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tv   BOS Rules Committee  SFGTV  May 31, 2021 10:15am-11:46am PDT

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[♪♪♪] >> good morning and welcome to the rules committee of the san francisco board of supervisors. i am the chair aaron peskin shortly to be joined by supervisor catheri stefani. our clerk is mr. victor young. mr. young, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes. due to the covid-19 emergency to protect the city and the public, the board of supervisors chamber room is closed. members will be participating in the meeting remotely and participate in the meeting to the same extent as if they were physically present. available on channel 26 and
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sfgovtv.org. comments or opportunities to speak during public comment period are available via phone by calling (415) 655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 187 277 0610 then press pound and pound again. you will be muted and in listening mode only. when your item of interest comes up, dial star 3 to be added to the speaker line. best practices are to speak clearly and slowly and turn down your tv or radio. at victor.young@sfgov.org. it will be included as part of the official file. that completes my comments.
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>> chairman: thank you, mr. young. can you please call the first item. >> clerk: mr. chairman, would you like to have a motion to excuse supervisor mandelman? >> chairman: yes. i will make that motion to excuse supervisor mandelman and welcome supervisor stefani. mr. young, a roll call please. >> clerk: yes. >> supervisor mandelman: accused, [roll call] the motion passes without objection. >> chairman: okay. and, then with regard to item number one which you have called -- i'm sorry. please call item number one. >> clerk: yes. item number one is an around answer amending the administrative code
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neighborhood anchor business industry the office of small business. and make it a city policy to promote participating businesses. and for commercial eviction defense. >> chairman: thank you, mr. young. this item was continued from our last meeting with a substantive amendment. colleagues, we are all in receipt of some nonsubstantive amendments supervisor chan. >> supervisor chan: thank you. >> chairman: . last week, this committee passed amendments to this legislation that i introduced based on feedback from the maul business commission, office of small business and other
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stakeholders and odd advocates. and i would like to thank them for their feedback to support this legislation. i want to also thank council merchant associations japantown association japanesetown culture and asian pacific islander. i have a few additional amendments today that i believe my team has shared earlier that are nonsubstantiative and they will do the following. at the small business commission as a nominating entity and second is to reduce the number of neighborhood signatures required for businesses who choose to apply the pe mission and that
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signature requirement from 50 signatures to reducing to 25 signatures. but to also require the office of small business to produce an annual report on the characteristics and demographics of the businesses included in the industry. these amendments will further ensure that the implementation of this program against the city's racial equity is language access goals and that the industry includes an equitable balance of industries and the type of businesses. i am sorry that, you know, director dick endrizzi from the office of small business is not available today but my staff is here and i'm here also happy to discuss these amendments and, if you have any questions. i hope i can count on your support on these
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nonsubstantiative amendments and recommend them to the board with positive recommendation today. >> chairman: thank you, supervisor chan, and good work. are there any questions or comments? supervisor stefani, i realize you were not in the last meeting where this was discussed, but if you have any questions, this is your chance? >> i don't have any questions. thank you, chair peskin. >> chairman: okay. why don't we open this up to public comment. are there any members of the public who want to provide public comment on item number 1. >> clerk: yes. members of the public call (415) 655-0001. the meeting id 1872770610. if you haven't already done so please press star 3 to line up to speak. a system prompt will indicate you have raised your hand.
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we have five listeners and one callers at this time. >> chairman: okay. first speaker, please. >> good morning, supervisors. i'm the director of public policy and partnerships of the golden gate restaurant association. i'm calling on behalf of the local restaurant community we advocate for. restaurants have always served as anchors to their communities and commercial corridors often bringing lights to the neighborhood they operate in. we hope this legislation will provide additional support to the businesses that need it. we appreciate supervisor chan taking the small commission's feedback into consideration and providing those additional amendments today. we look forward to working with your office and the full board of supervisors on more proms that will uplift our local restaurant community. thank you. >> chairman: thank you. and i look forward to your participation in the refuse reformfast taskforce.
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so we'll see you in a week. good to hear your voice. are there any other members of the public who would like to comment on item number 1. >> clerk: there are no more callers in line to speak at this time. >> chairman: okay. public comment is closed. supervisor chan, would you like to make a motion to introduce those nonsubstative amendments. >> supervisor chan: yes. >> clerk: yes, on the motion to amend. [roll call] the motion passes without objection. >> chairman: and then, supervisor chan, would you like to make a motion -- oh, i see
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supervisor ronen's name up. are you here for the next item? >> supervisor ronen: i'm here for the next item but i just wanted to chime in and thank supervisor chan for this excellent legislation. i helped write the original legacy business legislation together with my colleague at the time nate alvi and invention of the legacy business program and this is just such a perfect and natural next step in the development of this whole concept and so i just wanted to thank you and just tell you how excited i am. >> chairman: and, while i do that and i will also say and i neglected to give credit where credit was due because i gave it to david campos the other day when we were at the budget
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finance committee and neglected to thank then aid hillary ronen and nate alvi for doing the real work that the supervisor gets credit for, but then i also wanted to use this opportunity to remind us all colleagues that we need to fully fund the legacy business program in the up coming budget and i am hopeful that the what really is a $3 million a year need is fully funded and so thank you, supervisor ronen, for your advocacy around where the rubber hits the road which is the money. and, with that, supervisor chan, would you like to make a motion to send the item as amended to the full board with positive recommendation? >> supervisor chan: indeed. i would like to move that motion. >> chairman: on that motion, mr. clerk, a roll call please. >> clerk: yes. on that motion, [roll call]
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the motion passes without objection. >> chairman: next item, please. >> clerk: yes. next on the agenda is item number two resolution declaring the board of supervisors' intent to call a special municipal election with the prospective statewide recall election. >> chairman: all right. supervisor ronen. >> supervisor ronen: thank you so much, chair peskin. colleagues, this item is a resolution declaring the board of supervisors' intent to call a special municipal election this fall. in april, the campaign to recall governor newsol which means there will have to be a statewide election date set for some time in the fall. in anticipation of that outcome, the city attorney issued that memo random on march 24th with the clarification and guidance on
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the extremely unusual situation by the recall. the city is not required to hold a statewide but the board may by resolution call for that to happen. last month's announcement of the attentive appointment of the city attorney as the next general manager of the sfpuc and therefore likely up coming resignation of from his elected position as city attorney makes it critical we begin planning now. the city attorney has played a lead watch dog role and the new city attorney will be expected to investigate the web of bribery and fraud that has been revealed over the past 16 months. to do to without any real or perceived conflict of interest, it's fair that san franciscans get to elect the new city attorney of their choice, of our choice. this resolution confirms our intent to hold a special election to coincide with the
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statewide election. this will reassure the voters that they will decide who fills critical important city positions. waiting until late summer when state law would allow the board to make a call for the special fall election would be problematic for the elections department because it would allow so little time to prepare for that election. department of election instructor john arms is here to answer any questions from the committee and i hope you will join me and cosponsors president walton, supervisor haney, and supervisor mar in protecting the san francisco voters and we'll pass this out of committee today with a recommendation to adopt. >> chairman: thank you, supervisor ronen. are there any questions from committee members? i don't see anybody up on the roster. any questions from mr. arms? i have none. why don't we go to public comment. >> clerk: yes. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on
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this item should call (415) 655-0001. the meeting id is 187 277 0610. then press pound and pound again. if you haven't already done so, please dial star 3 to line up to speak. the system prompt will indicate you have raised your hand. please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted and you may begin your comment. just double checking the count. one second. it appears that we have seven listeners, but no one in line to speak at this time. >> chairman: okay. in that case, we will close public comment and supervisor ronen, i very much appreciate the fact that you are starting this process in a timely fashion and would like to affix my name as a cosponsor and if
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there are no comments from committee members, i would like to make a motion to send this item with recommendation to the full board of supervisors for hearing on 25th day of may of 2021, a week from tomorrow. that motion, mr. clerk, a roll call please. >> clerk: yes. on that motion, [roll call] the motion passes without objection. >> chairman: next item, please. >> clerk: yes. next on the agenda is item number 3. motion for approving/rejecting the mare's nomination for reappointment of kimberly brandon to the port commission for term ending may 1, 2025. >> chairman: thank you, mr. clerk. we are joined by commissioner brandon who was first appointed
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to the port commission. i believe almost a quarter of a century ago in 1997 and has served continuously under a number of mayors and has been appointed by a number of mayors for the last 24 years. i had an opportunity to speak to commissioner brandon this morning and gave her a heads up sergeantway from the last item into a some questions that i will raise regarding her involvement in the lefty o'doouls foundation that has been run by nick bova with some scrutiny and some charge that is were levelled against mr. boggess that were not against ms. brandon whatsoever.
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i wanted to start really by asking commissioner brandon for a little background and what's been happening at the court. she currently serves what's been happening under her leadership and involvement and thank her for her service as well as ask her what she foresees for the next four-year period as a commissioner if the board sees fit to reappoint her as nominated by the mayor and, with that, ms. brandon, the floor is yours. >> commissioner: thank you so much, chair peskin. good morning. and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to come before you today, chair peskin, supervisor chan and supervisor stefani. every four years, i have to consider why i want to continue
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serving as a port commissioner and i have to give the question a long and hard thought because it does take a lot of time and energy and it is a huge commitment. this time, i look back over the years as a native san franciscan, i'm especially excited because i see so many great accomplishments. i was able to see the proposal of oracle park, the renovation of the fary building, pier 1, pier 1.525. the exploratoryium just to name a few become a reality. vi had the opportunity to be apart of these amazing transformations and in the process make sure there is a fair and level playing field for those doing business with the port. i have been a champion of making sure that the port
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reflects the citizens of san francisco when it comes to hiring, contracting, leasing, or development practices. i am a huge proopponent of environmental justice issues and have developed a great relationship with president walton's office to make sure that the concentrated environmental impacts that have affected the waterfront communities over the year as decreased. over the past ten years, the port has been able to focus on the southern waterfront. we are creating two new communities on pier 7. both projects will add to the city's affordable housing needs and provide much needed jobs for our residents. we are especially proud of the opening of the park in industrial shoreline and the opportunity to provide public
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access and recreation to residents. over the next four years, i would like to focus on what i call the three rs. recovery, resilience, and racial equity. recovery, the port has faced some serious financial challenges. due to the pandemic, the port's revenues have fallen nearly 50%. we are projecting a total of at least $60000000 million this year. $eighty million over the next two years and $one hundred million over the next five years. this is a public agency with a pre-pandemic budget of only $110 million. based on our best projection, we have a 5-year plus recovery timeframe to return to pre-pandemic revenues. those are primarily due to the port to work with our tenants
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to make sure they survive the pandemic for pre-pandemic measures. we came up with an emergency program and provided safe for covid testing, food distribution and housing for homeless. resilience. the abort has been working aggressively to strengthen our community. the structure from fisherman's warf to oracle park for the safety of all san franciscans. i cochaired the successful pam met of bond a and would like to continue working with federal and state legislators, the army corps of engineers, mayor breed, all of and your colleagues and major stakeholders to protect our world class gateway. i have championed racial equity
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everyone to participate all opportunities at the port of san francisco. the port has hired its first racial equity opportunities manager and completed its racialing fi plan. i've created the sub committee of the commission to make sure it's implemented successfully. if confirmed going forward, i'll be a catalyst to advance policies that position the port to capitalize on economic recovery and i look forward to supporting increased maritime activities which can generate additional jobs and revenue. but you can expect from me competence that i have balanced job and business growth with the social and economic issues that our great port and city face. as you can see, i'm very
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passionate about the port and i take my job very seriously. i will continue the work. i continue to look forward to working with the board of supervisors, mayor breed, and the citizens of san francisco on all port related issues. with that said, i ask for your vote and welcome any questions. thank you. >> chairman: thank you, commissioner brandon, and that was a good high level summary of all of the good things that have happened over the quarter of a century and there has been profound transformation of the 1989 earthquake created the ability to tear down that structure that separated the waterfront from downtown and
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indeed the port capitalized on that opportunity with everything you just said. hurricane way. there's a lot to be proud of and the work that's going on in the southeast is also remarkable at crane cove and beyond that we're all very proud and hopeful for and i was very happy to participate in a small way by helping them get $5 million from the bay restoration authority or the environmental remediation at 900 ines and so on it goes. i wanted to mention at the onset and i realize this was uncomfortable for all of us, but we would not be doing our jobs if we would not appropriately require to delve into the revelations that resulted after the arrest of the former head of our public
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works department muhammad nuru in january of 2020 right before the pandemic hit, that resulted in article in february of last year that was about the lefty o'doule foundation that were made for buying toys for children, but instead ended up being used in 2017 for a for public works that has since been the subject of criminal prosecution of one nick boggess who was the president of the lefty o'doule's foundation.
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in the examiner that, ms. brandon, you were on the board of that organization. so i and you did have a quote which i very much appreciated and entered you into our conversation this morning that mr. boggess, quote, dooped us all. i just wanted to touch base on that because this is a sensitive and important issue that every supervisor is focused to getting to the bottom of and making sure this kind of corruption does not permeate city government. so, with that, i wanted to turn it over to you for an explanation about what you knew and if you could share that with this panel.
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>> commissioner: chair peskin, thank you so much. i read that article this morning and what i'd like to respond is at the time that the joined the lefty o'doule foundation, i thought i was doing it for the right reasons. i was recruited to the board by al cachiato who was the retired police captain and chair of the board. i served with the spd family and the sales of tickets to the san francisco giants. tony was their retired police chief, lead house keeper and several others and i was the only woman and i thought the mission of the organization was amazing. giving bats and balls and equipment into kids especially
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in underrepresented communities. because as you see in baseball, you don't see a lot of black players anymore, and so i thought in serving a good purpose with all these wonderful board members. i had no idea what was going on with nick, with muhammad, with all these donations. i have too much of a, i have built a successful career over the last 30 years in wealth management and everything i do, i do because i am passion and i think the mission was one i wanted to be apart of. i was never involved in anything that i read in that article that you brought to my attention today. i called the board chair and he's like, "he bamboozled us
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all." so i'm apart of a gang. >> chairman: got it. and thank you for that candid and understandable response and this is obviously not a hearing on the lefty o'doule's foundation for kids, but who was the treasurer of that outfit and did they present, you know, monthly or annual reports about where the money came from and how it was spent? how did that work and did you or other board members ask questions. the secretary or treasurer and i always say, hey can everybody make sure every member of this board gets the financial reports. >> yes. so i think the board may have met once or twice a year, so not that often and when we did financial, it was like 10,$000,
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$10,000 or $15,000 in the bank and then they also received grants from different institutions. so there was never anything over $10,000 or $15,000 on those financials. but it had nothing to do with the port or my service on the port. >> chairman: good point and when i did a quick look at that article this morning, your trash as i meant the port's trash. but, i appreciate that
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explanation. any questions or comments from committee members, supervisor chan, supervisor stefani. if not, why don't we go to public comment. >> clerk: yes. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call (415) 655-0001. the meeting id is 187 277 0610 then press found and pound again. a system prompt will indicate you have raised your hand. please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted. at this time, we have 11 listeners and 5 callers in the queue to speak. >> chairman: first speaker, please. >> yeah. hi. good morning, our chair peskin,
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supervisor stefani and chan. thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this morning. my name is linda richardson. we are urging you supervisors for the approval of kimberly brandon reappointment to the port of san francisco so that she can continue her remarkable service to the city and county of san francisco and i know that kimberly did not even mention that her family's name is anonymous week community service. because of her efforts all these decades, african americans in this city and people of color are able to attend colleges, of the remarkable leadership or have family and contributions in our community. i had the opportunity to work with ms. kimberly brandon as
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apart of the working group a group of esteemed san franciscans and all works of life that failed the port of san francisco to update their master plan and that to help establish the waterfront of bayview hunter's point on the leadership. as she has just mentioned. the port of san francisco remains the leader of the san francisco enterprise agency and we need to underscore that. this would be counted on to drive san francisco economic recovery post covid-19. the city needs competent commissioners and staff at the will and we know that the port of san francisco is highly regarded to the second and the
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commission. >> clerk: speaker, your time has elapsed. thank you very much. can we have the next caller, please. >> good morning, supervisors. assure peskin, stefani and chan. i currently serve on the port commission. i'm here to urge you to move forward and appoint commissioner brandon's reappointment to the port. her historical memory has been invaluable as we have faced the challenges of covid-19 and enter a stage of recovery. her leadership and guidance has been impeccable and valuable to all the commissioning, to the staff, and to the community. i serve on the equity sub committee with commissioner brandon and her commitment to racial equity. and equity throughout the whole entire water fund is
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astounding. i do not know how our commission will be able to move forward in such a steadfast way if it was not for the leadership of commissioner brandon. i urge the committee to approve her reappointment and have her partner with all of us to begin the work of recovery, resilience and racial equity in the years ahead. thank you so much. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller, please. good morning, supervisors. this is pete sitnick. i'm the managering partner of the water bar and epic steaks. i'm calling in today to recommend and support the reappointment of president brandon to the president's post of the port commission. ms. brandon has been a solid advocate for the needs of port
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tenants, especially the restaurants in balancing those needs with the public desire for the waterfront along with the needs of the port and the needs of the tenants especially during this last year in dealing with the dynamics of the pandemic and the economic recovery that is so vital to keeping the waterfront as a very important part of the city of san francisco. so i would like to recommend and support ms. brandon's reappointment to the president of the port commission. thank you. >> chairman: well, the port commission decides who the president is, but she is currently the president. next speaker, please. >> good morning, supervisors, my name is carol lynn davis and i'm calling in support of kimberly brandon's reappointment to the port.
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ms. brandon is competent, has a competent leader. she has a unique perspective and experience that will help as we come out of this pandemic. i think we would be remissed not to have her voice at the table. she has been a true advocate for racial equity and inclusion for small businesses to have access to opportunities and jobs at the port and kim brandon has been a strong advocate for increasing the port's economic opportunities certainly in the southeast sector of the port and i have to personally say as a small business owner that kimberly's support of small businesses that we have had an opportunity
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to submit our proposals to opportunities for the port with her guidance of breaking those opportunities down for small businesses like mine. so i greatly appreciate that. i work with many departments and the city and county of san francisco and by far the port of san francisco under kim's leadership as the president has made a tremendous difference in our city in keeping small businesses and minority companies here in san francisco. i am thankful to kimberly and i support her wholeheartedly in her reappointment to continue to serve our city and our port. thank you. >> chairman: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. good morning. good morning, board of supervisors. my name is shirley moore and i am the vice president of the
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bayview field district association one of the oldest in the city and county of san francisco and located in the southeast sector. i am a san francisco resident and have been for the past 35 years. i am a small business owner and i'm calling to support the reappointment of ms. brandon to support director because with her best experience at the port, we need her leadership to guide us through the pandemic deficit that the port has encountered and we need her vast experience and knowledge on the port to continually growing the port and growing the business and growing businesses in the so that we
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and also sit on the open space committee in the bayview, so we certainly need ms. brandon's support and experience to keep the port functioning and bring it back to viability because of covid. so we strongly approve her reappointment to the board. thank you. >> chairman: thank you. are there any other members of the public here for this item number 3? >> clerk: one moment. i'm getting an update, but i believe there are additional speakers. >> chairman: next speaker, please. >> hello, can you hear me?
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>> chairman: yes, we can. please proceed. >> yeah. my name is everett brandon, i'm kimberly's dad. >> chairman: oh, good. >> yeah. hello. i just want to support her nomination to the board. thank you, supervisors for holding this hearing which is your great responsibility to do and your responsibility to bring in the finest people into the port and i can't think of anyone finer than my daughter. i usually come on just to affirm she's a native san franciscan. she has spent all her life enjoying the city. she started in bay school, elementary school, high school, state university and she now serves as the president of the state university foundation. so she's been a remarkable gift. i came to san francisco in late
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'50s as a coral fellow and her legacy is the best thing that's happened to me as a coral fellow. and so totally honored to say that her service over the last 20 years has been apart of the remarkable transform nation that the port has seen and i was there when it was a pretty bleak place and to see it now and know she's been apart of that development and i guess she serves as president of the commission. so i'm totally honored that you're considering her and i just want to thank you for this opportunity to speak for my daughter. thank you. >> chairman: thank you, mr. brandon. next speaker, please.
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>> good morning. i'm calling to support commissioner brandon's reappointment. she has been a true leader and visionary on the commission and a true champion for equity helping to bring jobs and needed opportunities especially to the southeast sector. so i just wanted to support her reappointment today. >> chairman: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is simon fellgrove and i'm with pacific waterfront partners. just calling to support commissioner brandon's reappointment. i have worked with her, i've worked on the water front since 97 and i was lucky to be selected for piers 1.5, 3, and
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5 in '99 and commissioner brandon was among the people who approved our project so, since then, we've done a lot of work with support. some successful, some unsuccessful, but consistently, i would say that commissioner brandon has been tough. she's a tough negotiator, she's been balanced. and, right now we're enjoying a negotiation with the port for another project and i just want to say i've always had this passion for equity and inclusion and diversity and it is a time for me towards the end of my career and for commissioner brandon, for all of us, i'm very excited to hit it out of the ball park and i think having her on the commission is going to help us achieve our goals for equity,
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inclusion, and diversity. thank you very much. >> chairman: thank you, mr. snelgrove. next speaker, please. >> clerk: yes. just before we get to that next speaker, i'd just like to let people know if you've not already done so, please press star 3 to be added to the queue. for those already on hold, please continue to wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted. at this time, we have two callers in line to speak. >> chairman: next speaker, please. >> good morning, chair peskin and supervisors. this is deborah walker, i'm currently on the arts commission and have served for nearly two decades prior to thatten 0 the building inspection commission so i'm especially grateful that you all are paying attention to what's going on with that department, with all of our
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partnerships with both businesses and nonprofits. so i appreciate it. i'm calling in support of kimberly brandon, i deal a lot right now especially with the arts organizations along the water front. i know that the port and redevelopment are different areas, but all along the water front there are long time projects that have been in the works for decades and it's really important that we have someone on the port commission who understands the history, the connection to the communities that are affected along the waterfront, including our artist community which has really been devastated by covid. i just want to speak for the board. i know it's going to be helpful in moving some of these, especially the infrastructure projects going forward. there's also the threat of climate change which is going to create water rides along the
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water. i know chair peskin, you're well aware of that. we need her on the port and i really appreciate your time this morning. so thank you very much. >> chairman: thank you, commissioner walker. next speaker, please. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is herman badget, i would just like to applaud ms. brandon on her leadership over the past two decades on the port and for all her efforts during covid and assisting a number of the smaller local business enterprises in the southeast sector. without her leadership, a lot more of the smaller businesses would have suffered and i just wanted to have the opportunity to applaud her and i look forward to her continued leadership as the president of the port. >> chairman: thank you, next
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speaker. >> hello, i work with small and micro-lbes in district 10 and i'm calling to show my support for the reappointment of commissioner brandon. i think she's done so much for the waterfront especially in the southeast and has done to represent the communities especially where a lot of the development is happening and i'd like to see her reappointing. thank you. >> chairman: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is noel bonner here in san francisco. the port of san francisco was
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the first contract in 2017, and, since that time president brandon has president brandon has ensured that small businesses not only have access to contracting opportunities at the port, bethey are used and put to work after winning contracts. her dedication to the port has spanned 25 years and she has been a responsible steward of many projects. as we consider the tremendous effort that will be required to usher in a brighter economic future, we need leaders to know how to lead are committed to racial equity and know the community. i can't imagine a better reappointment to the port commission and hope you will support her today. thank you. >> chairman: thank you, next
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speaker. >> clerk: i believe that was our last caller in the queue. >> chairman: okay. i don't see any members in the chat. i want to thank commissioner brandon for her almost quarterless service and her forth rate questions that needed to be asked and if there is no objections, i would like to make a motion to send this nomination to the full board with positive recommendation and seeing nobody in the chat box which is now working on my computer, a roll call please. >> clerk: chair peskin, would you like to amend the motion? >> chairman: oh, yes. excuse me. let us remove the word "reject" in the title and "removed" and so it says -- we'll remove
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those words. >> clerk: on the motion to amend, [roll call] the motion passes without objection. >> chairman: and then on the motion as amended, a roll call please. >> clerk: yes, on that motion, mandelman excused, [roll call] . the motion passes without objection. >> chairman: next item, please. >> clerk: next on the agenda is item number 4. hearing to consider appointing three members terms ending april 30th, two thousand twenty-two and four members terms ending april 30th, 2023, to the commission of animal
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control and welfare. >> chairman: okay. just by way of a little bit of background, we have some expired terms that go back a little ways 2021. and seat 7 requires a licensed veterinarian and we don't have that before us. so we really have six seats that are before us today with eight applicants, four of them encumbents and no application for seat 7, although i do hear that that may be forth coming and we may actually consider that at our next meeting and maybe send it as a committee report so we can have a full in the meantime complement of commissioners at our meeting on the 25th of may.
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so i will call the applicants starting with ann marie who has been on the commission since 2012. ms. fortier, the floor is yours. >> good morning supervisors. i want to let you know that i have been serving on this commission sense 2012. at that time, i was a young parent in the city with two dogs. i was a dog guardian, still am and i noticed there seemed to be this perceived conflict between parents, families, domestic animals, wildlife, and i wondered about this and i thought our city could do a bet job about educating our city about dogs, cats, and the
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wildlife. since then, i have been the secretary and i've also been the chairperson. in early 2020, i asked my colleague nina arona to be chairperson of the commission. she has done a stellar job. i would also like to use my time to recommend the reappointment of my colleague nina irani to keep it going during covid by holding online remote meetings and my colleague jane tobin who has a vast knowledge of animal welfare issues. she's been a great asset to us and not to forget mr. michael angelo torres who has been critical in making sure our progressions have been functioning during this difficult time and while doing
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that lending his voice to the animals and the people of our city. i request that you consider all of my colleagues applicants and reappointment at this time. thank you. >> chairman: thank you, ms. fortier. if seeing no questions from members, why don't we move on to heidi hofer. >> yes. good morning supervisors and rules committee. thank you so much for your time and your consideration of my appointment today. in terms of my qualifications, there were two words i'd like to highlight beyond my application and my written introduction that i sent to supervisors last week via e-mail. one is my experience and actually passion for san francisco animal care and control. over five years ago, i started fostering kittens for tony's kitten rescue, and, in that
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time, as well as bringing myself and my family a lot of joy, it's so much experience and admiration with a.c.c., the staff, the volunteers, the work they do. i've been there literally hundreds of times picking up new kittens, returning kittens, vaccinations, spay neuter surgery and a lot of medical visits because kittens feral kittens are very fragile. i've seen the devotion of the staff. the adoptions, reunions, but really difficult, painful experiences, relinquishment, injured wounded animals, people that are violent and dangerous because they're so angry that their animals have been impounded and just in awe of
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the work that the staff and the volunteers do there, i would so much like to support them going forward due to my passion for them, i did for my work in 2017 actually organized a fundraiser for friends of a.c.c. and organized over 100 people to make pet toys, pet beds and donate almost a thousand dollars to friends of a.c.c. also, i think my other volunteer experience is to related areas what would add sinering to the welfare the not only our animals but the city itself. i'm a volunteer and facilitator for national alliance on mental illness and i know how important animals are to
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peoples' mental health. i've connected with my past doctors and also in the covid era i've done in-person zoo or meet and greets with potential adopters and i see how vital animals are to peoples' emotional being. our daughter wouldn't have been able to go off to college without emotional support animals and disassociation. i go to our local dog park twice a day. i see how it improves not only the animal socialization, but people socialization, their engagement with one another. and helping of all be connected. i also have experience in emergency services. i'm a certified volunteer with the sf fire department and i know the importance of taking animals, peoples' beloved animals into account in
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emergency planning and services. also in past, i was a senior companion volunteer to a 97-year-old woman who has since passed and i saw how much delight wild birds brought to her life. as a 23-year-old resident, i'm recently an empty-nester. i'm approaching retirement. i'd like to devote my time, energy, and passion into making it a better place. i want to leverage my policies and actions that will benefit our domestic and wild animals as well as the city as a whole. i'd like to see the commission examine. number one, the elimination of the use of poisons to kill rodents. not only are these poisons cruel and inhumane to the rodents, they have the
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unintended consequences of killing our wild life like owls as well as dogs and outside cats when they adjust the carcasses. i'd like to see more pet-friend housing policies. which improves the mental health of our citizens. i'd like to see more policies to create more responsible pet ownership and education especially to reduce the huge amount of dog waste bag and unbagged litters our streets and parks i would also like to help our city's small businesses by encouraging pet supplies in local pet stores and not online. it encourages that neighborhood connection. with the pandemic, hopefully winding down to closely monitor the volumes of animal relink
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wishments i hope that doesn't happen, but we need to be prepared for it. supervisors and rules committee, i'm excited and honored by this opportunity to serve our city and our animals. thank you. >> chairman: thank you. our next applicant is irina ozernoy. go ahead. >> hello. good morning. good morning, chair peskin. and victor who was vital in helping organize this. my name is irina ozernoy. i'm excited to be a candidate for a seat on the commission. professionally, i'm a marketing professional working in tech with a background in p.r. communications. i'm a writer and editor and
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story teller. professionally, i've engaged in treaty outreach, relationship building amongst various communities. and, as a life long animal lover, i truly believe my care for animals, my commitment to wild life, rescue rehabilitation and my interest and education make me qualify for being a member of the commission. i grew up in san francisco and as a child, as a young teenager, i volunteered at the san francisco zoo in the nature program communicating with the public and explaining animal behavior and animal details. i've been promoted to the animal resource center and volunteered for a number of years in actual animal care because i had at the time wanted to be an animal behavioralist. although, my life and career took me on a different path, i
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have continued my volunteering and civic responsibility in various wildlife care groups with urban wildlife rescue. i mentioned that i'm a story teller as i'd like to share a story. last year, in my own neighborhood events around animal trapping caused me to do research on the fish and wildlife game code and california laws. i discovered that a lot of what's happening is because of misinformation. you know, right now, it's spring which means a lot of animals are breeding and they're doing it in peoples' backyards and i'm seeing people complaining on social networks like raccoons, skunks, gofers, other small creatured and these
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ranging from glue traps and poison to recommending what wild life nuisance operators or exterminators should be called in to the job and what i've seen is there's a lot of misinformation. people really believe that poison poison and take it some ways away. they'll relocate it to a safe park where and so the only two options are as either of you probably know, but because of misinformation, people really think it's not that at all. and i think that what needs to be done is education and that's what i'm truly passionate about and i would love to do if i am selected to serve on the
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commission is outreach and education and first of all explain to the community and the city leadership that some of these practices are not only productive and illegal, they're also hue main. i feel like we're all here together on this planet and this beautiful city. we are stewards of this land and i feel like this commission is a way to give voice to the voiceless, the creatures that depend on us for health and welfare which why i would love to serve on it. thank you so much. >> thank you. our next applicant is iris chan. >> clerk: yes. ms. chan is currently on mute. if you press star 6 on the telephone line, you can provide
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your comments. >> hello. >> clerk: yes. please proceed. >> hi. good morning. thank you so much for having me today. i just wanted to briefly talk about why animal welfare is so important to me. when i think of animal welfare, i think what's important to our city and also the wild animals, the animals that do eat, the animals that they wear and, you know, learning with bachelor's of animal science from u.c. davis that these animals they have emotions. they are very intelligent and we really need to think about the way humans and animals have relationships. starting with, you know, not calling our companion animals as pets because they're family. a lot of people consider them
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family and during covid even though there were a lot of ideas to help our elderly. we they could have been afraid of going to the store to buy food and that's something i think this committee could be a big part of helping those two are afraid of pep or what would happen to them and i think this committee could also really educate the public starting with the young children where children are always so curious about why we do this or why we do that whether it's starting meatless mondays at schools and educating them why all animals are important or starting a
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humane education program and there's more that i would really love to talk about, but i was an intern at the san francisco zoo and part of their animal wellness and behavior program where we really observed these animals and these are wild animals and they really should not be captive but we want to make sure they can live the best possible life making sure that they aren't bored out of their minds, making sure they have enrichment making sure they have a positive experience and really understanding where these animals are coming from. so i really want to i really hope we can achieve transparency and all these animals we come in contact with in san francisco.
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so thank you for this time. >> chairman: and, ms. chan, you currently hold a bachelor's of science. >> i hold a bachelor's of science in animal science and a master's of arts in animal studies. >> chairman: thank you for that information. are there any questions from committee members? thank you. seeing none. thank you, ms. chan. why don't we move ton to jane tobin, who's seeking reappointment. >> sorry about that. i'm starting my camera here. can you see me okay? >> chairman: yes. we can. >> okay. good morning supervisors and thank you for considering my identifications for the animal control and welfare commission. how i might represent the general public. you know, i can start first with my experience and animal well favor which began in 1992
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as an adoption counselor at the a.c.c. and san franciscans were deceived about its purpose and that's putting a.c.c. on the map became a personal goal of mine. started by creating their first event in 1993. it was fun. a free public awareness building. we had working dogs, animal nonprofit organizations and the public featured and a parade led by the mountain police. judges were city officials and celebrities and it was this really good wholesome fun event and it served its purpose and really did put a.c.c. on the
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map as the city's open door shelter. in two thousand, i along with five others found the nonprofit friends for animal care and control. we raised additional funds for the city's shelter. so i served as president of the board until 2015 when the term expired, but during that time, friends funded the behavioral and training program, rescue partner grants to many a.c.c.s partners and many in critical care. we also offered toy and treat making workshops, employing eager volunteers of all ages from 5 to 80. education was always part of the mission. we brought a.c.c. into it. we know kids love hands-on learning and we saw our role as building future stewards of the animal community. that kind of interaction leads an impression of others who
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have mentioned as well. sometimes it dispels it like snakes are gross. so in 2015, i went to u.s.f. to get my masters in nonprofit management and, at the same time, i joined the animal well favor commission and was appointed there. i now serve as vice chair of the commission as well as advisor on the raks and parks committee. i'm so happy to hear others are applying for the same contribution efforts and education efforts. graduate school and the friends's board. we have an annual work plan now and individual work plan. both help structure our agendas and provide format. i also added public education
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series and, in that time we brought presenters such as sf zoo who shared their contributions. as part of the respect and advocacy campaign. sf dog shared how they pivoted in the pandemic to provide free dog food at a local food bank in the mission. in may, we shared the facts on local and northern california facts. we know our survival depends on their survival and we believe through public education, greater awareness of these issues lead to an informed active community and animal well favor concerns. so we've provided some unique and animal human volunteer needs. again, the experience of knowing the animal community support organizations helped me address their needs for dog
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food, leashes, bowls, medical support, vaccines. on the 2021 commission work plan. we started researching ways to keep human guardians and their companion animals together in times of crisis and crisis to us included it's what people were experiencing during the pandemic maybe natural disasters, domestic abuse in treatment and persons experiencing homelessness. that work is ongoing and thanks to the hard work of commissioner torres, commissioner fortier and chairperson irani, it's been thorough and a really pleasure. i would be delighted to continue the work we started in 2021. but i also want to note that there's a role the supervisors play in the animal commission as well, we can learn a lot
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from one another we'd like to hear what pressing animal issues you see in your district, but our goal really is to further animal welfare issues in san francisco. and we see we really can't do it unless we have an open channel to you. so, again, thanks for considering my qualifications, it would be an honor to serve on the commission again and thank you. >> chairman: thank you, ms. tobin and thank you for your work and thank you for your invitation to interact with the board of supervisors which i'm happy to take you up on. and, with that, we will go to michael angelo torres, a proud
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resident of the third supervisortorial. >> good afternoon supervisors. >> chairman: it's still morning. >> of course. thank you, victor young who's always helpful to me. i'm very happitor here to speak today. just like my colleagues before me, i also want to give a strong recommendation as well that you please also support and appoint commissioner fortier, commissioner tobin, and commissioner irani. my name is michael torres. i'm a native californian born in east los angeles and raised in orange county. i've lived in the union square for the past 12 years where i'm currently the operations manager. as a san franciscan, i have been -- i have a proud
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background in community involvement including working with preevengs point needle exchange and community united against violence. i've also helped organize anti-war marchs, and actions with peoples context and political campaigns including working on one of gloria rivas and i also did work on kamala harris, campaign for the city of san francisco attorney. i currently help to prepare food for distribution to the community. i was appointed to the commission of animal well favor back in september 2019, and i currently serve as the commission secretary. during my time on the commission i've worked with the general public including implementing a reporting process to hopefully address the transparency concerns that have come to us from some members of the public.
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as commission secretary, i've helped with many of our staff most specifically helping with the transmission, assisting with the migration of our commission web page from the sfgov.org site to the new sf.gov website. i have been working on having our commission name changed to the animal commission. if i have the privilege of being reappointed, i'd like reaching out to your offices to make this change happen. currently, we're kind of an orphan commission. as commission. for years of volunteers as well as almost ten years of personal experience caring for senior animals including those who
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have special needs. in addition to my love and compassion for animals, my ability to work both independently and part of a team. i've enjoyed the time i spent serving on the commission. thank you very much for inviting me again and thank you for your consideration. >> chairman: thank you, mr. torres. seeing no questions from committee members. we will move on to nina irani, also an encumbent and i apologize. your name is spelt one part incorrectly. it is mina not nina. and, with that, the floor is yours. >> thank you so much, chair peskin. i appreciate that clarification. good morning chair peskin, supervisor chan, supervisor stefani, and also clerk young who is as mentioned always very
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helpful to our commission. serving my first term as a commissioner and as chairperson and also secretary has been a wonderful opportunity to support policies and people alike. like the good food purchasing standards adopted by the city last year and others were initiated by members of the public who have come to the commission for help. supporting activists exposing conditions and yet others have been initiated at the commission. like compliance on california's prohi bigs from caged animals and our support for state bills encouraging plant based school meals transitioning away from animal agriculture which we are working to endorse through your state legislation committee. this year, as commissioner
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tobin xhengsed, we're also focusing on ways to better support animals and people in crisis. and, as we research these issues, we find another issue deserving our attention. helping low-canning residents afford residence for their animals. we've accomplished a lot but we have a lot more to accomplish and we hope to engage more with our supervisors and the rest of our city government and as commissioner torres and commissioner tobin mentioned, we are dedicated to find a contact so they can be more efficiently and effectively addressed. and worked with you can benefit all the people and animals we're working to serve. so we hope you may be able to work with us to resolve that and i hope to continue to work alongside my colleagues,
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commissioners fortier, commissioner tobin, and the commissioners applying today to address the animals in our city. >> chairman: thank you. and seeing no questions. and last but not least rocky chau. >> chairman: is rocky chau there? mr. clerk and ms. fortier if you would do the kindness of turning your cameras off as is our protocol. mr. clerk, have we heard from rocky chau who has applied and has a couple letters of support in the file?
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>> clerk: i have not received any additional information from mr. chau. i do not see him logged in at this time. >> chairman: okay. why don't we go to public comment. >> clerk: yes. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call (415) 655-0001. the meeting id is 187 277 0610, then press found and found again. if you haven't already done so, please press star 3 to line up to speak. please wait until the city indicates you have been unmuted and you may begin your comment. i believe we have one person in line to speak at this time. >> chairman: first speaker, please. >> can you hear me now? >> chairman: we can hear you
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now, mr. pillappeal. please proceed. >> how'd you guess. david pillpell. so i'm calling to support the appointment of irina ozernoy. we went to school before i met you, supervisor peskin. i think she would do a fine job on the commission with her concern for animals and per experience. i don't know the other encumbent members or applicants, but it sounds like you are overflowing with good and diverse applicants all of whom care greatly about animal control and animal welfare and so i wanted to support irina and the good work of this commission. thanks very much. >> chairman: okay. are there any other members of the public for item number 4 for public comment.
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>> clerk: that completes the queue for public comment on this item. >> chairman: okay. public comment is closed. and, first, i just want to start by thanking all of the applicants for applying and reapplying and for the encumbents for their service over the last years. this is always a tough decision when we have more applicants. i will colleagues, seeing no action from my colleagues on the roster. i'll take a stab at it based on the experience and the qualifications and the testimony we've heard as well as well as balancing gender and race relative to representation on this body. so i would respectfully suggest and i'm totally open to other suggestions that we continue the four encumbents. that would be ms. fortier for
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seat number 1. ms. irani for seat number 3. ms. tobin for seat number 5. and ms. tobin for seat number 6 and i would nominate if there's no objection to that colleagues, i would make that a motion and, supervisor chan. >> supervisor chan: thank you, chair peskin. i just want to make a brief comment. i support the recommendation that you just made. i just want to put it out there that i'm very excited about working with the commission of animal control and welfare giving the pandemic that in the past i wanted to adopt an animal and realizing that the shelter has been really empty and people really are taking up
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the animals that like never before which is a great thing, but we also know that now we're transitioning out of the pandemic, we see that people are experiencing anxiety returning to work along with their animal just move forward to the commission addressing some of those issues along with our department and then also i want to take on and put it out there. i know our former supervisor katie tang i look forward to working with the commission and our city departments to bring back kitty hall to city hall. i'm very excited about that and i reallily truly think our commission of animal control and well favor in san francisco has been some of the most progressive commissions in california, in the bay area
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when it comes to animal rights issues. so i'm very excited and privileges to be on this committee appointing these candidates and reing the encumbents to their seats. thank you. >> chairman: thank you. and kitty hall was definitely a highlight of the year. and i promise that i will be there and, with that, mr. clerk, a role call on the motion. >> clerk: yes. just to confirm the seats. i have the appointment of annemarie fortier to seat 1. nina irani to seat 3. jane tobin to seat 5 and michael angelo torres to seat 6.
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>> chairman: thanks correct. yes. on that motion, roll rom the motion passes without objection. clrm and then, mr. clerk, can you read items 5 through 8 together. >> clerk: yes item number 5. item number 6 is a motion reappointing supervisor gordon mar term ending june 30th, 2023, and item number 7 is reappointing supervisor hillary ronen as an alternative member to the association of the bay area government board and number 8 is a motion
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reappointing supervisor mandelman term ending june 30th, 2023, to the association of the bay area governments executive board. >> chairman: is there any public comment on items number 5 through 8? >> clerk: yes. member officer the public please call (415) 655-0001. the meeting id is 187 277 0610. then press pound and pound again. if you haven't done so, please press star to speak. please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted and you may begin your comments. as of last check, there are no one in line to speak for public comment on these items. >> chairman: okay. public comment is closed and, colleagues, if there's no objection, i would like to send items 5 through 8 to the full abort of supervisors with a positive recommendatn.