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 not

gotten around as much as i would have liked to in terms of visiting stations and visits programs. you guys run a really tight ship about where you're going to let me in and where you're not, and that's -- that's the whole department. has nothing to do with any employee group or anything. the more command staff than anything else, but i feel the protection. so let me ask you about your academy. can 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 -- >> i'm going to take notes when you're doing this, so don't think i'm not paying attention. >> typically, it's from ages 12 to 18. we have had 11.5 year olds that i would say are more mature, and we're not going to turn -- if someone's 11.5, and they want to participate, and they're really willing, we're not going to turn them down, but senior in high school is it. we don't have any college freshmen or anything like that. once you're out of high school, it's over. basically, we teach a fire-style academy, right? they learn c.p.r., they get a first aid card. they do get a c.p.r. card to

get a first aid card sometime when they finish. we teach knots in ropes. it's just basically a fire abdom academy structure, but what they learn from that is self-ri lines and self-confidence. they're able to go home and show their friends about c.p.r. and first aid and different types of fire scenarios. they get a plan in case your family is in some type of disaster. all of these things you not only learn in nert class, but you learn in firefighter one. in the beginning, it's mostly at-risk youth, some kids that have trouble with learning -- i

wouldn't say trouble with learning, but trouble with attention spans, and we have activities to keep them busy. and it's structured so there's sergeants and commanders, and the kids are really the ones -- they come back -- it's a four-year program, eighth grade, ninth grade, tenth grade, it's a four-year program. they don't just do it one year, they come back the second year and the third year. and we give them a stipend for participating. we just upped it. it used to be $25 per time they show up to, and now, i think it's $30 because of the grant we received because we had enough of the stipend and the whole time we started the program, we felt it was time to up the stipend. unfortunately, and it's kind of sad to say, but some kids need that $35 a week just for showing up because that helps whatever is going on at home in

helping support the family. and they know they're going to get a meal when they come, and they have a place that's safe that they can come to. and, you know, unfortunately that's -- you know, unfortunately, that's important in a lot of communities to have a safe space that they can go to and learn something. and the most -- the thing that i know that warms my heart the most, everyone that goes to the academy, we know they're not going to be figrefighters, e.m.t.s, doctors, or nurses, but they're going to be valuable to society. they learn how to interact with people, they learn how to speak to people, they learn how to have self-worth and self-confidence, and you can't put a dollar amount on

something like that because i have seen young people come into that program who were shy, who came from a disadvantaged home, probably had some home violence or something like that in their background and just fluorished and just blossomed because there's somebody that cared about them, trying to give them some structure and discipline. and it's the structure and discipline that we give, under the fire scenario. they have to come in uniforms, they have to prep their uniform, they have to take care of their uniform. they're learning a lot of life skills, and i think that's the most important thing that we give to those youth of tomorrow. >> commissioner feinstein: may i ask you a follow up question or two, please? >> am.

>> commissioner feinstein: what, in terms of the academy and who you serve is the ethnic breakdown of your students or participants? i don't know how you refer to them. >> correct. so last year, we were at full capacity. we had 30 -- i think we had 32. we went over 30. we had -- this is just off of my recollection. i have all the numbers on this actual computer that i'm talking on, but we had 11 african americans, we had -- i think we had -- it was 11 african americans, it was 12 or 13 asian americans, and the rest were caucasian with -- a split between caucasians and latino. that's what the bayview is now, a high concentration of asians and african americans in that neighborhood now, so those are the numbers of majority. and then, we do have caucasian

and latino students that don't actually live in the area. >> commissioner feinstein: right. >> the latino students that came, i think there was three of them altogether, they came from the mission, actually, because we've been reaching out into other communities that we feel that we need to embrace. like i said, with the collaboration with the asian community, we're also doing that with the latino community, and that's where the numbers come from, and just giving a word out that we have a safe space that, you know, you can get some discipline and some training, and then, you know, we're going to pay you, to boot. so that allows the youth to participate. and i wanted to add one thing to commissioner cleaveland that i didn't touch upon. we also collaborated, i think it was last year, with chief sato, who's on here somewhere. we had some underprivileged

youth. they were community college kids, and it was a two-day or three-day class, and the black firefighters helped in going through different scenarios, and we spoke to them, and that was arranged by chief sato, and i don't know if we sent a letter in recollection to thank chief sato for that collaboration, but if i didn't, i'm remiss in that, and i want to take the opportunity to thank chief sato for that. >> commissioner feinstein: chief sato appreciates it, i can tell. one last question. in the academy, how many young women do you have? >> in our academy? >> commissioner feinstein: if you have a class that 's 32 students, how many are woman? >> off the top of my head, we had six, and the commander was a woman -- actually, the last

two commanders have been women, like our department, the last two. >> commissioner feinstein: there you go. all right. thank you. thank you for your presentation and for the good work you do. it's -- i look forward to learning more about it. >> thank you so much for your question. >> commissioner feinstein: that's it for me, president covington. thank you. >> president covington: thank you, madam vice president. let's see...commissioner nakajo, did you have -- did you ask your questions? >> commissioner nakajo: i did not have an opportunity to ask my questions. >> president covington: okay. please do so now, sir. >> commissioner nakajo: thank you very much, madam president. thank you very much for your presentation. [inaudible] in accomplished on the update and report on the

black firefighters and their activities and concerns. the concerns, as you articulated, in terms of the numbers of blacks, men and women, that you can provide, in terms of information, updates. the thing that i want to speak to that is not to talk about the importance -- i don't want to focus on myself. i'm talking about the presentation of black firefighters and the black men and women, members of the department because in one point or another, there have been referenc references made in terms of the

current inequity conditions, so i'm careful with my words to members of the department of african american descent because you made references to -- and again, i need to be careful -- of incidents that you are aware of that it seems like -- not that these incidents don't occur, but this reflection of these incidents on current command staff as well as the structure of communication, whether it be 798, association of black firefighters. i want to put that piece there because that piece is an attorney piece, and one of the things that come up in my mind that i need a comment and an answer on that is what are we going to be doing about those incidents in the contemporary

format to deal with those now? these things reflect on the commission because we also are responsible in all things with everything that has to do with the department, and it takes quite a while for us to be able to understand the variations. commissioner rodriguez, you asked a very good question in terms of how there's a member out there. and we're talking about an african american teenager in this presentation, rightly so. for myself, as well, we've had los bomberos come up, and we had asian american firefighters, and a women's group is going to come in, and i believe we're going to have

lgbtq queer and other groups, as well. as you know, we have a department member that is in charge of recruitment. again, my interaction over those last few years with the fire department, particularly with asian american firefighters and los bomberos, you've got to be careful, but we've seen these groups participating in community outreach programs in one way or another. this is before we had community personnel. in my mind, all entities, whether it's member groups or

current members or current staffers [inaudible]. when i came in 25 years ago, we were in [inaudible] and i think we have some sense of what that [inaudible] really was and that's been brought back, including the city and county of san francisco. again e we need reminders or education in terms of that issue [inaudible] that were many plaintiffs in that [inaudible] for a long time as a young commissioner that came in, not young in age, but young in experience. i had to find out that

[inaudible] in the department, and back in fact day, that the department that used to have their h.r. was well honored [inaudible] but also, i was taken out to a test site at the embarcadero over a two-day period, lined up with members at that time [inaudible] that were lined up to go in and take this test in a warehouse at the embarcadero, and i kind of looked at that. now, the equation is finding -- the other equation is how many classes has the department had over the years [inaudible] without funding, you can't have a recruitment class, and you can't have members of the department. as i looked over the two days of that observation [inaudible]

i asked over that time -- i remember very clearly, i asked how many members were here today on a saturday, and it should probably be noted there was probably about 2,000 folks out there, and the next day, there was about 5,000, 6,000 africans. and there was a process by h.r., these people had to fill out an application and hand deliver it to the department location. at one time, i remember it was station nine. there was a table out there, and i was watching people driving up in their cars, drop off the application. well, this apparently was supposed to be a precursor or a requirement in order to get the test. i [inaudible] into the testing ground at the warehouse. there was a sound system with a

[inaudible] and i sat in the back. to be honest, i couldn't see the video [inaudible]. and then, when the verbal went on, the speaking system went on that was showing us the video, i could hardly comprehend it. so basically, after all of this, my question again was how does the department choose a qualifier or not? and basically, the process that i learned in those days was what i used to call a process of elimination. do you have a driver's license, no criminal record? and a commissioner said, that will eliminate about 2,000 [inaudible] and we'll narrow it

down another 1,000. and i would say how many positions are we talking about, and they would say 36 positions. and i would say, you mean to tell me we're going to have 4,000 applicants for 36 positions? and [inaudible] very complex, i at that time had the office president of the commission assign himself and myself to be monitors to the commission as a special master and to work, at that time, with president of the commission. i can see him right now. >> president covington: haley roth. >> commissioner nakajo: i'm not talking about haley roth, i'm talking about the african

american master of the commission. so [inaudible] and i began to go through a crash course trying to understand the [inaudible] how this was going to be implemented. when it came to recruitment, i had to be introduced to something called a sliding band [inaudible] off of something called the score test. 100 was a perfect score, and we had members that scored that. i can't remember the exact score, but it seemed that there were hundreds and hundreds of name. if you can see my screen [inaudible] so that when this

presentation comes, that at the time, the department had the ability to use this sliding band that qualified. and again, correct me if i am wrong [inaudible] this is my recall of that. [inaudible] in those days, we didn't have a meet and greet, we didn't have any mechanism that i was aware of, so it was a challenge for the administration to do that. i do know that the testing system has changed from locally

to now what we have is a national test, i believe. [inaudible] that i have. so with that, the competition, as in previous years in the past, and i remember, then,

there was a time period when one candidate from this department [inaudible] and the venue entering into the department was, at one time, only h-2 suppression that went into the categoricals of our department. but then, as we adopted the m.s., you could become an e.m.t. or paramedic. we had these learning curves to be able to figure out [inaudible] which i know is pretty much on the candidate academy with h-2 at this point. [inaudible] and i'm a little uncomfortable in terms of references to past administrations because, again,

[inaudible] in terms of dollars and assistance, but i just think we need to get more factual information in terms of numbers, and again, i'm focusing this on [inaudible] and as you represent the african american population who want to come into this department, so i just wanted to comment on that and definitely think that i'm looking at my notes that a comprehensive presentation [inaudible] for improvement for considerations [inaudible] of what it takes for a candidate to qualify to get on the list, if you will, and how that applies, with you, captain tillman.

[inaudible] that the emphasis is on this equity. i think equity, for many of us, i'm not going to move it away from there [inaudible] i believe for the commission, it's very important, so i think it reflects back to the commission. i'm going to stop talking pretty soon, but i wanted to share some of the knowledge base that i have within the 25 years but also [inaudible] expert in terms of what has occurred. so again, madam president, i think at some point when it's appropriate [inaudible] the criteria [inaudible] and again, we need some more factual representations of past administrations or in terms of the numbers that we're talking about [inaudible] because for

me particularly, the categorical women itself [inaudible] i want to thank you, captain tillman, for sharing [inaudible] john smith, etc., that were part of this adtritio administration. so with that, thank you for your presentation, captain tillman, and thank you, madam president. that's all i have. >> president covington: thank you so much, commissioner. i'm mindful of the time, and so

commissioner nakajo, i do have a question for you in regards to the time frame that you're requesting. do you want to give some more detail about that right now or do you want to give those details later that you would like to see in the particular report? >> commissioner nakajo: i think it would be appropriate to do it later, without violating brown or sunshine, yto have a questioning the board and the administration, how best we can present this. there's no pressure, though. i think we have a class that's coming in [inaudible] the commissioners are in terms of process [inaudible] but again, i want to be cautious and

respectful to the chief of the department in terms of her input in terms of how best to approach this. so i would request that we [inaudible] for discussion and then additional addendum, if you will, of captain tillman's presentation. it's a very important discussion, focusing on the participation of the african american community [inaudible]. >> president covington: okay. thank you again, commissioner nakajo. i'm just, in my mind, looking at the calendar as provided by the chief of the department. there will be a new incoming class, so it seems to me that that information should come before the selection of the entire class so that if you have input or any of the commissioners have input, it

would come before everyone in the class is selected. does that make sense to you or how would you like to do it? >> commissioner nakajo: yes, that does make some sense for the timing of the [inaudible], and i definitely think at this point, the chief of the department should be part of this discussion because [inaudible]. >> president covington: okay. thank you again. >> one quick comment, i want to say -- >> president covington: excuse me. just a moment, please. chief of the department, did you have something you wanted to say? >> yes, ma'am, if i can take a

couple of minutes of your time, and i can answer many of these questions that are being asked. so when i came in, i think most of my command staff knows that i am not just about equality and opportunity, i am about equity, diversity, and inclusion, and we have started several different things in this administration to ensure that no one is being left behind. we have begun a program for succession planning, we've begun a program for training for everyone, so that the single mom who has three kids and can't go to sacramento to take a class can take a class here in san francisco at the fire department. so we're coming up with programs like that, and we're looking at the national testing network, which i think is not a great test to get into the fire department, and we're looking at changing it to the n.t.tcc.

it's just a many of the women who came in years ago, many of whom were single moms, if they had to have a [inaudible] before they came into the fire department, they would not have been able to do it, so we're looking at that. it's not something we can change overnight. we're also looking at smaller academies because an academy, people can get lost in the shuffle, people can flunk out. smaller academies will have a better student-to-instructor ratio. i've brought [inaudible] who is now the diversity and equity inclusion officer. [inaudible] for me, and they --

he is going to come into the commission with a report for you, why are you n you. why are you not getting that report from me? because we are actually waiting for that report from bryce, from [inaudible] and his committee, so i think that's going to be telling in terms of how we move forward in this department. we are also -- we also involved, in this last round of selections, we involved the entire department, all the different employee groups, sad on panels and spoke to people and then recommended folks to us for the next class. and so now, we're going through that. instead of just me and one

other person picking and looking at people, i think it's important that we have a section of race, of gender, of equity telling us who they think is a good candidate. and then, we're looking at a program that will be in district ten in the bayview, and it will -- the first-class is going to be young men only, but it's a wraparound program for at risk men, young folks, and it gives them wraparound trauma counseling. it gives them a stipend and an e.m.t. license by the end of the class, and then, we're looking at a way to get them into the department. so i'm really proud of what

we're doing, and i think there needs to be -- as captain tillman says, there needs to be quite a few changes, and we are doing that. we are absolutely committed to doing that. so i want to let you all know, this is not news to me. this is not something that i'm hearing about for the first time. i knew this when i came in and took office, and so we are looking to change things, so thank you for allowing me to speak. >> president covington: thank you so much, chief nicholson. just a question for you, is there reason that the class is going to be all male, and do you have plans to have an all-female class following the all-male class? >> yes. great question, president covington. it is based on e.m.s. corp.,

which is a program that's been extremely successful in the east bay and in southern california. the first time they tried a class, it was mixed, men and women, and it was not successful at all because they do things like trauma counseling, and they really needed separate spaces. and so -- and there were also some other distractions, frankly. so they separated -- they make this men at e.m.s. corp. now, my intent is to have the first-class be men because that's the tried-and-true one that they have done that we're going to bring over here, and then, the second class, i would like to be all women, so that's sort of the direct that we're looking to go in. >> president covington: okay. thank you. i just wanted to be sure that there was going to be equity for young women who might be

able to, you know, take advantage of this opportunity. after all, women hold up more than half the sky, so i wanted to make sure that women were in there because they're the ones that usually wind up with the children after a dissolution of a children. i've never had a marriage dissolve, but i've seen this happen to people. and so being a firefighter would be a wonderful, wonderful career for young women, as a lot of the veteran women members of the department can attest to, so i'm happy to know that there will be two classes. all right. thank you for that. anything else, chief nicholson? >> no, thank you, president. >> president covington: okay. thank you. all right.

captain tillman, you had some comments you wanted to make? >> i just -- i just wanted the commission to know that recruitment is not just a san francisco problem. last year, i chaired a national committee on recruitment with over 20 different departments that were there. most of the big five, new york, l. l.a., obviously us, chicago, and from the south. not everybody wants to be firefighters. everybody will apply, but not everybody, once they start going through all the things that you need to do, are committed to being firefighters, so we have to understand that, first of all, it's not just a san francisco problem when we talk about recruitment. but what is unique upon san

francisco is that we are or have been and still are a diverse department, where a lot of these other departments are not. they are still mostly male caucasian. and so we know the proverbial wheel has already been built. we know how to recruit, we just have to do it. and unfortunately, in a lot of the other departments, especially departments of our size, where we have one recruitment person, they have three or four. and so what we have done with chief barraca, is taking some of this pressure off of him. but when you get down to it, aurjob isn't getting paid to recruit, our job is to run fire stations.

but we are spending time doing that because we don't have that recruitment department. so these groups, los bomberos, asian firefighters, women's groups, have been helping out and in collaboration with our chief and command staff to find those diamonds in the rough, so to speak, that can come through and can make it through the testing. one of the things that wasn't mentioned, and chief velo instituted, because i was part of it, he instituted saturdays, and you don't know how much that helped. and what chief nicholson says about making the classes smaller, when you have a class of 54, not everyone gets the touches that they need. not everyone gets to live that 50 multiple times, they might

only do it once or twice. so just chief velo instituting a saturday, if you want to show up, you can, it was tremendous, and we got a lot of feedback from that. there was a lot of us at the department of division and training that would love to help out if that was made available, but right now, it was just for the cadre that was in the tower at that time, but there's a lot of us that would love to help out. but with ye need to nurture th recruits, and some of them need more help than others. when i went to washington high school in 1985, i never saw the firefighters at one recruitment day. i saw the police, but i never

saw a firefighter, so i didn't know this was a career that i could go into. the only way i knew, i had a job, i was a customer service rep. i was a surfer, and i had some friends that were getting ready to go into it. i never knew it was something that i could get into or else i would have come in in the 1980s or -- 1987, whenever i took the test. but i found out, a bunch of my surf buddies were taking the test. commissioner nakajo is right [inaudible] and some big municipalities like new york, they're going through something like that right now. i was talking to my counterpart

in new york who has a lot bigger membership. they have 13,000 members in new york, and believe it or not, in that big city, they have the same issues in that big jurisdiction when it comes to recruitment. it's not very easy. you really have to get out there and do it, and just to come up with those 12 or 13 names, it takes us months to come up with that. and, you know, it's not easy. i'll have to say it, but when we do all that work, and we put in the time and the effort, it's just nice to see some of those people that you work with, those names go forward, and to finally come into the san francisco fire department. there's no greater feeling than seeing someone from the

beginning to the end and before their beginning, so that's what i would like to convey to this commission, that this is not an easy task. it's a daunting task, but i can only speak for myself, and the interaction that i've had with this command staff, that they've said that they're committed to. -- committed to it. it's not just they a're talkin the talk, they're walking the walk, and we look forward to these collaborations in these upcoming classes. >> president covington: well, that's a good note for us to end on, that the collaboration is happening, and that the current command staff understanding the challenges and have heard the wishes and hopes of people who feel they

have been underrepresented in the department. so i feel that this evening we are beginning a new dialogue around these issues. our new commissioners have received a lot of information tonight. the more seasoned commissioners, the three of us are familiar with things that have not been forcefully implemented. there has been a lot of vigor that has been brought with the new command staff, and we need many more conversations that are being held.

i look forward to us having, you know, more dialogue about these issues. before i go on, i want to go back a little bit. i want to remember the last time that the black firefighters presented, and the hearing room was full of young people who had their uniforms on and were very enthusiastic and well spoken. and the young women -- well, they're teenagers. the teenage girls were in charge of it all, and other people who had already graduated out of the program

were coming back to, you know, the city program. there was such pride in the room. they were very proud of themselves for having gotten to that point, and by extension, we were proud of them. and so that was a wonderful presentation. tonight, thank you for your presentation on the challenges that black firefighters face and challenges that the department faces. and if any one of the commissioners would like to drive down third street, you cannot miss the black

firefighters building. just to put it mildly, it stands out. it is very identifiable, so i have made many, many notes, and i've heard the questions from my fellow commissioners, so i think we're -- we're pretty much on the same page. we're looking for information, concrete suggestions, and this broadens the dialogue that needs to take place, all right? so thank you very much. >> thank you. >> president covington: all right. madam secretary, is there any public comment on captain tillman's presentation? >> clerk: there is nobody on the public comment line. >> president covington: okay. thank you. so i will close public comment, and can you please call the

next item? >> clerk: item 6, commission report. report on commission activities since last meeting on october 14, 2020. >> president covington: thank you. commissioners, do you have something to report? let me see. i don't see anyone who wants to report out. as everyone knows, i did attend the funeral for our fallen firefighter, and it was just a wonderful, wonderful service with his children, two little boys, wonderful, beautiful family, and his two little boys released doves in honor of their dad.

and they also took turns ringing the bell nine times. and to see the members of the department standing along the wall of -- excuse me. i keep wanting to call it pacto park, but oracle park. it was just everyone of one mind, and that one mind was we will do everything we can for this family going forward. we won't miss a tee ball practice, anything. anything that they need, the family knows that they can count on members of the department.

it was very, very emotional and very touching. my fellow commissioners, i have to say i was honored to represent you that day, so -- all right. madam secretary. >> clerk: there is nobody on the public comment line. >> president covington: all right. public comment is closed. >> clerk: item 7, agenda for next and future fire commission meetings. we do have a resolution. we have the e.m.s. 6 update and the racial equity plan update. >> president covington: okay. and that's for our next meeting? >> clerk: that wis on a meetig that is tuesday, october 10. >> president covington:

tuesday, october 10? >> clerk: i mean, wednesday, november 10. it's a wednesday because tuesday is a holiday. >> president covington: okay, and the women in the fire service are also presenting on that day? >> clerk: no, they're presenting in the december meeting. >> president covington: in the december meeting. all right. is there any suggestions from the -- >> clerk: well, we have to finish by noon, so i think these three may take up most of our 9:00 to 12:00 time slot. >> president covington: okay. well, we don't have to truncate any suggestion. >> clerk: we only had one extra item tonight, and it went two hours. >> president covington: well,

it was a robust discussion, and i think it was very, very necessary, so i'm glad that we did have it. all right. if there are any suggestions that come to mind for future agenda items, then please let us know, commissioner rodriguez, did you have something to say? >> no, no thank you. >> president covington: okay. then we're prepared to delve into these items at our next commission meetings, the ones that you've mentioned, madam secretary. >> clerk: very good. item 8, adjournment. >> president covington: okay. at this time, i will entertain a motion to adjourn. >> commissioner cleaveland: moved, madam president. >> president covington: thank you, commissioner cleaveland, and there's a second from commissioner rodriguez.

[roll call] >> clerk: the motion is unanimous. >> president covington: well, thank you, and thank you, command staff and mr. corso. thank you, everyone, for your participation in the meeting tonight. >> thank you, president, vice president, commissioners. good night. >> commissioner nakajo: good night, everyone.

>> he is a real leader that listens and knows how to bring people together. brought this department together like never before. i am so excited to be swearing in the next chief of the san francisco fire department, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome, jeanine nicholson.

(applause). >> i grew up total tomboy, athlete. i loved a good crisis, a good challenge. i grew up across the street from the fire station. my dad used to take me there to vote. i never saw any female firefighters because there weren't any in the 1970s. i didn't know i could be a fire fighter. when i moved to san francisco in 1990, some things opened up. i saw women doing things they hadn't been doing when i was growing up. one thing was firefighting. a woman recruited me at the gay-pride parade in 1991. it was a perfect fit. i liked using my brain, body,

working as a team, figuring things out, troubleshooting and coming up with different ways to solve a problem. in terms of coming in after another female chief, i don't think anybody says that about men. you are coming in after another man, chief, what is that like. i understand why it is asked. it is unusual to have a woman in this position. i think san francisco is a trailblazer in that way in terms of showing the world what can happen and what other people who may not look like what you think the fire chief should look like how they can be successful. be asked me about being the first lbgq i have an understands because there are little queer kids that see me. i worked my way up. i came in january of 1994.

i built relationships over the years, and i spent 24 years in the field, as we call it. working out of firehouses. the fire department is a family. we live together, eat together, sleep in the same dorm together, go to crazy calls together, dangerous calls and we have to look out for one another. when i was burned in a fire years ago and i felt responsible, i felt awful. i didn't want to talk to any of my civilian friends. they couldn't understand what i was going through. the firefighters knew, they understood. they had been there. it is a different relationship. we have to rely on one another. in terms of me being the chief of the department, i am really trying to maintain an open relationship with all of our members in the field so myself and my deputy chiefs, one of the

priorities i had was for each of us to go around to different fire stations to make sure we hit all within the first three or four months to start a conversation. that hasn't been there for a while. part of the reason that i am getting along well with the field now is because i was there. i worked there. people know me and because i know what we need. i know what they need to be successful. >> i have known jeanine nicholson since we worked together at station 15. i have always held her in the highest regard. since she is the chief she has infused the department with optimism. she is easy to approach and is concerned with the firefighters and paramedics. i appreciate that she is concerned with the issues

relevant to the fire department today. >> there is a retired captain who started the cancer prevention foundation 10 years ago because he had cancer and he noticed fellow firefighters were getting cancer. he started looking into it. in 2012 i was diagnosed with breast canner, and some of my fellow firefighters noticed there are a lot of women in the san francisco fire department, premenopausal in their 40s getting breast cancer. it was a higher rate than the general population. we were working with workers comp to make it flow more easily for our members so they didn't have to worry about the paper work when they go through chemo. the turnout gear was covered with suit. it was a badge to have that all

over your coat and face and helmet. the dirtier you were the harder you worked. that is a cancer causeser. it -- casser. it is not -- cancer causer. there islassic everywhere. we had to reduce our exposure. we washed our gear more often, we didn't take gear where we were eating or sleeping. we started decontaminating ourselves at the fire scene after the fire was out. going back to the fire station and then taking a shower. i have taught, worked on the decontamination policy to be sure that gets through. it is not if or when. it is who is the next person. it is like a cancer sniper out there. who is going to get it next.

one of the things i love about the fire department. it is always a team effort. you are my family. i love the city and department and i love being of service. i vow to work hard -- to work hard to carry out the vision of the san francisco fire department and to move us forward in a positive way. if i were to give a little advice to women and queer kids, find people to support you. keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep trying. you never know what door is going to open next. you really don't. [cheers and welcome to the nove,

2020 meeting of the police nove, commission. i think it's probably fair to say that we all have our minds a little bit elsewhere tonight given everything that's going on in the world, and this being probably the consequential election of our lifetime. we're glad to be here with you all and we will all take the pledge of allegiance tonight with maybe a little more awareness of what's going on in the world. i will ask everyone to place their hands over their heart so we can say the pledge. [pledge of allegiance].