issued a health order requiring intervention on the basis of public health facility. you just shutdown the entire economy of san francisco, and you were willing to do that, and i stood by you, and i stand by you in that decision. you have not been willing to do that for the homeless population, and i don't understand it. we as supervisors have done everything in our power to try to force the situation, but we're not the public health officer. that's you, and i want to understand why you haven't issued that order. >> i'll explain it to you the best way i could, and that's really all i'm prepared to say at the moment. >> supervisor ronen: well, that's really disappointing, dr. aragon. i have nothing more. >> president yee: okay. thank you, supervisor ronen. i'll say it mildly. i don't disagree with supervisor ronen.

supervisor safai? >> supervisor safai: thank you, president yee. thank you, dr. aragon. thank you for -- let me just say that you -- for all the questions that i have had, all the ones that i have funneled your way during this crisis, i really appreciate your accessibility and your response and your ability to explain things in a clear manner, joining us for our town halls, and for working so hard to get this information out as quickly as possible. it's been tremendous. i want to ask you, and if i missed it, i'm sorry because i know that there's been a lot of questions. i want to talk a little bit about our skilled nursing facilities. i know i've talked to you about this last time. i know we've had some conversations about when testing would begin in an aggressive manner, and when i

see that new york is -- has issued -- the governor of new york has issued that all persons in these facilities would be tested twice a week, and they would be moving aggressively, and they then changed their orders that said they would no longer allow covid-positive patients to be transferred into these nursing facilities. and then, when i read the statistics in the state that over half the people that have died have been in these skilled nursing facilities, it makes me wonder why and how we haven't moved a little bit more aggressively. i know you said you're still debating about the types of swabs and so on, but what can you do -- i know you've told us recently that the orders have changed, and now, all the staff in these facilities are going to be tested. but we put out on sfcity,

testsf that people can get testing at 7 and brandon without an appointment, or any person can get testing on pier 32. i'm just wondering how and why we haven't been able to move more aggressively in our skilled facilities. this is a big concern in the entire jewish community >> yes, thank you. it is our long-term care facilities, especially the s.n.f.s, is our highest priority. and i think what you'll see if you go back and look at all the orders that were done on skilled nursing facilities, strom screening, temperature checking, we made it at laguna honda, the residents that could prior leave, are not allowed to

leave. so what we did -- what we did early on with laguna honda because that is the biggest location, we asked the c.d.c. and the california department of public health to come in and actually develop a framework and an approach that we could provide to long-term care facilities, and we've gone beyond that, and we're requiring testing for all staff and all patients. >> supervisor safai: i know that you guys have consistently changed your orders. it just seems that we're not moving aggressively enough, given the statistics of people that have died, and i just wonder how we can move more aggressively. >> yeah. so let me just real quickly tell you our goal. our goal is to get every two weeks of testing. it's big logistically, and the

health department has committed to making sure the testing gets done. other places will pass the orders and then just expect the skilled nursing facilities to do it. what we've heard is they don't necessarily have the financial resources or expertise to do that. so we're stepping up to do that, and if we see that it needs to be done for frequently, we'll move in that direction. but we agree with you -- and i'm actually getting some texts that i need to leave because i needed to leave at 6:00, and it's 6:15. that all your questions? >> supervisor safai: well, i did have one more questions, and that's abaho sphere, and how it's going to be distributed throughout all the

hospitals. >> i know our staff is looking into that, because there's been changes how that drug is going to be distributed. we're getting instruction from the state, and i believe something may have just been distributed within the last 24 hours, i'll send it to you so you have an idea of how it's going to be distributed within california. >> supervisor safai: more specifically in san francisco. >> yeah. you'll want to know where it's going and where it's not going. >> supervisor safai: okay. thank you. >> president yee: thank you. there's two more names added, but supervisor walton, do you have a quick question? >> supervisor walton: i know that supervisor fewer had a few questions, so i'll pass it to her. >> president yee: yes. supervisor fewer? >> supervisor fewer: yes. dr. aragon, i can say i understand the frustration.

once, when you came before us, you said early, the unhoused population, the people in s.r.o.s, they are our main concern, yet, we have not seen a public health order, and therefore, we don't know the plan or direction what is happening to these people. i think also in the recovery, but not only the recovery, but as go forward in the next couple of months, we don't know what the plan is. if we're adopting a strategy of safe sleeping sites, that's something we should be doing right now. we can't leave it to people in the bayview, to leave it in their hands. this is leaving a whole population, and we're talking about thousands of people without a direction, and we as supervisors don't have direction of where you're headed with this. i think that it's -- it is disingenuous, quite frankly, to say. this is a population from the very beginning that we've had

concern about, and not had a public health order, not one direction. we also say to people, thousands of people, in a very middle class way, wash your hands 20 times -- for 20 seconds every time. we hear from public health officials, yet they don't even have their clothes in their house. they have to undress before they get into their own homes. when we are saying these basic things to folks, and yet, in the unhoused population, we don't even have a place for them to wash their hands, i would say that we are looking at it through a wrong paradigm. we are looking at it through a middle class lens, when actually, quite frankly, where we are going to see this outbreak, where we are going to see saving lives of people, it is in this paradigm where they

don't have these options. we don't know what's going to happen, and even when we start to loosen up the restrictions, these people still have not been quarantined. so i join my colleagues in wondering what is really happening and what will really happen? we have not been shared on a plan, we don't know what the plan is. i actually, quite frankly, think that during this public health crisis, that should be a public health mandate. so that is not a question, that is just my opinion, and i'm happy to have a private offline conversation with you about this, but thank you. >> i appreciate the honest feedback. thank you. >> president yee: dr. aragon. >> i'm going to have to -- i'm going to have to run, so i don't want to be rude, and i know that we still have to -- >> president yee: well, dr. aragon, excuse me, there's been this question over and over

again, and you're not going to be able to answer it, of course, today. and you're at least, i think for next week, you should start off answering this question, what the plan is, if any, and if there's a reason for it. and i want to give at least one more person a chance who hasn't asked a question at all, even though you're way over. >> no, it's okay. >> president yee: okay. supervisor peskin. -- supervisor preston. >> supervisor preston: thank you, president yee. i want to share my concern of my colleagues. in your explanation, i heard a reason why you felt you couldn't issue an order on

kmo kmo on commandeering hotels, but that is only part of the issue that supervisors ronen and fewer has raised. my question is, you came before us on march 17, you said that we could do everything right in our response here, but if we don't address our congregate living situations and homeless people, that we could have an explosion of cases. i think you were right then and would like to see the orders that my colleagues have referenced address homeless people. but my question isn't looking backwards as to why you haven't. i'd actually just like a direct answer as to whether you plan to issue any health orders regarding homelessness on the issues that have been raised: social distancing among homeless people, the

availability of rest rooms, showers, hand washing stations for homeless people? are you planning on issuing a health order on those issues? >> yeah. so everything that you're describing to me are really policy decisions and strategic options, and so what i want to do is i want to just convene with dr. colfax and our executive team and really come back and decide how we can respond in a holistic way. i'll work with president yee to make sure that we can come back and discuss this further. >> supervisor preston: thank you. >> supervisor peskin: mr. president, i just want to remind all of us, and i'm sorry for jumping in and keeping dr. aragon, but i want to just raise the original contention that dr. aragon presented at the beginning. and i admit that san francisco is unique because we are a city

and county, but the reality is this: the city attorney believes, and i share this belief, that along with the other 57 counties, it is the legislative branch that appoints this position. and while it is true that as a doctor in the health department, dr. aragon works for dr. colfax and is part of the executive branch. it doesn't actually have to be that way. that's not the way it is in the other 57 counties, and the city attorney says that should we desire to have dr. aragon be a completely independent person who does not have to take marching orders from dr. colfax -- not that i'm saying that dr. colfax is giving him bad marching orders -- we have that power and ability. so i think we really, for the health of the body politic and communications amongst decision

makers and communicators and the public, we need to change the dialogue between the chief health officer and this legislative elected body, and i just want to leave everybody with this thought. >> i'm really going to have to run because my wife is going to be very upset with me. president yee, is it okay if i -- >> clerk: mr. president, you might be muted. >> i just want to be excused appropriately. >> president yee: i will excuse you as soon as i finish my sentence. >> okay. thank you. >> president yee: so basically, you answered some of the questions, and thank you very much for doing that, and there's some outstanding ones that were on the list that you didn't get a chance to get to.

i think there's some fundamental frustration or questions that we have frustrations about that's going to come back over and over again. you need to have a plan when you come back on how to do this, because it's not going to go away. the people on the streets aren't going to go away by themselves, and the danger that's afforded to them isn't going to go away, and we can't come back every single time and say, we're thinking about it, and we have a plan. okay. thank you for staying a lot later than we asked you to. >> okay. thank you very much. have a good evening. >> president yee: okay.

thank you very much. okay. thank you, colleagues, and i will continue talking with dr. aragon and dr. colfax to try to get to some of the questions that you have presented, and i will now adjourn this update. thank you very much. >> supervisor peskin: okay. thank you.

welcome to the transportation authority meeting for today, tuesday, may 12th, 2020. my name is aaron peskin. and i am the chair. our clerk is ms. angela tsao. ms. tsao, if you could please call the roll. >> clerk: yes. commissioner fewer? >> present. >> clerk: commissioner haney? >> commissioner haney: present. >> clerk: commissioner mandelman? >> commissioner mandelman: present. >> clerk: commissioner mar? >> commissioner mar: present. >> clerk: commissioner peskin? >> commissioner peskin: present. >> clerk: commissioner preston? >> commissioner preston: present. >> clerk: commissioner ronen? >> commissioner ronen: present.

>> clerk: commissioner safai? absent. commissioner yee? yee absent. we have quorum. >> supervisor safai is here. >> clerk: safai present. thank you. >> madam clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes, i do. thank you. public comment will be available for each item on this agenda via telephone by calling (888)204-5984. -- 204-5987. enter access code, as seen on the screen. then follow the system prompts. once you join, you will be able

to listen to the meeting as a participant. when you wish to speak on an item, dial one, zero to be added to the queue to speak. when your two minutes are up, we will move on to the next caller. calls will be taken in the order of which they are received. best practices are to speak slowly, clearly, and turn down the volume on your television. please allow for audio visual delays and a 30-second lag time during the course of the meeting. >> commissioner peskin: thank you, madam clerk. can you please read the item. >> clerk: this is an information item. >> commissioner peskin: mr. larson, good morning. >> good morning, chair peskin and vice chair mandelman and commissioners. the last time i appeared before you, at the march 10th -- was at the march 10th t.a. board meeting. subsequently our march 25th and april 22nd c.a.c. meetings were

canceled, but i'm happy to inform you that we will resume our meetings on may 27th through a virtual meeting like this one. and we're going to have a practice session this friday to prepare. so i'm sure it will go smoothly. in the meantime, the t.a. staff has kept themselves available to brief any of the c.a.c. members on issues that have come before the t.a. board in the interim. they've been keeping us informed and up to date we do look forward to getting back to business and bringing forward our comments and our suggestions and our points of view to you at your next meeting. so, thank you very much. >> commissioner peskin: thank you, mr. larson. and we look to the results of your next meeting. madam clerk, can you please -- any public comment on the c.a.c. report? >> clerk: there is no public comment. >> commissioner peskin: okay.

seeing no public comment, public comment is closed. [gavel] next item, please. >> clerk: item 3, approve the minutes of the april 28th, 2020 meeting. this is an action item. >> commissioner peskin: is there any public comment on this item? >> clerk: there is no public comment. >> commissioner peskin: okay. seeing no public comment, public comment is closed. [gavel] is there a motion to approve the minutes of april 28th -- >> >> commissioner preston: aye. >> chair peskin: is there a second? commissioner preston moves. is there a second for that motion? >> commissioner mandelman: second. >> chair peskin: on that item, a roll call please. [roll call]

>> clerk: we have approval. >> commissioner peskin: thank you. the minutes are adopted. next item, please. >> clerk: item 4. allocate $3,257,155 in prop k cals tax funds, with conditions, and $140,000 in prop aa vehicle registration fee funds for seven requests. this is an action item. >> commissioner peskin: ms. laforte, good morning. >> good morning, commissioners. anna la fort deputy director for

policy and programming. i'm pleased to be with you today. i'll just start with some base remarks, as requested by chair peskin. we have evaluated the requests that we are presenting to you today, in light of the covid-19 pandemic and the shelter-in-place. and we have confirmed with the agencies that are requesting these funds, sfmta and s.f. public works that these projects continue to be priorities and staff resources are available to deliver the projects, according to the schedules and the materials that you have. and so with that i'm going to pull up my presentation. and we will start with the first request from public works. this is for the replacement of street repair and cleaning equipment that has passed the end of its useful life. and these are pieces of equipment that are compliant with the air resources board and the service date is around this

time next year, at the end of june 2021. this request is a request that we see every year from public works for public sidewalk and curb repair. this is to repair damaged infrastructure that is not caused by street trees. so these are for locations that have -- that have been impacted because of equipment or age or poor original construction to begin with. so there are -- there's a backlog of locations that are shown in your packet of materials for folks watching at home. you can request a public sidewalk repair by calling 311. next request is a funding request that we also see every year from the department of public works. this is for streets and planting. in the past, this category and the prop k expenditure plan has funded both tree maintenance as well as tree planting and

establishment with the passage of the prop e tree maintenance fund from the general fun set-aside passed in 2016 street tree maintenance is now funded through the general fund. so the planting and the establishment of newly planted trees is funded by the prosecution k sales tax. and the locations that have been cleared for utilities, these are empty basins. there was a backlog of locations that was shown in the materials that you have in your packet. there's about 630 locations or so that will be -- that are ready for plant. and public works prioritizes empty basins as well as areas in the city with low canopy cover. similar to the public sidewalk repair requests, members of the public can call 311 for a tree planting. the next two prop k sales tax requests are from the san francisco municipal transportation agency for the residential traffic-calming

program. the first request is to design the locations that were accepted into the program from the applications received in june of 2019. there were about 92 locations that came in, or that have been accepted. and so just about about 100 locations with 47 blocks citywide. and these are mostly speed humps and speed cushions, as you can see in the two photos on the screen in front of you. examples of those two types of infrastructure. and a couple of years out, public works -- i'm sorry, m.t.a. will come back to the board around this time next year to request funds for the construction phase. the next request is to evaluate the request that come in to sfmta on june 30th of this year. so this is the planning phase. m.t.a. is not changing the date that the applications are due. they are still due june 30th. however, because of shelter-in-place, they are no

longer requiring the petition requirement from households on the block at a minimum of 20 signatures have to come in. that is waived this year. and so on sfmta's website, under the traffic calming program, you will find the application. by this time it should be modified to state it does not require that. so any individual household can submit the application this year. the next two requests are from the department of public works for prop aa vehicle registration fee funds. they are both for the design phase of these projects, that i'm pleased to present to you today. first is for the western addition pedestrian lighting project. and this will fund new lighting on mccallister street from fillmore to webster and fund additional lighting on fillmore from golden gate avenue to church street. these are recommendations that were in the western addition

community transportation plan, which was also in a transportation improvement program or ntip prop k program planning project. so very pleased to see these projects -- this project advancing. next request is for the potrero gateway loop pedestrian safety improvements. this is for safety improvements at 17th street, vermont street and san bruno avenue, adjacent to the 101 freeway and it will fund a host of very needed improvements to replace making and safety along the u-shape along the 101 freeway. both of these requests are for the design phase, as i mentioned. public works will be requesting construction phase funds for these projects in the future, for the potrero gateway loop project. it will be leveraging a state grant from the affordable housing, sustainable communities program. and requires that construction

start i believe it's by the end of 2021. so it has some timely use of funds requirements for the construction phase for this particular project. and with that i can answer any questions and there are also project managers available. >> commissioner peskin: thank you, ms. lafort. are there any commissioners who have any questions or comments on this item number 4? commissioner preston. >> commissioner preston: thank you, chair peskin. no questions but a comment. i just want to thank you for all the work on the western addition pedestrian lighting project. really excited that this is moving forward in the design phase is funded. as you mentioned, the project comes directly from the recommendations from the community, through the western addition community base transportation plan from 2017. and this project, in the

fillmore, will improve pedestrian safety, enhance community connections to recreational spaces, and help with the overall walkability of community-identified priority streets in the western addition, by installing additional pedestrian lights. i also want to note that this lighting plan is one of a number of projects that we're trying to get off the ground and advocate for in the area, including the buchanan mall and the project will include new pedestrian lights and tree trimming on mccallister. as you mentioned, between fillmore and webster and additional lighting and tree trimming on fillmore between golden gate and turk. a lot of work has gone into that. and i just wanted to thank some folks, michelle wu at the department of public works, ms. laforte and mike pickford at the t.a. all of the m.t.a. staff, including those involved with the western addition transportation plan, in particular shada who did a lot

of the community outreach for the transportation plan. and also wanted to thank mo magic collective, citizen film, s.f. public utilities, rec and park department, police department, planning department, and all of the community members in the western addition that took part in project. really pleased to see this moving forward and thank you for all your work. >> commissioner peskin: thank you, commissioner preston, for those comments. any other members of the commission who have any questions or comments? seeing none, is there any public comment on this item number 4? >> clerk: chair, there is no public comment. >> commissioner peskin: okay. public comment is closed. [gavel] is there a motion to allocate the -- $3.25 million of prop k money and $140,000 prop aa money? motion made by commissioner? >> preston. >> commissioner peskin: and

seconded by? >> commissioner yee: yee. >> commissioner peskin: on that item, a roll call please. >> clerk: commissioner fewer? >> commissioner fewer: i.o.c. >> clerk: commissioner haney? >> commissioner haney: aye. >> clerk: commissioner mandelman? >> commissioner mandelman: aye. >> clerk: commissioner mar? >> commissioner mar: aye. >> clerk: commissioner peskin? >> commissioner peskin: aye. >> clerk: commissioner ronen? >> commissioner ronen: aye. >> clerk: commissioner safai? >> commissioner stefani? >> commissioner stefani:i. >> clerk: commissioner yee? >> commissioner yee: sorry, i didn't mean to beat you. aye. >> clerk: we have approval of first read.

>> commissioner peskin: thank you, next item, please. >> clerk: item number 5. approve the transportation authority project priorities for the senate bill 1, local partnership program competitive grant program and amend the prop k five-year prioritization program for the pedestrian circulation and safety category. this is an action item. >> commissioner peskin: all right. ms. laforte, the floor is yours again. >> thank you. anna laforte, deputy director for policy and programming at the transportation authority. let me pull up my presentation. okay. so the item before you today is in regards to the local partnership program and this is a program that has been established by the california transportation commission, that rewards local jurisdictions that received approval of taxes or

fees, that have been imposed on transportation. there is a formula portion of the program for 60% of the funds and then also a competitive portion of the program, which is the subject of the item today, about 40% of the funds go to. the transportation authority is eligible for both pots of funds, if you will, as the administrator of the prop k has sent transportation sales taxes, as well as the prop aa vehicle registration fee. and the city and county of san francisco is eligible for the formula and competitive programs, as the administrator of the prop d transportation network company's tax, the t.n.c. tax that passed in november of 2019, as well as self-imposed fees for the portion -- that portion of the transportation sustainability fee. the guidelines for this program -- oh, i'm sorry. let me put it on to the first slide. the guidelines for this program

allow for an agency, the eligible applicant, like the city and county of san francisco or the transportation authority, to identify a different entity as the implementing agency for the projects. and so that agency assumes the responsibility and the accountability for delivery and the use and expenditure of the funds, should that project be successful in receiving a grant. in the first cycle of this program, the c.t.c. awarded $6.7 million to the transportation authority with public works, s.f. public works as the implementing agency for jefferson street improvement phase two. this next funding cycle is for three years of the program. and it will provide just under $190 million over that three-year period statewide to competitive projects. this is -- this broad eligibility for both transit and

highway and streets and roads types of projects. but it will only fund the construction phase of the project and it requires a dollar-for-dollar local match. as well there is also a minimum grant size of $3 million from the local partnership program. so plus the local match, you are looking at a minimum cost of a construction phase of $6 million. the c.t.c. also requires that agents submit these project nominations in priority order. these are just some of the conditions -- or criteria that the california transportation commission uses to establish projects for funding, cost effectiveness, and projects that are ready to go, project that leverage more than the dollar-for-dollar match as well as having air quality benefits and local and regional support as well. we have worked with eligible or potential project sponsors since

january in preparation for this call for projects being released. and we received requests to support the nominations of two projects. we considered the local partnership guidelines and assessed the project status, as well as the potential for the projects to be competitive at the statewide level. and in close coordination with staff from the mayor's office, we recommend submitting project nominations in the following order, as again required by the california transportation commission. so the first priority for the project submissions is the mission geneva safety project. this is a muni-forward and vision zero safety project, that will include improvements on mission street, from geneva to trumbull, geneva from mission. this has a host of traffic signals and new pedestrian crossings and transit bulbs. environmentally cleared through

the transit effectiveness project. design is under way in part funded by the prop k funds that were allocated a couple of months ago. these are on high-injury network and so we are also recommending, along with this request for the priorities, a five-year prioritization program amendment to the pedestrian safety category and prop k for the five-year plan for it. and this is to reprogram funds from the civic center, let's see, grove street civic center project to the mission safety project. this would allow for the local match to be fully funded and increase the competitiveness, c.t.c. requires the funds to be committed at the local level at the time of allocation or at the time of the recommendation and grants awards.

and local match also includes prop b general punt set aside and sustainability fees. the second project priority is the mission landing from the port of san francisco. this is for construction of a sing approximately float to berth ferry landing to provide to the mission bay area. the project has several things going for it, including it is ready to go, design is done. the project is environmentally cleared.

reducing vehicle trips -- we have confirmed with the county of san francisco that 28 be submitting both projects in the same priority

>> i'm glad we're finalizing the design and hopefully begin construction on this corridor work in 2021. and so everyone knows, there is a small portion of this work, some of the improvements that could begin as soon as we get the award. but it's many crosswalks. it's traffic signals. it's crosswalks, it's ball bouts, it's moving transit stops. it's essentially bike improvements. this is an extremely, extremely important project. and probably one of the largest investments that the city will have made in district 11 in terms of infrastructure, in the last 50 years. totaling over $20 million. so i thank everyone again prioritizing this and making a

priority for a part of town that's often forgotten when it comes to these types of improvements. thank you, mr. chair. >> could you reiterate why the passionage of prop d, the t. n.c. tax is generating more money out of sb-1. i didn't quite understand that. >> it is what allows the city and county of san francisco to qualify for formula funds. so the formula -- the sb-1 funds are contributed among the state, there's now the-south split and a by population and generated by the different measures that are passed. so we now -- the city and county of san francisco now qualifies for a portion, for a distribution of the sb-1 formula

funds, because it has passed the tax and because of the revenue it was projected to generate. >> clerk: there is no public comment. >> okay. public comment is closed. is there a motion? commission safai, would you like to make the motion? >> yes, sir. so moved. >> commissioner peskin: made and seconded. a roll call, please. [roll call]

>> clerk: the tomorrow is passed on its first read. >> next item, please. >> clerk: award a one-year professional services contract to mcmillen jacobs associates in an amount not to exceed

$1 million for rail tunnel planning services for the pennsylvania avenue extension project. this is an action item. >> chair peskin: mr. cordova, good morning. >> great. goodgood morning, chair peskin, commissioners. >> commissioner peskin: now, you're actually at work. >> yes, i am today. yes. okay. let me start right there. hopefully you can see that. happy to report on the item 6 here, pennsylvania avenue extension. let me give you a little brief history here, first. let me see here if i can get my -- there we go. project history. as you know, the city planning department prepared what we refer to as the rail yard alignment and benefits study. this work here that we're proposing is to go ahead and continue that effort. and the key goals in improving street connectivity and safety, overall train operations and

really what we're looking at is basically undergrounding the caltrans system from in essence 4th and townsend, 4th and king to the south, near the 22nd street station. it's important to recognize that we'll continue to work closely with the power authority. the board adoptioned resolution 1912 back in september timeframe of 2019. in essence identifying what this as we refer to the pennsylvania alignment as the preliminary preferred route. just another pictorial here, as it relates to thought process, undergrounding as i indicated previously. those green arrows show the opportunity to reopen the street

network in essence, which would be a very large benefit to the city. let's get into more of the technical thought process here, as we move forward. this is a major thought tunnel in es pence. we're going to take a look at alternatives, as it relates to you believing. set up a risk management system in that regard and take a look at the overall cost and funding for the project. with the goal in essence of identifying alternatives that we would further evaluate in the future environmental processes. let's talk about the procurement process. we issued a request for proposals in the february timeframe, received proposals in

april, went through an interview process with in essence our partners as i had indicated previously. and went ahead and established a $1 million budget, not to to exceed a goal of 20%. we received five proposals and we interviewed three teams. the highest ranked firm was mcmillen jacobs association. our recommendation is to award a professional services contract to mcmillen jacobs, not to exceed $1 million for the rail tunnel planning services and to authorize executive director to negotiate the payment terms. >> commissioner peskin: thank you, eric. are there any questions for mr. cordova?

seeing none, i will note that roland la before run is pleased with this contract and this vendor. so i will say that on the record. are there any members of the public who would like to make public comment on this item number 6? >> clerk: yes, chair. we do have members of the public. >> commissioner peskin: first speaker, please. >> thank you, chair. >> commissioner peskin: and members. alita dupree for the record. let the record reflect that my pronounces are she and her. this is very, very important work. i've been following this project. under grounding this busy railroad in san francisco is important, especially from a safety standpoint.

as this is engineered, the 22nd street station needs to expeditiously made a.d.a. accessible. this plan has precedent. the idea of under grounding railroads in cities is not new. considered that in new york city, there is a four-track main line called the park avenue railway. and it runs into a legendary and historic train station called grand central term 23458, and it has 700 train movements a day. caltrans has the potential of increasing its volume. so we want tounder ground it expeditiously, so we can eliminate these great crossings and have a more seamless rail transportation in our great city. thank you. >> commissioner peskin: thank you. next speaker, please. >> operator: you have one question remaining.

>> clerk: welcome, caller, your two minutes begins now. >> good morning supervisor. >> commissioner peskin:. thank you for reading my email into the record. i mean, this is truly a defining moment. to me this is a first time in ten years that i can actually see a transit center at the end of the tunnel. you after you've seep what these people can do, so it is truly remarkable. maybe you will consider allowing them to look somewhere north of townsend street. this is all i'm asking for this time. >> thank you, mr. la brun. any other members of the public who would like to testify on this item? >> clerk: there are no more

members of the public.

. >> this is my update for the first mine nos of nine months of if fiscal year. i will be back for fiscal year 20 and three month provisional budget for 21. this is an information item. with that i am happy to answer any questions. >> thank you for the briefing that you gave me last week. are there any commissioners that

have questions or comments? seeing none is there any public comment on this information item. >> yes, there is public comment. >> first speaker, please. >> you have one question remaining. >> welcome, caller. you have two minutes. >> caller. >> mr. de koss take. would you like to comment on item 7? >> mr. dkcosta would you like to comment on item number 7? >> okay. are there any other members of the public to comment on this information item with regard to our nine months ending march 31st? >> there are no additional callers. >> public comment is closed.

this is an information item. colleagues any introduction of new items? >> seeing none. any general public comment? >> there is no general public comment. >> okay. public comment is closed. the transportation authority is adjourned.

[♪] [♪] >> so i grew up in cambridge, massachusetts and i was very fortunate to meet my future wife, now my wife while we were both attending graduate school at m.i.t., studying urban planning. so this is her hometown. so, we fell in love and moved to her city. [♪] [♪] >> i was introduced to this part of town while working on a campaign for gavin, who is running for mayor. i was one of the organizers out here and i met the people and i fell in love with them in the neighborhood. so it also was a place in the city that at the time that i could afford to buy a home and i wanted to own my own home. this is where we laid down our roots like many people in this

neighborhood and we started our family and this is where we are going to be. i mean we are the part of san francisco. it's the two neighborhoods with the most children under the age of 18. everybody likes to talk about how san francisco is not family-friendly, there are not a lot of children and families. we have predominately single family homes. as i said, people move here to buy their first home, maybe with multiple family members or multiple families in the same home and they laid down their roots. [♪] >> it's different because again, we have little small storefronts. we don't have light industrial space or space where you can build high-rises or large office

buildings. so the tech boom will never hit our neighborhood in that way when it comes to jobs. >> turkey, cheddar, avocado, lettuce and mayo, and little bit of mustard. that's my usual. >> mike is the owner, born and bred in the neighborhood. he worked in the drugstore forever. he saved his money and opened up his own spot. we're always going to support home grown businesses and he spent generations living in this part of town, focusing on the family, and the vibe is great and people feel at home. it's like a little community gathering spot. >> this is the part of the city with a small town feel. a lot of mom and pop businesses,

a lot of family run businesses. there is a conversation on whether starbucks would come in. i think there are some people that would embrace that. i think there are others that would prefer that not to be. i think we moved beyond that conversation. i think where we are now, we really want to enhance and embrace and encourage the businesses and small businesses that we have here. in fact, it's more of a mom and pop style business. i think at the end of the day, what we're really trying to do is encourage and embrace the diversity and enhance that diversity of businesses we already have. we're the only supervisor in the city that has a permanent district office. a lot of folks use cafes or use offices or different places, but i want out and was able to raise money and open up a spot that we

could pay for. i'm very fortunate to have that. >> hi, good to see you. just wanted to say hi, hi to the owner, see how he's doing. everything okay? >> yeah. >> good. >> we spend the entire day in the district so we can talk to constituents and talk to small businesses. we put money in the budget so you guys could be out here. this is like a commercial corridor, so they focus on cleaning the streets and it made a significant impact as you can see. what an improvement it has made to have you guys out here. >> for sure. >> we have a significantly diverse neighborhood and population. so i think that's the richness of the mission and it always has

been. it's what made me fall in love with this neighborhood and why i love it so much. >> today's special guest is claudia dume. >> hi. today, my guest is claudia gorham. she's the deputy managing director of the real estate dri division at the city and county of san francisco, and she's my special guest. thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much. >> i know that your department

is the department for managing and renting properties, and also cleaning for the city. how has your department been preparing for the crisis? >> well, because our citizens are sheltering in place and our buildings are closed to the general public, a substantial amount of city staff and city departments are still open and operating and doing city businesses. so we still have to do the cleaning and engineering on the portfolio and things that need to be service. and the other thing is all our workers are disaster service workers, so we have been providing the emergency operations center with various staffing needs such as drivers of trucks and accounting staff to assist them in this crisis. >> have you obtained additional space for the city to use during this crisis? >> yes.

the crisis has actually required numerous transactions, and so we help basically the department of public health, the department of human services, and the department of homelessness determine where they can put the services that they need. so, for example, if they need a testing site or if they need a building -- a vacant building to put supplies or if they need to put some trucks, we will help them locate that office building or that property based on their factors that they need. we will then contact the landlord or the property owner of the space or the building owner decides they want, and then, we negotiate the terms that they need, whether it's a permit or a lease, we'll help the city attorney draft that agreement. >> nice. so can you talk about how some of our iconic buildings, such

address the palace of -- such as the palace of fine arts, has been repurposed during the pandemic? >> certainly. the city needs as much space as it can use during this pandemic, and the department had to relocate to moscone south convention center so that we could do social distancing as required by both the city and the state. we have hundreds and hundreds of staff people working on this covid-19 crisis. all of the department of public health and the departments of homelessness and human services, including several other hundred people, they need several different sites. they need testing centers, they need shelters for the homeless, those with the covid-19 virus, those who need a place to stay after they get out of the hospital.

so we've been assisting them with places to stay. you mentioned the palace of fine arts. it has over 100,000 square feet of space. it could it -- we were going to use it as a shelter, but now, we're going to use it for different needs. we're going to negotiate a different lease so that the city can use it for this crisis. we're using the bill graham civic auditorium and tfor the deployment of ambulances. the fire department needed additional supplies, so we're using it for that service. >> that's great. i also understand you have a staff of custodians,

electricians, janitors and other support workers. how are they helping the city? >> we could not be more thankful for our civic and engineering staff under our real estate division. they have been working 24-7 since this crisis began, not only doing their daily responsibilities to keep the public buildings open and operating for the city staff continuing to go into the office but also because once the crisis started, several memos came down as to additional cleanings and how to do disinfecting, and we have to do the c.d.c.s recommendation does. so not only do they do -- recommendations. so not only do they do their regular cleaning, they are also doing deep cleaning and disinfecting in places like the public safety building and the haul of justice. but they're also going in and doing a deep cleaning and disinfecting after we had a

suspected case or a confirmed case of a person having the coronavirus. so they're going in and doing this every night since this started. our workers are continuing as laborers to make the buildings safe and secure and maintained. and however we help or however we can help the e.o.c., we do that. >> well, thanks for coming on the show, claudia. i'd like to thank you and your entire team on behalf of all the residents of san francisco for all the work you continue to do. >> thank you very much. it's been a pleasure. >> that's it for this episode. we'll be back with another pandemic-related episode shortly. this is coping with covid-19. i'm chris mathers. thanks for watching.

shop and dine on the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do shopping and dining within the 49 square miles of san francisco by

supporting local services within neighborhood. we help san francisco remain unique, successful and vibrant. where will you shop and dine in the 49? san francisco owes the charm to the unique character of the neighborhood comer hall district. each corridor has its own personality. our neighborhoods are the engine of the city. >> you are putting money and support back to the community you live in and you are helping small businesses grow. >> it is more environmentally friendly. >> shopping local is very important. i have had relationships with my local growers for 30 years. by shopping here and supporting us locally, you are also supporting the growers of the

flowers, they are fresh and they have a price point that is not imported. it is really good for everybody. >> shopping locally is crucial. without that support, small business can't survive, and if we lose small business, that diversity goes away, and, you know, it would be a shame to see that become a thing of the past. >> it is important to dine and shop locally. it allows us to maintain traditions. it makes the neighborhood. >> i think san francisco should shop local as much as they can. the retail marketplace is changes. we are trying to have people on the floor who can talk to you and help you with products you are interested in buying, and

help you with exploration to try things you have never had before. >> the fish business, you think it is a piece of fish and fisherman. there are a lot of people working in the fish business, between wholesalers and fishermen and bait and tackle. at the retail end, we about a lot of people and it is good for everybody. >> shopping and dining locally is so important to the community because it brings a tighter fabric to the community and allows the business owners to thrive in the community. we see more small businesses going away. we need to shop locally to keep the small business alive in san francisco.

>> shop and dine in the 49 is a cool initiative. you can see the banners in the streets around town. it is great. anything that can showcase and legitimize small businesses is a wonderful thing. muted.

perfect.l thing. muted. sorry, dominica. >> okay. sfgov tv, we are ready to start the meeting now. this is a special meeting of the small business commission. the meeting is being called to order at 11:05 a.m. small business commission thanks media services and sfgov tv and the department of technology for televising this meeting, which can be viewed on sfgov tv 2, live streamed at sfgovtv.org. members of the public, who will be phoning in, the number is (888)363-4735. and the access code is 413-4030. wh