i live right next door. basically i just came to talk about the impact of quality of life. the front yard that it will be effecting is the only outdoor space that i have. with my unit, i have such a lack of natural light in my unit, i actually brought pictures that i'd like to show of the window space that i have in my unit that is going to be blocked if you can pull those up. i live in the studio and the only windows that i have are that front corner bathroom. so that's the back area where there are no windows and then this is the unit, the front two windows that will be blocked by the new addition and this is the end view.

you can see right -- i get nervous. so the fence is right here and then the deck is right here because my apartment is setback a little bit. and so this unit is basically going to be blocking all the air flow and light that comes in. and then how i do change the other picture? so then, this is the only source of light that i have in my entire apartment. the other light that i have is blocked by a wall and then i think you saw the first picture that i pulled up, the other wall doesn't have any windows at all. so that is just the point i wanted to bring up. it's the lighting and air flow and the front deck. thank you for your time. i really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> is there any other public comments? seeing none. we'll move on to rebuttle. we will hear from the appellant.

>> thank you. so, i think what is clear from what you have heard tonight is the appellant isn't opposed to any variance or any project at this property. esso posed to this variance and it's because the variance shouldn't be granted where it will cause injury to the neighbors, including a tenant who is going to be effectively boxed in by this project. the height of the project as proposed is 32 feet to the peek of the roof. if we can bring that down by just a few feet, we're going to be able to mitigate many of the negative impacts. our client is willing to compromise and willing to -- he has offered to contribute money to help achieve another solution that is going to work for all of the neighbors. and we believe that that solution is more feasible from an engineering standpoint and won't significantly increase the costs with us to sit down with their engineers and we haven't

been able to do that yet. so, i'd like to just hand over so we can talk about why it's the most workable alternative to develop this site. >> so, i have been in front of the planning commission numerous times in this exact issue. you can't do these with the current 317 rules and the current building code rules. six months ago the building permit showed up and explained to the planning commission and the light went on that on the property line issues, there are fundamental challenges. there's going to be another hearing. you guys should go to it. april 23rd. there's going to be another joint meeting. there's a dysfunctional tee between the building code and planning code on 317. the same issue is here. they have a very tall wall. unreinforced concrete that has to add eight feet and they're going to have to tear down the back half of this building that

is not included in the demo. after the building permits is done, send it back to planning. let planning look at it after the calculations are done, after the building department marked it up. ask the building department, how do you build this building when you add an additional-storey at the back of the building and you have a 20-foot vertical cut and you are claiming this is a remodel. if you really believe that, there's a bridge. you cannot do this building with the code as it established. they need to get rid of 317. right now, 317 is the rule. so when they're out there building it and they're having to comply with means and methods and the fire code and the property line, there won't be a building there. and the neighbor won't be my client will drive by and file a complaint and we will be back here. you guys have seen a number of de facto demolitions.

this is a d defacto demolition coming back. >> have you been in the tent att space. >> no, i've walked around. >> so you've been to the property? >> i've been in the unit. i've been in the owner's space above. >> looking at the picture it looks like there was divided space. >> pardon me? >> from the picture on the overhead it looks like divided space. if there's divided space shouldn't there be air flow and windows in that second area? do you understand my question? >> i haven't been in her unit. i've walked by those windows and those windows appeared to be setback in the property line but it didn't go into her unit. >> thank you. >> thank you. we will hear from the determination holder. variance holder. thank you. >> thank you. my name is mayson kirby.

i'm the architect. you've raised questions that i hope to address as clear as possible. number one, the nature of the renderings, primary distinction between rendering a and b was that the rendering, which showed the addition blocking most of the view was from the ground level of the front yard. this particular view, if i can have the overhead, please. is actually from the inside of his living room at a seated height level. you will note that the rail on the deck is elevation 204.4 and our new roof elevation is at 203.4 effectively lower from a seated position and obviously when you stand, the have you comes back to you. i think it's important if i can zoom in with your help to this area in the plan.

i'm going to draw on the plan and i'm going to show you where the windows are of the tenant space and you will be a bit more informed in that the fence you out out of the tenant space is belonging to dan, the other neighbor. this is the subject property and here is the location of the windows under consideration. so the nature of the impact i think is stated in a manner that doesn't rise to the attention of this board. it's a fair question to acknowledge this is a unique urban condition practiced in this neighborhood for 15 years two blocks from this site. i'll tell you this is one of the most interesting urban areas or sites we've had to deal with. frankly, to be rhetorical, we

would love to have an opportunity to develop this site permit into an addendum and have it reviewed by the building permit but if you will take note, this was originally submitted in 2015. it's now 2019. and i anticipate that david and his team will be in a position to protest and object to this project as long as they can. and it's not relevant for our client to be in a position to accept a threat from someone who is in a position to wonder when they're going to evaluate it. if there are any other questions, i'm happy to answer them. >> maybe this isn't part of the variance that discussion. it's going to be a discussion as brought up by the public comment about the retaining wall and about the placement of a potential placement of a drain.

i saw the dominoes fall in that scenario very significantly. do you have a comment on that? the real impact of having to redo a retaining wall and then potentially putting a drain as a result of a change of scenery there? >> yes, i think it's a fair question to raise. number one, it's a misstatement to suggest it's a 20-foot high retaining wall. the wall follows the contours of the hill as it slides down towards the left-hand side of the property. at its shortest, it's a better part of five and a half feet and it also at its height, greatest height is 10 or 12 feet towards the end of the property. in this instance, ha wall establishes the grade plain boundary between the adjacent neighbor and all of the wood framing that exists in rob's current home. sod idea of digging down as was

suggested by the team, would absolutely compel us to redo that wall for purposes of establishing a waterproof condition on the backside of that wall. it would compel us to have a parameter drain, et cetera, et cetera. realizing it was a cave we didn't know the end of, we essentially decided to do a vertical addition and know that we could manage some of the lateral and vertical loads as were pressed. i think the idea that you would have an opportunity to raise that wall or lower the top of that wall is something we're not interested in doing because we do, in that carrying we would have to waterproof the backside of it. there's an important comment with regard to how would you access a property line wall to establish fire rating so on and so fourth. in this instance, the wood

framed wall on top of that wall, if you look in this diagram is accessible from the neighbor's property so it's not a zero lot line wall in that respect. >> have you been the architect on this project since 2015? >> yes. >> i just want to ask a little bit about how the project has changed at all as soon as the many conversations with neighbors or the planning department, what has been some of the evolution that the project has seen? >> what you need to know is we looked at a possibility avenue digging out and doing a basement renovation and we talked about the i am practicality of having that be a water-tight environment. that too would require a variance and affirmative variance to build into that portion of the space. we went threw a neighborhood and reapplication meeting process, the team did not attend any of the meetings that we had prior to submitting the site permit. when we submitted the site permit it wasn't until the 30-day notice started that we

realized there was something that we would have to deal with in terms of the neighborhood condition. prior to -- through the site permit review process, we did modify the exterior of the building. on the top floor we set it back of the street in compliance of the team. we created the useful sort of outdoor deck open spaces to satisfy the requirement that there would be some outdoor space for these spaces. so there was an intent to not just have a level right on top but it was designed to basically step back on all sides that we could reasonably foresee. we tried to maintain the integrity of the existing building as possible and there's not a wall we intend to

materially change on the existing level as well. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> anything further? commissioners, this matter is submitted. >> commissioners. >> i'm of the mind that the -- i grow with the findings in the variance. cities change overtime. this is an example of that. in 1941, having a lot of size was permissable. a few years later it was not ok. now it's 2019 and we have design guidelines, we have things that were not perceived at that time or even thought of. i feel that the addition is modest. it doesn't seem -- i can sympathize with some of the impacts of the neighbors but i at the same time think the variance findings, i agree with

them. >> after going through the brief, i initially had some serious questions. after hearing both the appellant and permit holder as well as the department, give explanations to the questions that i have, i'm in line with my fellow commissioner. >> i guess i'll take a little different approach then. i am sympathetic to the permit -- the variance holder in terms of what he would like for his family. i think that is a right that he should have. the reason i may be at variance -- excuse me. [laughter] that was a bad term. in opposition to the variances and it's not based upon what the appellants have brought fourth in terms of their view blockage,

the sight lines. the question is did they satisfy the five criteria for the variance? i don't think they have. especially variances the criteria number three. so i'm not prepared to vote to allow the variance to continue. >> someone want to make a motion? >> i would move to deny the appeal and uphold the variances issued by the department on the basis it was properly issued. >> ok. we have a motion from commissioner tanner to deny the appeal and uphold the variance. on the basis of it was properly issued on that motion.

president fung. >> no. >> commissioner lazarus. >> aye. >> commissioner honda. >> aye. >> vice president swig. >> aye. >> ok. so that motion carries and appeal is denied. that is our last case. this meeting is adjourned. >> thank you. . >> i just feel like this is what i was born to do when i was a

little kid i would make up performances and daydream it was always performing and doing something i feel if i can't do that than i can't be e me. >> i just get excited and my nickname is x usher my mom calls me i stuck out like a sore thumb for sure hey everybody i'm susan kitten on the keys from there, i working in vintage clothing and chris in the 30's and fosz and aesthetic.

>> i think part of the what i did i could have put on my poa he focus on a lot of different musical eras. >> shirley temple is created as ahsha safai the nation with happens and light heartenness shirley temple my biggest influence i love david boo and el john and may i west coast their flamboyant and show people (singing) can't be unhappy as a dr. murase and it is so fun it is a joyful instrument i learned more about music by playing the piano it was interesting the way i was brought up the youth taught me

about music he picked up the a correspond that was so hard my first performing experience happened as 3-year-old an age i did executive services and also thanks to the lord and sank in youth groups people will be powering grave over their turk i'll be playing better and better back la i worked as places where men make more money than me i was in bands i was treated as other the next thing i know i'm in grants performing for a huge protection with a few of my friends berry elect and new berry elect and can be ray was then and we kept getting invited back

you are shows got better we made it to paris in 2005 a famous arc we ended up getting a months residencey other than an island and he came to our show and started writing a script based on our troop of 6 american burr elect performs in france we were woman of all this angels and shapes and sizes and it was very exciting to be part of the a few lettering elect scene at the time he here he was bay area born and breed braces and with glossaries all of a sudden walking 9 red carpet in i walgreens pedestrian care. >> land for best director that

was backpack in 2010 the french love this music i come back here and because of film was not released in the united states nobody gave a rats ass let's say the music and berry elect and performing doesn't pay very much i definitely feel into a huge depression especially, when it ended i didn't feel kemgd to france anymore he definitely didn't feel connected to the scene i almost feel like i have to beg for tips i hey i'm from the bay area and an artist you don't make a living it changed my represent tar to appeal and the folks that are coming into the wars these days people are not listening they

love the idea of having a live musician but don't really nurture it like having a potted plant if you don't warrant it it dizzy sort of feel like a potted plant (laughter) i'm going to give san francisco one more year i've been here since 1981 born and raised in the bay area i know that is not for me i'll keep on trying and if the struggle becomes too hard i'll have to move on i don't know where that will be but i love here so so much i used to dab he will in substances i don't do that i'm sober and part of the being is an and sober and happy to be able to play music and perform and express myself if i make. >> few people happy of all

ages i've gone my job so i have so stay is an i feel like the piano and music in general with my voice together i feel really powerful and strong

francisco. >> my name is fwlend hope i would say on at large-scale what

all passionate about is peace in the world. >> it never outdoor 0 me that note everyone will think that is a good i know to be a paefrt. >> one man said i'll upsetting the order of universe i want to do since a good idea not the order of universe but his offered of the universe but the ministry sgan in the room chairing sha harry and grew to be 5 we wanted to preach and teach and act god's love 40

years later i retired having been in the tenderloin most of that 7, 8, 9 some have god drew us into the someplace we became the network ministries for homeless women escaping prostitution if the months period before i performed memorial services store produced women that were murdered on the streets of san francisco so i went back to the board and said we say to do something the number one be a safe place for them to live while he worked on changing 4 months later we were given the building in january of 1998 we opened it as a safe house for women escaping prostitution i've seen those counselors women find their strength and their beauty and

their wisdom and come to be able to affirmative as the daughters of god and they accepted me and made me, be a part of the their lives. >> special things to the women that offered me a chance safe house will forever be a part of the who i've become and you made that possible life didn't get any better than that. >> who've would know this look of this girl grown up in atlanta will be working with produced women in san francisco part of the system that has abused and expedited and obtain identified and degraded women for century around the world and still do at the embody the spirits of women

that just know they deserve respect and intend to get it. >> i don't want to just so women younger women become a part of the the current system we need to change the system we don't need to go up the ladder we need to change the corporations we need more women like that and they're out there. >> we get have to get to help them. >> . >> working for the city and county of san francisco will immerse you in a vibrate and dynamic city on sfroert of the art and social change we've been

on the edge after all we're at the meeting of land and sea world-class style it is the burn of blew jeans where the rock holds court over the harbor the city's information technology xoflz work on the rulers project for free wifi and developing projects and insuring patient state of at san francisco general hospital our it professionals make guilty or innocent available and support the house/senate regional wear-out system your our employees joy excessive salaries but working for the city and county of san francisco give us employees the unities to contribute their ideas and energy and commitment to shape the city's future but for

considering a career with the [gavel] >> meet willing come to order. good morning everyone. welcome to the april 1, 2019 meeting of the rules committee. i'm supervisor hillary ronen chair of the committee. seated to my right is vice chair supervisor shamann walton and to my left is supervisor gordon mar. our clerk is victor young. like to thank jim smith from

s.f. gov to looking the meeting. >> items will appear on the april 9th board of supervisors agenda. >> supervisor ronen: please read item number one. [agenda item read] >> supervisor ronen: wonderful. there is an appointment by our nomination by supervisor valley brown for allegra fortunati. hi. welcome. thanks for being here. >> good morning. i'm allegra fortunati. i resided in district 5 for 25 years. thank you for hearing my application for reappointment to

the aging advisory council. i have served on the council since october 2016 fulfilling the term of office of a prior district 5 representative followed by a three-year term of my own. i served about about years. i serve as secretary to the counsel. i was installed senior senator from san francisco to the california senior legislature. i retired from the university of california. i continue to work part time for the san francisco long-term care omnibus program. i cover several assisted living facilities and residential facilities for elderly. primarily i work with the adult residential facilities. haven't for adults with disabilities and those with mental health issues. i worked with city and county

departments that address issues regarding older adults and adults with disabilities. most recently participating in the assisted living work group representing the omnibus program. also with sever c.b.o.s. i believe the work i do offers a unique perspective. on an fragmented system where too many fall through the cracks particularly those with low income. i'm also a member of several organizations including san francisco village which focuses on keeping older adults in their homes as long as possible and hopefully avoiding institutionalization. within that organization, i co-lead a solo age circle. older adults without family who must bill their own support and advocacy system. for a couple of terms i served on the san francisco civil grand jury and enjoyed the opportunity to be engaged and continue my

efforts and ideas to improving san francisco government and services. i wanted to don't that experience by serving on the council. i'm hoping you will renew my application to the aging advisory council so that it may become a better advocate for our diverse population of older adults and adults with disabilities. i believe having an active participant from district 5 on this council is vital. district 5 is on the the lowest income seniors and adults can disabilities in the city. it has a second largest percentage adults with disabilities. i'm interested visiting and hearing from all programs that serve this community and from hearing from the community about the quality of services and care they receive in order to find areas of improvement and fill in the gaps. i hope you will support my application. thank you. >> supervisor ronen: wonderful,

thank you so much. hell of qualification. is there any questions? thank you so much. really appreciate it. i will now open this item for public comment. anyone wants to speak. now is your chance. seeing none. public comment is closed. i want to thank you so much for being willing to serve in this capacity especially given your incredible history and knowledge and work. really appreciate that. i'll be reaching out to you on your expertise especially around aging adults and mental health. thank you so much for coming before this committee. is there a motion? >> supervisor walton: i move to forward ms. allegra fortunati for on commission aging advisory council to the full board with

recommendation. >> supervisor ronen: that motion passes. thank you so much. please read item number two. [agenda item read] >> supervisor ronen: it's so exciting that we have such a qualified pool of applicants for this commission. i would love to call you in order and which you're listed on the agenda and they believ ask p your remarks around three or four minutes if at all possible. i did have one overarching question that you like to address in your remarks would be greatly appreciated. i'll read that now.

the veteran affairs council is charged advising board of supervisors and mayor on issues concerning the veteran community. i wanted to know how you see the role of san francisco legislators? what should we be paying attention to and working on in regard to economic development, healthcare and social service programs as they relate to veterans. within that framework, what do see as the most urgent issues that you would want to tackle and work with us on and what your ideas are for doing that? kind of a broad question. i love to hear your thoughts on that. i don't know if there's any other overaveragin overarching t my colleagues like to address. no, that's great.

if we can first hear from douglas bullard. meeting. he's still interested. he did have a family emergency. >> supervisor ronen: great, thank you so much. is hanley chan here? >> i was born and raised in san francisco. i was in chinatown north beach and moved down to sunset. that's where i went to elementary school, high school in san francisco. got my associated degree in state college at san francisco. i got my b.a. in new college of california where i'm mentor my student advisor very well-known.

legendary harry britt. if you watching man, love you. i served in the united states navy as aviation in 1999. i served in the california national guard as a army tanker in 2004. i currently appointed to the u.s. selected service board as district appeals board member appointed by president obama. volunteerism is in my blood. i like giving back to the community. i want to serve this commission to solve the homeless crises and veterans and i want to understand how to navigate. i understand how to navigate city services because i was once homeless myself. i understand the need and wants

of veterans out there, especially government system where the bureaucracy is very big. i want to combat mental health issue. i'm working with the executive director of the penal tool health project. basically i'm working with them now. those are two biggest concerns for veterans, homelessness and housing for veterans and mental health issues. that's it. you have any questions? >> supervisor ronen: thank you so much. next is david chasteen. >> thank you for all your service on this commission.

>> thank you supervisor ronen. as you know, i was recently elected to be the president of the commission. although my term has expired. we'll see. i wanted to say in my short time so far as vice president and serving as member on the commission, i think you probably seen this other commissions, we have a lot of responsibility in terms of mandate. we have lot of people responsible for. not a lot of power with which to do that. which is not necessarily a problem. one of the things that you asked, we can do to address those issues, i think one of the things i learned in nonprofit space is, the very largest nonprofit, couldn't fund v.a. operations for a week. a slight change in government policy has a much bigger impact than any small group of

nonprofit folks. what you like about the commission that you see there, us at our best, we are a policy group who can pull from our lived experience and many cases professional experience. we have lot of people who are professional who worked in the space far long time. there are lot of resources to address issues around homelessness and economic opportunity for folks who are transitioning and economic disparity and housing and mental health. i think the best thing the commission can do is focus on that job of advising the board of supervisors and mayor on policy. i think best done that means returning annual report which countrwasn't completed into a rl document that provides goals for

the commission which is good and not hard to do and reach goals. that's what i like the commission going forward. in means bringing in people who can do that work of policy. last thing i wanted to do here, the executive committee had a look at our -- we focused lot on recruiting and inclusive recruiting. we got some good results. of these excellent candidates in addition to myself and commissioner olivieri, we wanted to highlight george chewning, 17 martin-pinto as stand outs on the application today. >> supervisor ronen: i'm wondering since you served already one term on the commission, what are the

avenues? i've been here for a while. i had a ton of opportunity to work directly with the veteran commission. when you have policy suggestions, how have you worked with members of the board of supervisors or the mayor's office to enact those policies? >> it's interesting. i done some lobbying around veteran issues d.c. before i came to san francisco. one of the things i like about the commission, you all know, there are lots of lobbyist for corporations and people who stand to make money. there are very rarely lobbyist for good policy. when you find those people they are kind of great. usually nonprofits. what i found is where we've been most effective is those and the commissioners who have personal relationship with supervisors and their staff and mayoral staff and you can say hey, here

the thing we see. it might not be that hard to fix would it take legislation to work better? it's talking to people and making connections. i love living in big city like san francisco. it's lot easier to make the connections. >> supervisor ronen: have you worked with any supervisor or anyone from the mayor's office to do that? >> yes. we've done some of that. supervisor safai recommended we do a report annually. we trying to figure out how to best comply with sunshine request pipelike m.

-- are we doing the best we can. what are the outcomes? one the things i want to do is subcommittees where i can take teams of three and do that work and come back. they can talk to each other and coordinate and do good work and come back and report to the commission so we can get it on the record and still comply with the law in terms of transparency. supervisor safai recommended biannual report is a great idea. our veteran population is centred downtown in the

hospitals way out in west side of town. sometimes folks, especially if they're dealing with mental health issues have difficult getting on the bus and getting out there. those are couple of examples of kind of easier kinds of things that we've been talking to supervisors about getting through. >> supervisor ronen: supervisor walton has a question. >> supervisor walton: since you brought up, yos recommended four individual who are also nominees. can you touch on why you chose those four? >> i would of those four, in particular we're looking for folks who either have experience on public policy or have experience in navigating larger systems that affect outcomes for veterans. most of these folks either work at companies in the bay area that have impact on outcomes and

communications or have experience working in local government, state government and federal government on policy issues. i want to turn my commissioners into if it's hearings and it's reporting out, that means you got to be someone who can dig and someone who can write and actually do that lobbying work. the folks i highlighted are people who have that experience. >> supervisor ronen: next if we can hear from george chewning. >> good morning. i'm george chewning. thank you for taking the time to consider my application for the v.a. commission. i'm u.s. army veteran. i received my commission federal west point and served officer for five years. after leaving the service i

joined a veteran nonprofit in washington d.c. as a legislative director. i lobbied for passage of bill allowing for construction of the national monument for the post 9/11 conflicts. i moved to san francisco to be closer to family and friends. i wish to continue my service to my community and veterans. i'm pursuing my master in leadership from the university of san francisco to develop the skills i need for my second service. i want to be a commissioner to advise the board of supervisors and mayor on veteran issues and advocate for legislation that will benefit veterans, their families and their community. thank you for your time. >> supervisor ronen: what do you think we should be working on board of supervisors to help address issue of underemployment? are there types of training programs that we should be

investing in and sort of advertising to the veteran community? >> i think one of the avenues is helpful developing public private partnerships. there are companies in the community that offer different boot camps and different workshops for veterans to address unemployment. having that public support behind those and helping get out the word using the v.a. commission to spread that and communicate that, i think it's a great avenue. >> supervisor ronen: thank you. next is christy collins. is taurean diaz-coleman present? raymond gobberg present?

hello, good morning. >> good morning. thank you so much for allowing me an opportunity to introduce myself. air force veteran four years, active duty service currently reservist serving defense down in mountain view. when i moved to san francisco about five years ago from chicago i immediately saw opportunity to engage in the veteran community. it was all on my own drawn by my service and david chasteen network and bringing in people. my activities included v.a., vets in tech and then i started coming to the commission meetings as a participant. that's when i interest came to join as a full time commissioner if i had the opportunity.

really why do i think i can provide value? previous speaker mentioned something that's really a common theme in my background which is partnerships. building partnerships understanding how to bring diverse group of people together who have different backgrounds. on active duty i was public affairs officer, served in new mexico. building relationships between local civic governments. new york city, i did the same thing. out here in my professional life, i'm a tech sector. as i mentioned, defense innovation unit is a term to know about. it's actually an organization meant to find innovative companies and connect them with department of defense leaders to make sure technology is making it in the hands of d.o.d. to enhance national security.

ultimately at the end of the day, the strength of any community relies on its diversity. my thought would be how can we build more diverse partnerships whether it's internal, externality or -- external or public or private. to answer your question up front, what's the most pressing issue i would address, it comes down to those connections and those partnerships. whenever you build a network and that network grows and it's diverse the right outcomes comes from it. that's where i would invest my time. >> supervisor ronen: thank you so much. next is james hayden present? >> i did receival contact. he's unable to attend but still interested. >> supervisor ronen: wonderful. thank you so much. is stephen martin-pinto present?

hello. >> good morning supervisors. my name is stephen martin-pinto. thanks for quivering m give -- e this opportunity. i'm captain in united states marine corps. i been in reserves for 16 years. i began as a private and worked my way as a sergeant and now i'm captain. hopefully be major here next year and a half. i have a deployment to iraq in 2007 and 2008. deployment to afghanistan in 2012 and deployed to georgia the country in 2013-2014 as a foreign military advisor trainer. i'm currently a firefighter at engineering truck 2 in chinatown chinatown.

bilingual english, spark. i learned russia when i was in jordan. the reason i'm here is, i've been very fortunate because my job has been very good to me and supporting me when i have to go to drills or deployments whatever it is. i worked for employer who hasn't been kind. it was a very bad experience. kind of swore to myself if i ever gotten position where i can make a difference, i want to make sure that never happen to anybody to have the experience i had. i like to also promote the hiring event. vets make a great highly-quality employee. they are disciplined and motivated. they can work in any condition pipelike to see mor -- i like te

more of that. you like to see us promote veterans as a whole. i think that not lot of people from familiar what it means to serve in the military and i think we're a very diverse group. we're your neighbors, firefighters, polic police officeringpolice officers,many . we're around. i like see us promote that more. as far as what i like to see us accomplish and focus our efforts on, i think we need to do more to promote the hiring of veterans. i know in my job, they have veteran points. i don't know if that's true in every department in the city. best thing we can do is help hire more, promote and hiring more veterans if th.

they make great employees and they are dedicated. i like to see us protect their rights. that's all i have. thank you for your time. >> supervisor ronen: i'm curious the negative experience you had in the workplace, if you're willing to ewill belaborate on e or is there something as policymakers to prevent that from happening? >> when i came back from iraq in 2008, i worked for in southern california, i've been gone for 13 months. my skills were not a sharp as when i left. i had a very difficult time getting back into relearning all my skills.

i think as a city, we need to give those veteran who have deployed for a long period of time, time to retrain, to get their life back to together again. they are gone for a long time. you doing lot of high-speed things and then you come back to your normal life again. like almost immediately. it's kind of a very jarring experience. sometimes it's hard to adjust. i think we need really focus on maybe programs counseling programs, retraining programs and help veterans reintegrate back in the workforce. as far as details, i can't think off the top of my head.

>> supervisor ronen: i wasn't aware until now we had extra points in our fire department to recruit and hire veterans. that seems excellent to me. do we have a lot of veterans working in our san francisco fire department? >> absolutely. i'm part of the s.f. fire veterans association. i say about 5 to 8 percent of our workforce that's including the e.m.t.s, paramedics, firefighters and veterans. >> supervisor ronen: thank you so much. is christopher todd mcdonald present?

>> good morning. how is everybody doing? it is a great honor to stand before this board in hopes representing all veterans of the san francisco communities. i come from a long family line of military combat veterans. my name is christopher mcdonald. i'mal 20-year retired disabled military veteran. you'll know that my dd214, i was equal opportunity representative trained settlemen six years in y and affirmative action.