>> mr. chair, that completes the queue. public comment is closed. and ms. jean-baptiste. thank you for an adult life of public service to the city and county of san francisco and the bay area at large in the interest of public transportation and good city and regional planning and with that, i would like to make a motion to move this to the full board of supervisors. mr. clerk, on that motion, a roll call please. >> i believe the motion is to -- >> to appoint alicia jean-baptiste to seat three with a residency waiver if i am correct. >> you are correct. it does require residency waiver. she lives in the east bay by night but in the city of city of san francisco by day and the

residency waiver is absolutely deserved in this particular instance. i would like to move this with recommendation with a residency waiver to the full board of supervisor. that is the motion. >> on that motion, member mandelman. >> aye. >> mandelman, aye. member chan? >> aye. >> chan, aye. >> chair peskin? >> aye. >> aye. the motion passes without objection. >> thank you, mr. clerk. thank you, ms. jean-baptiste. good luck. i'll be calling you all the time as will tillie chang and the new chair of the county transportation authority, chair mandelman, and with that, mr. clerk, the next item please. >> clerk: item two is a motion confirming the mayoral appointment of carmen chu as city administrator for a five-year term beginning february 1, 2021, pursuant to

chart sectioner 3.104. i believe there is a request to possibly consider this matter as a committee report. >> president: thank you, mr. young. colleagues, members of the public, this is one of the most important non-elected positions in the government of city and county of san francisco. this is something that happens quite rarely wherein a new city administrator is nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the board. this is a position that much like the controller is a neutral, nonpolitical position in government. as we know, naomi kelly, the former city administrator, resigned effective the end of

this month of january of 2021. the mayor of the city and county london breed has nominated the assessor recorder, former supervisor, carmen chu, to fill that position. ms. chu is before us today. i want to say for the record while i do have a number of questions that i think that ms. chu is remarkably well qualified to run some 25 agencies that are under the purview of the city administrator's office, and with that, colleagues, if you have any opening comments, please make them now. we'll have plenty of time for questions thereafter. and if not, or have you have any opening comment, i will call upon aseser to recorder chu for her opening statement.

are there any opening comments from members? supervisor chan. >> supervisor: thank you, chair peskin. it is -- i most definitely agree the fact that assessor chu is qualified for the position. i am grateful that mayor breed is nominating her as city administrator. knowing that a assessor chu helped professionalize the recorder's office in 2013. and with staff budget and the recorder's office and budget

office and a billion dollars of tax revenue annually to our state and county of san francisco. so it is tremendously challenging always, i'm sure to find the checks and balances, making sure that we -- especially the local corporations who pay their fair share that i think aseser to recorder chu demonstrated to do so. on a personal note, i am definitely pleased to see that assessor recorder chu has the type of the chinese american community in san francisco for a very long time. and that we do need representation for our community in city government. that is including 1/3 of the population of asian americans in

this city. so i look forward and confident to have conversations with them. i look forward to it. thank you. >> thank you, supervisor chan. seeing no questions from vice chair mandelman, madam assessor recorder chu, the floor is yours. >> thank you so much, president or chair peskin. >> awe i want to thank you for the opportunity to be before you and your consideration of my nomination for the role of city administrator. it certainly is a big responsibility and one that i take very seriously. so i welcome the conversation that we have today. i think it is absolutely important that we have transparency and trust in our relationships to make sure that we continue to move the city forward. i thank you for the opportunity.

and i especially want to thank you, chair peskin, for working with us to schedule this meeting to expeditiously and having this opportunity. and i think as chair peskin mentioned earlier, i am currently serving as assessor-recorder and the organization is about 150-person large. and we bring in about $3 billion in revenue every year. much of that revenue goes to support many of the vital services. when i first began as assessor, i think one of the primary things that i really focused on was trying to figure out what were the opportunities in my organization, what were the things that i needed to pursue, whether they be things that people like to hear about in headlines or not, what were the things that i needed to invest in in the organization in order to help us run better. the consequences of that having an organization that really helps support the general city services in san francisco. to me that was something that was incredibly important. equally important was also

setting standards and making sure that we took a look at our systems and our practices to ensure that we were carrying out our job as ethically and as fair as we possibly could. this is something especially critical with a taxation agency like the assessor's office. i want to take a moment to thank my team at the assessor's office. we have done so many things that people may have thought were insurmountable, reversing a decades old backlog to bring in revenue above and beyond expected. we brought down the appeals backlog in coordination with the clerk of the board. in addition to that, we've implemented many, many system improvements that have helped to run our organization whether it's be our launches of the new public records system just this august or today i am happy to announce we have launched phase i of the new property tax

replacement system. these are great advancements to do our job better, but they are exactly those kind of core functions and core investments that we need to be doing in order to run better as a city. i think back to my time in the city service and i started with city and county of san francisco back in 2004 and i started off as an analyst in the mayor's budget office and eventually became deputy director there. and ended up serving on the board of supervisors alongside with chair peskin at that time, and then eventually became assessor. through that lens and understanding the legislative branch of government and understanding the operational side and how we deliver services and to bring a good perspective

to the role as city administrator. and i recognize this is a really big one and is not only the organization that provides direct support, oversight and services to many departments like the animal care facilities or entertainment commission and mayor's office of disability and transgender niche tifrs and convention facilities to name a few. it is also the organization that oversees critical function and policies that impact city operation. things like information technology and real estate and procurement and the management of the city fleet and capital planning and how people access services through 311 and it is important that we do our job well and take a look at all opportunities and areas because we have a real chance to improve services across the board and across the city. and the important role of the city administrator and is a

place that has the bird's eye view and of many intercity departments and when the mayor and the board have different ideas and different initiatives to lift and create better services is a place that can serve as your partner to make sure we are thinking about all the different pieces that come with running a city function or improving or changing the city service. and i hope that through the lens of my experience i'll be able to value and how you pursue policy going forward. i will leave it at that for now. i know there must be a lot of questions that will come and am excited to share with you what some of the priorities would be as city administrator and i think that first and foremost we know that the immediate priority that we have is to make sure that we are supporting the covid response and our recovery and

that is extremely important and the city administrator's office plays a direct role in a lot of that response. whether it was the procurement of personal protective equipment and locating facilities for the emergency operations or sites you see coming online for vaccination or for testing, whether it's to make sure that we have an i.t. infrastructure that can communicate the things that we are doing or how people sign up for services as well as communications work, not to mention all of the dfw workers that the city administrator team is currently deployed doing. we know that our function right now has a very, very direct role in how it is that the city responds and how it is that we move forward. and i look forward to continuing to full that role to make sure we do everything we can to support our response.

the other pieces that i dig into the policies and essential support and the planning investment that will pay off for the city in the long run and really evaluating whether we need to be changing any of the practices and procedures to make sure that we do it better across the city. i want to make sure that we're continuing to focus on the racial equity plan that our office has put together, especially across the board with 25, 30 departments underneath it having a strong racial equity plan will go a long way to making sure that san francisco has opportunity and growth for all individuals in the city, but it is also important that we haven't forgotten this idea about continuing to build public trust. you may see what does that mean for you. this is not something that is new for me. when i joined the members of the board of supervisors, it was also something that was part of

my history removed from office -- and this idea about restoring public trust was essential then and continues to be in everything single position and i believe that public trust is built with the things that are wrong in how reoperate and being okay with sharing the vulnerabilities and saying there is a problem with a particular part of the businesses and we may have a difference of opinion about how to tackle those things

and working to deliver on them is how we build that trust. there wasn't a whole lot of trust in government when my parents immigrated because they didn't speak english and didn't know how to interact with government services. i think about them every day. if as government we can simply provide good services to people and there is an open door to how we help them and are honest and forthright in what we do, it would go a long way to restoring public trust. i look forward to working closely with you as we move the city forward during the difficult time with the pandemic and open to any questions you may have. >> thank you, former supervisor, current assessor recorder, and nominee to the most important position of city administrator for the opening comments. by the way, i was really struck

by what you said because i will never forget that the former district supervisor was engaged in criminality and served time in prison and i never connected that to the current dynamic, albeit, it is quite different. but you definitely in my opinion bestow honor on the office and got us past that terrible look that happened when the district supervisor was charged an convicted of criminal wrong doing and left this board of supervisors in the year 2006, which seems like several lifetimes ago, long before covid. i do want to say before i open this up aened i do have some questions and i am opening this up to my colleagues that i do

have to say for the record having been around here for a couple of decades on and off that the job that you have done is superlative. relatively small in the grand scheme and i say it proudly and i am an umpire and i call it like i see it. i was here 20 years ago when -- i am not going to name names or speak ill of the dead when the city and county of san francisco was a laughing stock of the 58 counties in this city and state and made better by the successor and made better by that individual successor, but you

raise it beyond the level of expectation and i say it because it is a matter of fact. i think that bodes well should they see fit to confirm the mayor's nomination. ened i do have a few difficult questions as well as form 700 and emails that we have received and is my duty to ask and have answered, but with that i will turn it over to my colleagues. questions or comments? >> both. i want to echo the superlatives that have been offered about

carmen chu who i did not know well and by reputation i have the general sense that we have improved significantly during your tenure and especially during the pandemic when you have strayed -- to everyone's benefit, so far outside of your lane at the request of the mayor and you have been there through so many aspects of insuring that the city's response to the pandemic itself and the economic devastation from it has been better.

you have been a voice for clarity and common sense. but i have one question i forwarded to you that i want to address and things that i hope you will work on that i will work with now. and you have seen the email i forwarded to you and is not clearly clear from that email what the specific choice that you may or may not have made

made was, but in general terms there is a debate and domestic partnership was a way to recognize to the benefits not given to gay member and lesbians but not also given to straight people not in marriage relationships. consistently there has been a push for a broader understanding of domestic partnership as something that applies not just to same sex couples but consistently to moderate and conservative voices in pedestrian and state legislature have pushed back on that trying to limit the reach of domestic

partnership. the assertion seems to be as i i understand it that you had choices to make about how to implement domestic partnership leg and you opted for the narrower application only to straight people. >> thank you for the opportunity and for sharing the question with me in advance. the reason is because the reason of issues of domestic partnership is very complicated especially when it comes to state law and local registry as well. and first and foremost, one of the most important things is our office works very, very closely with the city attorney's office. we are constantly working with them especially in our transactions and which actually takes a look to see whether any

change in ownership necessitates a re-assessment. to ultimately it comes down to terre hauting property tax benefits for people who are married, not married or in domestic partnership status. one of the things that is important to me is to administer what is the loss and that is true for a tax agency to do that in a fair way. we have been working closely with the city attorney to make sure we understand it. in general i don't -- i read the email that you sent over to me and there might be confusion behind state registered and in general the state's property tax benefits are conferred through state actions. even if a local jurisdiction might want to change or to

create a different action, it is regulated at the state. the registry does follow that way as well. the state has created a domestic partnership registry after san francisco did. and san francisco, i should just say that the domestic partnership locally and has had a long, long history that we have seen with a lot of different nuances. even after the state set up the domestic registration process, they started to provide certain benefits through that process over time. it wasn't media that all benefits were converted to bridges who were stejed at the state level and started off with health benefits and the ability to access or be by individual sides when there was an and

granting community rights similar to what spouses get or are treated under and that evolved into property tax benefits. and i guess the distinction is a state registry and a local registry. with the state rules granted for equalization. that is all to say that i am not really sure if there was a specific issue that the person was writing about because typically when we have seen some of these things come through, we worked with the city attorney to understand what is our legal obligation and how to implement the law. there was an instant where an individual, for example, was registered locally and would have qualified locally and didn't register at the state

level. they didn't register at the state level but did at san francisco level. after consulting with the city attorney, we had to do what the law required which was we had to basically re-assess the property because they didn't qualify for the benefit that the state registration would have allowed them. >> supervisor: so -- couple registered locally is not able to register at the state level, right? >> well, this has since changed. there's more. >> supervisor: okay. >> upon that action, what we were able to do is that so we had to to deny that exclusion and what we did afterwards is we worked with approach the state and to provide more permission to create a window where if they were locally registered to

benefit as if they were registered at the state. that did get passed. that actually was something that was something to say we heard about your case and had to do with the law requires us to do do at that time. we went to the state legislature to change that rule and that law. we were to awe ply again and when we have seen the instance come through, we will take a look at it to try or best to understand what is legally required of the law. what do we have the leeway to do or not dao. if we don't have the leeway to grant the exclusion, we would take it to the body that would be required to grant it. the one thing that i would say is in terms of the opposite sex

marriage, former supervisor weaner and senator passed sb30 that just went into effect january 21, 2020. i am not as familiar as this but it has changed much of this now because in the past whereas in the state they would have allowed for seniors who were opposite sexes to register domestically and related to railroad benefits or other things that would not have been able to keep had they gotten married. to change the law so any individual whether you are same sex and are able to register at the state for domestic partnership sta us. this is now more permissible

called an ekwef lent of marriage that lacks the connotation from culture that typically comes with it. a lot of this will be changing now. the staff has been apprised by the city attorney about what this now means for property tax benefits as well. i am not sure if the issue that was raised is still an issue, and i don't know if there is a particular instance. >> i am sure if that was not a satisfactory instance, i will hear about it as well. and thank you for taking the time on that item. and i have a few more items i want to raise, although we won't spend as much time. >> and no job, i mean, very impressive ms. chu, that you understand every aspect of that piece of public policy.

>> thank you. the remainder of my questions i think are mostly in that public trust portion of your priority with the city administrator. and couple of them relate to i.t. and i.t. projects that have languished in departments that either under the city administrator or over which there has been influence. so one is the justice project. which is this i.t. project that has been going on for many, many years and maybe a decade. maybe more than a decade. and the notion seems to be simple.

the motion is we have so many entities that are dealing with folks who are criminal justice involved. shouldn't that be able to share information effectively? shouldn't some of that information become publicly available? so the public can more clearly understand what is happening with crime, crime rates, clearance rates, and ultimate recidivism and things that would be interesting for the agencies them to know about and the public to know about. and this appears to be a project that other than president yee, at least i think his perception was that not everyone was taking it seriously. the need for me as a city supervisor seems obvious and

urgent so i would love to have thoughts on justice and making this criminal justice data easily shared, actionable and to some extent publicly available. >> thank you. i think this justice project is a time that i can remember from my time as an analyst and the honest truth is i haven't followed it to this day as closely. and i think what comes to mind in terms of how i think about it or talk about it is first and foremost, i would like to make sure i understood where that project is and also what has been perceived to legal barriers and making information publicly available. and in the assessor's office, i am a big fan of making sure we open the data as much as we can to help us understand how we do our work.

we didn't have the automated system to understand what the backlog looked like and a number of other interdependencies within our organization that we didn't have visibility into and this is a similar parallel system to the justice system. you don't have good information with data that could be beneficial for organizations to run better or even for the public or lawmakers to know more about. it becomes problematic. you don't have visibility into the issue. and i would first want to know about where it is, what the law alouse and what are the barriers and could some of the barriers be removed. law cans be changed if there is a will and there is a good reason for it, right? and the other piece that i reflect upon especially given the i.t. projects that we have lifted in the assessor's office is that for many organizations when you take a look across them, we're all resource and really different ways when it

comes to i.t. expertise. but not only that, but specific kind of i.t. expertise you need to implement a new system. it's very different to have i.t. professionals who help us with setting up the desktop support or to help people understand how the network works versus someone who can help with change management or to how it is that you need to project manage different system implementation changes. so i think when i came into the organization, we didn't really have a very deep bench in terms of the i.t. infrastructure in the office, much less the i.t. folks and talent we needed to run major system changes. so i suspect that some of these organizations because there are various ones of them where we're all connected where you have typically law enforcement organizations that are heavily kind of thinking about law enforcement, they may not be thinking about the i.t. infrastructure they have. and i would suspect they also may not have the right kind of mixture of skill set or other

things to be able to potentially lift what is necessary for big system changes. even now we are really thankful and really happy that we're launching phase i of the property tax system, but it takes constant care and feeding. it takes sort of constant attention and resourcing to make sure we're able to be successful for the next round as well. so i think the way that i would approach that is to understand, again, where these projects -- where the project is, what are the impediments to the sharing of data or the revealing or transparency of data, but then also are we resourcing this project the right way in organizations and centrally to carry out something like this. and if not, how would we fix that, right? because i think that becomes the bigger question overall about the delivery i.t. and on a separate note as well, i think we do have also some ideas about how we potentially procure i.t. services. we run it very much the same way we typically have going through

r.f.p. processes and so on, but by the time you kind of go through a whole process to figure out what it is that you are bidding for, you go through the bidding process, and then you go through the contracting process, sometimes by that time your processes have already changed. and so i think that there are also just generally questions about how to deliver i.t. systems, how do we deliver i.t. services in the city that is worth looking into. so it's a big one. it's a huge one to tackle. and i am sure i'll be looking into that more because i have seen how much it can be helpful for the city to run better and how core it is to that process. >> i appreciate the way you are thinking about this. i committed to then president yee as he was leaving the board to try to continue to prioritize this, and i am very interesting in how we are gathering and tracking public safety data and would like to work with you on

this going forward. a related project that will land with you, should you be confirmed, is i think the d.b.i. permit tracking system, or the overall permit tracking system. which appears to have been another sort of hot mess and i know that city administrator kelly has -- had spent a lot of time on this, but the notion that we have been unable to implement an effective permit tracking system over more than a decade is one of the real sort of, seems to me, failures in government. whether corrupt or not, or whether related to corruption or not, is just an example of government not working well and may raise some of the same issues as justice. i don't know. but i look forward to your digging in on that, and to the extent that ier to board of supervisors can be -- that i or the board of supervisor cans be

helpful, please let us know. another project that we have had some conversation -- i have had some conversations, first with ms. kelly and now with going forward with you and along with the controller, has been and this came up in your discussion of whey happened with justice, but the very complicated contract requirements that are -- that apply differently and were implemented differently in departments across the city. that slowed things down. that aggregated over a long, long time. and that we don't seem to have great ways maybe, at least this is my perception and happy to be disabused of this, we don't have great ways of looking at it from a city wide perspective. the controller's office has taken some looking into this, but definitely seems like something that in your new

position you can help spearhead. we have some ideas and have been working with folks in the relevant parts of city government. but it seems like we should -- part of rooting out and more about checking but part of it is about making processes simpler and clearer. and so i hope, you know, we can work on that together. just two more. one, you know, i did not support the public advocate, at least in this last go around. and one of the reasons was that it was not clear to me that another politician was the right person to do the checking in on all parts of city government that would have someone peering over their shoulder

occasionally. you will think about how shoulders should be peered over. and i think there's, again, tremendous inconsistency across departments in the way things like contracting are done and even the way the same laws are implemented by different departments. and the opportunities for variation but also just bad action are great, i think, when we don't have systems for checking in on what people are doing. i want to do things that make it more complicated, but if there are ways to have the feedback membering microorganism and people who look back at some of what the controller function i think is, but if there are ways for us to think about doing that more effectively across departments, we're trying to think about it. you'll be in a better position to think about how to do it. and i look forward to continuing your conversations with you about that. and the last thing is, and this

is a more immediate thing. one of the things that administrator kelly had gotten high marks for, i believe, from some of the labor partners was her work on ppe, and ensuring that the city had an adequate supply of ppe for our and for folks at laguna honda and although we have lots of good news about where the pandemic is and the case numbers in the bay area are dropping and the vaccine, however challenging the rollout, and more people -- not as many as we would like, but more people are getting vaccinated. [please stand by]

>> supervisor peskin: i really to appreciate the questions you made particularly around i.t. member chan, the floor is yours. >> supervisor chan: thank you chair peskin. i think, the question for me is that at times, i do understand.

there's so much to do. so many things that we can pull ideas into what the city administrator should be doing. i want top learn the guiding principles that you have. really, while at times, it seems like animal care control department -- may not be the most significant in the department. the job is big but at the same time, it's really keeping the

details of our city and keeping the city running. it's a big job. you have many people under your jurisdiction if you were to be confirmed as the city administrator. i would love to understand how do you see the city administrator's role in terms of oversight for the city department? also to know that it's a complicated system. some of the city departments also have commission oversight and with expertise and jurisdiction all under the umbrella of the administrator's office. i have the opportunity to really get some support from our budget analyst office to provide me a memo to navigate the concern about the city administrator's

office. not just under city administrator but over the years, how it's really structured and would like for you to talk about that in terms of this role of how do you envision the city administrator's role overseeing the city departments along with commission and accountability and oversight? thank you. >> thank you supervisor chan. big question, for sure. i think a few things. when i think about the role as city administrator, it is certainly different and much more expansive than my role as assessor. i think in every single public service role that i've been in, my ethos is really that, there's always more we can do to do better to make sure we're doing our organization in a better way.

this is true in lessons taught from my parent's restaurant. my mom called it your eyes work. when you see something do it. it's not matter it's a responsibility, if you see something that's wrong, you fix it and you work on it. that is the ethos that i have going into all of my public service as whether an analyst or supervisor and now my role as city administrator. i really do believe in the role that good government can play to help people in their lives. i think that's a second big piece in terms of how i think about public service. it's not about the public service for the sake of public service, it's about public service to better people's lives. if they call they have an animal in need, they feel they have government that work for them.

i think, there's a big piece of me that feels no matter what role that we're in, there's something that we can be doing to do better in the role. there's a need to remember that at the end of the day it's a public service to the city and public at large and what's in the best interest of san francisco. the role of city administrator is a very large one. i think some of the comments that i heard from member on this committee today reflect that. there are ton of issues where they were talking about i.t. issues, contracting issue and procurement issues that does need a critical eye in. just because we've done it one way for a long time, doesn't mean there isn't opportunity to simplify things. supervisor mandelman mentioned, in order to help make compliance easier, it doesn't mean there's an opportunity to deliver across

in one department but that we can make it easier for all of the city. when you say, how do i view the role as city administrator, it really is a very special place that has the ability to think about policy, to be partners with you and with the mayor to say, how do we think about changing, how we using that has an impact that's even wider than a department. that has impact potentially across multiple organizations. that's one of the unique roles and perspectives that the city administrator's office can bring to the table. the whole question about whether we're resource to take on these issues is another one. we will look forward to working with you to figure out what that looks like and what are the thing we need to prioritize. that being said, i do think that the city administrator's office has a big role to play when it's thinking about city wide policy,

when you think about city wide processes for contracting, procurement and real estate. how do we -- it's something that needs to happen. many folks whether they are the mayor's office or the board, you have many things you're looking at as well. we look forward to be the organization to thinking through those challenges. i think the other piece, it's not just about this central bird's eye view, we protect direct services, direct administrative support for many organizations that are smaller. i say this because, even in the assessor's office, we're a mid-size organization with 150 people. it is really hard to be able to have all of the services you need to run an organization well. you make sure you have enough hr support, i.t. support, contracting support, procurement

support and not all small organizations when you have sort of four people organizations or five people organizations have the capacity to hire an accountant and hr person. i think that's in general, in a nutshell, how i think the importance of the role of city administrator where we have opportunities to partner with you. even in the beginning comments that chair peskin mentioned, i do view the city administrator's role as a neutral party very similar to the controller office where our job is to share with you, our best insights, our best thoughts how we might want to look at changes to policy.

i hope that answers your questions. >> supervisor chan: when it comes to city departments that also have commission oversight. not all commissioners are equal in terms of size and expertise and authority exercised over the city and the departments that they oversee. how do you see -- i look forward to working with you on that. sometimes that is where the problem really is where some commission really have specific way of overseeing a department why other commissions are different. reporting both to the executive branch and legislative branch, they seem to have a different

way to go about them. how do you see the city administrator's role to really work with the commission? i guess it's the consistency that i would love to see how they work with legislative branch, executive branch including yourself as our city administrator. >> i look forward to exploring that issue what you're seeing what you're perceiving challenges to understand that. as a whole, i think about the role of as commissions and they're oversight role. >> supervisor chan: specifically will be contracts. you can see some contracts are really approved by the commission alone and that is good but some of them that will actually be able to come through the board or what would say a second opinion, a layer of vetting and approval process.

how do you see specifically -- i don't know want to go down just contract approvals. there's many ways making sure a city departments can be held accountable and have transparency the way they operate. beyond just contracting process. that is my concern when it comes to commission oversight for the city departments. >> you're right. some departments or some commissions do have more contracting. you mentioned some of the examples that you see before where some of the contracts have come through the board of supervisors. some of the departments may have like -- m.t.a. or p.u.c. may have different contracting authority. i have to dig into more to understand how they are vested differently. overall, what you're getting at,

how, i think, how do you make sure the right eyes and oversight over actions of all of our city organizations. i think the way i think about it is a few things. one, we want to make sure there are no kind of single points of failure. you want to make sure that you have multiple eyes on different kinds of decisions that are made by the city. especially the ones that are really consequential that have a big impact on the city. i think there are ways to figure out is reporting the best way to do it or in the interest of the decision, do you want that to flow through different kind of bodies. it make since to have things go through the board and what kind of things can go through the board or what things can be done at the commission level. there are opportunities to look at these elements. i look forward to working with you on that.

>> supervisor chan: likewise. that's what i would love to work with you on if you're confirmed. inpromise this is my last question. i will not delay chair peskin questions as well. i think that we kind of briefly talked about so many aspects. it is you saying that -- i think it's a great culture and great thinking the way that when you see something not right, you fix it. how do we make sure that mindset from where you are at really translate into all the city departments that you oversee? for me, the wait i'm seeing, i do really firmly believe that people are resources as a city government. it's really about who are in leadership of positions and how do they manage and facilitate

our daily operations of city government. knowing there's acting director at the moment in our city department, i would love to learn your approach to be a hiring or just kind of view that the leadership role of city departments and how do you go about going about boosting up the morale and really help get restore public trust and get our city government efficient andeth cam -- ethical and functioning mode. >> i view every single hire as an opportunity. i looked at it that way when we approached the assessor's office as well. it's not about not only hiring someone for their technical

abilities but also for their desire to want to create a better place. meaning kind of good morale, meaning supporting workers. as a whole, i believe that our city employees are good people and want to do the right thing. i think when you talk about how do you create -- you like the approach of people all kind of taking accountability and doing the best that they can in their job. i think it's not just the person at the leadership level but it's also empowering your workers to say, if have an idea, we're going to explore it. we'll explore how an idea you have to improve an service. we actually are going to take those kinds of comments and ideas seriously. that really empowers people to say, i can be the change. i can be -- i can see a problem. i can raise it. i will believe that my

leadership will take those ideas seriously. i think it doesn't happen overnight. this is something you have to continue to do as a practice in an organization to be able to embed that culture in it. the city administrator's office has done quite a lot. they've done a lot of work under the leadership of former city administrator, well soon to be naoimi kelly and others. there's an opportunities for more and better. we'll be looking forward to doing that. it comes down to really empowering individuals to believe that they can make those changes too. that's important. >> supervisor chan: that's something we want to see the best of people and want to believe they're going to do the right thing. i'm not going to take much more of this time. i really look forward to put in

place a mechanism that really have a check and balances in the legislative branch and executive branch working along with the city administrator's office to make sure that there's accountability and transparency in the people's work. i look forward to that and i am going to turn it back over to chair peskin. thank you so much. >> thank you supervisor. i want to clarify when i say that i believe most of our employees are good people, i absolutely believe that and they want to do the right thing. i think it's important for us to put systems in place to make sure there are checks. that there is transparency and there's multiple eyes on it. i think that is sort of have both. >> chair peskin: thank you supervisor chan.

thank you assessor chu. with that before we open up to public comment. all the members of this committee are in receipt of some e-mails with certain allegations, which i have personally explored and i believe that i've concluded that this was all on the up and up. i will be remised if i did not publicly in interest of transparency, ask these questions around allegations. i'm not apologizing, i'm noting that this is a sensitive personal subject but this is a public position. these questions really need to be asked and answered relative to a property tax reduction ms. chu that you received on real property that you own then

and now. long before you were assessor. this was during the great recession a dozen years ago where pursuant to a state proposition temporary property tax relief was granted for your property and other properties and but there are allegations that this might have been a function of impropriety. you and i have discussed this. i have done additional independent research into this particular matter and what happened dozen years ago. i wanted to ask you to respond as you and i privately discussed as to those allegations? >> yeah. thank you so much for the opportunity to do that. especially in this time and

especially for rule like this, it's really important that there's no doubt from not only the mayor but the board of supervisors that you are selecting a person who you believe can carry the office with integrity and to move the city forward in that way. i welcome these questions and thank you for the opportunity to address them. to start off with regards to the e-mail that you talked about, i did not ask for a reduction in my property taxes. what i can tell former assessor at that time, right after the great recession, reviewed a number of different properties. , especially with a downturn in the housing market. there were probably thousands of homes that were reviewed during that time right after the market crashed in 2008. under state revenue and tax code section 51a2, the assessor is actually required to temporarily reduce the property assessments

in the market value of the home has fallen below of the value. we saw it was unusual. we saw this across the state of california during that time in 2009, i believe there were about 2.4 million properties in california that saw reduction under prop 8 that you mentioned. san francisco, we weathered that storm that downturn much better than any other counties did. we never saw a total roll value assessment drop in san francisco whereas other places did. looking back at assessor's annual report in 2009. he described some of the actions that his office took at that time. specifically, they proactively reviewed properties and granted reduction based on local market in neighborhood information. they had a total of 14,708 homes

that were reviewed. of those that were reviewed, they were homes that were sold between january 2004 and june 2008 depending on the neighborhood. my home was purchased in 2006, we had thousands, we were one of the thousands of homes that were proactively reviewed by the assessor office. i didn't request any reduction or review. what i can tell, there were over 300 homes in the immediate neighborhood around my home in the parkside that also received reductions during that time. i hope that helps to answer and provide information based on what i was able to find from former assessor ting's time. we're looking at similar actions right now as a result of the pandemic. for example, we're not necessarily looking at single family homes, we haven't seen evidence in the marketplace,

we've seen softening of the condo market as a result of the pandemic. we're looking at data to decide whether or not reduction warranted to condos recently purchased as a result of the changing market condition. these are things that we would do normally as a result of section 51a2. >> chair peskin: thank you for that thorough answer and research that i also found that other counties proactively bestowed proposition a temporary property tax reductions. some of them actually across the board and in other cases in a more targeted fashion has happened in san francisco a dozen years ago as being carefully contemplated today. thank you for that response to that sensitive question.

many years ago, when i think i was president of board of supervisors, instituted a board rule that requires form 700 to be filed, statements of economic interests prior to a hearing of this committee. i neglected to mention in the previous item, item number 1, form 700 of the previous applicant, have reviewed yours which are extremely thorough and available online for the public to see. i note and should grin that i failed to bestow upon you on the occasion of the birth of your child, a gift. i'm delighted to know everybody from the mayor and others, did

appropriately give you gifts all of which you reported. that is not what i am asking about. this is another sensitive question. your form 700s do indicate a gift from an individual who is the subject of a federal indictment and charges who is connected to the web of the corruption scandal that we are experiencing and that is walter wong. your form 700 indicates a amount of $200. which is entirely legal and appropriately reported. i like to ask you if you can give us a little more information as to that gift. i will be remised if i did not ask these kind of questions for this most important function in

our city and county government. >> absolutely. with regards to that gift, i was invited by the lee family to attend a community celebration and provide remarks about mayor ed lee. this was following unveiling of a relief. the event was attended by more than 100 member. you had community members there, representative of the city and at the reception food was served there. even under form 700, food that's available at an event which official makes a speech is not required disclosure. i reported it anyway on form 700 just to provide transparency. >> chair peskin: thank you. all is good trotter. thank you for that candid

response. there are many other things that we can talk about and touch on. i'm very interested in the future medical examiners office, we're all interested if the future of public works. that is implicated with that young scandal with former head public works who is under indictment. we'll have plenty of time for hearings on these items. i'm getting ready to introduce some legislation around the medical examiner office. we'll leave that for another day. colleagues, if you do not have any questions or comments at this time, i would like to open this up to public comment on item number 2. mr. clerk, do we have members of the public for this item?

if so, how many? >> clerk: at this time, we have approximately 20 listeners and 12 members of the public waiting in line to speak. members of the public who wish to provide public comment call 415-655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 146 592 7527. press pound. system prompt will indicate you have raised your hand. first caller please. >> first speaker. >> i'm president of speak, sunset parkside education in action committee and state and federal legislative liaison for the coalition for san francisco neighborhoods. speaking on my own behalf.

i like to follow-up on my written comment and strong support for the appointment of carmen chu as city administrator. written comments including praise for her service as board of supervisors, phrase for her continued commitment to the neighborhood through attending events such as the sunset community festival and meetings of organizations such as the caravan merchants. in praise for her work as chair of the economic recovery task force on top of her duties. i have attended the capital planning committee meetings during the past four years. i appreciate the role the city administrator as chair of the capital planning committee. i believe she will bring her expertise to this role and to other departments under the c.a.o.'s purview. in conclusions, there are folks in district 4 are excited about

the possibility having one of our own as the city administrator. i know i am one. thank you. >> clerk: next spear please. >> good morning chair peskin, vice chair mandelman and supervisor chan. this is my first time on public comment. i would like to echo my support of mayor reed's nomination of assessor recorder and former board member carmen chu. i had the privilege of knowing carmen for nearly 16 years. i had the privilege of swearing her in as supervisor with now current clerk. her appointment as city administrator will be an asset to the people of san francisco as she has worked with the community so well and to her

extended city family. i would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the clerk of the board staff and the clerk for continuing to provide these services to the public via remote and during these crucial covid unusual times. all stay well. thank you. >> next caller please. >> good morning supervisors. i'm speaking today both as a resident in district 4 as well as ceo of self-help for the elderly. which is elder care service provider in the bay area. permanently -- personally i've been working with carmen for the past 14 years. with everybody's comment, we

know that carmen is very qualified for the job of city administrator. given her background and her experience as assessor recorder and now district 4 supervisor. most recently, as cochair of the san francisco economic recovery task force. carmen has visited centers in sunset and other senior centers many times. she is never shy asking for what they need, particularly in areas of safety, healthcare, expansion of elder care services, transportation and language access and immigration issues. when carmen speaks, she always speaks from her heart and if she promises to help, she always will we trust her. carmen's presence in lot of public meetings and public events, always brings honesty, sincerity and enthusiasm and

truly a public servant spirit, which is really ready to listen and serve the people in our city. our community loves her and very proud of her. i urge your unanimous vote to approve assessor chu to be our next city administrator. she will bring again like other speakers said already, the expertise, her rich experience, her work ethics, her integrity and fairness and a strong compassion to serve the people in san francisco. we're very proud of her. >> next caller please. >> good morning supervisors. this is charles head i'm president for the coalition of it san francisco neighborhoods.

we report over -- we worked over the years with carmen chu. as a matter of fact, when i became recording secretary years ago, i believe it was carmen that swore us it. she worked with us and she's the obvious choice for this. great office. she's served honorably as well in every office she's held. she's the obvious choice. i urge you to go for it and approve her for this great opportunity. thank you. >> next caller, please. >> hi everyone. my michelle. i'm the executive director of the richmond neighborhood center where we provide youth and family programs at public school site, home delivered grocery

homes for homebound seniors. one of those program is the richmond community coalition, a group of richmond district serving nonprofits and businesses who gather to collaborate and get important information. assessor chu has been there to provide important information from prop 19 to the family well forum. she has been a supporter of our small businesses, especially during the pandemic and by co-chairing the economic recovery task force. as a leader, she is respected and trusted. i remember a time when she came to an event for our seniors, it was a lunar new year event. so many of them came up to her and thanked her for her leadership. she listened to their concerns and responded with ideas on how to address them with such compassion. this is the kind of person we need in city government.

someone who makes people feel heard, especially those who are vulnerable. my personal experience with carmen chu is very similar. she listens and responds with resources and opportunities, based on her wealth of experience and knowledge. in every role she is in, she leads with integrity and an eye for efficiency. it is the highest regard that i support assessor chu's nomination to city administrator. thank you. >> next caller please. >> hi. i'm the executive director of community youth center. i'm also the co-chair of the a. p.i. council.

we have over 56-member organization in san francisco. we serve 8000 youths, workforce development and also school-aged programming. i'm calling to urge everyone support for assessor chu appointment to the city administrator position. i personally have also worked with assessor chu for the past 14 years. she has been a great leader and definitely demonstrate her leadership values of transparency and accountability and equity. i think that's couple of highlights i like to mention such as the family wealth forum, which is events that serves 3000 families in san francisco. she really understand where is the heart to reach community. she will do her best to reach out to those without a voice in

our government. she understand the struggle and the treatments and the barriers of an immigrant family and how vital that they are. with the covid-19 pandemic, she serve as a co-chair of san francisco economic recovery task force. she will bring over 100 members from different sectors from business to nonprofit to government to craft strategies and policy ideas for relief and long-term recovery efforts. for of single task, she holds very high level of integrity and important need of public trust that we all feel high confidence from her.

>> next caller please. >> good morning. i'm jerry. i like to commend carmen chu for clearing up the multiyear backlog of property tax assessments. however, i'm here today to raise a concern regarding potential favors grant to her that reflect the culture of corruption we find in our city. a former san francisco assessment appeals board member submitted a credible allegation that ms. chu received three property tax reductions. she was not entitled to receive when she was member of board of supervisors. receiving three individual property tax reductions is highly unusual. i recommend the rules committee approve ms. chu for the position as city administrator subject to the city attorney issuing a report that clears ms. chu of

any wrong doing. city administrator of san francisco is the highest appointed position. ms. kelly retire was an opportunity to conduct a search to address corruption in the department of of public works. this is one more missed opportunity to break the cycle of corruption in san francisco city government. thank you for the opportunity to address you. thank you. >> next caller please. >> good morning supervisors. first off, i want to thank supervisor peskin for expediting this hearing. confirming ms. chu.

thank you for mayor breed for nominating carmen chu. i don't think i need to speak to her qualifications. she spoken to that well enough. i wanted to give a personal anecdote about why i strongly support her nomination. in the past 10 years that i had the opportunity to know carmen and work with her and interact with her, number one, i have never started a conversation with her, even conversations about her family and friend, it does end how she can improve her office and be more responsive. it's really refreshing to have those genuine conversation. secondly, as you guys experienced here, i've never had a conversation with carmen where she doesn't provide details and

insightful responses with significant level of follow-up in the danger of furthering the stereotypes. i want to reiterate the support for confirming her nomination. if we can still do banquets, we'll be organizing one now to celebrate carmen's nomination and impending confirmation. thank you again. >> next caller please. >> hello everyone. i'm chair of the small business commission speaking on my own behalf and for identification purposes only. i have had the distinct honor and pleasure of working with

carmen as member of the economic recovery task force where we worked together personally on land use issues, i had the honor of working with her at the small business commission. i had the honor working with her on the california recovery fund. during times like pandemics, that's when you find out who is really has a heart in their right place and really focused. that was absolutely my experience with carmen. i know you all know, as i know, that she represents the best and brightest that san francisco has to offer. i recommend that you all unanimously approve her and role of city administrator, i know small business community would welcome her with open arms. with respect to the prior commenters post, i'm very much looking forward to attending that banquet that i think we should have after she is

approved. thank you all. >> before we move on, i like to state that if you have not done so, dial star 33 to be added to the queue. we have 16 listeners and 6 in line to speak. next caller please. >> good morning chair peskin and fellow supervisors. we have a unique opportunity to bring in a new city administrator. this is one of the biggest city governments in the whole entire united states based on the budget and then the number of people employed per capita. we need to ensure transparency in light of the recent

corruption allegations that have rocked the city. let's not forget why we're getting a new city administrator. ms. kelly was not charged with any crime but her departure was the result of the fallout from the fbi investigation that resulted in the demise of a number of city halls old hands. this would have been a perfect opportunity to bring an outsider with no prior working relationship with the city hall family. unfortunately, we're missing this opportunity. that's it. >> next caller please. please proceed. >> great. david pilpel again. i was very sad to hear of naoimi kelly's resignation from an important and tough job. i wish her and harlan the best

and hope things turn out well or better for them. i strongly support carmen chu's appointment as the next city administrator. i've known her a long time. i know that she will do well for all of us. she served us well as district 4 supervisor and assessor recorder. it's smart and well qualified. thank you very much. >> thank you, next caller please. >> yes, good morning supervisors. good morning supervisor chair peskin and also community members. i'm d.j., i'm the executive director of young community developers here in bayview hunters point. i'm calling to urge the rules committee to push through now

assessor carmen chu. as we heard from previous callers, the work that she's done and how phenomenal she has been in various roles speaks for itself. i want to share briefly that i have the opportunity most recently to work with now assessor carmen chu around prop 19. just a amount of information in the gratitude and things that we received from the community, speaks to who she is as a person. it speaks to who she is as an assessor. it speaks to who she will be as our next city administrator. i strongly urge and support the nomination to get pushed through for now assessor carmen chu. thank you for your time. >> next speaker.

>> good morning. rodney fong resident of san francisco and chamber of commerce. i will lend my support for carmen chu as the next city administrator. we watched carmen step in these jobs and grow into them. she will do the same thing as city administrator. just a level of detail, yet broad vision for san francisco. she will take into this new office with efficiency and accountability we all need. we are entering into a very difficult time right now. the next few years will be tough for san francisco. we need that type of leadership, city and stability and we're going to have to do more. please pursue this nomination. thank you very much. >> thank you. next caller.

please proceed. go ahead. >> i fully the appointment of carmen chu to become our administrator. she is a dedicated public servant. as assessor, carmen will go in transparent and equity.

through the years, she has support our chinese community -- [indiscernible]. as co-chair, she has been working to support the recovery -- thank you. >> next speaker please. >> good afternoon supervisors.

i want to speak in favor of carmen chu's appointment. i've known her for several years. i think she is a wonderful selection. i remember when she was appointed by gavin newsom. she was head of the budget office and staff in preparation of the city budget. very smart woman. she didn't want the job. they took her -- they put her name on the door as supervisor, then they took it off. later she changed her mind and they put her name back on. i watched her career as being the best supervisor in a long time for district 4.

she went on as assessor recorder where she was terrific for years and years. she had very little budget to work with. she did a great job. she obviously, she has a great experience helping stabilize departments. i think she will be a very calming influence in city hall, especially with all the corruption going on. she is somebody, i think, that people will come to know and come to feel comfortable with in the government has a lot of problems. i endorse carmen chu and think she will do a great job for the city of san francisco. thank you. >> thank you mr. wooding. you reminded me that not only

did her predecessor go to jail but her predecessor, predecessor went to jail. next speaker please. >> hello supervisors. my name is sophia, i'm cofounder of woman's march san francisco on the commission status of women. i'm a resident of district 1. it's my honor to be here today to speak on behalf of assessor carmen chu. there are many accomplishments i'm sure you're aware of. you've been hearing them. she is most definitely qualified for the job. i personally would rather speak to what i witnessed as a community leader. i met assessor chu after the first women's march, 2017. from the beginning she provided

the team and i guidance and support. her team actually checked in regularly. we were invited to be a part of the w challenge when she created in 2018 to encourage women to vote and be more engaged. she's somebody that does the work and is organized and works with integrity. she leads with values of transparency, accountability, access and equity. i'm honored to call her a mentor and also a friend. i hope the board of supervisors confirm assessor carmen chu to be our next city administrator. thank you so much. >> next speaker.

>> i'm angie. i worked with carmen chu through the years. i have to say, i believe carmen chu is an excellent choice for city administrator. i really admire her hard work and reaching out in the community and taking so much great initiative to allow us an assessor recorder. she made herself really accessible and put herself out there in the community, through events, through workshops, at the library, speaking at community festivals. she's put so much effort into having conversations with the community, with the people of san francisco in so many ways.

i really admire her about that greatly admire her positive can do attitude as well as her ability to think outside the box and so very inspiring. best of all, contagious. i think she has a great impact on the community and i look forward to seeing her as city administrator. thank you. >> next speaker. >> hello. >> go ahead. >> there's been so many years

since i worked with her former mayor ed lee. i encourage the board to vote her nomination. >> next speaker please. >> that completes the queue. >> chair peskin: thank you mr. clerk. thank you to all of the members of the public for your testimony, which really speaks to the geographic and cultural

support for the mayor's nomination. if you listening madam mayor, very good pick. to the one member of the public, mr. dradler who supported this confirmation subject to additional due diligence, let me just say that as the chair of the rules committee, i have done that due diligence. i have done it thoroughly. i have asked those questions assessor recorder chu. she answered them. i. independently verified that her answers are true and correct that no special privileges were granted to her in the case of the prop 8 temporary tax reduction that she was months a class of 14,708 properties, 3

similarly situated in the neighborhood in which she owns real property. this is a practice that was done by many counties. as a matter of fact, there was no ability for ms. chu and her co-owner to say yes or no. it was merely a property tax bill that for a temporary period was at a lower rate. as to the individual who was a former member of the assessment appeals board, i will say, nothing more than that individual was not reappointmented to the assessments appeals board. i may have had something to do that. unrelate to this issue but relate to that individual's professionalism. with that, colleagues, do you have any more questions or comments about this most

important appointment seeing both of you shaking your heads in the negative. i like to make a motion to send this with recommendation as a committee report to be heard tomorrow, january 26, 2021 by the full board of supervisors. mr. clerk, on that motion, a roll call please. [roll call vote] the motion passes without objection. >> chair peskin: congratulations assessor recorder chu. may your replacement be half as good as you have been in the assessor recorder's office. we will see you tomorrow at the full board of supervisors as a committee report and presumably see you in your new role on

february 1, 2021. mr. clerk, please read the next item. >> item 3. motion to approving the mayor's nomination of appointment for newsha ajami for term ending august 1, 2024. >> chair peskin: thank you mr. clerk, colleagues, i doubt you will have another rules committee meeting with three of these caliber of important appointments ranging from the tjpa to the city administrator and public utilities commission. i interviewed newsha ajami. she is qualified. she's being nominated to the at-large seat. she will probably qualify for any number of seats.

are there any initial questions or comments from members of the committee before i introduce ms? seeing none, dr. ajami, the floor is yours for initial statement or presentation. then we'll open up to questions from committee members and then members of the public. the floor is yours. >> thank you so much. good afternoon chair peskin and vice chair mandelman and supervisor chan. i want to thank the committee for considering my nomination to the san francisco public utility. i want to thank mayor breed for nominating me to such an important role. i have dedicated myself to the steady development of environmental policy and solutions in my current role as

the director of policy, i focus on analyzing and utilizing data to inform developments of equitable and sustainable water solutions and infrastructure finance models. incorporating impacts of climate change and human behavior to build innovative solutions have has been at the heart of my carrier. while this is my first nomination to serve on an oversize body for the city and county of san francisco, i do have experience on boards at the state and federal level. i understand important rule that oversize body place when it

comes to understanding projects and programs that has significant impact on our natural resources, and the personal finances of our residents and businesses. i take this responsibility very seriously. >> chair peskin: not to interrupt you. for a value of my colleague on the bay conservation and development commission? >> yes, absolutely. i would like to highlight three values if i'm confirmed board of supervisors that i will bring to the role as commissioner. we have to thank nature as ally

to address climate change impacts rather than and element by building more heavily engineered solutions. i spent the last two decades thinking and working on these issues. i look forward to bringing my knowledge and learning to inform p.u.c. policy and process. also building resilient water supply is a top priority for many utilities including sf water and member of the regional water board. i have overseen number of projects how, where and what needs to happen and what needs to change and how they need to change policies and regulatory system. i hope to use much of that experience in my new role. also to build this more sustainable and equitable future while promoting more

collaboration and governance and engagement. collaborative governance as we deal with financial well-being infrastructure investment strategies and rate setting processes across enterprises have been a topic. i have worked on nationally, at the state level and regionally. i really look forward to working with you the full board of supervisors, mayor breed and the staff at sf p.u.c. as we further explore these issues and topics if confirmed. in closing, i'm really honored to be here today. i'm here today because i'm dedicated to using my education and expertise to help guide the sf p.u.c. i am grateful to be nominated. i look forward for the opportunity to serve the city as

sfpuc commissioner. if confirmed by the board. i'm happy to the answer any questions that the committee members may have. >> chair peskin: thank you dr. ajami. supervisor mandelman or chan, any questions or comments? >> supervisor chan: thank you chair peskin and dr. ajami, we love to learn just a bit more about your view on the management. it's a critical time in my opinion for the management of hedge hetchy. we've seen technology, demanding

needs increasing. just love to have a brief statement from you on the record about hedge hetchy at the moment >> as a resident of san francisco, i'm proud to be able to access -- it's a very important source of water for us as a city and also the area and the region to live in. we build a lot of infrastructure at a time that enable us to grow socially and economically and enabled us to be able to meet the needs of the population. obviously, moving forward, we'll see that there are other options available at the table that can actually do couple of things. help us to continue maintaining

and operating the systems that we already have. these are essential systems that have been in place and critical to our resilience. you will see less of those very large infrastructure solutions to be implemented by focusing on more smaller, regionally focused and environmentally friendly solutions that actually can compliment what we have. i hope than answers your question. >> supervisor chan: that does. that also also some way leads me to my second question.

seemingly, in some way, is really the -- [indiscernible] we are dependent on the water that we have for fire fighting at this moment. it will be great to the west side to have a pump station to be built out and supplement that demand in case that we have a significant need for fire fighting on the west side. i want you to elaborate on that -- your point of view about --

greater detail. we still have to learn in the coming months because they have yet to really have a -- [indiscernible] we want to get your expertise on this issue. >> sure. there are number of options obviously available. from some of the local solutions or local water supplies that we have on the western side, if something happens, obviously you need to have the right infrastructure in place to be able to access those sources if we have a major fire on the western side. i think we have a few of those sources available, potentially they can be tapped. i know there's some interest in accessing or using ocean water for this purpose.

which i think is a little bit more complex and need to be evaluated more closely, especially because some of the requirements that exist to build intake facilities. it's not just any facility that takes water from the ocean, it requires needs to meet these requirements to preserve our marine environment. it's a complex issue. >> chair peskin: i hate to interrupt. we're having some technical issues. we'll need a short recess to reconnect the bridge line. i believe we need a short recess. >> chair peskin: before, before we recess, dr. ajami that's up to my former colleague and our

mutual acquaintance commissioner. with that, we will recess until -- is five minutes enough? >> can you confirm how much time you need? i believe they said 10 minutes. >> chair peskin: okay. we will reconvene at 12:27. >> s >> chair peskin: we'll reconvene the rules committee, sorry for the technical difficulty. we'll return to the proceedings which i believe, ms. ajami was addressing. where were we?

>> we were talking about the emergency water -- >> chair peskin: we were on the west side code benefit pipeline. >> supervisor chan: pump station. >> chair peskin: that's right we were talking about a slant well and entrapment in jurisdiction over pulling salt water to intake to the water supply system. that's where we were. thank you for reminding me. >> do you want me to continue? >> chair peskin: please. >> as i was saying, building intake to take some water is a complex process and obviously requires to meet some of the new more recent regulations in order to prevent any major impacts on

the environment. that's a much more complex process. obviously it's an option. i believe some of this, especially lake merced, is one option that can be used as an emergency water source if needed. positive thing about something like lake merced, when we use ocean water, we will deal with some corrosion because of the saltiness of the sea water. which needs to be addressed if that wish to happen. i believe, i need to -- based on my knowledge and experience, dealing with some of the issues related to corrosion, what happens is after this water used, the whole system needs to be flushed to be able to get through as much salt as we can.

it can be a very intensive process. it's important to think about different size of the issue, the pros and cons and what really -- the amount of water we need in a real serious emergency situation. what are the options we have at the table. i think it's important to evaluate them all and be mindful of which one of them is least invasive, most effective and can be done in a cost possible for us to undertake. >> supervisor chan: thank you so much. back to you chair peskin. i have completed my questions. thank you. >> chair peskin: supervisor

mandelman, any questions for dr? >> supervisor mandelman: no. gratitude and delight we have someone who is qualified for this position as she is. >> i appreciate that. >> chair peskin: vice chair mandelman, and i will associate myself with those comments. briefly, matter of transparency, speak to what dr. ajami and i spoke to when we visited one was the board of supervisors and mayors collective policy desire to reach energy independence in the city and county of san francisco as it relates to local electrical distribution and pacific gas and electric, which i believe dr. ajami, i don't want to put words in her mouth, shares that policy and desire. supervisor chan touched on briefly related to trying to

figure out the right policy solution going forward on tuolumne river. this department has been under the cloud of the corruption scandal. p.u.c. commission will be intimately involved in a selection of qualified, new general manager and finally, the notion of independence of commissioner who does what she thinks is right independent of pressure from individual members or the legislative or executive branches. we certainly should meet and confer. that was the subject matter of

conversation that we had last week. with that,ly open it up to public comment. are are members of the public who like to comment on item number 3? >> members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call 415-655-0001. meeting i.d. is 146 592 7527 and press pound and pound again. please dial star 3 to line up to speak. we currently have 8 listeners and three parties lined up to speak. first caller. >> my name is francisco. i want to address my comments to

the new commissioner if i can pronounce her last name, ajami. i think first and foremost, you should ask the comptroller to give you an audit on community benefits. i know you are an educator but you serve the community, you want people to address the taxpayers money. i think you do a good job. once you started the audit, many things will fall in place. i, myself, am an environmentalist, i have been for 40 years. there's no climate change not very well understood by the san francisco public utilityings

commission. nor are they in favor of understanding the native american and the tuolumne river and we speak for the -- them. we should understand when i say that. we speak for the salmon. our heart has been to be in the right place to take ourselves and others to a better place. you will be hearing from me as you attend the meetings and as i try to attend the meetings. it's pretty difficult because of pandemic. advocates have to -- you have too many crooks, too many corrupt people. we are like a hawk watching them. thank you very much

>> next speaker. >> thank you chair peskin and members of the committee. i'm barry nelson. i represent salmon and fish industry. i like to offer our support for ms. ajami for this position. p.u.c. is in desperate need of leadership as the chair pointed out. there's a need for hiring a new general manager. we think that should be an outside candidate in light of general manager departure. on the issues as well, p.u.c. needs new leadership and guidance. the p.u.c. has opposed new

science-based protections for the development of salmon. it is also behind many other agencies, frankly most other large cities in california when it comes to investing in climate smart, alternative water supply. fortunately, i've known and worked with ms. ajami for years. she has tremendous experience and will be a real asset in the sfpuc. >> mr. nelson, i believe that dr. ajami used to be your alternate at bay conservation development commission. >> ivy street the alternate -- -- iwas alternate for regional d

seat. >> chair peskin: sorry, it's hard to remember that out and remember. my apologies. >> not at all. next speaker please. >> chair peskin: thank you mr. nelson. you can start by do your testimony. >> i wanted to be sure that everything is working. the phone line went down. david pilpel again. do not know ms. ajami. she's an excellent person water policy. i thought her presentation was impressive. water is one of the three enterprises at the p.u.c., it is complex and important to the city and the region. the p.u.c. is one of the agencies that i follow closely. i support this appointment. i hope that she will serve us

well. i believe she will and complete the composition at the p.u.c. at a critical time. thanks. >> chair peskin: next speaker. >> that completes the queue. >> chair peskin: public comment is closed. any additional comments from members of this committee? i see one head shaking no and i believe that concludes the proceedings. colleagues, if there is no no objection, elike to make a motion to send with recommendation and approval motion to the full board of supervisors for the appointment of dr. newsha ajami to the public utilities commission to the at-large seat. mr. clerk, did i state that correctly? >> clerk: that will be seat

number three. >> chair peskin: that will be seat number three, formally occupied by tim paulson, roll call please. [roll call vote] the motion passes without objection. >> chair peskin: dr. ajami, we will take this matter up next week at the full board of supervisors. congratulations for passing the second of three hurdles. we look forward to your service on the p.u.c. commission. it will be a challenge. we will be in touch. with that, mr. clerk, next item please. >> clerk: thank you. item number 4, hearing to consider appointing one member term ending february 1, twenties

2003 to the park regular creation and open space advisory committee. one seat one applicant. >> chair peskin: this is the district 2 seat. colleagues as i indicated, around the appointment of an individual to the advisory committee, i'm striving in conjunction with the city attorney's office to change our practices around this. we are looking for different solutions. with that, i'm delighted that supervisor stefani has recommended ms. leung for this position. >> thank you very much supervisor peskin. thank you supervisors for this opportunity to speak with you

today. let me start with the fact that i love our city parks. i'm in parks everyday with my dog. for me, like most san franciscans, our parks are our backyard. for many years, i have served as a volunteer with friends of lafayette park. we have found community, pre-covid and in our monthly cleaning and greeting activities, in our seasonal get togethers, even movie nights. i'm a representative of how parks make life better here in our urban environment. i appreciate the san francisco is the fourth city in our nation where all resident have access to bring space within a 10 minute walk. during this covid pandemic, i see the creative ways our community is reimagining their live outdoors. more than ever, access to bring space in our open parks are

where we can find our well-being, where we can be healthy and where we can feel connected. i'm very grateful to san francisco rec and parkings for the many ways they are promoting health and safety protocols during the covid pandemic in our green spaces. my interest in it park recreation and open space advisory committee sten stems a desire to be service to our community. i'm excited to support supervisor stefani so that district 2 residents feel safe in our city spaces. personally, i bring a passion for access to nature, conservation and community partnership.

i worked in the private sector of sustainability. i'm currently a member of the golden gate national park conservancy. i see opportunity for connections between our city parks and the golden gate national regular creation areas federal parkland. i would love to connect our 220 city parks to the ggni27 federal parklands and historic sites. especially where the lands are adjacent. including the presidio and many which are located in district 2. my priority would be that we ensure that we offer accessible, welcoming and equitable open spaces for residents and visitors alike. thank you so much for consideration of my appointment. i'm very happy to answer any questions. >> chair peskin: thanks. any questions from committee members?

seeing none. are there any members of the public who like to testify on this item and ms. lee -- -- i think supervisor stefani and i both have federal and local lands that are adjacent to one another. i'm delight to hear that. are there any members of the public who like to testify on this item? >> yes, members of the public who wish to provide public comment on it item, call 415-655-0001. meets i.d., 144 592 7527 and present pound and pound again. please dial star 3 to line up to speak.

>> we have no callers in the queue. >> chair peskin: okay, public comment is closed. i like to send ms. leung to the full board on recommendation. roll call please. [roll call vote] motion passes without objection. >> chair peskin: next item please. >> clerk: item 5, hearing to consider appointing one member

term ending april 27t2021 and six members terms ending april 27, 2022. >> chair peskin: we took action on one of the seats, seat number 4. before that time and during the interim, my office communicated with i believe every single remaining applicant. i want to thank my staff who is a former member of the sunshine ordinance task force for his work on that. i'm pleased to report that everybody who has applied is qualified to serve in various seats. i'm quite encouraged to see so many people interested in improving access to public records in san francisco. which all of three of us, pursuant to training understand.

there is a backlog of complaints due to a number of reasons. covid certainly being one of them as well as the fact that there has been some 70 plus complaints filed by one single individual. as well lack of staffing which we are hard pressed to afford that would help narrow issues of thee complaints. also lacking and exacerbating for the volunteering body. we had a very productivive conversation with the current chair. we discussed administrative changes that will help move things along including the

possibility of consolidating complaints that present identical issues such as the two dozen complaints relate to prop g calendar, resolving complaints of subcommittees the full task force and if this body is going to meet its goals that were approved by the voters, pursuant to chapter 67 of the administrative code, it needs to really take serious and effective action to assessor chu move through backlog and my staff and i will monitor that closely. will be available to provide guidance along the way. having said that, if there are any individuals who did not comment at the last meeting who

are applicants for the seats. you are welcome to do so now and pursuant to our state and local laws, if any of you spoke at the last meeting and have the need to speak again, you can do so now. in the interest of time, if you don't need to do so and you already spoken, you need not do so again. with that, do any of the applicants the floor is yours, mr. young. >> clerk: any -- applicants that wish to speak state your name at this time. >> david pilpel. good afternoon committee, david pilpel again.

i won't previous all my previous comments from your meting on january 11th. i do not know who the anonymous requester is. i do support that person and anyone else making anonymous public comments at meetings and anonymous public records request. i would like to draw the line at anonymous complaints. i think the public interest is best served when respondents are known their identities are public. that's how it works in court. that's that the same should apply to administrative hearings. i intentionally made provokive suggestions at the backlog. they may or may not be workable. they are other ways some of which chair peskin just described to reduce the backlog. i think it's important for complaints to be heard and resolved quickly and having too many complaints stuck in the

queue helps no one. my comments about more or less important complaints relates to what remedy to apply to violations, addressing department head while making a referral to another agency. i would not prejudge complaints. i have ruled for both complainants and respondents in my past service. i agree all the applicants appear to be qualified. i'm willing to be serve if the board appointments me. my caution is not to expect different results from the task force with the same dynamics going forward. i know that my long history with the city has pros and cons and i can take any comments or questions you might have. >> chair peskin: next speaker please.

>> clerk: are there any other applicants for the sunshine ordinance task force who like to speak at this time? there does not appear to any other speakers. there's been no response. >> chair peskin: are there any members of the public who like to speak to this item? >> clerk: members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item, should call 415-655-0001, meeting i.d., 146 592 7527. press pound and pound again. system prompt little indicate you have raised your hand. please wait until the similar indicate you have been unmuted. any public comments at this time? >> mr. chair, we have no callers in the queue.

>> chair peskin: public comment is closed. are there any comments from committee members. if not, i like to make a motion. colleagues? seeing no comment. let me make -- sorry. supervisor mandelman. >> supervisor mandelman: i want to thank folks who reached out to my office who we met with. i do think that this is a task force a body that would benefit from gender and other types of diversity. i think we have excellence, women and people of color candidates. i was particularly impressed by

ms. jones neighbors, not because she's a constituent of mine and ms. stein and ms. forsley. i thought this is new additions seem great. >> chair peskin: thank you for those comments. i concur. thank you to all the applicants. >> supervisor chan: thank you chair peskin. i think i am -- i share the sentiment expressed by vice chair mandelman as well. it is great to see women candidates come before us for the sunshine task force. i definitely won't want to advocate for diversity but comfort to know that someone like the members that are already here, like bruce wolfe and matthew yankee and chris

hyland have expressed their interest to continue their work. they have been doing for quite some time. i think it's a great balance to have those diversity and fresh new perspective. meanwhile, we have the institutional knowledge and experience to keep the task force going. that's my approach and really glad variety of candidates to do this thankless work and keeping our city government transparent and accountable. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you supervisor chan. with that colleagues, if there's no objections, i like to make the following motion. while seat 3 did not have any applicants, kevin frazier, we've determined he is qualified to

fill seat number three. that is certainly within our powers and purview to do as a member of the media or electronic media, interested in improving access to public record. i like to move kevin frazier fill seat 3. that was matthew yankee fill seat 7, chris hyland fill seat 8, neighbors seat nine and kai forsley seat 10 and i like to make a motion in that regard. are there any comments on said

motion. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you chair peskin. i'm comfortable for vot >> mayor london breed: good afternoon, i'm san francisco mayor london breed. and thank you so much for joining us here today to provide some good news for a change as it relates to just the rough year that we've been having as a result of this global pandemic. as of today in san francisco, our case rate is at 261 cases per day, and that's down from a high of 372 cases per day. our hospitalizations are at 194, and, sadly, 293 people in our city have lost their lives due to covid. our infection rate is below 1. we're at .95, and our i.c.u. capacity is stable at about 26%. the good news is that we are in a better place than we've been in a long time.

and today we got some even better news from our governor who announced the lifting of the stay-at-home order in the bay area. and in the state of california -- but more importantly in the bay area, because that pertains to us -- we anticipate that tomorrow we will be told that we will be in the purple tier, which provides us an opportunity to do so much more than we have been doing. the fact is that we got here because after the thanksgiving day holiday, we saw the numbers begin to creep up aggressively. and we shut down early because we were very concerned as to what this would do to our i.c.u. capacity in the city. if we had continued along the pace that we were going and did absolutely nothing, at this time the end of january we would be out of i.c.u. beds.

and because we acted quickly, and because i followed the health care orders that were provided by the department of public health, we did so early, even before the state required us to do so. because we did that in san francisco, we are in a better place. but we're still in the midst of this pandemic. we still have a responsibility. yes, this is good news that we are finally seeing a difference with our numbers. but there's still work to be done. it still means that we have to wear masks and we have to socially distance ourselves from one another. you have to just use common sense and continue to just accept that we are going to be living with this for some time, even as we see the numbers decline, even as we reopen, and even as we start to administer even more of the vaccine than we already have. so what does this mean? what does this mean in terms of our reopening?

well, as i said, it's good news. so outdoor dining can resume. personal services can resume as long as you can wear a mask. so you can get your hair done, you can get your nails done. a number of things with personal services, as long as you're able to wear a mask. this will start on thursday. outdoor museums and zoos -- outdoor entertainment, like skate parks and mini-golf, indoor fitness limited to one-on-one. indoor funerals for up to 12 people. so these are things that were not happening before, and they will be in effect as of this thursday again, thanks to all of the hard work that we have all been doing to stay safe. we'll also see capacity increases in our grocery stores and in retail. and in outdoor fitness and outdoor religious and political events. outdoor recreation and some low

contact youth sports can continue as well. and golf and tennis with people outside of your household, and small gatherings of up to three people, no more than three households per group, and what we're saying, again, because we remember not this past weekend but the weekend before, we saw so many people at the delores park and at alamo square park and at parks across san francisco. and we saw them gathered with large groups. there were, of course, a lot of people who were just following the rules and keeping their distance. but we did have some real challenges. today is a beautiful day. yes, it's cold outside, but the sun is out. just keep in mind that this is just not an open door for us to all of a sudden to let our hair down and to do whatever we want to do. let's keep doing what we're doing. let's keep being smart about wearing our masks and who we interact with. let's limit the number of people that we interact with so that we

can make sure that we don't see another surge and see this virus continue to get out of control. today is, of course, a day of celebration but it's also a day to just remind ourselves of the importance of how much more work we have to do to get to a better place. now i want to talk a little bit about the vaccine. we in the city have developed a capacity to ramp up to up to 10,000 doses a day. now, of course, we want to do more than 10,000 doses a day if we have the vaccine. this past friday, i was at city college, where they first started to administer the doses there and they've been able to administer over 1,600 doses so far and that site alone has the capacity to deliver up to 3,000 doses per day. we also have a site that we're opening up at musconi and in community where there's large

sites in partnership with our private health care providers so that we can get to people sooner rather than later. our goal is to also to make sure that we're doing pop-up sites in neighborhoods and communities that have been most impacted by the virus. we want to meet people where they are. we want them to feel comfortable when they get the vaccine. so as soon as we get the number of doses that we need to start to administer, we will do just that. i will say that there's been a lot of misinformation, there's been a lot of criticism that has surfaced over the course of the rollout of delivering the vaccine to people. and i just want to take a moment to talk a little bit about what we've been doing here in san francisco. in fact, when we first found out about what we would need to administer the vaccine, including the freezers and all of the other technical stuff, we learned that information back in august. and we instantly prepared for

that because we knew that in a place like san francisco, with the number of people that we have both living and working here, that we would need to make sure that we had the capacity so that when the vaccine was delivered to us that we had the refrigeration necessary to basically to keep those vaccines ready to go for people before they were distributed. the work that went into the infrastructure, working with our private health care providers, and just understanding what needed to be done in terms of traffic coordination, in terms of distribution, in terms of checking information, it is a process. in fact, when i was at the site at city college this past friday, one of the conversations that i had with a doctor is that these vaccines, they have to stay refrigerated at least until the hour before they're actually used. so just imagine the coordination that goes into that alone. this is a complicated process.

and i want to be clear -- that had we waited to start more recently, like some people had said that we did, we wouldn't be where we are now -- opening up large sites. opening up and setting up pop-up sites and distributing the vaccine at some of our community clinics where many of our elderly live and are able to walk to. we wouldn't be in this position had we waited to start. we started last year in the summer as information came, and we adjusted. and we stepped up to the challenge to meet the need. in fact, the department of public health specifically based on the number of vaccines that we have received, we've already have distributed over two-thirds of those vaccines to individuals and the remaining batch that we have are mostly for people for their second dose and are scheduled to be given to others for their first. those vaccines are coming in the door and they're going out the

door as quickly as we can make that possible. so i want to be clear that it is complicated, it is challenging. but this same department of public health is the department of public health that had advised me as the mayor in the beginning of this pandemic that we had to shut this city down so that we could save lives. it's the same department of public health that led the efforts during the aids crisis where san francisco was left on its own. it's the same department of public health that i am working with to roll out the vaccine distribution. because not only do they know and understand the importance of what this means to save lives in san francisco, i understand the importance of what this means to save the lives in san francisco, to get our city reopened, and to get our economy going again. nothing is more important. i trust and support and work

closely with the department of public health to make the hard decisions to get this vaccine out to the public as quickly as possible. so i want you to understand that we are in a better place, we are not where i want us to be, because we don't have sufficient supply of vaccines to distribute to the public. but i will guarantee you that as soon as we get them, they will be out on the streets in someone's arm so that we can get things rolling again. and i appreciate the patience and the understanding of so many san franciscans as we go through this process. keep in mind san francisco has done an amazing job through this pandemic. i know that we're tired of being indoors. i know that we're tired of the schools being closed and not being able to connect with our friends and family. i'm tired of this too. i understand how important it is to get back to our lives. i understand that more than

anyone, because i feel the responsibility, the weight of this entire city, and every single resident. i feel that on my shoulders every single day. but i'm asking for more patience and understanding and trust that we will continue to do everything that we can to get these vaccines out the door. in fact, tomorrow i'll be having a conversation at 1:15 online with dr. susan philip and dr. naveena baba, who are two incredible women who have helped to lead this effort from the beginning so that we can ask questions about some of the concerns that i've been seeing from people who are wondering, well, why is this happening and that's not happening. why is this going on and that not going on. well, tomorrow your questions about the vaccine will be answered. and i hope that it will instill

just really an understanding and also a clear guide for what we are doing here in san francisco and what we need to continue to do to get the vaccines out as quickly as possible. and i am excited today. i'm excited today because the vaccine rollout -- i'm excited today because many of our small businesses will begin to open. i'm excited because i know that people in san francisco, although this is a great day, they realize the importance of still following safety guidelines around covid and understanding that the virus is still out there and that we still have more work to do. but today still is a day of celebration. and i'm, again, grateful for all of you for everything that you've done to get us to this point. now, the last thing they want to touch upon is we have a new president. i love saying that -- we have a new president, we have a new

vice president. and one of the first announcements that the president made last week is the fact that our shelter-in-place hotels that have been provided to many of our homeless people who are a part of this vulnerable population, that they would not only just reimburse the 75% that they agreed to reimburse at the beginning of this pandemic, but this president has committed fema to reimbursing us at 100%. what that does for our budget is incredible. we're still facing a significant deficit, we still have a lot of financial challenges, but what this means is that we have a level of certainty. no, this is not going to be forever, but it will be long enough that as we start to transition some of the people that we have in hotels in san francisco into permanent housing situations we can now backfill those hotel rooms with people

who fit the guidelines under the fema requirements for reimbursement. that is really great news. and i'm excited to continue to work towards trying to get our most vulnerable off the streets. but i want to be clear about something. if you were not on our list to receive support and care in our homeless system as of april last year, and you basically came to san francisco thinking that there's an opportunity for you to get help in some capacity, unfortunately, we will not be able to help you. and the people that we'll be able to serve are people who were part of our system of care before april of 2020. they're already on the list, they're already waiting. they're sleeping outside. they're sleeping in tents. and we are not going to jump the line for someone who just decided to come to san francisco yesterday. there are people who are waiting

and they will be prioritized and they are the only people that we can help at this time. so i want to make that clear that that is what is going to happen moving forward, with the good news of receiving reimbursement 100% from fema. so i want to thank each and every one of you again. today is a good day. today is not a day to go outside and to throw up your mask in the air and to celebrate in that way. you can go out and celebrate and throw your hands in the air and just keep your mask on. make sure that you're continuing to comply with this health order and doing everything that you can. when you go to restaurants, just be mindful. when you visit friends or family, just follow the health orders. we're not out of this partner p, but we're better today than we have been in a very long time. it gives me hope that we are finally getting to a better place -- the place that we continue to talk about. the place where we say that

we're the light at the end of the tunnel. well, we're seeing a crack of that light come through bright. and that's because of your work and your efforts and everything that you've done. so, thank you. and the better our numbers get, the more we will be able to open, the more that we will be able to get back to a place where we can see one another in person again. thank you again. and now i'm happy to open it up to questions. >> thank you, mayor breed, for your remarks. before we begin, the question and the answer portion, we're going to take a moment to allow reporters to submit any final questions they may have on webex.

thank you, mayor breed. at this time we'll start with dr. colfax. >> mayor london breed: okay. thank you again. dr. colfax, i'll let you do the white gown. >> good afternoon.

>> thank you for your patience. dr. colfax, your first question comes from various media outlets. why are people from out of the county getting vaccinated at city college? >> thank you so much for the question. i think that city college has been a great partnership with ucsff, and if we had enough vaccine we could get you 3,000 vaccines there a day easily right now. but i think that key issues to understand right now is that for the vaccine, the focus has been eligibility for vaccine has been for health care providers and for people 65 and over. many health care providers work in san francisco, but outside of san francisco. so many of the health care providers will be vaccinated here because it's a place of work. similarly, people who are 65 and over who are eligible for the vaccine, they may live in oakland but they may have their health care provider here in san

francisco. so they would be getting vaccinated here. vice versa, if you live in san francisco but you have a health care provider in oakland, you could go to oakland to get vaccinated. the issue is that the bay area is porous and we're all interconnected and we need to get vaccines into arms as quickly as possible. >> thank you, dr. colfax. your next question comes from various media outlets. why are we reopening with new virus variants circulating? how will the city deal with new variants and avoid shutdowns? >> so we are opening at a high level of case diagnosis. we're at about 30 per 100,000 right now, which as the mayor mentioned, is substantially lower than we were just a few weeks ago. so this is very good news. we know that the rate of the virus spread in the city is slowing right now, which is also good news. we will continue to monitor the rate of spread and hopefully

that will continue to go down. with regard to the variants, we are concerned about that. but there's no reason to panic. we know that wearing masks, social distancing, and using the good hygiene practices, we believe that it's also effective with regard to reducing the variant's spread. so right now, even with this relatively high rate of cases, because things are moving in the right direction, because our hospital capacity -- even through this third surge -- remained relatively good in san francisco, compared to other jurisdictions, and the fact that san franciscans had now beaten back three surges -- look, we have been in this for nearly a year right now. it's time for to us take this approach of gradually reopening and we're reopening, and let's see where we are and do the right thing so that we could even get to that next step and open up more. >> thank you, dr. colfax.

your next question comes from heather knight, san francisco "chronicle." how many vaccine doses has san francisco received and how many has it given to people? >> so right now, heather, we have received as a city 127,000 vaccines. that's across the whole city. that's across the health care systems, across the city. and we've administered as a city, we estimate just over 59,000 vaccines have been administered. at the health department, we've received 34,500 vaccines to date. and we've vaccinated more than 23,000 people. now in those numbers i want to stress a couple of things -- we are ready to go with mass vaccine sites right now. we need to get to 10,000 vaccines a day. the numbers that i gave you alst

with regard to the vaccine that is remaining that those vaccines have been scheduled for second doses or appointments that have been made for first doses for most part. and with the d.p.h. supply, even with the 10,000, our total that we'll get this week, we will be scheduled to basically to exhaust our vaccine supply by as early as wednesday or thursday. we need more vaccine right now so that we can get those shots into arms. >> thank you, dr. colfax. the next set of questions come from alex fererria, san francisco business times. in what ways will the restrictions in place in san francisco be on thursday differ from what the state is allowing in the purple tier counties? or, is the county reopening to the full extent of the purple tier? >> so just to be clear right nod

that the counties are coming out as the shelter-in-place order, we will be told what tier we're in tomorrow. we'll look at that very carefully. and with regard to the orders, those will be -- be released accordingly. and that those will be released on thursday at this time. >> thank you, dr. colfax. your next question comes from holly striker of kqed. what amount is the expected next shipment of vaccine in san francisco? >> so, remember, we have visibility only to the vaccine that the health department will be getting because the other health care systems in the county, the kaiser and the sutter and the dignity, they get pulled from their regional counterparts what vaccine they'll be getting. what i can tell you right now because this is what we have insay the into -- is that the health department is scheduled to get 10,575 doses this week.

that number could change. and we will know that number when they tell us that that number has actually been shipped to us. but, again, that's ready to go out the door right now. we need more vaccine. >> thank you, dr. colfax. the next question comes from eve batty theatre s.f. can we hear more about the thinking behind the decision to leave the 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. stay-at-home order in place? >> so, what we're doing right now is working to gradually to reopen the city. we're taking the initial steps in a situation where the rate of the virus is still relatively high. we want to see that number continue to go down before we release that 10:00 to 5:00 order. so let's just give us a little more time and see how those numbers do to ensure that we don't have to reverse again.

nobody wants to go backwards again, so let's take the first step. we have beaten back three surges. let's prevent a fourth surge as much as possible. >> thank you. the next question comes from christian kaftan, channel 2 news. how will this work county-by-county, when the entire bay area was covered under the state's previous order? could there be surges in other counties that could impact san francisco? >> well, i think that has been really great about the local county collaboration -- actually, a year now -- is that the bay area health officers have been coordinating and working together. and for the most part the region has been well coordinated. so, again, we will see what tier the counties are assigned to by the state tomorrow. and i expect that in general that the county orders will be

aligned for the most part. >> thank you, dr. colfax. your next set of questions come from dan curman. who is getting vaccinated at city college? those in the san francisco health network? those in the ucsff health network? or anyone over 65? >> so people who are eligible for vaccine right now are health care workers and people over the age of 65. right now that site -- those patients -- are ucsff patients who by the most case meet the 65 and over criteria, and, again, once we get more vaccine we're ready to go and give up to 3,000 vaccines at that site alone. >> and a poll question, do you feel as if the feds are sending less vaccine to the bay area region compared to southern california due to the massive

outbreak there? >> i'm not going to speculate on what the feds may or may not be doing. i think that the bottom line is that across the state regionally and locally we need more vaccine as soon as possible. san francisco is ready for the vaccine. our goal is to be able to inoculate at least 10,000 people a day. as you just heard, the health department is getting just over 10,000 doses this week. so we need to get that vaccine here so that we can get it into arms as quickly as possible. >> thank you, dr. colfax. and we will now continue questions with mayor breed.

>> mayor london breed: all right. >> mayor breed, your first set of question comes from nbc bay area. what do you say to landlords who feel that they're being taken advantage of by tenants who continue to pay zero dollars in rent and intend to continue living rent-free during the eviction moratorium? >> mayor london breed: well, i appreciate the question. and, you know, san francisco since the beginning of this pandemic, through not only the rental subsidies that we had through the city and county of san francisco, that try to provide some additional rental assistance to make sure that when this is over that people are still responsible for that rent and will need to pay it. we just found out from the federal government that san francisco will be given $26

million in stimulus money to help with rental assistance. this will be significant. we know that it's not just the people who are struggling to pay their rent, but some of the small property owners and others who might be struggling because they're not receiving that additional income. there is hope with this new $26 million and i'm excited to see what that does to help to address some of the challenges that exist. because what we don't want to happen is that we don't want -- after this pandemic is over, we don't want to see a lot of people getting evicted and we also don't want to see a situation where so many small property owners who rely on this income to help to cover the expenses of maybe their in-home support services work, or the repairs on their home, we don't want to see them in a bad situation either. so right now, great announcement, $26 million in rental subsidies. that's a start. we know that there's more to do. but i think that we're going to continue to work towards the

goal of trying to make people as whole as we possibly can. >> thank you. and a follow-up question, should the future stimulus checks include a requirement that a portion of those funds go towards a person's rent? how can smaller landlords afford to keep allowing renters to live for free? >> mayor london breed: i think that something of that nature might be somewhat difficult to manage. i know that, for example, we have the ability through the resources that we provide for rent subsidy to make direct payments which ensures that these resource goes directly to cover the rent. on a federal level, i have no control over that, but i do think that it's important for us to do everything that we can to make sure that we get direct payments into the hands of landlords, to make sure that we avoid the evictions that could occur if these rents are not paid. >> thank you, mayor breed. your next question comes from ron lynn of the "los angeles times."

some restaurant owners have been very upset at the outdoor dining ban and have opposed the government orders to shut them down. do you think that san francisco's latest success vindicates your efforts to impose an outdoor dining ban and to implement stay-at-home orders, even ahead of the state's timeline? >> mayor london breed: well, i truly believe -- yes. if -- you've gotta understand that to close down a major city like san francisco, and then also when you see the numbers surging and to have to go backwards, those are some of the hardest decisions i've ever had to make, because i know what it means -- not just for the people who are supporting these restaurants -- i know what it means for the workers and the food and all of the things that these restaurants have to do to be open in the first place. but the fact is that we had to prioritize saving lives in every decision that we made. and what we're seeing are the impacts of those decisions

because our case rates, the deaths that have -- are the lowest death rates in the country of any major city in san francisco, the i.c.u. rates, i think that all of the numbers that we're seeing in san francisco demonstrate that we made the right decision and now that we are reopening outdoor dining, we want to continue to make sure that we are being very careful. because we don't want to go backwards. >> thank you, mayor breed. your final question comes from kathleen novak of kcbs. with the extra funding from the federal government, will san francisco be able to open up more hotel rooms to people who might not qualify for fema reimbursement and cover the costs out of the city's budget? >> mayor london breed: well, we are not certain that that's going to be possible because our goal is to provide permanent housing, not temporary housing. and what these hotels and these safe sleeps sites that we opened

up during this pandemic have done is provided temporary shelter for the people who, unfortunately, are homeless. and we're being reimbursed for that purpose. but our resources, the money that we have in available to assist with our homeless population need to be used for permanent housing options. and that's where our priority will be. >> thank you, mayor breed. there are no additional questions. >> mayor london breed: thank you. >> this concludes today's press conference. thank you, mayor breed and dr. colfax for your time. (♪♪♪)

>> mayor london breed: twice before we have gathered in late january -- first at the national lgbtq center for the arts, then last year in the rotunda of city hall -- so i could share with you my view of the state of our city. as we gather virtually today, you don't really need me to tell you the state of our city. we are anxious. we're frustrated. we're impatient. and we are lonely. i know it because i feel it myself. and i know, in many cases, folks are hurting even more than that. but if i can impart anything to you today, it is that we deserve -- we need -- to feel two more things: pride and hope. pride because we have pulled together to weather storms like we've never seen before. hope because we can see a brighter future. the fact is the state of our city is resilient, and it is

resilient because of what all of us, every one of us, have accomplished this past year. i am speaking to you today from the moscone center, but my heart is really a few miles from here at laguna honda hospital. laguna honda is one of the largest skilled nursing facilities in the country. for 155 years, since it was founded to care for aging pioneers, laguna honda has served the neediest people of san francisco, through thick and thin. my grandmother, miss comelia brown, spent her last 12 years in that hospital. dementia had taken her ability to speak before she arrived. but it never took her personality, not all of it, anyway. miss brown loved chewing gum. she had lost her teeth by then, but she loved chewing gum. so the nurses and staff there would bring pieces in their coat pockets and hand it to her to brighten her day. miss brown was always very particular about her hair and nails.

she was a southern lady at heart, and a lady must look the part. so the staff painted her nails. they left each other careful notes to make sure her hair was done just right. she couldn't speak, but her caretakers were making sure we understood our grandma was still in there. we've all been reminded of something in the last year, something that i think i've known for a long time -- the men and women of laguna honda, the nurses, doctors, paramedics, and staff there, along with all those taking care of people in need across the city -- they are heroes. they are the best of us. at the outset of the pandemic, we saw frightening news accounts of outbreaks in nursing homes all around the country. some called laguna honda a "ticking time bomb" -- a "powder keg." it's true, the virus could have easily swept through the laguna honda and killed dozens. hundreds. but thanks to our frontline

workers, the department of public health, and everyone who did their part, covid was contained at laguna honda. and so it was with great relief, and great pride, that only a couple weeks ago we saw the staff and residents of laguna honda get their vaccinations, the very definition of the most vulnerable san franciscans, among the very first to get vaccinated. that filled my heart. that's who we are. a year ago, i declared a state of emergency. 10 months ago, with our neighbors around the bay, we implemented the first shelter-in-place order in the country. and from there we continued to make difficult decisions -- heartbreaking decisions -- all year long. today, i'm standing in moscone center, which has been the beating heart of our emergency response. it was here where city workers from so many different departments came together to do whatever it took to protect this

city. when we didn't have enough testing to know where the virus was, they were here. when we didn't have enough p.p.e. to go around, they were here. when we didn't have a federal government ready or willing to lead the way, they were here. the hours were long, the days were chaotic, and any sense of an ending to all this was impossible to see. but day after day, rain or shine, our city employees came and did the work. and i want to thank each and every one of them who has walked through these doors or been out in the community, and those who are still here working today. back in march, a neighbor in midtown terrace wrote this on nextdoor: "when you go out and see the empty streets, the empty stadiums, the empty train platforms, what you're seeing is love in action." what you are seeing is hope we

care for each other, for our parents and grandparents and doctors and nurses and people that we may never meet. take a moment to look into all . take a moment to look into all of that emptiness and marvel. it is the most remarkable act o solidarity that we we have ever witnessed. san francisco's response to covid-19 has been hailed as a national model. we have the lowest death rate of any major city in the united states. and though every life lost is a tragedy, we have saved thousands of lives. and now we can see the light a the end of the tunnel. we were able to do this not just because our city government was collaborative, flexible, and full of dedicated public servants -- though it is. we were able to do this not just because our hospitals, nursing homes, and medical professionals are some of the best in the world -- though they are. we did this because of you.

we did this because of the sacrifices you made, the losses you endured, the love you showed for people you may never meet. years from now, people will look back on what we've done, and i hope they will remember not the frustration and pain we feel now, but the love we showed, the lives we saved. take pride in that, san francisco. find hope in that. each of those lives is a treasure. each of those lives is precious, every one of them. each one is one more grandmother, grandfather, mother or father, brother or sister, son or daughter, who will be there for the next birthday. the next wedding. the next anniversary. each life saved is precious. so, yes, it has been hard. and, no, we're not out of the woods yet. but we have been fighting for something real. we have been fighting for each other. don't forget that. and there is reason for hope.

on monday, the stay-at-home order for the bay area was lifted, today, san francisco can begin to recover. today we can begin to re-open our doors, re-open our businesses, begin to resume our lives. with some restrictions, and many, many precautions, of course, but we are reopening. we are vaccinating more and more people each day, and very soon we will open another large vaccination site right here at moscone center. and with support from the state and -- thank god -- the new biden-harris administration in the white house, we have a plan to administer 10,000 vaccines a day. we can see the light. folks, our recovery starts now. so i want to say something to all the people who are writing us off -- to those who are writing obituaries of san francisco -- we've read all of these before. we've proved them all wrong before. and we'll do it again. cities aren't a collection of buildings.

if they were, the year 1906 would have been our last. cities are people. working from home doesn't spell the end of urban life, because cities aren't merely a collection of jobs. cities are people. cities are passions, culture, vibrancy, and change. but look, we san franciscans have thick skins. so we'll show the rest of you how we bounce back. when you get restless and wan to come dance to live music or to see steph curry do his thing on the court, eat at the world's best restaurants, drink at the best bars, start your next business, host a convention right here at moscone center, or just watch the giants from your kayak, we'll be happy to have you. san francisco has always been and will continue to be a magnet, a destination, a place that draws people. we are the city of pride. today, with hard lessons learned, and so much yet to do,

i believe we are at the start of an incredible recovery. we aren't just going to repair. we are going to reinvigorate. to come back even stronger. we will put people back to work. our businesses will flourish. opportunities will expand. and as we do all of that, our recovery will focus on moving our city forward and putting people first. we will continue our work to cut the red tape for small businesses, because it's more important than ever. for example, in november, voters passed our small business streamlining measure -- proposition h -- and it's already working. one small immigrant-owned business that wanted to convert a hair shop to an ice cream shop -- saw their approval time cut from the normal six to nine months down to one day. one day. we'll build on this success and

make it even easier to turn an idea into a thriving small business. bureaucracy can't keep getting in the way of people. our recovery also means building housing... now during this economic downturn. as we rise again, let's not repeat the mistakes of the past. we will put affordable housing dollars to work, and streamline the approval process -- even if it means going to the voters to do it. we will keep pushing to meet our goal of building 5,000 new homes each year. and can we finally put to rest the fantasy that supply-and-demand doesn't apply to our housing situation? you may have noticed, rent prices went down, way down, last year... why? because demand went down. when it goes back up -- and that is a "when," not an "if" -- let's be ready with more supply, more housing, so everyone can afford to live here. we will continue to aggressively

push forward our homeless recovery plan, which includes the large event expansion of permanent supportive housing in the last 20 years. and we will implement mental health reform, so we can get more people off the streets and safely indoors. we will continue to divert 911 calls from police through innovative solutions like our street response team. so people struggling with addiction and mental illness get better care. and so our police officers can address violent crime and the burglaries and break-ins happening in our city. we want nothing more than to prevent crime from happening in our city, and, sadly, when it does, it is just as important to hold people accountable for the crimes they commit. we will continue to enliven our neighborhoods through outdoor dining on our sidewalks, our streets and in our public

spaces. we will do more for families, starting with getting our kids back in school. our city can't fully recover until our students are supported, our schools are open. and i will continue to do everything i can to help get our kids back in the classroom. we will invest in people by investing in infrastructure. we can put san franciscans back to work by harnessing the power of public investments. we will strengthen our seawall, build parks, police and fire stations, and mental health facilities, and improve public transportation. yes, public transportation is the lifeblood of a great city, and making muni work -- better than ever -- is critical to our economic recovery. in all, i plan to move forwar on more than $3.5 billion in city projects. just this week, for example, we opened our new navigation center

in the bayview. this 200-bed shelter will serve some of our most vulnerable residents. but the project also created 330 jobs, during the height of the pandemic. that's 330 people who can provide for themselves and their families. and our recovery also needs to be about the arts, our cultural institutions and culturally diverse neighborhoods, and the public spaces we all miss so much. we will also help music venues, clubs and bars -- who have lost so much -- get reopened and get back on their feet. 2020 was a year like nothing we've ever experienced. this terrible pandemic tore our neighborhoods, tore through our businesses, tore us from one another. it's taken lives, destroyed businesses, savaged our economy and tore at the very fabric of

community. and we always told ourselves that the sun will still rise tomorrow, until one day it didn't. the streets of san francisco and cities around the country erupted with protests as our nation's legacy of racial injustice, white privilege and prejudice against black people boiled over. i will never shake the image of george floyd on the ground, a knee on his neck. that knee, that knee has been on the necks of black americans for 400 years. and it's the knee of the chinese exclusion act, the briggs initiative, japanese internment, redlining and urban renewal and kids in cages and transgender discrimination. san francisco is in many ways a collection of people who were tired of living under someone else's norms or knee, and came here to find common cause.

our diversity, our acceptance, our spirit is what makes us strong. and no virus -- whether it's named covid or h.i.v. -- will ever take that away. quite the opposite -- it will only make us stronger. it is in times of crisis that san francisco has thrown its true grit. we've been tested before. earthquakes. fire. recessions. shocking assassinations. aids... every time, we were shaken, and we were tested. and every time, we didn't just bounce back, we pushed forward. out of ashes, we built an even greater city. out of despair, we formed even stronger alliances. out of tragedy, we forged even greater humanity. let's not remember 2020 only as the year we suffered. it was the year we learned what matters most.

what binds us together. it was the year we sacrificed to save each others' lives. the hard winter is almost behind us, and hope lies ahead. as amanda gorman said just two weeks ago at the inauguration -- even as we grieved, we grew. even as we hurt, we hoped. even as we tired, we tried. and when day comes we step identity of the shade, aflame and unafraid. the new dawn blooms as we free it. if there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it. if only we're brave enough to be it. my fellow san franciscans, there is light. let's be proud. let's be hopeful. let's be brave. thank you.

. >> you're watching coping with covid-19 with chris manners. >> hi. i'm chris manners, and you're watching coping with covid-19. today, my guest is phil ginsburg. he's the director of the san francisco rec and parks, and he's a national rec and park ranger. thank you for being here. >> hi, chris. thank you for having me.

>> i've heard you have an exciting new exhibit that features social distancing and is outside, so it's safer. can you tell us a little bit about it? >> the golden gate 50 anniversary wasn't the celebration that we hoped for, but when life deals you lemons, you hope to make lemonade, and we tried to engage people in the park in different ways. behind me is what we did. it's a public exhibit which has transformed peacock meadows into an enchanted forest of other worldly shapes and lights. it's to close out golden gate

park's 150 years and to allow people to have outdoors socially distant fun. >> great. and what are the hours, and when can people go see it, and are there access for wheelchairs and strollers? >> well, it will run until february 27, and the ways are wheelchair accessible. it will close in time to make the city's curfew. we're not supposed to be gathering. we're not supposed to be celebrating out there, unfortunately. it is a beautiful exhibit and is one that can be seen from the sidewalk or you can wander into the meadow, but we ask that people be really mindful

of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. the most important thing for us is to be safe and healthy. do not show up with other households. come and see it, get a little taste of the holidays and leave so other people can enjoy it. if it's too crowded, comeback because it's going to be around for a while. >> how long does it take to walk around the exhibit? >> well, you could be there for five minutes or 15 minutes or longer if it's not crowded. it's about in an acre of meadow, but it's very visible even from a fully accessible sidewalk. you'll get a sense of it. basically, there are sculpted

trees, and it's gorgeous. i got an opportunity to visit it over the weekend. the conservatory of flowers is there, and then, we have our amazing spreckels temple of music which was recently renovated and lit up in lights. >> i have information that it was created by a local artist. what can you tell us about it? >> well, it's a new concept,

but the lights were previously installed in a park in toronto and also in las vegas. the installation has been paid for through private donations to the golden gate park's san francisco 150 campaign. it reflects a culture steeped in science and history and culture. >> i can't wait to visit it. safely, of course. >> wear masks, distance, sanitize, and don't gather. >> well, thank you for coming on the show today, mr. ginsburg. i appreciate the time you've given us today. >> thank you, and thank you for giving so much attention to golden gate park which has been so wonderful for us during

covid and deserves a lot of extra love and attention on its 150 anniversary. >> and that's it for this episode. we'll be back with more information shortly. thank you for watching coping with i want to thank you for joining us for this very important conversation about covid-19 vaccine. i'm joined by san francisco's health officer and the deputy director of health to discuss in more detail san francisco's plan to distribute vaccines as quickly as possible. the doctors are medical experts

helping to lead the city's response to covid. we're lucky to have them here to help answer the questions that many san franciscans are asking. i know this is a topic on everybody's mind. we've never done anything like this before in this country, in this state or city. vaccinating this many people in the midst of a pandemic. it's a process with many moving pieces. while many things are out of our control, we're in good shape in san francisco with a plan in place to get people vaccinated quickly once we have the supply we need. to start off the conversation, i'll give a brief overview of the current situation in san francisco and then we can get right into the conversation. san francisco is moving full speed ahead on covid-19 vaccinations. we're creating a network of vaccination locations across the city. high-volume sites, partnerships with pharmacies, uzbekistaning

-- using existing community sites. to do all this, we're coordinating with the health care providers who are receiving a majority of the vaccine doses from the state, such as kaiser permanente and ucsf health. creating targeted efforts to make sure communities that have been hit the hardest by covid, have access to the vaccine. won friday, we opened the first of three high-volume vaccination sites in san francisco at city college on ocean avenue. they started with 500 doses per day, but will have the capacity to administer at least 3,000 doses per day once we have the supply and are fully ramped up. in addition to the sites opening

at the muscone center and the san francisco market and the bayview, we're also working to bring vaccines to people in the communities most impacted by covid through community clinics and mobile vaccination teams. this has been a collaborative effort and we're so thankful for our partners, the health care providers and the community organizations work with us. we have a plan and we're ready to distribute 10,000 doses at least bare minimum per day once we have enough supply of the vac. so far, the amount of vaccine we're receiving from the state and federal government is inconsistent and unpredictable. we need more vaccines and we'll continue to do everything we can to be ready when our supply of vaccine doses increase. but for now, vaccine supply remains our biggest constraint. so this is such a big piece of the puzzle.

why don't we get started in the conversation? and let's ask the two incredible doctors that are joining us today, who are really leading this effort, thank you for joining us and either one of you can answer this question. what is the current situation with vaccine supply in san francisco? and why are vaccine supplies so limited? >> thank you, mayor. and maybe i will start and then the doctor can fill in if there are pieces i missed. as you said mayor, the main thing, nationwide vaccine production is limited right now and that's the underlying issue. vaccine getting to us in san francisco and getting in the arms of people in san francisco is also very, very complex. so the federal government directly allocates a small portion of the doses that it has and then the rest of it gets divided up and allocated by the federal government to the 50 states. once our california share has

arrived, then it gets allocated not just to our 58 counties, but also large health care organizations. in fact, in san francisco, two-thirds of the vaccine that is coming into the county is going straight to our health care partners. that's important to realize. as you mentioned, not only are we not receiving all of the allocation, but just a minority, but it's very erratic and unpredictable because of the supply issues. that means we can't know from week to week how many spots we'll have available for people to get vaccinated. the state also determines what the priorities are for vaccination. again, as you said, very important to know. and right now, the priority groups are health care workers and they are people that are 65 and older. these are the people who are most likely to get covid-19 and the people who are most likely to die if they do become infected in the case of older adults. so as an example of that, in san francisco, people aged 65 and

older make up 15% of the people who get covid-19 in our county, but they make up 85% of the people who die. so that's why they're prioritized first, but it is that scarcity of vaccine right now that causes the biggest problems. then are logistical problems with the vaccines and being able to get them to people. >> mayor breed: so can you tell us a little more about how this works? how many doses have arrived in san francisco? and how many have been administered? and can you also explain, i think there is confusion around the second dose because there is, you know, a question about the timing of when the second dose should be administered and whether or not we can just administer all the first doses and hope we'll get enough second doses to administer those. can you explain the numbers and

specifically explain the second dose so we can have a clear understanding of that? >> yes, thank you. so as of today, san francisco has received 144,000 doses, but just to put that in perspective, if we talk again about the people who are currently eligible in san francisco, including health care workers and people 65 and over, that group in and of itself is 210,000. so if you think about two doses being required for these vaccines as you said, that requires 420,000 doses. so we don't have nearly that amount. each of these vaccines requires a two-dose course. they have to be repeated at either three or four weeks. the difficulty is you can't mix and match the doses. we have to make sure it's the same dose. of the 144,000 vaccines, we have administered 80,000 of them, 58

percent. and of the remaining doses, they're almost all allocated to ensure that the people who received their first dose are able to get full protection from the vaccine by getting the second dose. when you account for that as well, there is 98% of the doses that have come to san francisco are going to the people of san francisco who need them. >> mayor breed: can you help understand -- i think some of the questions, too, that people have is, what happens if you don't get it within the third or fourth week? you don't get the second dose at that time, what happens? is it just not effective any longer? >> i can maybe take this one. so this has been study across the nation and right now, at the national level, they're saying that you could get the second dose up to six weeks later. the state is looking at this recommendation and they're finalizing how they want to approach it. so we're waiting for that. right now, we're trying to hit

the marks of three to four weeks after, but if we get recommendations to adjust, we'll do so so we can get vaccine out in the most efficient manner possible. >> mayor breed: that's a real interesting point that dr. phillip made earlier today, just that folks are not completely -- they don't completely understand why we are basically pretty much out of doses. and i think it's important -- and it's complicated, but it's important to talk specifically about the path. we're not just holding onto vaccines. we're getting them out the door as soon as we have them and we don't have control over all the ones that come to san francisco, but maybe you can talk about the path that a vaccine follows from when it is assigned to san francisco to when it is administered. and i know that you can probably only mostly speak to what happens with the department of public health, because we only have control over the vaccines

that we receive. >> should i start? or would you? >> maybe i'll start with the logistical part and then you can talk about the clinical implications. because these vaccines were processed in a very quick manner, they require a little bit more logistical effort than normal vaccines. so the pfizer vaccine needs ultra-cold freezing which is -60° and that's not normally how we distribute vaccines. so that temperature control is extremely important for the vaccines to remain effective. at every stage from when they are produced at the manufacturing and as well as transport across the country into the county, that temperature control has to be maintained. once it's in the county and it's put into a health care system or the department of public health, we have to ensure that that temperature control conditions

until it's ready for use. -- continues until it's ready for use. it's required for the health care systems to have ultra-cold freezer storage to do the pfizer vaccine and get it out. moderna is a little bit better in the fact that it requires freezers. and we can use our own freezers to do that. and the health care system has freezers. but i want to emphasize, the vaccines are fragile. you have to be not only temperature-controlled for storage, but as soon as they're ready for use, there is a lot of requirements around how that use happens. i'll turn it over to dr. phillips to talk about that. >> yes, these vaccines, these are not the type that you and i are used to in our homes. these are specialized equipment in medical centers. and what we know is that once we

start the process of thawing the vaccine, that is another process, then it also has a limited life within the refrigerator of several weeks. and once we take the vials, they actually contain multiple doses of vaccine, so you can get either up to six or 10 doses for individual people from each vial, but once you open the vial, you have six hours to use it for you have to discard the rest of the vial. the last thing anyone wants to happen is wasted vaccine. so the logistics, the planning and equipment for doing this is not parallel. so the idea that, you know, for flu vaccine we're all used to going into the local pharmacy or doctor office and getting it easily. that is a very different scenario than we have right now with covid vaccine. both because of the requirement of the specific vaccine and the scarcity of the vaccine. we're hoping in the future we

get to a point that will be -- that it will be like the flu vaccine, but we're not there yet. this is the limitations we're working with in the city to make sure people are vaccinated. >> mayor breed: the city has made a decision to set up massive sites that require their own logistics. we have city college which we opened with ucsf, the muscone center and the san francisco produce market in the bayview. those are the other two sites that will open. these sites are going to play a huge role in efficiently providing the vaccine to people who live and work in san francisco, but it's a huge logistical undertaking to establish and operate a site like this. tell me about how these sites will work. >> i can talk about that. you know, this site and this planning has been going on for months now. i really have to say that it's been a huge collaboration

between city partners, between our health care system and between our community partners to really think about and plan and operate these sites. and part of the planning is that we need to ensure these sites are high-volume sites. they're able to get to, as you were saying, mayor, up to that 10,000-marker across the city. we need the space requirements we need the infrastructure to store the vaccine. we need the proper electricity. and additionally, people after they get the vaccine, they have to wait 15 minutes after to make sure they don't have a reaction. you have to have the appropriate places for people to be monitored. so based on that, with all of our, you know, all of this collaboration, there have been three sites looked at and deemed really as the right places to get this up and running. and part of how this came to be is that we know the sector of the city has been most hardest

hit by covid and covid cases. so really looking at that area to ensure that we have vaccine available for those populations, so city college as you mentioned, the bayview, were some of the first sites. and then additionally, the muscone site. once they were identified, we worked to determine how is this going to work? as dr. phillips statemented, we're only getting a third of the vaccine coming into the county, so we need our partners to be part of the collaborative to administer the vaccine. for city college, they have 18 lanes available and it can do thousands of doses a day potentially in the future. it launched with ucsf last friday with 500 doses because that's the amount we have now, but as vaccine flows in at a more robust rate, we'll be able to increase the number of people

that get vaccinated there. all these sites, we're looking at drive-thru as well as walk-in so people can get to the sites. >> mayor breed: i'm understanding that the city college site basically, based on the number of doses that they have left, so that the appointments are through tomorrow, is that correct? >> that is correct. they are through tomorrow. and that's, again, based on the vaccine allocation. we will hopefully get more news about allocation in the next 24-48 hours and we can start planning ahead. >> mayor breed: so tell us about who can get vaccinated at these high-volume distribution sites? i think -- are they open to anyone regardless of who their insurer is? >> so, mayor, again, the limiting factor as you've both said, it is limited to health care workers and people that are 65 years of age and older.

but as you pointed out, we really want to do all the complicated work on the back end and build these systems so it is simple for the people who live and work in san francisco to know where they can go to get a vaccine. so, yes, the goal is, and the plan is, as vaccine supply increases, that anyone will be able to access vaccine at these sites, no matter who is operating the site, whether it's ucsf or kaiser permanente. i don't have to be a kaiser permanente member to go to that site. that is the goal. we're going to be shared resources, sharing accessibility across the city for the benefit of all of the residents and people that work in san francisco. >> just for clarity, we know in san francisco we're still in tier 1a and that includes people over the age of 65 and health care workers, in-home support

service workers, emts and we anticipate that network is about 210,000 people. so we've heard a lot of folks who have been a little, you know, bothered by the fact that san francisco has not gotten to teachers, bus drivers, police officers, and, in fact, ma written has gotten to other counties. can you explain that and why it's a lot different here in san francisco than it is in other counties? >> one important reason is that we have such a robust health care system. we have so many health care workers that are here in san francisco serving our residents every day. that is a strength. that is part of the reason why we have one of the lowest death rates of any major city. and that means that it's going to take us longer to vaccinate

all those people that have been serving us throughout this entire year of the pandemic. so that is part of the reason why we have not yet been able to move past the health care workers into -- into the other tier. that is actually a strength that we have this large health care workforce here. and so we acknowledge that and we also know that with the limited vaccine supply we're getting, we're moving through the group as best we can. with all of my health officer colleagues across the region, all of our goals in every county is to get every resident, every worker vaccinated as quickly as possible. it's a shared goal. some of us, like san francisco, have a larger share of the health care workforce than other counties do. >> mayor breed: i want to express my appreciation for the work you all did early on to get vaccinations to people who are in assisted-living facilities, both laguna honda and other places where some of the

highest-risk patients have been. it was a huge undertaking and it was done very well. and although we've had our challenges when you think about a place like laguna honda, with over 700 patients and all of those employees, the work that was done there with your partners, in this case, walgreen's, it was significant to be able to accomplish that. let's talk about eligibility for this vaccine. how does one go about getting one? >> so i can talk about that. operational side. there is a couple of different ways. if you're a health care worker, generally we recommend you start with your employer because a lot of them have been able to get vaccine through themselves or the big health care systems. if you are an independent person that is not associated and has not been able to through your employer get a vaccine, is it talk to the health care system. as dr. phillips remarked and

stated earlier, the health care systems are now vaccinating all health care workers. and have made this available to people outside of their network. so that is one way to access vaccine. the other way is, you know, we are working on trying to get networks up and running. not only through the health care system, but also through other partnerships like our pharmacy partnerships. and our community health care clinics. again, hopefully as the vaccine becomes more accessible to san francisco, some of these other partnerships can start to vaccinate our health care workers. for the over 65 population, again, this is a large population. we're, you know, saying that those that are in the higher age ranges should be the priority because they're at higher risk of death. so a lot of the health care systems are starting with 75 and over which is appropriate. but the goal is to get to as

much as of this population as quickly as possible. it is dependent on the vaccine allocated. we will get to you. i know there is frustration and anxiety around this, but we're getting it out as fast as we can. we hear your concerns. given the limited supply, we're having to prioritize. that does not mean if you're in the priority groups you will not get the vaccine. they will get this phase done hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks, but that depends on the allocation we receive. >> mayor breed: dr. bobba, i know some have questions about the safety of the vaccine. can you tell us about the safety record on both types of the vaccine and why they should take the vaccine when the opportunity presents itself? >> yeah. both of these vaccines have gone through extensive trials in terms of safety records. now they have been studied across a major part of the population.

actually, recently, there was literature released by the cdc showing of the more than four million doses given, there were only 10 anaphylaxis episodes across the entire country. so very minor amount. and all of those were reversed immediately. that's been in the media, that anaphylaxis the concern, but it's a very rare concern and that is why we monitor for 15 minutes afterwards. in terms of other side effects, the main side effect is probably after your second dose, you can get muscle aches, feel fatigued. you might get an injection site redness or soreness. all of that generally, you know, resolves within 24-48 hours. so the ability to have a 95% effective vaccine to covid for outweighs the concerns around the vaccine. especially in our communities that are really being devastated by the disease, where we're seeing hospitalizations and

death, the benefits outweigh the risk. >> mayor breed: so basically you are strongly recommending the two doses. can you tell us why -- and then tell us who is going to be keeping track of the first and second dose and how that works to ensure that the second doses are available for the person that receives the first dose? >> absolutely. so, yes, two doses are recommended and depending on the type of vaccine that you start with. remember, they're nearly identical in terms of high efficacy, 95% for both of them. whatever one you get that is available, that is the one you should take. doses are in short supply. but you need the same kind fort follow-up dose. that is going to be three weeks if you get pfizer and four weeks if you get moderna. we are keeping and we're tracking and there is very detailed documentation that is

required, another one of the logistical challenges that has to go to the state. we know who has gotten the vaccine and when they're due for the follow-up. that is part of the system that is being built across the city. health systems have ways of doing it and we're doing that in covid command as well, to know when to call people back and schedule them for the follow-up shot. the efficacy, that very high 95% protection, is really only shown when people get the two doses three or four weeks apart, depending on the vaccine. so after people get the first dose, they shouldn't feel i've gotten the vaccine and i'm in the clear. they really need to have the second dose. so as we were talking about, this is part of the thinking, when we get our allocations, we want to make sure we can for now schedule people at the 3-4 week interval, so we're planning accordingly. we want to be able to give people the second dose. that is part of the logistics

and the thinking through how to do this well for the people who need the vaccination. >> mayor breed: one of the things that i wanted to just kind of touch upon, because you know, i think there are concerns that the city should be completely responsible for this, right? like that we should take on the responsibility even though it's not necessarily within our control. we remember the beginning of this pandemic. we had to set up these testing sites from scratch. we didn't have enough needles. we didn't have enough p.p.e. there were challenges with setting up the sites and a lot of the testing fell on the hands of the city and county of san francisco. and there were challenges with the private health care providers who were also receiving test kits, but we were then, as a city, held responsible for administering all the testing and in many cases there are still people who are using the city system to

test, even though they have private health care insurance. it's been one of the most challenging things that we've had to face. and part of, you know, of course, my push as mayor to the state and the feds is to provide more supply to our public health care system so we're administering more faster, because of our lack of control over the private health care providers. luckily, at least, the private health care providers are working with us, even though we don't have the data completely. how is this system that we have set up now? how is this plan we have set up now to administer the vaccine, how is this going to be better than what we had to deal with with testing especially with our private health care providers? >> yeah, i think i can start and then dr. phillip can weigh in. one of the big things, a lot of the lessons we learned with testing, we're using them to

plan for vaccine. what do these sites have to look like? how do we get a large number of people through them? how do we meet the demand? one of the major differences here, is that testing potentially had an open market that you could go purchase test kits. that's not the same with vaccine, right? this is a very limited supply. it is being tightly controlled at the federal and state level. there are specific allocations coming in. we have to work in partnership because if we don't collaboratively work with our health care system, it will be decentralized and not well-run process. and so this is actually, you know, i will say, it's making -- we have to ensure that there is collaboration. in some ways, it's forcing collaboration because this cannot be successful if the health care system does it on their own and the city does it on their own, we have to come together to serve the residents of san francisco based on the

allocations we're getting. so far, that collaboration is abundantly clear, the health care system is really being in partnership with us at these mass vac sites. the mass vac sites are looking at one way to distribute the vaccine, but there needs to be a community focus here with community sites and community hubs that can give the vaccine with a much more personal level, with community providers that know the community, have trust with their residents. so we're looking at multiple ways to get the vaccine out. again, the health care system, whether they're large or smaller doctor offices, it will be part of this and working collaboratively. >> mayor breed: the last question i want to ask, because i think one of the biggest concerns i have is a lot of the misinformation and the criticism about san francisco and our rollout for the vaccine. the impression we just started planning for this yesterday. the impression that we're not prepared, that we're not getting

the vaccines out fast enough. there is a lot of information and, sadly, it's causing a lot of confusion out there. and it's really causing a lot of frustration amongst many san franciscans. and i just want, you know, either one of you or both of you to talk about the fact that we have prepared for this early on. we're getting the vaccines out as quickly as we can. and how well we're doing in san francisco, especially compared to other places, even though it might seem confusing, especially because of the second dose. tell us your perspective as the two leaders of this effort, you know, how you believe san francisco is doing? and how we can anticipate that we will do even better, especially once we get the supply? >> yeah, i'll start and dr. phillip, you can finish. so in terms of our planning, our

planning started as soon as we heard that the vaccine trials were occurring and they were promising results. over the summer, we started planning over this and we dusted off the previous summer with h1n1. when we came to fall, the flu vaccine clinics as a model, even though the flu vaccine, the requirements around storage is different, we have to think about what is the impact of covid on administering the flu vaccine? what is the spacing requirement? the protective gear? so that happened all through the fall into the winter to get the flu vaccine out. we built on that to think about, we know the understanding around flu vaccines. we know past experience of mass vaccination clinics. as we understood how allocations were going to happen, we worked

closely with the health care system to develop these different strategies in addressing the needs of the community in terms of getting vaccine. so the mass vaccination sites, the community sites, our pharmacy partnerships are really the pillars of how we're going to get vaccine out. all of this is going to be ongoing improvement. as things start to rollout, as things change, we're going to be adept and nimble to change with them. but at this point, the city has a robust plan to get the vaccine out as quickly as possible as long as we get more supply. >> thank you. dr. phillip, you want to add anything? >> i agree 100% with dr. bobba. i think the only other piece i want to emphasize, this planning has been going on for months and it's why we're poised to be in such a good position when the vaccine is available. looking around, i think the approach you alluded to, having

any door be the right door for a person in san francisco to get the vaccine is unique. it is community-centered, individual-centered. it really makes the system work the people instead of the other way around. and i think this is the right way to get vaccine out to people quickly. so now we just need the vaccine. i also want to say that this is a good problem to have. there was no guarantee that we would have highly effective vaccine at all just a year after this brand new coronavirus was identified. so, we are up to this challenge in san francisco. we have built an amazing infrastructure. we have great people as a city with the health care partners in the community working on this, as we heard this afternoon. and we're looking forward to getting more vaccine and really rolling up peoples' sleeves and getting vaccine in there. >> mayor breed: let me thank you both for the work since the beginning of the pandemic. thank you, dr. phillip and dr.

bobba. you've been incredible leaders in the effort. we appreciate all the work done by the people who are part of the department of public health. i know that everyone is ready to be done with covid. i'm so ready to be done with covid myself. and just know that we are doing everything we can and i have confidence and faith in the work of the department of public health here in san francisco because they're the reason why you see san francisco, one of the second densest cities in the country, have one of the lowest death rates in the country. it's because of their work. it's because we acted fast. we have been a leader. so now is not the time to fall apart. more than ever, we're going to have to be patient. we know that the vaccines are here. we know that with a new president who is prioritizing covid vaccine production, that we anticipate that more will be to come. and so it just means that we have to just be patient. we have to wait our turn.

and we will get there. we got great news yesterday we'll be reopening san francisco with outdoor dining and a number of other salons and places of business that could not open in the past. that's good news. we're headed there. so now is not the time for us to, i think, question the decisions of the department of public health or lose faith. we're going to get through this. the light is finally there. we know there is clearly a lot to discuss on the vaccine. we can't get to it all today, but we'll continue to provide regular updates to the public about the vaccine in san francisco. and we're regularly updating information, which is available online at sf.gov/covidvaccine. we know we're at the mercy of the state for supply. as soon as we have supply and

information, we'll get the vaccines out the door. as a reminder, anyone who lives or works in san francisco, can sign up for a notification when they're eligible to get a vaccine. we really appreciate the time you took to listen to dr. phillip and dr. bobba on what we're doing here in san francisco to address the questions and the challenges around the vaccine. it's clearly complicated, but we'll still get there. i have faith and confidence in what i think is one of the most incredible department of public health anywhere in the country. our numbers speak to that. we will get through this and we appreciate everything that you all have done to follow our health care orders. looking forward to seeing you all in person fairly soon. thank you for joining us. [ ♪♪♪ ]

>> good morning. the meeting will come to order. welcome to the thursday, january 28th meeting of the public safety and neighborhood servies committee. i'm supervisor mar, the chair. and i'm joined by vice chair stefani. thank you to the committee's clerk john caroll. i'd like to thank sfgov tv. >> in order to protect the board, public during the covid-19 emergency, the board of supervisors chamber and committee room are closed taken pursuan