this meeting is being held by web ex during covid-19 emergency the fire commissions regular meeting room is closed and meetings with the fire commission will convene remotely. you may watch live at

www.sftv. gov. to participate by phone you can call-in and use the access code (148)920-8779. someone is making background noise. members of the public will have an opportunity to participate during public comment. the public is asked to wait for an agenda item before making a comment on that item. comments will be addressed in the order received. when taking public commit members can press star 3 and you will be queued. callers will hear silence. they will have the standard 3 minutes to provide public comment. make sure you are in a quiet location, speak clearly, and

turn off any tvs or read yos around you. item one, roll call. [clerk reads names of senators in attendance] [clerk reads names of members in attendance] general comment. members may address the

members for three minutes. speaker shall address the remarks to the commission as a whole and not to individual personnel. they cannot enter into debate with the speaker. the lack of response doesn't constitute agreement with or support of statements made during public comment. there are no callers on the public commit line. >> thank you, i'll close public comment and go to the next item. >> item three approval of the minutes. approving the meeting minutes of october 14, 2020. >> thank you madam secretary. to my fellow commissioners i made a few comments to the secretary regarding the minutes. there is nothing that changes

the meeting -- the meaning of the minutes. i'll entertain a motion to approve. >> so moved madam chair. >> thank you commissioner cleveland. is there a second please? >> i second. >> thank you vice president feinstein. >> president covington, how do you vote? >> i vote yes. >> commissioner nakajo. >> i vote yes. >> commissioner rodriguez. >> i vote yes. >> there is no one on the public comment line. next item. >> chief of department report to nickelson on issues and activities within the department in the meeting including budget, academy, special events, communication

with other agencies and report from administration deputy chief jose on administration status and update. support, services, and training within the department. >> thank you. >> you said there is no public comment? >> there is no public comment. >> okay, very good. >> are you there? >> i am. this is my report for wednesday october 28th 28th. i would like to thank

everyone, commissioners for your support for checking in with us online and president covington for being present with us. it was an emotionally challenging time and i'd like to thank all of the folks on here that really stepped-up to make it happen. assistant deputy chief eric just came in and organized a whole lot of it for us. i know the assistant deputy chief had her handful with lodgistics as well. i know, our chief down at the airport picked the family up. thank you to the chief. thank you everyone for your help. i appreciate it. holding services during covid-19 involves more work.

i couldn't be more proud of everyone for stepping up and getting the job done so, thank you. the cortez family felt the support. i just received another thank you letter from them today and they really felt the support and love. i know their go fund me account is still open as well. that's been really good to see so many people stepping up for them. we are of course following up with all of our members there at the incident with our brother to make sure that they have the things they need. we are a strong group of people but sometimes we need support. at this time i'd like to introduce my new deputy chief,

our new deputy chief bryan. he's been in the department for a long time. he was a division chief. might you announce yourself and say a few words. >> thank you, chief. hello, everyone. i think i know most of you. i'm very excited about this opportunity. i look forward to working with all of you and i'm available 24/7. >> it's good to see you. thank you. >> yesterday we held a town hall. we held it virtually with the chief to provide a forum for our medics and emts and

rescue captains. we spoke about policy changes and procedures, openings, your critical response teams. it's a wonderful thing and we support them. they are the ones that know how to follow the problems. we will be stepping up again

for the next several visits. all of the command staff will be visiting a certain number of stations like we have been doing since the administration started. it's been real good to go out and talk with them. i know it's been good for others on the command staff. we'll continue that in december. through december. we have a few different employees -- we met in october and the chief association as well. it's good to have ongoing dialog. i know the chief will be with

us next month to speak on the new team that we are putting together with the department of public health and support person to respond to behavioral health crisis on the streets. he will be providing all sorts of detail on that in the priority of the mayor's office and department. really, we are looking at 21,000 calls that the police went to last year and we went to many of them as well. not all of them. we are looking to take-over the burden of the calls where there aren't violence involved. that team of people, paramedics from the department and advanced healthcare practitioners and peer support person, someone that's experienced addiction or

mental health issues. they are working on the changes and we'll talk to you next time about that. we are almost squared away on getting an level one academy up and running. we are getting emts onboard. we are also bumping up some current emts and paramedics. we will take a bunch of the paramedics. we are hiring people now to get that squared away. they solidified and chosen and going through background and medical. and then, last time we spoke about a grant.

it was accepted from fema of $14 million and it will allow us to hire and cover 36 people for the next three years. it will be no cost to the department. the only caveat with the grant is that when we accepted it, a few weeks ago, whatever i staffing was at that time we need to basically keep similar -- pretty much the same over the course of that grant funding over the next three years. if we hire 36 to what we had three weeks ago. we will have to hire again. we are looking pretty good there and we are looking at having a class in february.

more information will follow on that. we are selecting some people people. there are way too many good people to chose from and that's a wonderful problem to have. also the training center. we had a meeting yesterday and we still can't tell you where it is. there is a possible aquisition. we put together the department of real estate. there is a private owner and we are doing everything we can and more to follow on that. it's trending in the right direction. so, that's the good news. then, you might know we sent more folks out on leave.

we did preposition because we knew the winds were coming. we went out and prepositioned and nothing lit off out there. they were sent down south to the blue ridge fire. so, they have an act of saving peoples housing and doing all sorts of good work. they were on the news. i know the commissioner got a letter from someone thanking them for for their great work. so, with that, i will conclude my report for tonight. >> thank you so much. i wonder, chief, do you have

anything to add to the report? >> she's not on. >> chief tong, is she on? >> yes, she is. >> do you have anything to add. >> good evening, president. no, not right now. >> okay, thank you. >> okay, then. is there any public comment on the chief reports? >> there is no one on the president commitment line. >> i'll go to my commissioners. i can't see everyone at the same time. let me start with commissioner nakajo. >> you are not on the camera at all president covington. >> really, wonder why? >> madam president -- >> i beg your pardon. >> did you turn your camera off? >> not intentionally.

>> okay, let me see. >> is that -- >> yep, you are back on. >> i didn't see myself but assumed everyone else could. i was wrong in that assumption. all right, commissioner. >> madam president, i do not have any questions for the chief at this time. >> okay, thank you, commissioner nakajo. >> commissioner cleveland. >> no questions at this time. >> okay, thank you, sir. >> commissioner rodriguez. >> thank you chief for your report. at this time i do not have any questions. >> okay, madam vice president. >> thank you, madam president. chief, i have one question and

i can't quiet tell if it's based on the fact that we as commissioners get notification of some events and no notification of other events. i don't know why we get selected for certain things. that seems to be what beeps on our cell phones. i'm going with what i get. it sure seems to me that shark rescues are way up. i don't know if i'm right about that conclusion or somehow, you guys have programmed me to only be notified of shark rescues. boy, do i see a lot of them. do you notice anything going on. is there anything going on or just what they chose to send

me. the powers that be, the computer powers out there. >> vice president, thank you for the question. antidotally, yes, we have seen a increase in shark rescues and water rescues as a whole. so, yes. we would have to rundown the data but from what we are all seeing and i'm sure many folks on the screen here shaking their head yes, as well. it's not the only thing we get though but quiet a few. >> i realize that but is there -- i'm not asking for any particular reason other than is there that explains that all of a sudden. >> yes. >> so, there are a number of factors. i would say that, you know, we

definitely seen an increase in covid-19 people can't get out to many places and they are going to the beach. there have been a lot of people -- we lost one man earlier this summer that was from out of town. folks coming from out of town don't understand that we have one of the most dangerous beaches in the country. so, yeah, we have seen a lot more people from out of town and, you know, you have random sort of whatever the weather and tide is doing. there are a number of things that play into it. it's the most dangerous beach in the country and we had the most deaths over the years. yes, it's been quiet busy of

late. >> thank you, that makes sense. >> thank you. i appreciate comments from all of the commissioners. i see that the captain is on. i'll let him say something as a member of the public. >> well, as a surfer for the last 30 -- how long have i been surfing? since 1983 there has been a huge influx of surfers. with covid-19 and people not working and working remotely and also being able to learn a new hobby at ocean beach instead of going to pacifica that's a starter beach. they have tried to learn at ocean beach and it's not a beach to learn at. so, with the influx of new

surfers, good weather, and covid-19, it's most crowded then i have seen it in 15 years this weekend every peak 20 to 30 people. we are also experiencing, usually the waves are bigger but keeping the beginning out-of-the waters but the waves have been historically small and gives more people trying to get into the sport. >> well, thank you for the information, captain. >> that's really interesting. that's really interesting to me. it seems to make perfect sense. growing up here i was taught

about the undertow at ocean beach. my spouse grew up in southern california and was a surfer. he always told me remember the ocean is not your friend. it will kill you. so, please. please be careful. we have enough risk in your daily job. please be careful with your sporting activity. we'd like to keep you around. >> all right, thank you madam vice president. are there any additional comments from commissioners as a follow up? no, okay, thank you you all. thank you all. okay, let's see, we have the report from administration. >> good evening, president, vice president, commissioner,

chief nickelson, and marine. this is my report for the month of september. i'd like to share my presentation. are you able to see anything? >> not so far. >> chief, we depend upon you. you are our go to guy for this stuff. >> i apologize for that. >> i'd like to give you an update we had, as you recall. a busy season up north.

now we are switching operations down to south we had a team deployed on the assignment. this is a program the governor started two years ago. funding a program where agencies and counties can ask for resources before the fire strikes. the deployment is much faster and proven to be effective in many instances. we were called to assist across the county for that. we also had an engine assist in that. mobbed night they were both deployed to the blue ridge fire. as of 10:00 a.m. it's 14,000 acres and 16 % containment. yesterday it was zero percent contained as of this time yesterday. the chief said on channel 2 and right behind the reporter our fire truck with our crews

out there. i have seen it report and crews out there and the fire was coming down the hill. we got a lot of good feedback on social media for our department being there. if you think this fire season has been busy let me give you the stats from cal fire. they put out a report every year. this is just by size. in 2020 five of the top fires in the history of the state have happened in the state of california. since 2000, we are seeing something here. we know what it is. climate change and disease of the trees. it's been a busy season. it's not over yet. this is the prime of the season. we went to a fire in med to late december a few years ago. we hope it doesn't get worse. it's a significant trend. update on training, we hosted

three leadership series at the fire academy. we hosted for some of our investigates and chiefs. this was from our office. we hope this will help us do better investigations. we selected captain julia as it new captain. he returned after three years. we continue to do multiple drills. chief johnson is here. we did a water rescue. we continue to do drills all of the time and even with covid-19 we have to continue to do the drills. our teams have been quiet busy. they have been reporting every month. this is national preparedness month. our teams provide personnel to food banks and testing sites

we are proud of their efforts. the mayor selected an emergency response team. on the 17th it was the 30th anniversary of the founding of nerd. it came after the earthquake city hall was very proud. our chief of health has been quiet busy. like the chief said i'll speak about the memorial we held. this required canceling the plans. we will continue to develop our curriculum. we are looking for a new member for the behavioral health unit.

they have been promoted soon to prevention. so, we need to fill that spot and we are testing for that. we have been busy with the flu clinics. we hope everyone on the call has taken a flu shot. the goal is to achieve 70 % of the data. we will continue to provide feedback for the covid-19 safety plans. we are working on our stations. many locations will be polling stations. we will have a plan for that pretty soon. our regional planning bureau, we have a vacancy there. every year members can bid for open spots this takes place

every year. also different shifts took effect on october 3. one of the busiest divisions under my command. the fleet, we have the bids due after thanksgiving. if you recall the last meetings they will have to bid again. we will get them back after thanksgiving. we were granted five new mini pumpers from oes. this is liken begin 361. if they need them we will staff them. we will pay for them to be deployed. they will go for support and the bigger begins we send aren't as good. we are also lucky enough to

get grants. so soon enough we will have nine new mini engines that will assist us in brush fires. the new engines coming out we will do an early inspection. we will take covid-19 precautions we will get better there and it's not what we want to be the completion date is the fifth. the middle panels continue to be installed. we have dry wall in both levels. it's not finished yet but it's there. also the anchoring of the

station. some of the first floor pictures in the progress. also the exterior. this has been built at treasure island. this is the work that's been done on the peer make sure they have the anchors for that. it's been installed and rooms near completion. the warehouse for all of the equipment. we will see pictures on the exterior of the division. that's basically all of the storage for the medical equipment so we can give it to them. our human resources, we had two retirements.

all of those promotions and captains. this is for our family. thank you for those that put this together. do you recall we are able to have companies to help cover the city. this is the project that was the operations chief and a lot of work was put into the project. we have numerous calls and offers for help that wanted to come and pay respects and help

us out. that came from across the county. multiple engine trucks and they were able to come in and pay respects at the end of their shift. this was from 2:30, 3:00 p.m. until 10:30. everyone and could pay respects. alameda county cameraman put this video together. ♪ [ music ]

>> that ends my report, thank

you. >> can you hear me? >> yes. >> thank you very much for your report and showing us the video. it's still quiet moving to see thank you for mentions people coming from the out lying areas to help. that's very good. i think the go fund me page is still up any member that would like to donate feel free to do so. are there questions for, i'm sorry are there any public comment on the chief's

report? >> there is no one on the public call-in line. >> okay, thank you. since there are no members public comment is closed and i'll go to fellow commissioners. i'll begin with vice president feinstein. >> thank you, madam president. kind of knocked me off my feet there. that was really -- that was a lovely tribute. i know that everybody appreciates it and, you know,

we'll always be able to respond when other departments need us that was lovely. i have a few issues to bring up. i know the fire marshal is not here and i hope you can answer for me we spoke last meeting

about what i have noticed walking around i don't mean to be trite about this but the rigged up lightning system. in areas that have plastic canapes in some cases i think aluminum canapes. they are extension cords coming out of windows and wrapped around trees they light up the big christmas lights there. it just, i think from everything you taught me i see danger, danger, danger.

i know, the fire marshal has been really on top of it and i'm just wondering, you know, where we are with that and how involved the department is getting. it can't be safe. they have heaters and all sorts of things. i'm not sure how many are permanent or not. there is no permit posted but you can envision a tragedy occurring. i don't know if you can address that or not. it's unfair to spring it on you. i didn't know the fire marshal wouldn't be here. >> what i can address and this

is under it too. he has inspected 700 of these out of those 30 came back with issues that had to be corrected. we have the most active supervision for the shared space we are on top of that. that's when they applied for the permit. if we see it and our chiefs on the field if they see something we have expected 700. so, we are very active. our team is very active and make sure they comply with access and comply with anything we mention about flammable or heating devices

that could be close to flammable devices. they are very active. if they have issues they come back and work with the owner of the restaurant to make sure they are addressed. we work with them and make sure it happens. they are very active from that. >> okay, thank you. my second comment that came out of your written report. i wanted to say when i look at what our volunteers are doing. it's really the same thing for the fire preserve and the service they provide. boy, i'll tell you. if they are straightening up

the basement of the tower due to recent flooding, bless them. it's just, i think we need to do a shout out to those who volunteer their time and services. i did take note of that in your report. thank you for bringing that to our attention. those are my comments. >> thank you, madam vice president. commissioner cleveland. >> i don't have any comments other than i do believe the memorial tribute you put together was very good and moving. i had one comment. you mentioned 70 % of the firefighters received their flu shots. i believe that's wonderful compared to past years where we barely got to, you know, 30

to 40 40 percent of the membership. i'd love to see it at 100 % but that's really good. i wanted to congratulate you on that. >> thank you. >> i didn't say we achieved that. that's our goal. we are getting better than last year but that's our goal. we have another event coming up this week. that's our goal. >> okay, well, keep me posted. >> i will. >> thank you for your report. iran across something that said red cap exercise i don't

know what that means. i also have a question about testing the fire department would like to test their own members. i'm not sure if that's extended to the public. the report on injuries. is there were 12 head injuries that were higher than any other type of injury. i wonder what are they involve and why so many? that's all of the questions i have. >> thank you commissioner. a few things the red cup drills, i can have chief johnson explain more of that. this is a company drill by faa regulation. widow it more than required. they do multiple scenarios.

it's not the same thing. they do things with fire on an airplane. it's a major deal and i'd like to see chief johnson explain more about that. in regards to the testing the issue we are having. it's for our members. they authorized to us to make sure we can test. as soon as we have an exposure we want to test and this doesn't allow members to be off-duty for a long time or protect them in a way, if they are testing positive protect their families. we are looking into that and we are pretty close to have trained our rescue captains. a few months ago we had eight members on the strike team that's policy. when they come back they are

also tested too. this will expedite the process we can test them right there we can do it for odd hours when they might be closed this will provide an opportunity to do it on a expedited bases. the last question was about -- >> head injuries. >> there weird situation 12 of them i'll have to see what they are. chief johnson, if you'd like to explain about the red cup

rules. >> these are multiagency drills. we have partnerships from the coast guards we will have an elevated train derailmentment. we are doing our yearly disaster drill. we will have 100 victims we did a smaller scale one last week. that's because the army for the support team wanted to recreate the drill last year.

it's something we put-on and identify any short-terms that we have. >> okay, well, thank you for answering my question and your report. >> thank you. >> president, you are muted. >> sorry. thank you for your report. excuse me, thank you for your questions commissioner rodriguez. i think it would be helpful if the new members were able to

get mass casualty bus and fsfd. >> we can make that happen for sure, president. >> that mass casualty bus and information about our cooperative. >> chief nickelson if you could include that in your comments at our next meeting. i know commissioner nakajo hasn't spoken. >> thank you, madam president. first of all, i wanted to welcome chief reubenstein to

your position. i haven't had the personal interaction many times in the field. it will be a great experience and the department will benefit greatly with your skills and expertise and support. i definitely wanted to welcome you. i also wanted to thank the former chief of operation victor for all of his contributions and for a career that contributed to our department. i also wanted to thank you for the retort.

we haven't experienced the visual. it's very meaningful to see that and perhaps i'd like to see that again at some point. thank you for that as well we have been able to look at takeaway services for members -- activity and service. we respect the families wishes and understand it was very appreciative. it wasn't easy and i'm speaking for myself in terms of knowing full well we had a visual of the service and what's going on.

i thought i would be able to see something but i didn't. i just wanted to comment on that as well. chief, i noticed in your report that september -- i just wanted to find out as an inquiry what the status is in terms of of response teams. >> commissioner, we had three applications go out.

>> can he can hewe will make sure we select the right candidate. we have to apply for that job. >> okay, thank you, chief. also do you have an estimated timeline for when the position will be filled? >> as soon as possible. the next few weeks. >> thank you very much, chief. the only other -- that was all my comments and questions. the only other thing, vice president feinstein, in terms of your questions -- it's important, chief. in the parks, it's a shared space. that will help us as well.

>> chief nickelson wanted to share this with you. >> so, what i would suggest is we have them come -- they are calling it open spaces. we can speak to everything vice president feinstein asked about. i suggest we do that at one of our upcoming meetings. >> okay, dually noted. we brought up that subject matter at the last few meetings part of that is desperation. many of my friends and

colleagues can't even get a shared space inside their restaurant. there is no outlet. it's been really hard. this is from police barriers and up to 10,000 for their shared space. they told me they won't make it in the future with the restrictions i think that's a matter that still will occur. i just wanted to comment on that as well. thank you madam president for my allotted time.

>> thank you, commissioner. yes, chief. >> i know we spoke about it a little bit. we are very much working with restaurant owners, bar owners because we understand the situation they are in. they will have to figure it out right away. we are giving a little space to and time to get everything in order. we know that we need the businesses to open up. we all do. so, we are doing everything we

can. the fire marshal can speak to that but this is a december pat situation. >> thank you, chief nickelson. commissioner cleveland. commissioner cleveland. >> madam president -- >> we didn't hear you. >> no questions. okay. >> all right, thank you. >> i agree that the parklets are shared space or whatever they are called. if people see a dangerous

situation what they think might be a dangerous situation. i think that are very safe. everything is by the book to me.

>> food banks run on such shall, you know, little funding and they really, really depend on the volunteers and now more than ever, we need the food banks. people who have never utilized food banks previously now are making the part of their, you know, their route to go out and

so the fire department, in this way, we've never had this situation before. it's wonderful. i thank every nert volunteer for their office participation and also -- i would like to thank the chief for putting together a robust program for the department and for the community. did you have to say anything chief. you want to add something, please do. >> thank you for coming and the

department and thank you. i appreciate the opportunity every time. the work they do from their hearts. it's an incredible commitment to a testament and what we pictured for ourselves and. >> very good. are there any additional comments from any commissioners? oh, yes, ok. i see a commissioner rodriguez. >> so, just to be clear, this could be for chief nickolson.

basically, he will get a list what are has been issued because just like vice president feinstine, i see him all the over the place but it's not knowing if they have permits or not. i just act on those you receive a list and you would go out and check them, correct? >> that's correct, commissioner. >> thank you. >> thank you, commissioner rodriguez. still, the average citizen can make a phone call regarding a situation they considered to potentially be unfazed. have we already called for public comment, madam secretary. >> clerk: yes, we have there was no one on the public comment.

>> clerk: presentation from a black firefighters association, sherman tillman, president of the black firefighters' association will provide an overview of their employee organization. >> thank you. welcome, captain tillman. >> madam president covington, fire commissioners, chief of the department, jeannie nickolson and command staff and i'd like congratulate the chief to their promotions. i can only speak from my own dealings with them. they're welcome members of the staff and i'm sure they'll do us very proud. so, last time, i had a great

video presentation when we were all together and it had great music that i took the time to do. today, i'm just going to read. i don't know if i can upload a video presentation. i should have talked to chief vello ahead of time and he would have told me i could have done it and i would have figured it out. so, my apologies. usually the black firefighters association would do about two to three events a month in the community. because of covid-19, in all of the restrictions, that has been cut down. we've still found time to do various, different community activities. so what i'll do is i'll just read off some of the things we've been doing and then i'll go into a brief comment and then i'll take any questions if there are any. before covid-19, we've planned

in zoo day, december 17th. and we cooked for the participants and different members were at different -- they had different activities and so we participated in that as we have done under my presidency for the last three years participating once again with the toys for kids program. we have the creative arts school in january and did a presentation. we do probably four to five presentations a year to different schools, mostly junior highs, talking about fire prevention and getting them into bringing the rig out, letting them touch it, let the parents take pictures with the rig of the just customer service and just spreading the court of the san francisco fire department. we have our yearly martin luther

king march with many of the command staff participate in and we open it up inform anybody from our government and we did another presentation and mission high school is now one of the schools in san francisco that has a fire program. it was the onl only one. it was a pilot program and we helped them participate in that and in march we visited el doradao elementary school and that's been a yearly visit, because, i guess, the teachers like us. we keep going back to el doradao and this is the third year that we've seen the school so that's great.

covid-19 hit and there was quite a few unusual requests from our community to help with rent and for food and normally that's not something that the black firefighters do. obviously we don't have the budget like 798 has. we did ask for donations from our memberships and we did pay for rent for two families from the western edition and we delivered bags of grocery to elderly and they had problems with the eed payments. there's been a huge backlog and people getting their payments from the government that are on assistance. so, some people have been backlogged six months into getting their payments and so, they have problems feeding their families and they got in touch with one of our members and we provided food and for those

families. we september sent a group to pn las vegas. these young ladies have participated in dance contests through out the year and their parents didn't have the funds to send them to las vegas because they made it to the finals but the finals were in las vegas. they had no way to -- the teacher was going to drive them there herself but she couldn't pay for the sponsorship fund of getting into the contest and helping with lodging. so i mean, this is what we're about. this is if we can help out, so, we just paid for it for them. we felt this is what anybody who is trying to accomplish their goals in life and it just would

be so sad that not to continue that pursuit because that could kill the dream. so we voted unanimously to support them and -- i just get choked up about this. you know, you just -- some people have no place to go and if we can do something to help children in need, i think we should do it. and we did that. we gave out 100 bags to the community and set up the table around the corner from our office and we had bags of grocery from the community and we set this up from shaman

walton and we gave out gross reese to thgrossreese to the co. we participated in the rallies for the tragedy that happened with george floyd and we're at city hall and participated in those rallies and you know social distancing and mask and we helped give out masks for the people that were coming to those rallies that didn't have masks and sanitizer so from the chinese community who helped provide those resources i used to the captain in the china town station and the collaboration between the black community and the asian community is so important nowadays with all the various violence that is happening from not sit sense in san francisco from outside gangs

and such and that i preying on our asian brother and sisters and i just -- it's just wrong. and i don't want the perception that just because one bad apple is doing something, don't put that on the whole group of people or that whole race so i've been working with diana bang and dixon lee over in the chinatown communities to help bring collaboration in a dialogue, you know. a positive dialogue. in july we donated masks to the mega fraternity and they passed those masks out at city hall and we have members participate with them and just passing on masks to people who needed it. in august, we did a collaboration with the justice of diversity center to provide

access to free legal help with living wheels and powers of attorneys for our members because it's expensive and i have a living will myself and it wasn't cheap. and so, i'm blessed i can afford this but i can see younger members couldn't afford something like this and so, i was lucky to be talking about this at some meeting and one lawyer said we can help you guys out and we made a collaboration with them and we provided this the first black firefighters in san francisco and when i ascended and to celebrate this

man that was the first and without him there would be no me or and it's a world-renowned artist and he is going to make a three-storey mur alf earl age and when that piece is finished, we'll have a celebration for earl graves junior our first black firefighters and everyone will be welcome and we'll give out those invitations when that is completed and it looks like

the complete date is some time in january, unfortunately, because of covid and all these other different things and different insurance that we have to acquire. it's quite a undertaking that i didn't know. [laughter] but, it's all taken care of now and january is what we're shooting for. recently, we collaborated with the mayor's office and they had testing for covid-19 in the filmore district and we handed out flyers informing there was free testing. in october beef been working on voter registration so we've had two participated and one just old fashioned put out and handed out and have people sign up to vote. also, just going back into last month we participated in the

census. i wrote to the command staff of chief nickolson allowed me to make, in collaboration with the government, a video on getting out the -- getting the neighborhood and specifically people of color into filling out the census, it's very important and i think the chief and her command staff for allowing me to do that and it's very important to get people who are supposedly under represented represented. and so, we participated in that video and got it out to members of the community. so that is what we've been doing this past year. taz my presentation on the black firefighters in collaboration with the community and collaboration with staff and the collaboration with members of the chinese community.

now, i can go on to one thing i want to talk about but all take on that. >> thank you captain. did you want to talk about the youth academy. >> sure. we're slated to start now. we have to follow the rules of the sf-us, the school district and all of our kids are i remember school age and that's the collaboration and the commitment we've made to the parents and the school district. it looks like we can start in march and usually we start during the school year as soon as the school year starts and every saturday that's when we start. it's because of covid we couldn't because we changed our schedule so we can do more

things outside, which can honor being a compliance with the rules. and so obviously we had to change and go out and raise money for that because obviously going outside and entails the could you telyouthacademy from e money. the chief is there earlier and we've been in touch with the chief and we've been in touch with chief on getting some equipment for the youth academy and updating the equipment that we currently have had and it was kind of old and outdated and we had a couple tay shouldn't visits and we visited state 4 in february and covid hit in march and in march we had to shut down and we are incollaboration currently with not only the ymca in the bayview but we expanded

it to the fill moore center and we have interest with that collaboration that i made with dixon lee and diana fang to get more asian students in it. as you know from the last time we've done our presentation, the academy started out 20 years with mostly african americans and asian, latino, caucasian, we have people from all walks of life in the youth academy and i'm very proud of that as a pathway to the fire department and i can say that because of the work that mayor breed did that we have one of our graduates come to the san francisco fire department. after all these years where they were going to other departments, we have one and i think chief nickolson has made that commitment, also, to continue to make that a pathway and we're

pretty proud of that and we're really happy of the collaboration that it happening between command staff and the black firefighters and these last couple years and being more cohesive and being on the same page instead of the friction that was the past. >> we'll hold questions until the entire presentation is done. >> ok. >> our biggest concern and something beef been beating the drum about for a real drum about is the numbers in the san francisco black firefighters association. the black firefighters in the department in general. i've been in the department 22 years and usually the average has been in the high 180s and the 180s for black

firefighters this is going back to consent decree numbers and you know, for me, it's anna living room bell while all the other eth necessities, numbers are going up and our numbers are going down and some people will say, in san francisco, there's not that many black people anymore and you have to look at the numbers of the bay area and san francisco and african americans, black people are 14% to 15% of the population and right now, currently, we have 7.8% of firefighters that are black. and even the lowest number is black women, which is only 1%

and i have all the data and i'm sure i hope everyone out there does, there's classes where there's no black women at all and there's been two or three classes under chief joe anne haze white were there were no black people at all. when you hire 52 to 54 people like there are now instead of my time when it was only classes of 20 and 24, that is really unacceptable and we have talked about this ad nauseam and the great thing and i'm hoping the chief nickolson has talked to us about this and she's committed to turning this around and we can't say that san francisco is this great place of adversity when the numbers like this are going down and other municipalities they have these numbers that can you see here on

a board. you know. and so when they see like in the military, when you see a certain segment of your population or your work force going down they thwarted that. >> i'm sorry to interrupt. >> yes, it seems that the way fie hawifi that's gone down at headquarters. is that what you were going to say? >> yes, madam president. i want everyone to know. i'm still here. >> i was getting a call saying the way fie ithe wayththe wifi . everybody who is now located at headquarters can't join the meeting. >> including the secretary. >> yes.

someone said they could join via phone. >> they should be able to join through their phones and from the network. >> the only problem is that we don't know who is going to be able to join. rosanne a was right it's always something. it's always something. [laughter] >> i tell you! oh! the chief is going to connect by telephone. >> so we will wait a few moments. how are my commissioners doing? i see. madam vice president and i see the commissioner and rodriguez.

>> madam president, i want to tell you that my screen is jumping and it's almost making me motion sick. all the though i can hear captain tillman's presentation, his words and his gestures aren't aligned and it's been true for the last few speakers and what is going on and chief nickolson is gone. >> i'm back! >> ok, you are on the phone. >> and so i feel like i'm back on the computer. >> this ser i can a. >> hello. >> is this -- >> th the wifi went down and everybody is jumping back on

now. >> ok. >> is the commission asked back with us? >> let's see when they return and we can continue with captain tillman. madam vice president, do you think there's some power problems in your area? >> not that i know of. i don't have the best luck because i keep breaking it up but i'm not aware of any

problems particular to me. >> ok. >> and i have lost chief -- >> we're back on. >> ok, there. we're going to wait for you, madam secretary. >> our wifi went out. >> i know but i meant we were waiting to say do not answer the phone during meetings and i saw, oh, headquarters. we've lost commissioner cleveland. we have -- we've lost commissioner cleveland. >> i'm here. >> ok. >> all right. >> we'll carry on. >> i'm not offended, vice president. >> [laughter]

>> i think your camera is off. commissioner cleveland. >> it's good you can hear, please. >> yes. >> do you have an idea of when we lost the power because i've been saying this one thing so many times, i don't have a problem saying it. >> welcome. why don't you give us a condensed version about what you are saying in terms of black representation within the department. >> and i can, captain, if this is a help, write before th the i went doubt, there you are on the screen, you were talking about the very low numbers of black women in the department. >> ok. >> taking notes here so that was

my last note. >> well, just to be clear, maybe going back to former figures, of the high 180s -- [please stand by]

. >> we've been doing a national test for eight years, meaning

that people from idaho, people from michigan, people from oklahoma can get hired here. nationally, the numbers are 14.5% to 15% of the population, so that's double what we have currently. so we all want to see our department thrive and see it -- the way we came in, we want to see it improved, not backwards, and right now, that's where our numbers are going. women, black women in our department, it's 22 at this time. that is the lowest of all the other groups, by far. as a matter of fact, it's less than half of some of the other groups, and it's way we low most of them have twice --

below. most of them have twice the number, and there have been classes with zero black people in it, and i think that's unacceptable when you have classes with 64, 65 people. you're telling me there aren't any african american people with qualifying criteria? i know there is. i can't blame this current command staff because all of the black people in the rampgs are because of the current command staff. but it's ready to push and blame the command before. just like in the navy, the army, the marines, to have this report not only on their desk, but they have this on a board, so any time the numbers are dipping, they're alerted to that, and then, they can target that group to make sure those

numbers stay alive, and that those people are represented in a place that says they value diversity. right now, we have six chiefs down from 15. just to give you a comparison, there's [inaudible] that are african american, but there's four or five times as many in other races. [inaudible] >> -- and we've been engaging and collaborating with this command staff. and i think chief nicholson is committed to making those numbers rise, and now, we just have to wait and see. but all the collaboration with this command staff has been very positive, and i thank them for being very engaging with us

and taking on that challenge and making that commitment. but i do hope that every commissioner gets this report and should ask for this report. it's the race and gender report, and it comes from h.r. you can get this report. it's easily accessible because you get the retirements, and you can see how the numbers are going to be and it affects how many members that age group has. so that's my presentation and my talk about that, and i thank you. and if there's any questions that i can answer about the black firefighters association or black people in san

francisco today or black fighters in the san francisco fire department. >> president covington: okay. thank you very much for your presentation, and i'm sure that our commissioners do have questions for you, so i will begin with commissioner cleaveland. >> you're muted, ken. >> commissioner cleaveland: sorry. can you hear me now, madam president? >> president covington:um h. >> commissioner cleaveland: thank you, commander tillman, for your report. you say you have 152 members of your department. how many of those are members of the black firefighters association? >> 110. >> commissioner cleaveland: 110. do they have to pay dues? >> yes, sir.

>> commissioner cleaveland: how much are they? >> well, every group pays dues. whether you're in asian firefighters, hispanic, los bomberos, you pay dues. but we're the only one with a building, and we have to upkeep the facilities. under my presidency, that's been kind of the big thing for me. new paint job, new back stairs. we have rot, new bathroom. just making it more presentable to not only the youth that use that building, but to the neighborhood. now we have a big firefighter on the building, and other firefighters from other departments come by to take a picture because it's about two stories, so yeah, it's awesome.

our dues are a little bit less than the dues from 798. >> commissioner cleaveland: so what is that? >> so it's about $50 a paycheck, so about $100 a month. >> commissioner cleaveland: okay. >> a little closer to that, probably $98.50, somewhere around there. >> commissioner cleaveland: how did the black firefighters association get a building? >> so this came, i guess, around the consent decree when they were meeting at different venues, trying to get a rat gee on, you know, the consent decree -- strategy on, you know, the consent decree, and they got tired of going from here to there to the other. so a couple members actually got together, bought the property, and, you know, if

chief johnson's on here, i'm not going to say he was around at that time, but i think he would have a better insight into -- i know the members who bought that building, but he would have a better insight about what exact year that was. i'm pretty sure that was in the 80s. >> i believe it was in the early 80s when they decided they wanted to make that leap from being more of a social organization to an organization that wanted to effect change in the departments. i believe it was the early 80s when that happened. >> commissioner cleaveland: is the building still owned by those individuals or is it actually owned by the black firefighters association? >> so the building is owned by the black firefighters association? >> commissioner cleaveland: okay. so they deeded it over to the black firefighters association? >> yes, sir. >> commissioner cleaveland: well, that's good. that's a great asset to have. >> it's a great asset to have, but it puts us right in the

community. you can see the building every day. you can go by. you know our hours. we have it posted, and they can come in and get advice for joining the fire department. a lot of times, they come in because they want somebody to talk to, and firefighters, we're more -- i always tell my guys or my people, we're more than firefighters. when you're a firefighter in your community, people come to you once they know you're a firefighter for all different kinds of advice. when somebody knows that you're a firefighter, people are knocking on your door for all kinds of stuff. i wish i didn't know -- sometimes i think that, but it comes with the territory, so to speak. but the great thing about having that building is that in that area, unfortunately,

there's been a lot of shootings. unfortunately, right across the street, a couple people recently had been shot, and we can work with the supervisor in targeting those areas, question can work with the police captain at the third street station and helping mitigate some of the situations, that people don't know them, and we're there all the time. we can go through those waters, so to speak, and make the dialogue at least a little bit more civil than friction. >> commissioner cleaveland: thank you. captain, how long have you been the president of the black firefighters association? >> three years now. >> commissioner cleaveland: through years?

some of -- you mentioned that you were committed to bringing new members into the department. would that be the top priority of the black firefighters association or is it blah, blah, and blah? what are the top three goals of the black firefighters association? >> our goals are always equality, diversity, and making sure that our people are trained and promoted, so those are our tenets, and we expect all of our people to abide by the rules. but more importantly, we want our people to be treated fairly, and i can only speak from my career, it hasn't -- if you took my whole # 2 years career, i would say there's 20 years of them when i see that african americans haven't been

treated fairly, and we have blips of time where things were quiet and handled even keeled, but it's unfair that you say you know four people [inaudible] and for some reason, they're coming after one of your members, when somebody else -- or you know a [inaudible] who's done the same thing, and nothing was done. it's just fairness, it's just opportunity, and it's just being able to get the same thing, no more or no less, than other people are getting. like i always said, we wouldn't need a black firefighters association if those things happened, but time and time and time and time again, it's been proven that that's not necessarily the case. and, i mean, unfortunately there's not a week that goes by

that i don't get something that happened in a fire house. being the b.f.a. president is that other people who are not in our organization see that that's what we stand for, and they call up, asking for advice. they don't call 798, they call up myself, they call up chief johnston because they know that we're just straight down the board. what's good for you is good for everybody, and so that's how we deal with things, so they'll come to us, so-and-so, this happened, and can you help me? they're not dues paying members, so obviously, i can't represent them as president of the black firefighters association, but i was a steward for 14 years and always a member with a union background, so i represent them in that way. when all is said and done, we

should be treated equally and fairly, and not only getting in the fire department, but once we're getting in the fire department -- and i've talked to chief nicholson about this, and i've obviously talked to chief johnson about this, and i've had the opportunity to talk to chief velo about this, there was the chance with the command staff that people always got to get them prepared to get into certain positions, but african american members never got those calls. and i'm sure those calls happen now. lik like, calls to get people ready to get them in another position. it's always a friend. it shouldn't be that way.

opportunity should be for everyone, and everyone should have the chance to promote, and everyone should have the chance of venues of education, and everyone should have the chance to get out and make those connections that'll help their career and further it and add to the diversity of the san francisco fire department. but in the past -- and i can only speak for my time as the president, and before that, i was a station steward. and before that -- i've been pretty involved my whole career. before that, i was on the cancer board. before that, a lot of latino members haven't gotten those calls that a lot of people get, and that's not fair. that's what we stand for. we just want fairness, to get the same calls that everybody

else is getting. we want to be promoted and get the calls that everyone else is receiving or that we see that everyone else is receiving, if that makes sense. i hope that answers your question. i know i went into a long did a diatribe of a worm hole, but i hope that answered your question. >> commissioner cleaveland: so the organization wants fairness in terms of training opportunities, advancement opportunities, promotions, that kind of thing, and the ability to be part of the fire department. >> yes, sir. >> commissioner cleaveland: and be a part of the fire department. does the black firefighters association spend any time out as ambassadors, really -- i

know you can't with covid, but prior to that, did you do a lot of outreach to the community as far as schools, when they have job fairs and that kind of thing? did you do that or does the black firefighters association wish to participate in job fares around the city when they start again, i guess, probably in 2021? >> so i can -- i can -- i can't speak to the past, i can only speak to under my presidency. so we go to junior highs, we go to high schools, we participate in job fairs, we participate at the mayor's hbcu, getting kids going to college.

i was at the end of chief joanne hayes-white's tenure, and i've talked to chief nicholson. under my administration, that's what we have done consistently, and i can say that, unfortunately, there were times where we gave 15 names, and not one person -- because there was two classes in a row, that not one black person was in it, and that was a slap in the face to me because that meant that you hired 110 people, two classes, 54 people. some people don't make it, so let's say 50. so you hired 100 people without one black person in it. that's unacceptable.

i mean, that's just unacceptable. and matter how or what excuse you want to give, that's unacceptable. and so i wrote a letter to -- that was chief joanne -- i wrote a letter and said to her, that's unacceptable. i give you 15 names, and how can you not pick one person? and so i just -- i'm hoping, and i'm praying, and i think with the collaboration and the engagement and the communication that we have with this command staff, that will never happen again, and it shouldn't happen again. >> commissioner cleaveland: we get your letters at the commission when you send letters out, and we take them seriously. just know that we are listening to you. >> yes, sir. >> commissioner cleaveland: -- in your letters. one thing you talk about, your

youth academy and the success. it's probably one of the few fire departments in the country that have youth academies. i wonder how you recruit for that and how do you prepare for that? >> normally, it's word of mouth because we can only safely have a maximum of 30 because in previous years, we didn't have the funding. last year, by the grace of god, i wrote a grant, and we got a grant from the collaboration that we've done with the asian american community, we were awarded a grant, and that allowed us to actually go above that 30. and, you know, i really had an edict from the mayor, and she told me, i want you to expand your program. i said, give me the money, which is the bottom line. if you want me to expand the program, you've got to give me more money. so i think there's been more doors opening to more funding, and with more funding, we can

get more recruits. it's word of mouth. we're in the schools, and like i said, probably outside of covid, probably six schools a year. inside covid, we've already done four, so we're inside the schools. we have a couple people that chief ballesteros trained very well that are on the nert side. we train them to give presentations. some of our members are trained in nert thanks to chief arnesteros. since she's on here, i'll just take the chance to say that nert program is great, built from the ground up. i'm sure she's gotten awards for it, but it's a fabulous

program, and thank chief balleceros for all the work that she's done, for taking the ball and run with it. that's one of the things that's helped us because we've had members trained in that. so we can go out and help the schools, and it ultimately helps the mission of the san francisco fire department. when we go out and talk to these schools, we are members of the fire department, we are representing the fire department, and that's how we look at it. we have different facets, and we can get into some things that maybe the other intraers can't get into, if that makes any -- other trainers can't get into, if that makes any sense. >> commissioner cleaveland: nert is a great program, and i'm glad to see it grow. thank you for your presentation tonight. >> thank you. >> president covington: thank

you, commissioner cleaveland. commissioner rodriguez? >> we had job fairs that we went to. i found that mainly the high school job fairs and the -- and the city college, high schools, and city build -- but that was for construction, but i would think you would have a good avenue there, also. but any way, besides being a person of color myself, it's always -- i was always impressed when i'd see people

of my race succeed. so i think when young adults see that, they say if you can do it, i can do it, so i would -- the job fairs, to me, are really important. we did junior high schools, and they aren't really on anybody's radar what they wanted to do for a living. it was mainly when they were in high school, getting ready to graduate, or city college, actually. my church does a program where we deliver food during the holidays. we have a program where they can call the rectory and get food. it's so satisfying when you can actually help people and see their faces when you give them something that they really need. as for the other thing about -- see, i really don't know about

the -- how you -- you would have lists of people that were given over to the administration of the fire department, and they weren't put in. i guess that's something that we need to look at and see why that happens or that doesn't happen in the future, but you mentioned women, and i'll tell you, i was out on the field for 25 years, and another 12 years as an aide. and i think in the whole time, there were only four women that became sprinkler fitters. it's a mechanical trade, and you've got to pass a test to get in, and there's a physical u interview. and we were getting hammered by the state all the time about not hiring women, even though we had them apply for the trades. but like i said, i'll go back

to, i think a good way to try to get people is the job fairs and city colleges. and i just want to -- where is your building at? that's another question that i want to know. >> it's on third street. 1468 third street. it's right across the street from wells fargo bank over there. >> i know where that's at. >> it's on third street, so it's on the right, so that would be on the north -- the northside. so if you go that way, like you're going to candlestick park, in fire department-type colors. >> and i was going to touch on

how the public, if they applied for the fire department. but really, i don't think that's the case if you had a list that you get from the administration, so that's a different type of a problem there. it wasn't really acknowledged, so -- but i want to thank you again for your work. it seems you're doing so much for the community that i just want to commend you on that. and before i go, i'd like to also give congratulations to chief rubenstein and chief arturo on your promotions, and i look forward to working with you. >> president covington: thank you, commissioner rodriguez. okay. madam vice president?

>> in terms of stations and programs, you guys run a real tight ship where you're going to let me in and where you're not. that's the whole department. it has nothing to do with any employee group or anything. the more command staff than anything else, but i appreciate the protection, so let me ask you about your academy. thank you just tell me a little

bit about it, since i don't know about it? >> sure. it's typically from ages 12 to 18 -- >> commissioner feinstein: i'm taking notes when you're doing this, so don't think that i'm not paying attention. [please stand by] .

>> i just feel like this is what i was born to do when i was a little kid i would make up performances and daydream it was always performing and doing something i feel if i can't do that than i can't be e

me. >> i just get excited and my nickname is x usher my mom calls me i stuck out like a sore thumb for sure hey everybody i'm susan kitten on the keys from there, i working in vintage clothing and chris in the 30's and fosz and aesthetic. >> i think part of the what i did i could have put on my poa he focus on a lot of different musical eras. >> shirley temple is created as ahsha safai the nation with happens and light heartenness

shirley temple my biggest influence i love david boo and el john and may i west coast their flamboyant and show people (singing) can't be unhappy as a dr. murase and it is so fun it is a joyful instrument i learned more about music by playing the piano it was interesting the way i was brought up the youth taught me about music he picked up the a correspond that was so hard my first performing experience happened as 3-year-old an age i did executive services and also thanks to the lord and sank in youth groups people will be

powering grave over their turk i'll be playing better and better back la i worked as places where men make more money than me i was in bands i was treated as other the next thing i know i'm in grants performing for a huge protection with a few of my friends berry elect and new berry elect and can be ray was then and we kept getting invited back you are shows got better we made it to paris in 2005 a famous arc we ended up getting a months residencey other than an island and he came to our show and started writing a script based on our troop of 6 american burr

elect performs in france we were woman of all this angels and shapes and sizes and it was very exciting to be part of the a few lettering elect scene at the time he here he was bay area born and breed braces and with glossaries all of a sudden walking 9 red carpet in i walgreens pedestrian care. >> land for best director that was backpack in 2010 the french love this music i come back here and because of film was not released in the united states nobody gave a rats ass let's say the music and berry elect and performing doesn't pay very much i definitely feel into a huge

depression especially, when it ended i didn't feel kemgd to france anymore he definitely didn't feel connected to the scene i almost feel like i have to beg for tips i hey i'm from the bay area and an artist you don't make a living it changed my represent tar to appeal and the folks that are coming into the wars these days people are not listening they love the idea of having a live musician but don't really nurture it like having a potted plant if you don't warrant it it dizzy sort of feel like a potted plant (laughter) i'm going to give san francisco one more year i've been here since 1981 born and raised in

the bay area i know that is not for me i'll keep on trying and if the struggle becomes too hard i'll have to move on i don't know where that will be but i love here so so much i used to dab he will in substances i don't do that i'm sober and part of the being is an and sober and happy to be able to play music and perform and express myself if i make. >> few people happy of all ages i've gone my job so i have so stay is an i feel like the piano and music in general with my voice together i feel really powerful and strong

>> we continue our celebration, our community celebration here for bubble upper yard. i would like to introduce our executive director from mission housing, and he's joining us via video. thank you so much.

>> hello, everyone, i want to say thank you for letting us to share this fantastic day with the community. my name is sam moss, from mission housing development corporation. one of the developers for the balboa park upper yard. we're standing on the future site of 130 low-income family units for the community and throughout san francisco. i really want to thank supervisor safai, the board directors of mission housing, the bart board of directors as well. we're also standing on land that will eventually be a brand-new community center and new bart station and plaza. and it's things like these, collaborations like these, that are the most important work that we do in the affordable housing community. it's important to take advantage of sites like this. they don't come up very often. with the construction that is as expensive as it is and the uncertain times right now, i'm honored to personally to be able to say thank you for allowing to us help to deliver this vital community center. most importantly, cuhj and the

community for sticking together and working together throughout the last five years to make this a reality. without the tireless work that cuhj has put forth since 2008, i don't believe that we'd be here. it's important for everyone that is watching to realize that the standard for affordable housing development and community organization has been set at the balboa park upper yard. this will be the new norm, engaging everyone that will benefit from the property, and not just those that live at the property, it's at the heart of mission housing's mission and i'm honored to stand here today and to say how awesome it's going to be. and, finally, i want to thank the mission housing deputy executive director. i know it looks like i run the company but without marcia, mission housing would not be where we are today. thank you, marcia. and i'm honored to welcome mayor london breed. >> thank you so much, sam. i'm mayor london breed. i'm so excited to be here with all of you today for the balboa

park upper yard groundbreaking. now this is really a groundbreaking project for the lake view o.m.i. community. it's one of the second 100% affordable housing projects in the lake view community. and that has no small part to do with the people of this community who have fought for years and years for their fair share of not just housing, but 100% affordable housing. 131 units. right here at balboa park. and let me just talk a little bit about how amazing this project is. not only will there be an on-site child care, there will also be wrap around services for families. and what's so amazing about this project is that we will be using neighborhood preference. so the people of this community get the right for the units built in their community. it's time to change how we

provide affordable housing in communities. it can't just be that we build this housing and then no one who grew up and was born and raise in regard this community has access. we have so many incredible leaders who are going to be working with us to make sure that the people of this community apply for the affordable housing and that they get in. it's going to be up to you. but let me also tell you about some of the great amenities of this project because this is how housing should be built. very close to transit corridors. and we're lucky to have a bart -- a partner in the sfmta, so i want to thank sfmta and i want to thank bart and thank all of our transit agencies for the work they have not only done to work so we could use this property for 100% affordable housing, but the work that's going to be provided around reimagining what this plaza looks like. there will be additional bart trains. there will be traditional resources. $30 million from the state

invested in this project. which is just one of the many things that we know that we need to do as a city to make sure that we are building more housing along transit corridors. it's not only efficient for the people who rely on public transportation every single day but it's good for the environment also. and let me just take an opportunity to really thank mission housing and sam moss for the work they've done on this project. i want to thank bill white and related for what they have done and our sfmta department for working with us to transition this property for affordable housing. and i want to thank bart for their partnership. i want to thank our mayor's office of housing and the work that they have done. it really does take a village. these projects are so expensive. because it's not just about building housing, it's about building the infrastructure to maintain this housing for generations to come. it's about redoing the plazas

and making it work. it's about the fact that there will be families moving into this particular development and we want to make sure that children have a safe place to play. so so many incredible things. such an amazing project. and let me also just give credit to where credit is due -- where credit is due. the leader of this community, supervisor safai, when he first stepped on the board of supervisors, he said that it is really unfortunate that no affordable housing has even been built in this community. and he wanted to change that. we are breaking ground on the second affordable housing development in district 11 since he's been in office and that's an absolute amazing accomplishment. we are so grateful for his leadership, his partnership, and the work that he has done, not only to provide affordable housing but the job center, the

library, and the parks, everything that matters to people and families who actually live here. because of this supervisor, the lakeview community is no longer the forgotten community of san francisco. so, ladies and gentlemen, i would like to introduce supervisor safai. [applause] >> thank you, madam mayor. this is an historic day and we're really excited to be here. i want to start off by saying that rather than keeping this site and just as an empty parking lot or used as parking, we went -- she doesn't like when i say this -- but we marched into the mayor's office but we marched slowly and we said what can we do creatively on this site while we're waiting for affordable housing to be built. and we came up with a plan for safe parking.

there are individuals in this city that are unhoused and that are living in their vehicles and she did not even hesitate. she supported us, myself and the supervisor brown at the time and we were able to create something that has never been done in san francisco. and that's safe parking for those that are unhoused, living in their vehicles. we're coming up on about a one-year anniversary of that work and it has been extremely successful. so i want to thank the mayor for supporting us and believing us and allowing us to do something positive with this site while we waited for the housing to get built. another thing that the mayor did when she was on the board of supervisors that i don't want to -- i want to underscore, is neighborhood preference. neighborhood preference says that if you live within proximity, if you live within the radius of this site, you

will have first crack at getting into these apartments. that is something that had never been done in san francisco before, and that is extremely important to the lakeview community. about 20, 30 years ago this community was over 50% african american. today it's down to less than 20%. but the children and the families of those families that have grown here and been raised here and prospered here are still connected to this community. they will have the ability if they live in these homes and their families and other neighbors will have the ability to apply for these. and i want to give a special recognition to miss gwen brown who runs our job opportunity center, she's also going to be working on our employment opportunities for this site. she'll be someone that we work with at mission housing and the mayor's office works with to ensure that we do the outreach in this community so people apply. that's a very important thing.

another thing again to thank the mayor, this project would have not been at the top of the pile. we came in and we made the argument that this district has never seen any family affordable housing built on any scale. mayor breed put us at the top. she listened to us and she heard the community and she heard our voices and filled that gap, an additional $20 million to $30 million, first out of the eraf funds and now out of the prop-a affordable housing bond fund. that is what closed the gap for this project and we're here celebrating today, a major grant, a transportation grant, that was awarded to this site. another $20 million. this site is special. this site is important for this community. and we would not have been able to be celebrating this without mayor breed and her leadership and support. so thank you, mayor breed. [applause] mission housing related have been wonderful partners. i don't know how many times i

had to pick up the phone and call bill witty and work through problems to make sure that this project is going to stay on track, that it's going to be built, that it will be family. and then let me make one last point before i end. another thing that the mayor and i worked on together when she was board president and along with supervisor jane kim, along with supervisor aaron peskin, we updated the conversation about what is affordable. and affordable for whom. so many times in this city people are talking about housing and affordable housing just for extremely low-income families. and you know what, we do a pretty good job of that in san francisco. and we need to do more. but what we haven't done, and what this community has always been has been a community of working people, a community of working families. i'm talking about non-profit workers and i'm talking about teachers and i'm talking about muni drivers and educators and

i'm talking about people that get up and to make this city run every day. and because of the work that we did, we have been able to expand the definition of affordable. we have been able to ensure that working families will also be included in this conversation. so that when a janitor applies or when a non-profit worker applies, they will also be able to qualify for this housing. now that's not at the exclusion of low-income families, because what we did -- we expanded the pie. instead of having 80 to 100 units we went up to 130, and we did that with a community process. so i'm very proud of the results here today. i'm very happy to be here. i want to thank again related mission housing, mayor breed, the mayor's office of housing and marion harris from the district 11 council, thank you for being here. phylicia thibedeau from one of the institutions in lakeview o.m.i. and i see the folks from

community, united for health and justice. i want to recognize all of the community work that went into making this possible. this is years in the making. this is something that will be special and lasting and thank you very much, everyone. [applause] >> oh, sorry, and, yes, our other partner that is very important because we're sitting on their land is bart. bartd has been a partner -- bart has been a partner in helping us to solve the pusonl the puzzle n reimagining this plaza here. and sfmta was also a part of that, but i would like to bring up miss alicia trouse from bart. thank you. >> hello, welcome. i'm alicia trouse, i'm the bart communications officer, and welcome to our bart station.

i love this station. i love how easy you can jump off a train and get on a muni bus. it's a great partnership. and our business is moving people, right, but it's also gaining lifetime riders. you do that by building housing right across the street from your station. i want to briefly talk about something that we're very concerned about at bart. it's the mobility divide. you've heard of the digital divide, right? well, there's a mobility divide. and it's perpetuating inequality and the way that you tackle is to build 100% affordable housing right next to transit, right next to bart and right next to muni and you make it easy to go to your job and health care appointment and school by doing that. and this partnership is going to tackle that divide. and next i toss it to our bart board of director bevin duffy, who represents district 9, so let's roll the tape. >> i'm proud to join you this

morning virtually on behalf of the bart board of directors and my colleagues simon and director jantzidirectjanice lee. we are proud to be here to recognize the community leaders that i have known for so many years here in san francisco who had a vision for what could be done and that we could take this site and develop homes for families that need them and to create a vibrant meeting place that brings the community together and also to recognize the importance of transit oriented development. what we're trying to do at bart around the bay area, which is to build complete communities that have housing and retail and sometimes commercial and great bike and pedestrian access and public meeting and gathering places. and so i really want to congratulate the mayor's office of housing and community development and also mission housing development corporation.

and related companies. and sfmta and our transit partner. and so many great things will come as a result of this that we'll have better seamless transit access and that individuals, including bart at balboa park, you will find a great community space where we may have farmers' markets and other things that really bring our community together. i really want to say that we are extremely grateful to the community and i also want to add to mayor london breed, supervisor safai, supervisor avalos, and the previous supervisor for this district, and really just to say that -- that the city has really come together to create an amazing t.o.d. project. thithis is an important milestoe and we're gratified to be part of it and to show the bay area that we can develop much-needed housing and help to have a more

complete community. >> thanks. now i'd like to introduce bill witty, the chairman and c.e.o. of related california, one of the largest developers of affordable housing based here in this great city of san francisco. everyone, please welcome bill witty. [applause] >> thank you, alicia. you know, as the mayor and supervisor safai said, i have been working both in government and in the private sector in san francisco since the early 1980s. this is the first time -- the first year that i can remember a big push for affordable housing in this neighborhood, which has long been needed. and i think that what's really made this happen -- you have already heard is that we've gotten to work along with mission housing with two of the most effective advocates for affordable housing, not only in

this city but in california. with mayor breed, if you mention affordable housing and are about to ask for something, she will typically say yes. now the answer is yes. now what's the question? you can't do any better than that. and supervisor safai who has become a friend and colleague over these years, working on this project, and every month i know that i'm going to get a call from him saying, what's going on. what can we do? oh, we have this technical problem. let's figure out a way to solve it. oh, we have to lobby the state to get funding, what can i do to help. he's really helped, along with our partners at mission housing, in bringing the community into this so that this is not just about bricks and mortar. this is about holistic housing, you know, and you've heard all of the components of that in working with the community. i would also like to thank our staff and silver berg and nick

wilder here today for all of the technical work needed to work with our partners at bart to make this technically feasible. this is a very challenging site. we have to deal with bart's legitimate questions. we have to deal with issues of inaggress and egress to have the services and the site work and the child care, all on a very complicated site. we have a great architect in methune partners and a great partner in cayhill contractors and it's all come together to make it happen. and i would like also to acknowledge the mayor's office of housing who on behalf of the city has worked with us throughout to make sure that all of the funding works together and that as supervisor safai said to close the gap to make the financing feasible. so i look forward to the day when we open this development.

in a few years from now we will welcome the residents of lakeview and others for whom this housing was intended. so thank you very much. and now i will bring back marcia contrares of mission housing. >> thank you, mr. witty, thank you for joining us and thank you for your kind words. i would like now to introduce jesse fernandez, the program manager with communities united for health and justice. jesse? >> buenos dias, good morning. i'm jesse fernandez, i'm with communities united for health and justice, we're a multi-reliant program across the district. we are celebrating affordable

housing, community serving here at balboa park upper yard station. this project represents the very best in collaboration between the community and the decisionmakers. and i want to invoke all of the community planners who for 10 years have rolled up their sleeves and time and again made the case to make this project possible and have done so guided by a heartfelt community-led process. our success at the balboa park upper yard should set an example for people-focused planning for our ever changing city, to always keep people at the forefront of decision-making. i would like to acknowledge the hard work of our former supervisor john avalos for working with the community and advocating for necessary resources that are long overdue across our district. thank you very much. >> thank you, jesse.

well, we are at the end of our community celebrations. thank you to all of the partners that joined us today and to everybody that joined us virtually. thank you to cuhj, for [speaking spanish] the ymca of san francisco, mayor london breed and supervisor safai, and all of the representatives from bart and their team for their support while coordinating this event. and, of course, our development partner, mr. bill witty from related company for their understanding and being able to work with us and identify the needs of this community and the families of district 11. we also want to thank our team at mission housing for reaching this milestone and a special thanks to our board of directors for always supporting us. last but not least i would like to send a special thank you to our senior communications manager for working on all of the logistics and to make sure that this event was a successful and safe one for everyone who participated. thank you again for joining us

and until the next one. (♪) >> hell oh everyone. thank you so much for joining us today. well, covid has changed our lives. the fact it is has changed how we go to work, how we go to restaurants, how we interact with each other but this year will change how we vote. we want to make sure here in san francisco, we make it as simple as possible.

i'm excited to be here to announce that although we can't do what we've done in the past, and provide early voting in city hall, we are going to be doing early voting right outside on grove street in what looks like a beautiful party at the present time. i want to thank the department of elections, and he will talk about more about exactly the steps that his team has taken to ensure that we not only make voting accessible, we make it safe. we want to make sure that people feel comfortable if they need to vote early. they can come to this voting center and it will be opening on monday. if they want to vote on election day or drop off their ballots on election day, we'll have 588 locations all over the city.

and, what is -- don't be alarmed if you don't receive your ballot you won't be able to vote. this department of elections has received everything. if you didn't receive it in the mail can you provide replacement ballots. if you are going out of town and you need a ballot mailed to a different location, there's a system in place to do just that. for whatever reason, you are not certain or uncomfortable accessing a paper ballot, there's just a lot of options. they've been sending things in the mail, sending things online to say our goal is to make this as easy as possible. in the last presidential election, sa san franciscans tud

out in record number. it was a '80 turnout. in 2008, it was 81%. this is a city that prides ourselves on making sure our voices are heard. we're not going to covid stop us from making sure that you have access to vote in san francisco at your convenience. i'm excited and i know that there's a lot of confusion out there but this department of election has done everything it can to make sure that it's easy to call the department of elections, call 311, go online if you need information for where to pick up a ballot or a replacement ballot. we thought of everything. so, there's no excuse for anyone in this city who is a registered

voter not to vote. and in addition to that, if you are not registered to vote, and you would like to register to vote, you have until october 19th. so, make sure that you take the opportunity to go online and this center is open and you can come here and register to vote and you can vote on the same day. in addition to the dress up locations on election day, and this voting center right across the street from city hall, we will have a number of of drop off ballot locations the weekend before election day. linda brooks burton library and the branch library. because again, we're trying to make it easy as possible and it's ballots in-person or on

election day. if you need more information, please visit the department of elections website at spelections.org. call 311 or call (415)554-4375. so with that, i just want to again thank everyone for their cooperation, the work they do. i really want to express a special thank you so john arts and the department of elections staff because they have been working very hard to make sure that no question is unanswered. anything or any scenario that could occur, they wanted to make sure they were prepared to support and address the public. and they work with the number great community organizations

and to get out the vote and some of those organizations are with us today, including george chance from the chinese newcomer service center, jackie flynn, the ex you director of and these are organizations who make sure that communities all over san francisco have accessed to vote. and we appreciate the work that they've done for many, many years. i also want to thank martha cohen, the director of special events, for taking such time and care with creating a warm and inviting space. thank you, martha for your work. and with that, i want to turn it over to our special guest, joining us here today, you probably recognize him because the tallest person here. our state senator, scott wiener. >> thank you, madam mayor.

and i also want to thank martha and also our department of elections and john arts for once again really stepping up to make sure that san franciscans can vote and vote easily. that's one of our core values in san francisco that we want people to vote and we want to make it easier for people to vote so i have complete confidence in our department of elections that we will run a beautiful election here and that we will -- it will just be a really strong showing and a really difficult period of time. this is a partnership between the state and our counties including san francisco we took action at the state level to people being able to vote during a pandemic and we authorized global vote by mail o so everyone gets a ballot even if you are not signed up as a permanent absentee and not put

barriers in order to get an absentee ballot and normally, it has to be post marked byelection day and i do want to ask people please, try not to rely on post marking on election day and sometimes you can mail it after whatever the pick up is at that particular box and there are unfortunately thousands of ballots each time where people just mail it too late in the day. it doesn't get post marked. make sure you are going to mail it, please, troy t try to mail tractor-trailer dait theday bef. even if there's a problem with the post office, which i don't think there will be. you have plenty of time if you mail it right up to election day. it has 17 days to a arrive instead of three and that is a huge change in stay law that we've made to just make sure that every ballot can be counted. what this is really about is

auctions. we want people to make choices that work for them and people can drop it off in different locations and of course, we have absolutely amazing voting facility here which will respond to our health needs in terms of allowing people to show up and vote safely. and to be able to do it efficiently. the capacity here, as you can see, is huge. it's going to start on monday and also be opening two weekends before the election. we're making it so easy for

people to vote in a way that works for them and their family and their own health situation. i have a digital town hall last week with our secretary of state, alex padilla and with con on cause and a representative of the american postal workers union and she was very, very clear that she has confidence that the mail is going to work well for this election. despite some of the turbulence we were saying, they've been able to move through that and she assured us our postal workers, who are some of our front line essential workers, who are putting themselves out there during this pandemic so we can do what we need to do as eye society they're going to work incredibly hard and they will deliver the mail and people can have confidence in the mail. so, again, thank you, madam mayor, thank you to our department of elections and let's just run a great election as always.

thank you. and now, i want to invite up our director of elections, john arts. >> thank you, senator weren't. thank you mayor breed and also for organizing this event. this is a great timing for an event like this, just before early voting begins. early voting will begin october 5th here at the voting center located outside bill graham auditorium. this is an example of the mayor and the senator wiener have indicated and the department and city have take ep steps to make sure that voting is safe and healthy experience for all voters in san francisco. the ballots we mailed actually tomorrow and voters will start receiving ballots on saturday and then they'll most will receive ballots on monday going through the election week. we have a full compliment of polling polic police station ple want to drop off or they don't want to mail their ballot back,

just before elections day, is they are outside the voting area so voters don't have to go mud the voting area. they decrease the amount of traffic that voters would experience at election day. and everything that we've done since really the end of the march election going through the cycle for november, has been to plan in relation to conduct an election, while trying to respond to a pandemic. so everything that is happening here at bill graham auditorium, is organized so that people can maintain social distancing and there's ppes that our personnel are wearing and useing and the public has provided ppe and hand sanitizers and sanitizing wipes, face shields and things like that and the same for the polling places. the voters and co-workers can maintain social distancing as they go through the election process on election day. we've had p.p.e.s available

for the voters and the poll workers on election day. and the in-person voting here at the bill graham auditorium and the polling places there's a cleansing of the areas and materials and the commonly used items throughout the day so voters will go into a clean voting environment when they go to cast their ballot on election day. also, i want to echo the comments about the post office. we've had conversations and meetings with the post office before this election and to make sure there was no issues and with the processing and to support the conduct of this election for november. the post office of senator wiener noted, has put tremendous men does attention and focus on their abilities and their requirements to give ballots up to vote and he is get ballots to voters to elections here in san

francisco. i want to share the city and the departments of elections has put much time and thought into this and so they're safe and secure and everyone has a good experience on election date i'll turn it over to george chan. >> and even we call chinese and we're helping everyone. so this year we're happy to be receiving support from the city to continue the registered people. so, this year, we see the ballot we mailed to you and we help people register. we follow that many times they don't know if you change your address, make sure you update it, ok. so also, if you do know your status, we can help you to check it as well.

thank you. >> good afternoon, everyone. my name is jaclyn flynn. i'm the executive director of the a phyllis randolf of san francisco and we're working with the department of the elections in the city to really get out of vote this year. so i ask you, how important is your vote? 2020 is a challenging year as a nation. we have lost over 200,000 american lives from covid-19 and these fires, as you can see, continue to raise and scorch our state and homes and businesses and and the california economy and our air quality and and they leap gap in time with racial tension zoos tie that they spilled into our streets. so i asked again. how important is your vote?

this year and you can help redefine our jail system you can help reform our law enforcement system. you can help fund our parks, you can vote for housing and healthcare and your vote is a vote for change. i ask you, what can you do to effect change and if you can, do it early. send it in my mail. drop it directly into a ballot box and thank you to the city for creating an accessible space for folks to do that safely. and if you must safely head to your poll, please wear your mask and vote. i encourage awful us to ask our

families, our friends, our work colleagues, our neighbors to do something important, vote. this year has been hard on all of us. and as i think about why it's so important, i think about my own kids. and i realize that i have the power to set a clear example that i'm not satisfied where we're at in this nation today and i'm not going to sit back. i will be an element of change. the a phyllis randolf institute will be on the frontlines reaching out to our seniors and over 5,000 units of low income family housing across is this city. we'll be facing this year of covid, hitting the streets to ensure education and access to voting. you can help us in that fight. i'm inspired by san francisco. a city that votes for change. i'm inspired by inspired by a t

looks like me. when i vote i celebrate my skin, my lips and my determination to be represented by someone that understanding my perspective. to all my asian brothers and sisters and to all my latino brothers and sisters, we need you. we need bilingual folks and to my caucasian allies, we are all in this together. i challenge everyone to get education and make a plan and vote. thank you. >> thank you to the press and the immediate why for getting the word out and most importantly, we want to make sure that voting is easy. if you have any questions or concerns, what is interesting this past weekend, i heard from a lot of folks that said i didn't get my ballot yet, what

is going on? what is happening. so people seem to be very excited about voting. we also want to make sure that folks are able to get their ballots and they're able to get their questions answered and we make it as simple as possible and we also keep everybody safe. when we're showing up to our polling places, or our drop-off center or this particular center here across the street from city hall, we're all using the wash center to wash our hands and we're wearing our masks and complying with our health orders because that's how we're going to be able to continue to not only get through this but adapt to the needs to make sure that we are able to not only vote but vote safely. that's what this is all about and so thank you all so much for joining us here to the today.

>> as a woman of color who grew up in san francisco i understand how institutions can have an impact on communities of color. i think having my voice was important. that is where my passion lies when the opportunity to lead an office in such a new space came up. i couldn't turn it down. i was with the district attorney's office for a little

over nine years, if you include the time as an intern as well as volunteer da, all most 13 years. during the time with the da's office i had an opportunity to serve the community not only as the assistant district attorney but as director of community relations. that afforded the opportunity to have impact on the community in an immediate way. it is one thing to work to serve the rights of those without rights, victims. it is really rewarding to work to to further the goals of our office and the commitment we have as city employees and advocates for people who don't have a voice. i don't know of anyone surprised to see me in this role. maybe people have an impression what the director of the office of cannabis should be like, what their beliefs should be. i smash all of that.

you grew up in the inner city of san francisco. my career path is not traditional. i don't think a person should limit themselves to reach full potential. i say that to young women and girls. that is important. you want to see leadership that looks diverse because your path is not predetermined. i didn't wake up thinking i was going to be a prosecutor in my life. the city administrator reached out and wanted to have a conversation and gave me interest in the new role. i thought you must not know what i do for a living. it was the opposite. she had foresight in realizing it would be helpful for somebody not only a former prosecutor but interested in shaping criminal justice reform for the city would be the right person for the space. i appreciate the foresight of the mayor to be open how we can be leaders in san francisco. i was able to transition to the

policy space. here i was able to work on legislation, community relations, communication and start to shape the ways our office was going to reform the criminal justice system. it is fulfilling for me. i could create programs and see those impact people's lives. i am the change. it took truants youth to meet with civil rights movement leaders who fought to have access to education. being a young person to understand that helped the young people realize this was an important thing to give up. what we find is that young people who are truanted have a really high homicide rate in our city, which is a sad statistic. we want to change that. >> coming from a community we are black and brown. i don't reach out to other people. i don't think they feel the same

way. >> i had the great opportunity to work on prison reform issues and criminal justice reform issues. we created a program at san quentin where we brought district opportunities t to lifs and talk about how we are all impacted by the criminal justice system. we brought over 40 elected das to san quentin for the situation. now we are inviting the police department. our formerly incarcerated group born out of this programming asked for the opportunity to work on a project where we could bring the men in blue on the outside to come speak to the men on blue inside to start the healing dialogue around how the criminal justice system specifically in san francisco impacts the community. i was attracted to the role. there was a component of equity that was part of this process. the equity community here in san

francisco is a community that i had already worked with. before i took steps to visit cannabis businesses i thought it was important my team have a chance to go inside and speak to men who ha had been impacted. that conversation needed to happen so we know how we are making an impact with the work that we are doing. the da's office as we were leading up to the legalization of marijuana in the state we started having conversations on the policy team what that could look like. the district attorney was really focused on the right side of history for this. we realized it would be quite a heavy lift for individuals who have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs to expunge the record. it was important to figure out the framework to make it seamless and easy. they put their minds to it after

some time and many conversations the data analysts and other policy walk throughs on the team came up with the idea to engage the tech community in this process. code for america helped us developed the rhythm to be used for any jurisdiction across the state that was important to create a solution to be used to assist all jurisdictions dealing with this matter. the office of cannabis is the first office to have a completely digital application process. we worked with the digital team to develop the online application. there are going to be hiccups. we are first to do it. it is one of the most rewarding parts to offer a seamless -- to offer a seamless approach. that is how they can find solutions to solve many of the community challenges. the best way to respond to prop

64 was to retroactively expunge 9,000 cannabis related records for san francisco. it feels like justice full circle for my personal experience. in the past i was furthering the war on drugs just as my directive. really coming from a place of public safety. that was the mandate and understanding. it is nice to see that pass a society we are able to look at some of our laws and say, you know what? we got it wrong. let's get this right. i had the privilege of being in the existing framework. my predecessor nicole elliott did an incredible job bringing together the individuals super-passionate about cannabis. >> the office was created in july of 2017. i came in early 2018. i have been able to see the

office's development over time which is nice. it is exciting to be in the space, stickily in thinking about her leadership. >> looking for the office it is always we might be before my time when i was working for the board oforboard of supervisors. i learn new things every day it is challenging and rewarding for me. >> we get the privilege to work in an office tha that is innova. we get to spearhead the robust exprogram. >> i am excited she came on board to leverage experience as a prosecutor 10 years as we contemplate enforcements but approaching it without replicating the war on drugs. >> i was hired by cam laharris. i haven't seen a district

attorney that looked kind of like me. that could be a path in my life. i might not have considered it. it is important that women and certainly women of color and spaces of leadership really do their part to bring on and mentor as many young people as they can. it is superimportant to take advantage of as many opportunities a as they can when they can intern because the doors are wide open. plans change and that is okay. the way this was shaped because i took a risk to try something new and explore something and show that i was capable. you are capable, right? it was about leaning in and being at the table to say my voice matters. you find your passion, the sky

>> chair fewer:good morning, everyone. the meeting will and to order. this is the october 28, 2020, regular budget and finance committee meeting. i'm sandra lee few are, the chair of the committee, and i'm joined by the members, supervisor walton and mandelman. our clerk is miss linda wong. i thank sfgov-tv for