. 50 could stand fine, the other 50% had a problem with the trains.

in that 50% that had problems, there was a lot of interest for forward-backwards seat support. so we just saw an mta presentation last tuesday of three options for forward-backwards seats. there are only three options. one is put in four seats. one put in eight seats. i said how is anybody going to say whether they're going to get a seat if they need it? so then i got busy again and talked to muni riders about this and it's coming in 50-50. 50% can ride fine, the other 50% really wants seats and they want comfortable seats including forward-backwards seats. i admit that people like me who cannot ride sideways. there is going to be a lot of people who can't ride muni. anything funded by the city must be usable by disabled. if they put in any of those

option, we, the disabled is not going to be able to ride. and those who like a comfortable ride are not comfortable. there is a solution car already. it's one in use by muni, it's got two seats -- half a minute? two seats on one side, one seat on the other. and it already exists in bart, by taking out a seat row, that gives more room for the stand and we know they want to get a standing rush hour crowd in. i think they have a solution. the stand and then two seats plus one going forward. they have to give an equal weight to both parties. right now, they're just getting a rush hour group in, sitting sideways and ignoring the 50% that need and want a better ride. so it's very important. i also want to know if i can talk with anybody here afterwards because we're concerned about the situation. thank you. >> co-chair blacksten: thank you

for your comment. >> talk to any of us at the break or afterwards. >> co-chair blacksten: please feel free to do that. it would be wonderful if you would. anymore speaker's cards? >> that's it, sorry. >> appreciate all those comments. take special note. let's go forward now to item number 4, information item, which is the co-chair report. and my report is fairly brief. i just first and foremost want to thank everyone who is here today, even though i can't see any of you out there, it sounded at the very beginning of the meeting that there were more voices in the room than i've heard in quite a while. i think that's great. so i just want to encourage you to invite any of your family and friends and colleagues to come

to future meetings. we're here for you. it's not just about us setting up here and asking questions of presenters and dealing with certain issues, but we want to hear from you, listen to what you have to say, hear what you have to say, because that's really what makes these meetings go, is having a full room, people to participate. so i encourage you to do that. you're always welcome. two things, i want to draw to your attention, there is committee that meets, think i it's -- i think it's every two months or so, the disabled access and functional needs committee. this is a very interesting -- i should say they do really good work. last november they were -- it's chaired by lisa. they deal with issues of emergency preparedness.

as you know, there were horrific fires, the paradise fire and of course we were smelling smoke and it was causing bad air pollution all the way to san francisco. so they were talking about how to best deal with situations like that, of fires. how do you let people know? what do they do during fires? how do they protect themselves? in the last meeting we had in february -- no, it was this month -- we talked about tsunamis. now tsunamis are something, fortunately, we haven't had to deal with here in san francisco. nevertheless, if they were -- we had a report about tsunamis could happen as far away as japan. if there was a major earthquake and that's what causes tsunamis, it could cause a tremendous

swelling of the ocean waves and it could come all the way to the west coast of the u.s. so that would be a long-term effect. tsunamis can come in from south america, from north, all the way from the north pole. so how do we protect against the oceans flooding? so this committee deals with floods, fires, earthquakes, how to deal with emergency preparedness like that. i just want to draw that to your attention. there is something else that is of interest. i think it's called the age and disability friendly working group. it meets four times a year. and i don't think they were meeting when i first came on board two years ago. it's fairly new in san francisco. but they deal with major issues like legislation, both local,

state and federal legislation that would affect seniors and people with disabilities. the new project to have a coach -- a disability cultural center. this group deals with that and will continue to do so. and seniors re-entering the workforce and much more. those are two committees i pay attention to. i wanted to draw your attention in my report. and i think that will conclude what i have to say today on that. and let us move forward to information item number 5. which is a report from the mayor's office on disability from the executive director. nicole, are you here?

>> nicole: i am, thank you, jim, for the introduction. good afternoon, everyone. i'm going to start by announcing first staff minutes that occurred since the last public meeting. we have had join us two senior building inspectors, joseph and john. they're joining us in three-year appointments as senior building inspectors who are assisting with plan review and accessibility inspection on affordable housing initiative projects and continues to prioritize housing accessibility review as part of the current plan. and also in response to current mayoral directives. the second thing i wanted to announce, that you may have seen, that the support at home program pilot has been extended. it is now extended through june 2020, which is really good news.

you may recall that this program is specifically in place to help anyone over the age of 18 who has a disability either temporary or permanent, who wouldn't otherwise qualify for in-home supportive services but still needs some financial support for additional help at home. i really want to encourage anyone who is interested in finding more out about this program to follow up. this program is cosponsored by the department of aging and adult services and san francisco's institute on aging. for more information i'm going to read a telephone number. you can also contact mod for information. it's also on the website. the telephone number though that you can call, is (415) 750-4111.

okay. so next i'd like to mention just a few things that you'll hear in greater detail. we're about to have a presentation on better market street in response to some of the things that have been going on since the last council meeting. i wanted to highlight again that project team is going to be looking for people with visual and mobility disabilities to participate in some research that we're doing around delineation. so our presenters will talk about that in a minute, but i just wanted to flag that, that there will be more information coming forward from mod about that. since the last meeting, the project team, along the mayor's office of disability presented to the architectural review committee of the historic preservation community on impacts of better market street, especially pertaining to the

historical elements, there is current opportunity for engagement on this matter. i want to emphasize and reinforce as the project is currently going through this environmental impact review, now is the time to comment on this issue. so you learn a little bit more about that in a few minutes. in the transportation arena, i wanted to highlight a few things. first, the mayor's disability council is invited to attend the next meeting of the macwhich is thursday. it's thursday, march 21 at 1 p.m. and they're going to be meeting at 1455 market. and they're going to be talking and looking at the light rail control center and also more discussion on the light rail

vehicles that we learned about in public comment today as well. also, as follow-up to bill 1736, that is the transportation network companies' accessibility for all act. that has been signed into law. per the direction of you, the council members, mayor's office on disability is working with mta to provide comment to the california public utilities commission on their implementation of the legislation and so the implementation is now in full swing, at least in terms of the comment piece. i wanted to update you all on that. in response to where some things are in department of emergency management, jim did a very nice summary of what is happening. the only thing i would like to supplement to that is that we're currently working together on a

monthly evacuation strategy, specifically for people with disabilities. i really encourage the mbc to resolve to support this work as it moves forward. finally, i wanted to draw your attention to a press release that came out last week called the open to all campaign in san francisco. it is a pledge that we're encouraging businesses and residents to oppose discrimination and declare that they are open to all regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and religion or disability. and so as this rolls forward i want to encourage the council to engage with this initiative as well and learn more about how a pledge like this can specifically impact people with disabilities and how we can remain engaged and supportive.

that is all that i have for today. for members of the public who want more information or questions or comments or to get involved or provide feedback in any of these items, please feel free to contact the mayor's office on disability at 1-415-554-6789 or via e-mail, mod@sfgov.org. to stay current on all of our opportunities and events pertaining to folks with disabilities, please subscribe to our news feed. that is all for today. >> co-chair blacksten: thank you for that report, nicole. so i believe it is time for us to move to our item number 6 on the agenda.

presentation by cristina calderon olea. better market -- you can tell where my mind was going -- better market street project manager, san francisco department of public works, welcome. >> thank you. -- manager for san francisco public works. i'm going to pull up my presentation. better market street is a joint project developed by san francisco public works. the mayor's office on disability, the planning department, the