>> sfgov-tv. we're ready to begin. >> president mccarthy: today is wednesday, march 18, 2020. this is the regular meeting of the building inspection committee. i remind everyone to turn off electronic devices and the first item on the agenda is roll call. president mccarthy? >> president mccarthy: here. >> clerk: commissioner moss? commissioner clinch. commissioner jacobo. commissioner tam. commissioner alexander-tut. we have a quorum and our item is

item 2. president's announcements. >> president mccarthy: good morning, everybody. just moving -- everything is moving parts here. i just wanted to have a few words to read into the comments and to my president's announcements. i'm confident and dedicated -- i am confident that the dedicated and hard-working staff throughout the department of building inspection are aware of the response to the people of san francisco and will continue to do their duty and uphold the public trust which they've been doing in the last week. as you know we're dealing with, you know, a public health emergency in our city. and our state and country, that we have never, never had to encounter before. on behalf of the commission, i urge all d.b.i. staff and customers to follow the instructions under public health officials and to do their part to prevent the spread of covid-19. i applaud the department for taking steps to limit the virus

spread such as increase social distancing between the customers and d.b.i. staff, and the more frequent cleaning of commonly shared public services. continue to pay attention to all of the public health instructions and take all of the possible precautions for your own health and your loved ones. be proactive and help to keep each other safe. and that concludes, madam secretary, my comments. >> clerk: is there any public comment on the president's announcement? seeing none, our next item, item 3, general public comment. matters within the commission that are not part of this agen

agenda. >> good morning, my name is jerry grantler. the resignation of tom huey in the march 12th stories about the city's expanding probe of former president and instructial engineer rodrigo santaz are clear indicators that an outside investigation of the department is long overdue. my interest in d.b.i. began in 2012 when i served on the civil grand jury that wrote a very unfavorable report on the department. i have attended b.i.c. meetings for the last seven years. it's difficult to monitor projects like the rodrigo santaz prctses mentioned in the city's lawsuit. this lack of transparency is by design. an outside investigation needs

to focus on the department's lack of internal controls and weak building code enforcement process. current code enforcement penalties are not a deterrent. 98% of the penalties issued are below $1,000. $1,000 is the cost of doing business. d.b.i.'s weak internal controls are present by design, not by accident or lack of funding. d.b.i. has sabotaged the installation of new computer systems that would have made the department's practice of favoring a few individuals more difficult and visible. d.b.i. failed to implement a system that would have eliminated the current process where contractors, expeditors and instructional engineers get to select the d.b.i. engineer to review and issue their building permit. if you had the choice, would you pick your buddy?

humadic is similar to the process by the california d.m.v. to randomly assign customers to counter employees. d.b.i. also sabotaged the implementation of asela. when you drill down into mr. santos' projects you find that it was the same small group of d.b.i. employees who should not have approved his building permit ove over-the-counter and field inspectors who should not have approved the final inspections. thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you. so president mccarthy, i believe that there needs to be -- >> president mccarthy: so because of the nature of this meeting today, we're going to remove some items from the calendar, if that's acceptable to all commissioners, please

speak up if you have any concerns. do we do just a point of order -- do we still have to do the commissioner's issues and matters, do we still do that, or just items on the calendar. looking for clarification? >> you asked whether it's required that we do. >> president mccarthy: that we remove that. >> you can move to remove it for today's meeting. >> president mccarthy: commissioners, do you want that to remain on the calendar to weigh in -- (indiscernible) okay. number five, i have a request to leave number five on and i wondered what you might have thought about that as a quick discussion and move that forward because of the calendar that's on. and then we can -- if i'm correct we could do public comment on this again if we needed to though we have moved it out of our commission, is that correct?

>> city attorney rob capla. if you feel that you have enough time to move it forward, the board of supervisors, where there would be more process, you could do that. and you can also schedule a time to take public comment on it in the future but you wouldn't be able to rescind the recommendation to move the item forward. >> president mccarthy: okay. so, obviously, 6 we'll take off the calendar and move to the next available hearing. and then, obviously, we would keep the closed session which we would do last. and then pretty much remove all of the business off the calendar, if the commissioners today have any comments? >> clerk: do we have a second? second? >> so there's a motion and a second to remove all of the items or -- >> president mccarthy: except for 5, we will leave 5 in which

we discussed now and number -- where am i -- 5 and 9. thank you, commissioner. >> clerk: so there's a motion and a second to remove -- except for items 5 and 9. do a roll call vote. president mccarthy. vice president moss. commissioner alexander-tut. commissioner clinch. commissioner jacobo. commissioner tam. that motion carries unanimously.

i'm going to read item 5 just for the record. i initially thought that the item would be continued. but all of you have received all of the correspondence and there was additional public comment that you have received as well. okay, so item 5, discussion and possible action regarding a proposed ordinance, repealing ordinance numbers 38-17 and 102-19, and re-enacting certain provisions by amending the administrative code to update the hotel conversion ordinance including adding a redefining of definitions of low-income household and procedures to convert units and harmonizing the fees in addition to other requirements. this is continued from the meeting. >> president mccarthy: do we need to discuss.

>> i want to thank the commission for tabling it until today or continuing it to today. i talked to the community group whose appreciated having time to review this and they're all in agreement with moving forward. thank you. >> president mccarthy: if i see no more comment on it, -- >> city attorney rob capla. there's a request to be read into the record. >> president mccarthy: is that the letter from mr. zach friedman? yeah, okay. >> this letter is from zach friedman and patterson, a public comment, dear president mccarthy and honorable members of the building inspection commission, our office represents the s.r.o. hotel coalition, hotels, and other individual owners of s.r.o.s

who will be affected by this proposed ordinance. in light of yesterday's shelter in place order and the serious public health risk of covid-19 we reject to this hearing taking place without public participation as required by the ralph m. brown act. neither my clients nor attorneys or other concerned members of the public can violate the order and risk their health to attend this hearing. this hearing must be pro postponed. and including reacting the record in real-time and the statements by city staff and other members of the public. this is not an imminent matter. and this could be accomplished without the proposed new amendments contained within this ordinance. these amendments are not urgent and do not affect any government function as defined by the order. we respectfully request that this hearing be postponed until the shelter in place order is lifted and we reserve the right to have additional arguments and

materials in advance of the final hearing on this matter. thank you, for your krrs, very truly yours. so that was the public comment. and is there any additional public comment here? seeing none. is there a motion on this item? >> president mccarthy: we do need to make a motion to approve. i move to approve. >> clerk: a second? >> second. >> clerk: there is a motion and a second. i'll do a roll call vote. president mccarthy. yes. vice president moss. yes. commissioner alexander-tut. yes. commissioner clinch. yes. commissioner jacobo. yes. commissioner tam. yes. the motion carries unanimously. our next item is item 9, public employee appointment. director of building inspection.

discussion and possible action to appoint director of building inspection. 9a, public comment on all matters pertaining to the closed session. >> good morning, my name is dray grantler. if the commissioner is looking for an interim d.b.i. director my suggestion is the former deputy director rosemary vosk who is an attorney. and who is thoughtful and has good leadership skills and knows the department. thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you. there was also additional public comments submitted via email by last name of mr. white, mrs. white and i have submitted that to all of the commissioners.

so they have all received it as well. our next item is item b, possible action to convene a closed session. is there a motion to convene closed session? >> i'd like to make a motion to convene closed session. >> second. >> clerk: are all commissioners in favor? any opposed? we are now in closed session. it is 10:24

>> we should be back. >> hello, this is building inspection commission meeting resuming. we are on item 9(d), reconvened in open session to vote on whether to disclose any or all discussions held in closed sessi sessi session. there is a motion to reconvene. >> i move to reconvene. >> second. >> there is a motion and a second to reconvene in open session. we are now in open session. >> all in favour? >> aye.

>> our next item, is there anything to disclose? >> absolutely. thanks for everybody's patience here. we had a really good discussion here and a lot of commissioners' thoughts for the future were brought up and what's going to be needed, particularly for this department, which i concur for everything. obviously, mr. weir, we unanimously approved you to step in as acting director through this difficult period. as a commission, we thank you for stepping up and doing that. >> to be clear, we've acted to appoint mr. riddin interim director. >> we had a debate about interim and acting. interim director. so if you are acceptable, you can come to the mic. officially you could accept the

position for us and that would satisfy us, correct. >> thank you. >> good morning again, commissioners. thank you for appointing me as interim director. while i am deeply grateful for your expressed confidence in my leadership of d.b.i. during what can only be called extraordinary times, i want to assure you that ours will continue to be a team effort and will continue to involve indeed depend upon the supportive dedication, commitment of building safety and professionalism we are proud to have in our d.b.i. employees. we have terrific staff who work enthusiastically every day to ensure building and safety codes are observed in the letter of the laws behind them. thanks to our engineer reviewers

and all the code enforcement inspectors. we know that structures are built to constantly improving standards. and thus as these construction methods can deliver for everyone who lives, works, and recreates inside these buildings. i take this responsibility you're giving me and i will do everything i can to fulfill your expectations and to provide the department with the leadership needed during these times of public health challenges. we will continue to do everything we can as a department to meet the mayor and board of supervisors' ongoing leadership efforts to build more housing that is safely constructed for all, especially for our city's most vulnerable populations. thank you again for the honor to

serve as department's interim director. i will certainly do my best to work with the commission, all city departments, the mayor and board of supervisors and city employees and continue to provide energy, leadership, and professionalism in all areas of building safety in the city of san francisco. >> thank you. good luck. [ laughter ]. >> commissioner, please. >> just a quick thing here. i just want to thank our c.f.o. for stepping up to the plate in our time of need at that time as acting director. >> big second on that. >> i move to adjourn. >> second. >> go home, everyone. >> all in favour. >> aye.

>> we're now adjourned. it's 11:46 a.m.

>> this is one place you can always count on to give you what you had before and remind you of what your san francisco history used to be. >> we hear that all the time, people bring their kids here and their grandparents brought them here and down the line. >> even though people move away, whenever they come back to the city, they make it here. and they tell us that. >> you're going to get something made fresh, made by hand and made with quality products and something that's very, very good. ♪ >> the legacy bars and restaurants was something that was begun by san francisco simply to recognize and draw attention to the establishments. it really provides for san francisco's unique character. ♪ >> and that morphed into a

request that we work with the city to develop a legacy business registration. >> i'm michael cirocco and the owner of an area bakery. ♪ the bakery started in 191. my grandfather came over from italy and opened it up then. it is a small operation. it's not big. so everything is kind of quality that way. so i see every piece and cut every piece that comes in and out of that oven. >> i'm leslie cirocco-mitchell, a fourth generation baker here with my family. ♪ so we get up pretty early in the morning. i usually start baking around 5:00. and then you just start doing rounds of dough.

loaves. >> my mom and sister basically handle the front and then i have my nephew james helps and then my two daughters and my wife come in and we actually do the baking. after that, my mom and my sister stay and sell the product, retail it. ♪ you know, i don't really think about it. but then when i -- sometimes when i go places and i look and see places put up, oh this is our 50th anniversary and everything and we've been over 100 and that is when it kind of hits me. you know, that geez, we've been here a long time. [applause] ♪ >> a lot of people might ask why our legacy business is important. we all have our own stories to tell about our ancestry. our lineage and i'll use one example of

tommy's joint. tommy's joint is a place that my husband went to as a child and he's a fourth generation san franciscan. it's a place we can still go to today with our children or grandchildren and share the stories of what was san francisco like back in the 1950s. >> i'm the general manager at tommy's joint. people mostly recognize tommy's joint for its murals on the outside of the building. very bright blue. you drive down and see what it is. they know the building. tommy's is a san francisco hoffa, which is a german-style presenting food. we have five different carved meats and we carve it by hand at the station. you prefer it to be carved whether you like your brisket fatty or want it lean. you want your pastrami to be

very lean. you can say i want that piece of corn beef and want it cut, you know, very thick and i want it with some sauerkraut. tell the guys how you want to prepare it and they will do it right in front of you. san francisco's a place that's changing restaurants, except for tommy's joint. tommy's joint has been the same since it opened and that is important. san francisco in general that we don't lose a grip of what san francisco's came from. tommy's is a place that you'll always recognize whenever you lock in the door. you'll see the same staff, the same bartender and have the same meal and that is great. that's important. ♪

>> the service that san francisco heritage offers to the legacy businesses is to help them with that application process, to make sure that they really recognize about them what it is that makes them so special here in san francisco. ♪ so we'll help them with that application process if, in fact, the board of supervisors does recognize them as a legacy business, then that does entitle them to certain financial benefits from the city of san francisco. but i say really, more importantly, it really brings them public recognition that this is a business in san francisco that has history and that is unique to san francisco. >> it started in june of 1953. ♪

and we make everything from scratch. everything. we started a you -- we started a off with 12 flavors and mango fruits from the philippines and then started trying them one by one and the family had a whole new clientele. the business really boomed after that. >> i think that the flavors we make reflect the diversity of san francisco. we were really surprised about the legacy project but we were thrilled to be a part of it. businesses come and go in the city. pretty tough for businesss to stay here because it is so expensive and there's so much competition. so for us who have been here all these years and still be popular and to be recognized by

the city has been really a huge honor. >> we got a phone call from a woman who was 91 and she wanted to know if the mitchells still owned it and she was so happy that we were still involved, still the owners. she was our customer in 1953. and she still comes in. but she was just making sure that we were still around and it just makes us feel, you know, very proud that we're carrying on our father's legacy. and that we mean so much to so many people. ♪ >> it provides a perspective. and i think if you only looked at it in the here and now, you're missing the context. for me, legacy businesses, legacy bars and restaurants are really about setting the

context for how we come to be where we are today. >> i just think it's part of san francisco. people like to see familiar stuff. at least i know i do. >> in the 1950s, you could see a picture of tommy's joint and looks exactly the same. we haven't change add thing. >> i remember one lady saying, you know, i've been eating this ice cream since before i was born. and i thought, wow! we have, too. ♪

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