staffing this meeting as well as the operations and i.t. for lending their support to this first remote meeting of our committee. and for all that you are all doing to keep all of our meetings running smoothly, which i know that is challenging in these times. and mr. clerk do you have announcemented? >> clerk: due to the covid-19 health emergency and to protect city employees, the board of supervisors legislative chamber and the committee room are closed. the members are participating in the meeting remotely, the same extent as if they were physically present. public comment is available for each item on the agenda, both cable channel 26 and sfggovtv.org are streaming. and the ability to speak during the comment period are available by calling 888-204-5984.

and you can utilize an access code. the code is, 3501008. i'll repeat those numbers, the calling number is 888-204-5984. and the access code is, 3501008. and once callers are connected they s3501008. and once callers are connected they should press the pound symbol. and then press the pound symbol again. and then after they're connected if they wish to speak they should dial 1 and then dial 0, in order to be added to the queue to speak to that particular agenda item. they are lined up in the order which they dial 1 and 0. while waiting the system will be

silent. the calling system will notify you when you are in line and waiting. all callers remain on mute until their line is opened for comment. everyone must account for the time delays and speaking discrepancies between the live coverage and streaming. we have about a one or two second delay. and best practices are to call from a quiet location and speak clearly and slowly and turn down your television, radio or your streaming device. alternatively you may submit your public comments in either of the following ways -- you can email me johncarol, and my email address is john.carroll@sfgov.org. to repeat that, that is john.carroll@sfgov.org.

if you submit public comment by email it's in the legislative files as part of the matters. written comments may be sunday by u.s. postal service to city hall room 244, san francisco, california, 94102 and that address is available on the agenda for this meeting. and, mr. chair, the items today are expected to appear on the. the agenda of april 21st agenda unless otherwise noted. >> can you call our first item. >> clerk: agenda one is a hearing to consider the issuance of a type 21 off-sale general beer, wine and distilled spirit liquor license for the epicurian trader l.l.c. and located at 1 ferry building. and it will serve the public convenience or the necessity of the city and county. the members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item call the number that i mentioned earlier and

printed on your agenda and dial 1, 0 now to be added to the queue. >> i believe that we have the officer here to present on this item? >> yes, good morning. >> good morning. >> okay. so you have before you a report for the epicurian trader and they have applied for a type 21, 41, 86 license and if approved this allows them to separate in off-sale general to sell beer and wine anyplace and a tasting type license. there are zero letters of protest, zero letters of support. they are located at plot 216, which is considered a high crime area. and they are in a high saturation area and no opposition. and recommends approval on the following conditions -- number one, winetasting is conducted

there should be signs in a conspicuous space, that the entrance and/or the exits of the premise as depicted on 257 which state no alcoholic beverages beyond this point. said times shall be no less than 7-inch by 11-inch in size and contain letters no less than one inch in sign. two, signs posted that no minors are allowed in the tasting area as of april 1st, they have not agreed formally to the conditions. >> they have and they have not? >> they have not as of april 1st. >> okay. and if we could ask the applicant about that. thank you, officer. do we have matt pawns on the line? or another representative of the applicant? >> the applicant is matt pond and matt pond is on the call-in

line and our operations team could unmute mr. pond's phone number so he can speak to our committee now. >> he is ready to speak. >> clerk: mr. pond? >> hi, guys. everybody hear me? >> clerk: yes, we can. >> okay. so first of all, thanks for the meeting and i know that it's been difficult for everybody to try to push things forward and we appreciate everybody working hard to keep the process moving forward. firstly, as it provides to the conditions, you know, i think that in the hustle and bustle of shelter-in-place and trying to run a business that just was missed but we're fully supportive of the conditions and we have no objection and we're more than happy to put that on the record and anything that is required. and just everybody on the phone call knows, the epicurian trader and the suggestions -- hopefully

that will clear that matter up. and, secondly, you know, as i sort of think about, you know, the essence of this topic which is whether it's a public convenience and a necessity, i think about our other locations and in moments like this i think that it's very paramount and clear that we are a necessity to these neighborhoods. if we were not currently opened, you know, the residents would have very limited or zero access to fresh produce and milk, eggs, fresh bread. and so i think that, you know, i think that it's highlights how big a necessity that having a quality grocer, san francisco-run, and locally owned and operated, you know, how critical it is for the residents of those neighborhoods. you know, and the financial district is in a similar pocket.

there's very limited access to quality grocers in that part of town. and, you know, we strive to offer a similar selection as we do in the neighborhoods and try to become a convenience for the people -- th that work in the aa or use the ferry building as a means of transportation. and so, you know, we hope that you guys recognize that what we do, we do things by the book. we definitely strive to try to adapt and to become part of the neighborhood and hopefully some of the board of supervisors who have had other locations in the neighborhoods have experienced that either firsthand or through, you know, comments from the constituents. >> thank you, mr. pond. i don't see any comments or

questions from my colleagues. so we can open this up to members of the public if any have called in. mr. clerk, are there any callers on the line? >> clerk: mr. chair, staff is checking to see if there are any callers in the queue. >> one second, please. >> clerk: thank you. a reminder for anyone who may have called in, if you want to speak on agenda item 1, you dial 1, and then 0, after you have connected to our public line and entered the access code. >> there appears to be one caller. >> clerk: great. >> i will say some things about public comment. we give our speakers two minutes

and we ask that you state your first and last names clearly. okay. i'm going over public comments and the speakers will have two minutes and we have to hear your first and last name clearly and speak directly into the phone. if you have a written statement that you have prepared, you are encouraged to send a copy to the committee clerk for the official file. and in the interest of time we ask that speakers avoid repetition of previous statements, though we only have one public commenter, that's not going to be a problem. so, please, go ahead. >> you can begin now. have we connected the first caller? >> yes, we have. hello, caller, can you hear us?

>> that caller is not mr. pond, right? >> clerk: it shows mr. pond -- >> all right, well, we already heard from mr. pond. so it sounds like we don't have any additional public comment on this item. and so i'm going to close public comments now. and bringing the imaginary gavel down. and so, again, no comments or questions -- i don't see any comments or questions from my colleagues. i understand that supervisor peskin is supportive of this item. moving forward, i think that it is reasonable to expect that the applicant can meet the conditions and formally agreed to the conditions before this gets voted on with the board of supervisors. i'm hoping that will happen. and i'll probably ask to confirm -- our office will make sure that has happened before

this is voted on, board of supervisors. but with all of that said, i think that we can direct our clerk to prepare resolution determining the issuance of the license to serve the public necessity and i will make a motion to send that forward to the full board with positive recommendation. and, mr. clerk, can you call the roll. >> clerk: on the motion to recommend a resolution to the full board of supervisors, that finds that the service premise would meet the public convenience or necessity, vice chair stefani? >> aye. i got it. thank you. >> clerk: stefani, aye. member walton. >> supervisor walton: aye. >> clerk: walton, aye. chair mandelman? >> supervisor mandelman: great, the motion passes. thank you, everyone. we got through one, one more to go.

clerk, call the next item. >> clerk: pardon me, just a moment. agenda item 2, is a hearing to consider that the transfer of a type 20 off-sale beer and wine liquor license to d.p. and d.k. investments incorporated doing business as kal neighborhood maisht at 19th avenue, will serve the public convenience or necessity of the city and county of the and the members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call the public comment line and enter the access code and then queue up by pressing 1, and then 0. you should do so now. mr. chair. >> supervisor mandelman: great. thank you. and, again, we'll start with officer samuelson from the a.l.u. >> all right, you have before you a report for d.p. and d.k. investments inc, and applied for a type 20 license and this allows them to operate in an all of-sale beer and liquor premise.

and zero letters of opposing and they are in a low crime area, they are in census track 32601, which is considered high saturation, and no opposition. a.l.u. recommends approval with the following conditions. number one, sales, service and consumption of alcoholic beverages shall be permitted only between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. each day of the week. number two, the participants shall monitor the area under their control to prevent the loitering of persons on any property adjacent to the licensed premise as depicted on the most recently certified form. and number three, the petitioner shall be responsible for maintaining it free of litter area adjacent to the premise over which they have control as depict. and noted as of april 1st, the applicant had agreed to the above listed conditions.

>> supervisor mandelman: thank you, officer samuelson. and then we will hear from the applicant. is jodie knight or the applicant on the line? >> clerk: we have sabrina shaggy on the line. if you could unmute her mike so she can -- her mic so she can address the panel. >> good morning, supervisors. we appreciate you hearing -- we appreciate you hearing this item today. i'm sabrina shaggy and i'm speaking on behalf of the project sponsor. and the gas station has been operating at the site for decades and includes a building with an awtdo repair station and a small food mart. the owners propose to put the auto repair station to a more beneficial use by expanding this into the rest of the existing building. the planning commission unanimously approved the project on consent. although this is a chevron gas station it's a family-owned and

operated franchise where the owners take great pride in being part of this community. their goal is to provide a true neighborhood serving market in response to the needs of their customers. the expanded food mart will include the sale of general grocery items, fresh coffee, made-made food and personal items, as well as beer and wine. so that the local residents can conveniently pick up most of the items they need while stopping for gas. 37 neighbors and customers have signed a petition or written letters in support of the project and stating that this type of market would be beneficial to the neighborhood. aside from providing a one-stop-shop for customers, the addition of beer and wine sales will provide a much-needed increase in revenue which is crucial for the long-term viability of the gas station. in turn, this will help to preserve jobs for current employees and to provide new employment opportunities in the neighborhood. given the current economic crisis, it's imperative that the city support neighborhood serving and family-owned

businesses. aside from the conditions that the police department has imposed and the owners have agreed to, the owners are also taking a number of other safety precautions. they're not providing any beer or wine near the entrance, they're requiring all employees to complete abc's online training course and the site will be monitored at all times for the insulation of 11 security cameras. and the owners have no tolerance for any loitering and they take the maintenance of the property seriously. and the addition of this type 20 license will ensure the continued viability of the gas station and most importantly it will look at the needs of those that live and work in the neighborhood. for these reasons we respectfully request that you forward this to the full board for positive recommendation. thank you and i'm available for any questions. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. i don't see any comments or questions from my colleagues. so i will open this up to public comment. do we have any callers in the

queue? >> clerk: mr. chair, staff will check to see if there's callers in the queue. mr. chair, there are no callers wishing to speak. >> supervisor mandelman: great. i will close public comment. and, colleagues, i understand that supervisor mar is not in opposition to this license, he supports sending this item forward to the full board. given that, i think we can direct our clerk to prepare a resolution to determine the issuance of the license for public convenience and subsidy and i'll make a motion to send that resolution to the full board with positive recommendation. clerk, please call the roll. >> clerk: on the motion to amend the resolution pending public convenience or necessity findings for the applicant, vice chair stefani. >> supervisor stefani: aye. >> clerk: stefani, aye.

supervisor walton. >> supervisor walton: aye. >> clerk: walton, aye. is it chair mandelman? >> supervisor mandelman: aye. >> clerk: there's no further business. >> supervisor mandelman: then we are adjourned. thank you, everyone. >> clerk: thank you. >> thank you, chair mandelman. >> 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.

>> all right. good afternoon, everyone. i'm london breed, i'm mayor of san francisco. and today we are joined by the department of emergency management,