>> pat the wore she of the -- worthy of the award. he cares about the community that engages the land and fellow employees. pat is about the team. always willing to lend a hand when somebody needs a hand. i have worked with him for three years and witnessed firsthand the benefits of the professionalism, commitment and passion. he is wore these of the golden pride award inmize mind. >> i am pat jones the watershed keeper for san francisco water. . per for san francisco water. >> clerk: fire commission meeting may 26, 2021, and the time is 5:03. this meeting is being held via

teleconferencing. this meeting is being held via webex. during the coronavirus disease emergency, the fire commission's regular meeting room at city hall is closed and remote fire commission meetings will convene remotely. you may watch remotely at www.sfgovtv.org, and to participate via phone call 415-655-0001 and use access code 187-603-1257. members of the public will have the opportunity to participant via public comment. comments will be addressed in the order they are received. when the moderator announces

that they are taking public comment, members of the public can raise their hand by pressing star, three and you will be queued. callers will hear silence when waiting for your turn to speak. then operator will unmute you. the callers will have the standard three minutes to provide comment. ensure you are in a quiet location, speak clearly, and turnoff any radios or t.v.s around you. item one, roll call. [roll call]

>> clerk: item 2, general public comment. members of the public may address the commission for up to three minutes on any matter within the commission's jurisdiction that does not appear on the agenda. speakers shall address their remarks to the commission as a whole and not to individual commissioners or department personnel. commissioners are not to enter into debate or discussion with a speaker. the lack of a response by the commissioners or department personnel does not necessarily

constitute agreement with or support of statements made during public comment. >> president feinstein: all right. madam secretary, do we have any public comment? >> clerk: we do not have -- let me see. we do not have any public comment. >> president feinstein: all right. then public comment will be closed. please call the next item. >> clerk: item three, approval of the minutes. discussion and possible action to approve meeting minutes of the regular meeting of may 12, 2021. >> president feinstein: all right. any proposed modifications to the draft minutes? [inaudible] >> president feinstein: i'm hearing something faintly, but maybe that's just me.

i can't quite hear it. am i missing something? madam secretary? >> clerk: did you want to make a comment? >> commissioner covington: this is still commissioner covington on the line. >> clerk: did you wish to make any changes to the minutes? >> commissioner covington: not at all. i'll move the minutes. >> commissioner cleaveland: second. >> president feinstein: thank you. commissioner cleaveland accepted the second. >> clerk: i'll do a roll call vote. [roll call] >> clerk: it's unanimous. >> president feinstein: thank you. >> clerk: item four, chief of department's report. report from chief of department, jeanine nicholson,

on current issues, activities, and events within the department since the fire commission meeting on may 12, 2021, including budget, academies, special events, communications, and outreach to other government agencies and the public, and report from administration, deputy chief jose velo on the administrative division, fleet and facility status and updates, finance, support services, and training within the department. >> president feinstein: chief. >> thank you. good evening, president feinstein, commissioners, command staff. chief jeanine nicholson. let me acknowledge that deputy chief mark [inaudible] is not here tonight. sitting in is deputy chief

thompson tonight. thank you, deputy chief thompson. let me start with some important dating coming up. on memorial day, i will be headed up to lincoln to speak at a memorial for firefighter steven brantley, who died a few weeks ago. memorial day is the day that we lost two firefighters two years ago at 133 berkeley way. all of you should have received an invitation to a ceremony we will be having at station 26. we will be doing things that day. at 9:00 a.m., we will be having

an announcement date on our radio. all our units and all our stations to ring the chaplain's bell and have a few moments of silence, and we have drills for that day that are related to this fire incident. june 15, you will also, commissioners, receive an invitation to the unveiling of [inaudible] jason cortez' name at headquarters. his family will be present. we've been in touch with his wife, and they will be here. it will not be a huge crowd, but we will have folks from station three and some others, but it won't be -- won't be a giant crowd.

june 23 may be the ribbon cutting, although it may have changed, for the annual ambulance ceremony. that may not even be the right date is what i'm hearing, so more to follow on that, but the e.m.s. is currently working out of the new station 49, the new a.b.f. graduation for our recruit class is scheduled for june 25. it will be at the scottish rites temple, and you will receive an invite to that, as well. this friday, i will be attending, with captain brent peoples, the city e.m.t. graduation, and that is a program that i've talked about several of bringing city kids in -- ad-risk city kids and

giving them wrap-around services as well as an e.m.t. class and the opportunity to get their e.m.t. class, and then, some of them will be coming to work with us as interns, paid internship on the ambulance, to more to follow on that, but that graduation is coming up this friday. june is pride month. on june 7, the mayor is going to be holding a ceremony raising the pride flag at city hall, and i will be attending that. and we're working on a video to send to our members celebrating diversity in the department, and this past week, i met with clair farley, who is the director of the office of transgender initiatives, to discuss ways in which we can work together.

it was a really productive meeting, and i look forward to working with her in the future, and happy pride month, everybody, really soon. i want to thank everyone for putting out a newsletter up there. the doctor and staff are doing a great job, and it's really appreciated. on may 25, i met with the black firefighters association to ensure the success of our recruits. we're talking about doing some mentorship and some other things, and our recruitment process, as well. right now, for i believe it's three days this week, we have many of our own firefighters, a

diverse group of firefighters who are speaking with applicants for the h.q. position similar to what happened last year, and they will be passing those recommendations onto my office. we will be having another class in august, hopefully 36, but still to be determined. we also are looking at having an em.t. class -- upcoming e.m.t. class between 20 and 25 members. we have so many new programs that we are working on, and, you know, and our call volume continues to rise, so we really need more graduates in the

class of 25. okay. that's great. okay. so here's some really good news. yesterday, the board of supervisors passed the option to purchase agreements for the prior training facility property site at terrell avenue. that will take several years with ceqa, so we went with the

option with the lease to purchase. if the port piece of property falls through, we can just walk away from this lease agreement, but i have high hopes, and it should be approximately seven or eight acres overall that we will be looking at getting, and i'll continue to keep you updated on this, but it is moving along, and it is going to take some time, but i am really proud of all the folks that have worked so hard on this, some who are here and some who aren't here. and then, we are in the final weeks of working on the mayor's

budget. i will be going to that event, and once it's introduced to the mayor, it goes before the board of supervisors for discussion and presentation. right now, we are scheduled to present to the board on june 17, and then, a week later, on june 24, and in june, director corso can present what will be presented to the board of supervisors, and i will be reaching out to many of the supervisors in the coming weeks. as you know, we are initially asked to cut 7.5% and an additional 2.5%, and that is no longer the case. we will, at the very least, remain whole, but we do have some additions in the budget

that i'm hoping we will get through the board of supervisors for stuff that we really, really need. so more to follow on that, and that is all i have on that right now. thank you very much. >> clerk: you're on mute. >> cannot hear you. >> clerk: we've unmuted you. >> president feinstein: i'm muted. was i okay? >> clerk: yeah. >> president feinstein: it's chief velo. he muted me -- just kidding. anybody have any questions -- i have a question for the chief, but does any other commissioner have a question for the chief? vice president rodriguez? good evening. >> commissioner rodriguez: good evening. chief, thank you for the report.

a lot of tough coming up, and exciting. this is really simple. i think it was just a typo, but you know the resolution on page 4, for the property, it said there at the very bottom of page 4, whereas the option agreement the city will pay the owner $15,000 beginning june 1 until may 31, i think that should be flopped around or something. i don't know -- i don't think it's written in stone. >> yeah, may 31, 2022 is what it should say. >> okay. i thought i -- >> thank you for that, and yes, i will get that to them. >> commissioner rodriguez: okay. thank you for your report. >> president feinstein: very keen eye, vice president. thank you. >> clerk: he has keen eyes.

>> president feinstein: he has keen eyes. any other questions for the chief? commissioner nakajo? >> commissioner nakajo: thank you, president feinstein, and thank you, chief nicholson, for your report. you mentioned that there was going to be another class. could you please share what the timeline is on that, please? >> yes. that should be in august. >> commissioner nakajo: is that something that's going to happen or is that projected? >> mark corso, can you speak to that? director corso? >> thank you, chief. good evening, commissioners. yes, so that is anticipated to occur in august. part of that group of employees is a piece of the s.a.f.e.r.

grant that we were recently awarded. due to social distancing rules, we weren't allowed to expand the size of the academy. that's why we were at approximately 25 people, i believe. so we were funded for 36 employees, so those remaining employees will be part of this coming h.d.o. academy. >> commissioner nakajo: thank you very much, director corso. one more question through you, madam president. chief of department, you mentioned how you were going to do and your members of recruitment, sounds like the individual members in the stations are doing that. did we or don't we have a recruitment coordinator, or how does this work? >> so the work that has worked, that position is not currently filled, and we are looking at the racial equity action plan in terms of how to grow that out, and we've asked for some

things in the budget, so we're -- it's a work in progress, and right now, what's happening is we have our members in groups of three, as -- if you like panels, and they are meeting with prospective future firefighters with applicants, and they meet with them, and, you know, ask them some questions, have a conversation, and then, they recommend to my office if they believe that person would be a good fit as a firefighter. now i want you to know that these -- these panels are extremely diverse, both culturally, racially, and gender wise, so it is a good cross section of the department, and we did this last time, as well, and you can see, you know, this last class,

we've got 23 out of 25 who's made it through, and it's a really good group of folks, and i think we got really good candidates this way, and -- and a very diverse group of candidates, as well. >> commissioner nakajo: okay. thank you very much, chief. so i begin to comprehend that we're still doing two men on our level, and that the recruitment coordinator position is still yet to be filled, so i'm assuming -- [inaudible] >> commissioner nakajo: that's all that i have at this point. thank you, chief nicholson. >> thank you. >> president feinstein: any other commissioners with any

questions? ah, thank you, commissioner covington. >> commissioner covington: thank you, madam president. i was finally able to get into the live meeting, a real person. i don't have any questions, but i just want to, again, send appreciation to the team that put the deal together for the new training facility. we have been on pins and needles for years, wondering, you know, after our eviction from treasure island, where the training facility would be, so it is a tremendous relief, and i hope that all of the remaining negotiations go along swimmingly, so thank everyone for that. no questions for the chief. you're muted, madam president. >> president feinstein: thank you. thank you kindly. commissioner cleaveland?

>> commissioner cleaveland: madam president, thank you. chief, good to see you this afternoon. quick question on the recruitment. are we still doing national testing to create any kind of list? do we -- are we working off an existing list? what's going on with that testing program? >> yeah, that testing program is constantly happening, and what happens is we determine a date that we want to pull the list, and then we get all those candidates off of that -- also off of that list, and that's how we begin. but we also are having conversations with the public safety testing unit about switching to a different test because my understanding, the

n.t.m., it's nationwide, and it does have an impact on certain people, specifically, black, african american, and women, so we are looking to switch to -- of course i can't remember the initials now? sctc? sctc? yeah, we're looking to switch to sctc, which is california based and does not have that disparate impact, so we're meeting with the sctc testing team inside d.h.r. now. >> commissioner cleaveland: thank you. no more questions, madam president. thank you. >> president feinstein: thank you. i have a couple of questions for the chief, but if there are any other commissioners that wish to ask questions. i'm scanning my screen here for hands, and i'm not seeing any, so chief i'm going to go ahead.

two quick questions here. one is regarding the training center, and i really do want to commend all of those who worked on this, because boy, what an act of labor that was to secure the property, to go through what needed to be gone through, what lays ahead. i really need to commend you for a great situation. as everyone knows, san francisco doesn't have a lot of land. has a lot of buildings, a lot of things to catch fire. we've got a lot of emergency medical situations, but land, we don't have, so securing this

really is going to be phenomenal, especially given the time and what its intended use is, so that's my comment. my question is this: when i look at the property, from what i've seen, it appears that the port portion of the property, it's, like, a weird triangle, you know, on one side. i don't think it's on carroll avenue. anybody feel free to jump in and correct me, but there's, like, a triangle that i can't much is useful for much to the port, and i'm not sure what their opinions are or feelings are about this property or what it could possibly be used for,

given its strange shape and location. that's question one. do you have any knowledge about that or thoughts about it -- or does anybody else? i don't mean to just put it on you, chief. >> thank you, president feinstein. yes, it is a strange set up there with that triangular piece of property. we do need it for the training center to be effective, and frankly, i don't believe the port would be using it for anything. i mean, they haven't been, so i feel like this is a win-win for everyone. you know, we get that property, and obviously, they have to report to the state lands commission. it can't just be given to us, and they have to go through the legislature. all of those ducks are in a row. it's being set up to make it

that way. but i don't think there's really any access to it, either. >> president feinstein: i would ask that if you would come forward and if the commission in the future can be of any assistance. i do know what the process is for using -- not using, but acquiring or utilizing, i should say, port property, and if the commission can be of any assistance, i think that -- i'm just speaking for myself, but also for my fellow commissioners, i understand why you need that one triangle out of the parcel, and i hope you

would come forward and ask us if you need any help with that because the process is brutal, and i know that, and probably unnecessarily so, but it is. and, you know, you -- i think we probably would all agree that this is a necessity, and we would all be willing to go to bat for the department if that's necessary. >> yes, thank you very much. as i said, we've got all our ducks in a row, and we are expediting this process with ceqa as well as, you know, state lands and the state legislature. we're getting it added to an omnibus bill. so we're dealing with so many different entities, but we are managing to juggle them all, and, you know, we've had a great partner in the department

of real estate. enrico pena and elaine forbes and everybody have put their heart into this. we are expediting this because we only have a year to get that done, and typically, it would take much longer than that, and typically, we are expecting to get that done in less than a year. >> president feinstein: if i can just follow up with one question, chief, do you believe that all the obstacles -- and i'm using that word carefully but accurately, i think, that obtaining and utilizing the property as part of the port training center has at least

been identified, and have the obstacles that need to be overcome pursuant to you've got state land. i don't know if you've got bcdc, what -- i know this is along the old yosemite slough. i don't know if you've got it figured out or you've got a strategy to deal with each of them. that piece of property cannot be of any use to the port whatsoever, so to me, it's selling a car without tires or without wheels, but i want to make sure that if there's anything we can do, we do that

as a commission. >> thank you, president feinstein. we are squared away and dialed in, and we know exactly the steps we need to take. we've identified the potential obstacles and we've been really proactive in speaking with folks at the state, at state lands commission, the lobbyists, i mean everybody. we've spoken to everybody and identified all the potential obstacles, and yeah. we have a good strategy moving forward, and it has, you know, begun to be implemented, and really, ceqa is the biggest hurdle. but we've already submitted that paperwork, so the planning department is working on it, and they know it is a priority for us, so all -- all systems are go right now, and if we come into any troubles or

challenges with anything, i will be reaching out to you if there is anything that you all can do for us. . >> president feinstein: please do, please do, because we stand ready to assist. all right. i think we're looking at my agenda here. probably should have done this first -- oh. >> clerk: i'm here. >> president feinstein: sorry. i'm looking at a number of you. i apologize. and we did not take public comment on this. that was my fault, not the -- >> clerk: it's okay. we're still on the same item number, so there is nobody on the call-in line. >> president feinstein: lucky for me because i would have messed it up otherwise. okay. so public comment will be closed, and if we can have the

next item, please. >> clerk: and that would be report from administration, deputy chief jose velo. >> good evening, president feinstein, vice president rodriguez. vice chief velo, and this is my report that highlights the events happening in april and some other events, too. let's start with the training division. extremely busy in the training division. we have secured many opportunities for our members to train, and due to the uwase funding, many trainings were free to our members.

[inaudible] taught by one of our members, and next week, we're holding one class on the firefighter federal rights, so we've been very proactive to get all the training classes that we have. the interest is definitely there, so we continue to do that. on the 27 academy, as you know, 35 recruits remain. week 16 out of 20, and we're very confident that they'll complete the academy on june 25. what we do now as we complete the training for the sffd training and protocols, there is state training that the firefighters need to be

certified by the state fire marshal right now. wildlife training, survival training, and that's what's going on at this time. there's some pictures of recruits doing p.t. we also had a day where we had pg&e's emergency response and how do we do that? we had a propane tank exploded there and how do we deal with that? we have a new prop in the bottom right picture. it's actually a prop that we can assemble, dissemble any time. the next thing is practicing on a roof without being on a real

roof before we go into a building and prothat, so that's also on folsom street. we practiced the engine class, which is the class for a [inaudible] to take an engine on a job. they're back practicing skills, and they're very happy to be able to do that, especially with the new academy. they're there. commissioner feinstein, you almost made it to this. occasionally, we get some structures that members of the public will offer to us for demo before their remodelling

purposes, and through the real estate department and us, we were able to sign agreements that we can use it, practicing our skills. in this case, we're practicing our ventilation skills, and securing a victim from the roof, so it's very helpful to do it on actual structures, so i want to commend them to that and the training team, the effort that they did to put this together. our effort continues to do drills, focus on some medical training, c.p.r. training, critical care transport training so they continue to do the required drills. this is the time of year, even though wild land fire season has started, we have almost 200 folks that are trained to go on [inaudible] deployments. so every year, they are required to go to this annual training. we put them in different parts

of the city, mclaren park, and we put them through things that they have to do. we go on engine six training, and this is our main vehicle that will be used for wild land training. this was provided free by the assistant in order to assist the state in times of need, so there is continuous weekly training for those folks. there's a required training that they have to have. and this month, also, this happens to be the month that we also do the drills for the season. it's our serve rescue training, and in addition, we also have i.c.s. rescue training, which includes the chief officers inside and outside, how to rescue the incidents from a highly, highly risky evolution

from the water here or on ocean beach. recently, we had a transbay two training. [inaudible] weekends in a row. we do it in the middle of the night on a saturday and sunday morning, do a transbay training drill, where we simulate an incident with the transbay two and the b.a.r.t. train, and last year, the chief of oakland was able to attend on the other end, so we communicate with each other and know exactly what to do in the case of our events. so we never stop training. this is our life, and we do it all the time. hazmat. all members that are hazmat certified, they have to go to training every year, and you can see the uniforms that they wear that protect them from any incidents. so you can see that it's been an extremely busy month.

our nert teams -- if you recall, april 24 was nert appreciation week, and we're very appreciative for the nert volunteers and all the work that they do. this is just an example of the tremendous work that all these folks are doing. even [inaudible] notice of when vaccinations were coming to the island. whether it's earthquake or any hazard, they come and help out all the time. chief parks from the wild land division has been extremely busy. some of the topics that he's focusing on, peer support training, community health and safety meetings. we do an occupational health and safety roundtable meeting we hold on a monthly basis.

we do some osha updates and just being extremely busy. in addition, working with the doctor's office on many things, you're going to see a slide that chief nicholson and director's office put together. we [inaudible] supporting the vaccinations and also crisis response teams are responding to those who need vaccinated. we go to them instead of them coming to us. director's office, the vaccination centers. 87% of members are vaccinated, so it's creeping up. in april, we had no new cases.

after hour, our division chief conduct tests, and they all tested negative, too.

chief with has been very busy. most of the requests were for plumbing again. that's an issue that we have, again, with our old plumbing, but we also completed 169 service orders, so we're really streamlining the process. station 49 update, but as you heard from the chief, the folks from 49 already moved in may 10. we'll have a final ribbon cutting in mid-june. station 35, president feinstein, i wanted to let you know about this. so the electrical work has started. we have six bolts that have been connected for the pg&e connection to go into the p.u.c. connection to go into station 35, so that work is on going. there's only one bolt that's on

what's called the pothole stage. that's digging in and looking at what's in there. [inaudible] and some of the other perspectives on the station, so it's going to be a beautiful building, and we're looking forward to that. the captain has been extremely busy. we have finalized the mutual buggy layer. there was a delay on the chassis to arrive, and now we're looking at mid point

inspection of the vehicle in june. there was a delay at the factory for luciana ferrara, and so we're waiting for those to come. we're asking if it goes beyond the year, make sure we get the extended warrant. we'll push for that, obviously, and we have some cargo plans that have been submitted to us here for review. i want to commend captain chris vaughn and the folks at space station 16, lieutenant [inaudible] has been working on this and travelled to seattle to make sure that this vehicle was appropriate for us, and it was transported either today or tomorrow and will provide tomorrow. as you recall, we have a study that's in the draft stage and final draft submitted to the

board of supes on the visibility of the water station on the pump side. we have several exercises with p.u.c. basically creating a water scenario. what interactions between fire and p.u.c. to address any of the issues that may happen, like 89 where the mains broke? it's really good we continue to do those, and we have people coming in from the fields. major incident, we're going to have to [inaudible] if we have one, chief connor can not be [inaudible] and the role that we established with chief connor on major, major events go to the water department's operations center to forward operations there. and with that, we continue to

update our protocols with those two agencies. and i want to finish our report to remind everybody about e.m.s. week, and i want to remind everyone of the hard work of station 49 and the hard work of all the stations that we have. it's just one week, but command staff appreciation them all year. this year has been really, really challenging for all of them, and it's put a strain on them, not just physically, but mentally, and i want to conclude my report with that. so if you have any questions, i'm happy to answer them. >> president feinstein: commissioners? i see commissioner cleaveland?

>> commissioner cleaveland: madam president, thank you, chief velo, for your report. very comprehensive and as usual, appreciated. i have a question that could be directed to chief dewitt because it's going to deal with facility maintenance issues. i wonder if we as a department could put deadlines on when a project needs to be completed, like a plumbing project that we're waiting for labor. i see it hear, fire station 28 waiting for labor from d.p.w. can't we tell the public works department that it needs to be completed within a month or two weeks, some kind of deadline, so that if it doesn't get done by them within a certain amount of time, we will go out and get a qualified bid from a

qualified contractor already registered with the city? >> so i will ask chief dewitt, but on station 49, that work has already been completed, so that's good news. we have to go first to d.p.w. and if they don't have labor, then, we go to that. we have to go through this process. chief dewitt? >> a.d.c. support services dawn dewitt. yes, commissioner cleaveland. we actually are working pretty closely with d.p.w. i have no complaints with plumbing. their turnaround time has been very good with us. the communication has been excellent. they've really stepped up their communication. the station 21 work, we did have a timeline. they actually finished early, and then because they were

underbid, they were able to replace more of the lines than just the one sewer main, so we have a lot of the laterals replaced. [inaudible] is different. they don't have the availability, so we've been working closely with them and if they can't finish a project in an appropriate timeline, they are releasing work so we can go out and get outside bits. i'm asking that we get quotes for work so we don't get a surprise bill at the end of a project for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars without having anticipated that. we go through the list each month, and if they just can't get to that, they are readily releasing work for the few outside vendors that we have to complete some projects, so that pretty is moving pretty well right now.

>> i'm very glad to hear that, cleve dewitt, very glad. our firefighters and paramedics don't have to live with toilets that don't work or plumbing back ups for undue lengths of time, so that's good news. i'm delighted to hear that public works is working with us instead of against us. >> yeah, the emergencying repairs are always dealt with very timely. they come out after hours. they will set aside work. any kind of sewage work, they come out immediately, so happy with that. >> commissioner cleaveland: good to know. i noticed on the hvac, you said a quote was denied for fire station 17 on a turnout drying home heater. what does that mean when you deny a quote? >> so they had -- so this one room in the station where members hang their turnout coats to dry, and historically,

it's sometimes been the boiler room. it's not very common that we have drying rooms. the drying heater is an obsolete heater. it's gas, so looking to replace that for the amount of money that they'd quoted us, i'd like to see if there's an electrical option that we can do for less money. and it made sense to include that portion in an entire package, rather than just one piece at a time as they had been doing, so i just want to see if there are other alternatives that don't cost as much as one small heater that we could use a space heater with a fan rather than using $10,000 to replace a heater to use in one room. >> commissioner cleaveland: so how does that work? >> so they use space heaters.

in the past, they've used space heaters. in the boiler room, traditionally, that's when we used to hang our turnouts to dry. >> commissioner cleaveland: i was amused to read your pest station record, station 26, having to abate raccoons from a housing generator. >> they're everywhere. >> commissioner cleaveland: that was very funny. i imagine rats or mice, but raccoons? that's interesting. under -- >> president feinstein: commissioner cleaveland, i have lots of them around here. any time. >> commissioner cleaveland: not in my backyard. any way, dealing with painting

the red curb at fire station number nine, you put in a request of how long does it take them to come out and paint -- put some red paint on the curb? >> that one is done, so it was within a week or so. they were quick with that one. >> commissioner cleaveland: okay. work pending, so it's been done. good. >> yes, sir. >> commissioner cleaveland: all right. 'cause i was going to say, let's get some red paint and give it to the firefighters and have them do it themselves. move a lot faster. dealing with the fleet management logistics report from captain serrano, the host tender bid is complete, but it's in a protest phase. what does that mean? >> so commissioner, there were two manufacturers that bid. it was awarded to one of them, and the other one protested,

basically saying that the terms of the bid -- it's just a tactic of competition. we're very confident that that's not going to go anywhere, and the prevailing bid will be the winning bid, but this is a process that we have to go through. >> commissioner cleaveland: it holds up the process is what you're saying. >> unfortunately, yeah, but we don't think it's going to be too long. >> commissioner cleaveland: you talk about new ambulance specs and researching some multiple options, what kind of ambulance specs are we looking at for our department? >> so right now, we have a van chassis. basically, a box put inside a van, and we are changing brakes on that more frequently, much more than anything else. in the past, there's been some cracks to the [inaudible]

itself, too, and the chassis. so what other agencies have is a truck chassis. it's a truck chassis with a box mounted on it [inaudible] and we're looking at what options we have for that. that's the two options that we have for ambulances, a van chassis -- it's amazing how fast those brakes go on a van than we can save much more money and time being out of service on a truck chassis when they're out of service. >> commissioner cleaveland: i'm delighted, chief, that you have the paramedics and e.m.t.s that drive the ambulances in this conversation and how we created the next generation, if you will, of ambulances. [inaudible] >> -- but we also have drivers

on the engines that drive the specs for future engines, too, so absolutely very important. >> commissioner cleaveland: last question, and is dealing with the awss system. and we received a letter that -- this week from one individual that talked about using salt water for an emergency through the awss system, and my question is, i know that it is damaging to use salt water as opposed to fresh water, but if we do use salt water, we can flush the system out, correct, and still use the awss system in the future. it's not ruined by using salt water, is that correct? >> that statement is correct, and we indeed use salt water drawn from the bay. this particular process that

you're talking about is what we've been working with chief [inaudible] on and will be presented to the board of supervisors by june 30. it's a study of whether it's feasible, financially or otherwise, for pump stations. [inaudible] presented to the board. so it's required by the grand jury report, and it's being done, and chief o'connor, you may add something to it, but as you'll recall from his presentation last time, it's extremely [inaudible] but just the cost of it is not really practical. chief o'connor? >> commissioner cleaveland: all right. chief, thank you very much for your response, and madam president, that's all my questions. >> president feinstein: thank you very much. any -- ah, vice president

rodriguez, please. thank you. >> commissioner rodriguez: chief velo, thank you for your report. i've got a question. i think i brought this up last month, regarding the emergency firefighting water system. you know, there's some work being done on claren street over by the ballpark, and there's another on vicente street, but this one says firefighting water system will be installed as a change order. and reading change orders all my life, change orders cost money. i'm just wondering, if this was being done already, why is it -- if we knew the work is happening, why was it all of a

sudden the -- why was it put in as a change order? >> thank you, vice president, for your question. i will tell you that the work that's being done for the [inaudible] system is actually done by p.u.c., so this is -- you're talking about the vicente pipeline? >> commissioner rodriguez: correct. >> i'm not sure where it happened, but it's not coming from us, it's coming from p.u.c. chief, you want to add something to it? >> sure. [inaudible] so instead of digging the street up twice, we started putting piping down for the new efws system going forward, so it's actually a cost saving system if there was one. >> commissioner rodriguez: i didn't know there was one.

that's it for me. >> president feinstein: that's news to you, isn't it, vice president? >> commissioner rodriguez: yeah. i've never heard that before. >> president feinstein: do any of the other commissioners -- right now, i'm just -- my computer skills are limited. i can only see commissioner cleaveland and commissioner rodriguez and a few members of the command staff. >> commissioner covington: madam president, i would like to say something. >> president feinstein: okay. commissioner covington, thank you. you popped up. thank you. >> commissioner covington: thank you. okay. so thanks for the report. things are moving right along, which is always nice to know. chief velo, i wanted you to give us a little bit more about the fleet disorders work that's being done and the shift work and how that impacts people,

and then, i also saw that there was a meeting and video interview about sleep, so can you give us some more information about that? >> thank you for your question, commissioner covington. absolutely. as you'll recall, one of the goals of the administration with the new doctor is just focus on some health and wellness issues for the members, and she's been working really hard to identify some of those issues that can affect basically the health and -- of our members. >> commissioner covington: dr. brokaw. >> yes, dr. brokaw. so through this, all the q&a and webinars, she contacted a doctor that specialized in sleep disorders. i don't want to ruin the video that you're going to be sent in the next few days, but she sent all the questions to a doctor

to answer all of these issues. what it is is shift work, 24-hours work disrupts your sleep rhythms, and how you can do that. and also, those folks that have sleep apnea, what can they do to help themselves and adjust to that 24-hour shift. so it's about 35 minutes of q&a from the doctor to chief parks, so we're really thankful that she's reaching out to other areas, not just focusing on just getting back to work issues but health and wellness issues, working with chief parks, identifying education, what can we do to help them out, and information is always valuable for our board members, so that's basically what that's about, commissioner covington.

>> commissioner covington: okay. because that's good because good sleep or sleep in general impacts everyone's quality of life. anyone who's ever had a newborn knows about that. sleep deprivation is not fun, so i'm glad to see the emphasis on this, and you say that we will be receiving a video? >> yes. i'm working with chief parks and chief [inaudible] who put together a video on how to deliver it. we also have an internal video process that we're doing, and you can actually load it up on your phone and play it, so you'll be seeing in the next couple of days a link from the doctor for the video. so we can't enjoy the disruptions from the 24-hour shift or a call in the middle

of the night, but we can recover from that disruption. >> commissioner covington: yeah. that's better than each individual doing what they think might be helpful. okay. i will stop there, chief velo. >> thanks. >> commissioner covington: thank you, chief velo. >> president feinstein: thank you, commissioner covington. further questions from any of the commissioners? madam secretary, you'll let me know if i'm missing anything. i have a big jose velo, and a few small people, but no commissioners. >> clerk: okay. nobody's raising their hand, and there's nobody on the public call-in line. >> president feinstein: well, there you go, and now i have a small chief velo there, and we're going to close public comment, and i think we are

ready to move onto the next item. madam secretary, thank you. >> clerk: item five, commission report. report on commission activities since last meeting of may 12, 2021. >> president feinstein: all right. commissioners -- wait, first. do i need public comment first, madam secretary? >> clerk: there is no one on the public comment line. >> president feinstein: also, how would they know what they did? but any way, i'll continue on. commissioners, do any of you have anything to report? i'm sorry, maureen, i can see commissioner rodriguez and commissioner covington and not my fellow commissioners. >> clerk: commissioner nakajo has his hand up. >> president feinstein: okay. commissioner nakajo, with my

apologies, and i'm not sure why i couldn't see your hand up. please. >> commissioner nakajo: thank you, madam president. i'm not sure if i'm coming through clearly, but i have a question through to the commission secretary -- >> commissioner covington: commissioner nakajo, could you speak up, please? >> commissioner nakajo: i'm having problems with my microphone and the whole connection piece. can you hear me in. >> commissioner covington: oh, i see. you're faint, but we can hear you. >> commissioner nakajo: you're breaking up, as well. >> president feinstein: i'm sorry, i can't. it's -- for some reason, it seems to be very interrupted. i don't know if i'm the only person. i'll leave it to my fellow commissioners, but i can't hear -- i can't hear it

cogently. [inaudible] >> clerk: it sounds like he's talking underwater. >> commissioner covington: we've lost video, too. oh, there he is. >> president feinstein: oh, there he is, good. we see you, commissioner nakajo. >> commissioner nakajo: still have a problem with the video. so if you can hear me, i'll ask my question, if not, i'll forgo. >> commissioner covington: i can hear you. >> president feinstein: i can hear you, to. >> commissioner nakajo: okay. basically, what i was asking, commission secretary, is there any word on when we would return to the office? >> clerk: no, there is not. from what i understand, it's probably going to be more towards the end of the year. >> commissioner nakajo: [inaudible] fortunate to be able to connect to the meeting, but i've been experiencing lots of problems with connections as

you all have. thank you. >> if i may, madam president, i believe it is planned for september for meetings to go back to city hall if all goes well, but i can get you more information on that. >> president feinstein: thank you. it's much appreciated. i realize things are still in flux, but to the extend that you still have information, chief, and can share it with us, i think that'll be helpful for everybody's planning purposes. >> president feinstein: am i missing any other commissioners that wish to report on their activity? >> clerk: no, nobody has their hand up. >> president feinstein: okay. i do. now i do. i -- i -- i did have the

opportunity to do a couple of things, and i'll work backwards here. i -- i, in golden gate park yesterday, was able to see for the first time, the 6 engine yesterday and training with the captain and working, you know, the hydrants. yeah, i've only seen those vehicles, you know, in pictures and what-have-you, but they were out there and in training, and it was impressive, so i was pleased to stumble upon them and of course inserted myself immediately for a tutorial and learned how they differ from regular equipment, so it was very helpful to me. i really appreciated it, so i

wanted to just comment upon that. i also hope to attend the -- a search training this weekend. i know it's more than search and rescue friday, but i'm looking forward to that since i've been a person that's really -- it surprises me the number of surf rescues that we get. it just knocks my socks off, so surf rescue, i'm looking

forward to be able to attend that training. and i had one question. perhaps it's not fair to you, chief, but i wonder, from based on what was included in your report on the vaccination rate of the members, if we're going to become maskless, so to speak, on june 15, is there any concern about those members that have not been vaccinated, and do we have any idea why they're hesitating to get vaccinated? the rest of us are clamoring, clamoring, clamoring, and we have members of the department that are exposed more significantly than any of us are, and they're not getting

vaccinated. do you have any thoughts on that that you can share? >> so thank you, president. we're going to follow city d.p.h. guidelines which follows california d.p.h. guidelines, and also, we have cal-osha to deal with. so cal-osha is not forcing vaccinations yet, but they're not lifting the mask mandates yet. so once we get the guidelines from the city, we're going to see what we're going to get. in answering the question about why members aren't getting vaccinated, it's a personal choice. as you have heard maybe, from santa clara county, it's a different county, but they're asking for the [inaudible] there yet, and my understanding is that city d.p.h. is not

going to that yet, from what i understand, so we'll keep track of that and let you know. >> president feinstein: and one more thing. the vaccination rate is concerning. it's low enough that it's concerning. can the department, in and of itself, institute a mask mandate within the station? >> that's a good question. we'll have to rely, again, on public health, to give us some guidance on that, too. at this time, we have approximately 242 members that are not vaccinated and they said they will not get vaccinated. we can err on the side of health in order to protect our

members and cal-osha mandates that, we'll have to abide by that until otherwise told, but other than that, we cannot risk the lives of our members, but other than that, we have to follow our guidelines. >> president feinstein: okay. i understand. thank you for that. that is all i have. do we have further comments, madam secretary? >> clerk: i don't see anybody waving or have their hands up. >> president feinstein: thank you. okay. so we may call the next item. >> clerk: item six, agenda for next and future fire commission meetings. >> president feinstein: all right. again, madam secretary, i'm not quite sure why -- i do have this on grid mode -- ah, i see commissioner covington and

commissioner -- [inaudible] >> commissioner covington: thank you, madam president. okay. thank you, madam president. i know that we were able to have the head of m.t.a. and some key staff members come to our -- i guess it was our last meeting or the meeting before last, and i guess a number of us didn't get a chance to ask questions and to give input into slow streets specifically, and i do believe the head of m.t.a. intimated that he would be, you know, happy to come back at another time since we had run out of time. so i don't want too much time to pass before we issue another invitation to come, and we will be more mindful of the time

that he is able to spend with us next time around. >> president feinstein: all right. thank you. thank you. >> commissioner covington: thank you. >> president feinstein: and, again -- >> clerk: commissioner rodriguez has his hand up. >> president feinstein: thank you. commissioner rodriguez, please. >> commissioner rodriguez: i agree with commissioner covington. i think we're all aware that there was a lot of people that didn't call in that did send letters in that were really concerned about the slow streets, and i feel that a lot of us are also, especially -- found it very interesting about the one about the great highway, so i would like another presentation or just a chance to ask more questions, and then, at that point, the commission -- you know, maybe the commission would write a letter or do something, if we

agree, to the board of supervisors. i'm sure the chief has, given the fire department's opinion on this, but i think it's important that the commission also voices their opinion on this, so i agree with commissioner covington. the other one that i would like to bring up is, you know, i guess assistant deputy chief fire marshall, what is this, kenneth coughland, so it would be nice to arrange where he -- he? yeah, it's a he -- that he would come before the commission to introduce himself, and we could ask him some questions regarding his thoughts or qualifications --

not his qualifications, but his thoughts on the position, so that's my point. >> president feinstein: thank you, vice president rodriguez. any further -- ah, commissioner nakajo. >> commissioner nakajo: thank you very much, madam president. i want to be careful because this is an item that talked about future fire commission meetings, and we're dialoguing a little bit in terms of a concern i had, also. i wanted to affirm commissioner covington's remarks as well as commissioner rodriguez when it comes to the dialogue of slow streets or permanent slow

streets. i don't want to take from the commission or myself because it's hard to advocate for our positions and what we do, and for example, what d.p.a. may be doing or m.t.a. may be doing, and i don't want to perceive it -- i'm going to choose my words carefully -- in terms of what they're trying to accomplish, but we do have our mission, as well. and clearly, for myself, what i understood in terms of m.t.a. and staff that came with the director, in terms of what they're trying to establish, i heard a lot of that, and i think we tried to reiterate what our principles and points were, so i'd really like to have it agendized when it's appropriate because i began to think in the afterthought, like many of you, is realizing we have a clash of conflict or

permanent. slow streets is slow streets, permanent. i don't want to be critical, but also, our fire department has our mission, which is to get to our community during a fire emergency or situation. i appreciate the public calling in, but like the vice president pointed out, we didn't have a chance to get a lot of it in, as well. i just want to make sure that as the director of m.t.a. says, they're cooperating with us, and i somewhat felt that, but i felt that our points and emphasis -- i don't want to say not listened to, because he said that he listened to all departments and officers, but i just want to make sure that what we're concerned about is

taken into consideration. i felt at one point or another, this is the way it's done, this is m.t.a.s way, and we're going to have to adjust. now, i'm paraphrasing, and i may get in trouble with that, and in the context of the commission, i'll stop. >> president feinstein: no, you know, please, commissioner nakajo, and unless there's other commissioners that wish to comment, i do wish to comment because i agree with you. and does anybody else wish to comment on it, on the slow streets presentation with m.t.a.? yeah, commissioner nakajo. >> clerk: i'm not sure we can actually get into that under this agenda item. >> commissioner nakajo: that's what i was referring to. i wanted to be careful we didn't agendize that. >> clerk: i don't any we can have a robust discussion at this point. >> commissioner nakajo: i was following the suggestion of what can be taken off the

agenda -- >> president feinstein: okay. okay. then let me ask this. you know, we've gotten out, and i've read in the paper today, there's now slow streets and the proposal that there be permanent shared spaces, and i know that falls under a different department, but poses sort of the same issue -- you know, i'm sure everybody read that, in seattle, there was, you know, what is bound to happen, which is somebody at night, you know, making a turn or not making a turn and smashing into one of these shared spaces where people are dining. and narrowing our streets is not helpful when you're in a city of narrow streets, and i

just, i want to know if that should be something that we invite m.t.a. or if that's d.p.w., i think, and to also ask our fire marshal, before he leaves us, if he could give us some numbers and perhaps express some concerns. are you there, fire marshal dicosio, or did you leave us? oh, hello. >> hello, president feinstein. absolutely. be happy to have this conversation at the next meeting. >> clerk: unfortunately, the next meeting, we have deliberations, a closed session, so i don't know if we'll have room to add something this robust on our next meeting, but probably the second meeting in june. >> president feinstein: well, i think that we can take that off

the agenda at a later time and figure that out. and i'm sorry, commissioner nakajo. i do see your hand. i didn't mean to not recognize you. thank you. >> commissioner nakajo: yeah. thank you, madam president. i want to be respectful to all of us, but this item right now we're talking about, putting this on the subject matter item, and right now, i think we're getting into some robust discussions that i don't think is probably -- it's not properly agendized. i don't want to be an item killer, but i don't know how far you want to take it, and i am getting uncomfortable with how far this discussion is going. >> president feinstein: i just want to get it agendized and

slow spaces and streets, as well. [inaudible] >> commissioner nakajo: -- to affirm that i would like to see it itemized, as well, or whatever is proper protocol at this time. whenever it's agendized, we can have a robust discussion. i would point that out respectfully. >> president feinstein: i'm too robust, commissioner nakajo. all right. >> clerk: and there's nobody on the public comment line. >> president feinstein: okay. then public comment shall be closed. and -- oh, okay. never mind. save it. next item, please. >> clerk: item 7, adjournment.

>> president feinstein: well, i don't -- i don't want to get into a robust discussion, either, but does anybody have a motion? >> commissioner cleaveland: i move to adjourn. >> commissioner covington: i move to -- okay. i second. >> president feinstein: okay. commissioner cleaveland is moving, and commissioner covington is seconding, if i understand correctly. >> clerk: correct. >> president feinstein: roll call vote, madam secretary. [roll call] >> clerk: this meeting is adjourned at 6:30.

>> thank you to i think the members of the board of supervisors joining us today. i see superintendent safai, budget chair matt haney, supervisor mandelman. thank you for joining us as well

as our treasurer, our assessor recorder torrez, the district attorney bodine, and i'm not sure. i think agot all the elected officials here. thank you so much. good afternoon to all the community members, the city staff, elected officials, i can not tell you how happy i am to be here. [applause] not just because we are announcing that we have officially balanced our latest two-year budget -- though that is important. , no, and i'm happy because i am here in chinatown in front of actual people again. and it feels great. this is the first time in so long that i've seen so many familiar faces kinda. i think i recognize you all.

over the past few weeks, san francisco has really started to open up. you can see it everywhere. people are going to museums, to baseball games, enjoying the incredible outdoor dining spaces and families and our parks and playgrounds like this one that we are at today. willy woo woo wang. i had the opportunity to go to the symphony and the performance was incredible. just being at davey symphony hall was magic. it was san francisco coming back to life. people are excited for what's coming. and i'm excited to be here today with all of you. i want to recognize my budget chair or my budget director ashley and her incredible team.

thank you for the hours and hours of work you've put into working with labor and community stakeholders and the city departments to get this budget balanced and delivered on time. over the last year i have seen what we can do. all of us have been tested like never before. our spirit, our resilience, and our compassion for one another have all been tested. the past year has been hard. we've all been tired. we've been worn down. we faced challenges with our mental health. our kids have suffered. our seniors have suffered. our outlook at times was pretty dark, but through it all we held

it together and now today gathered together at willy woo woo wang playground, we are in the light. no, covid is not gone. but the number of people in the hospital is lower than it's been since march of last year. and almost 80% of eligible people have been vaccinated. >> and thanks to the hard work of so many health care providers and city workers and the parks workers and the people of the city, i can finally declare with pride and confidence that we are literally out of the woods. >> but keep your mask on. now, we haven't done this alone. we have had strong support from the state and federal government

including governor gavin new some who has led california and delivered for the workers and small businesses and most vulnerable residents through project home key. thanks to the american rescue plan put forward by the president joe biden and vice president kamala harris and speaker of the house nancy pe low sis, we don't have a crushing budget deficit. thanks to all of those folks. what we do have, however, is an opportunity, an opportunity to take all that we've lived through and all the lessons that we've learned and focus on what really matters. that's what this budget is about. it's about fulfilling the many promises we made. delivering on fundamental change and lifting up our entire city. now we are here in chinatown because we know this neighborhood was hit first and

it was hit hard. february is normally an amazing time for this community when the lunar new year celebrations bring visitors from all over the world. but in february of last year, things were really dark. the lunar new year parade was cancelled. tourists disappeared. small businesses were struggling. and the streets were empty. and in the month since then this neighborhood has been one of the continuing to suffer from the loss of visitors, yes, but also from the disgusting xenophobia and shocking acts of violence. seniors are afraid to run errands. families worried about their safety. what is happening right now, in particular the attacks against our elders is shameful for our city. it is shameful for our country. just last week i was out to lunch at r&g lounge down the

street from here with a woman named ms. wong. after my grandmother passed away, ms. wong became my adopted grandmother. she's so warm and kind, but just like my grandmother, you don't want to get on her bad side. and she fills me with such joy when i see her. she tells me she is proud of me and shows me pictures of her grandchildren. she is truly a beautiful spirit, and she is joining us here today. thank you, ms. wong. that's my baby, y'all. you mess with ms. wrong, you mess with me. when i see these attacks against our asian seniors, i think of my grandmother. i think of ms. wong. i think of how i feel if someone would lay their hands on them. i know so many of us feel that way here today. and it breaks my heart every single time. and an attack against one of us is an attack on all of us, and

san franciscans, we will rise to the occasion to protect our seniors by any means necessary. i have been proud to stand with leaders like assembly member david chiu bill king to call for unity against the racist attacks but to bring forward solutions to support our residents and to send a clear message that the disgusting attacks against our api community must end now and that doesn't just mean having more law enforcement on our streets. it means continuing and expanding programs like our community guardians. these multi-racial street patrol teams are walking the streets and neighborhoods like this one and visitation valley and the inner richmond, the tenderloin, san bruno avenue and other areas. they know the community. they are from these communities and they are bridging cultural divides, building relationships and watches out for the most

vulnerable. this is exactly the kind of program my budget will invest in. it means continuing to fund the senior s corp. program which is serving members of this community. we are also launching an ambitious plan to have community ambassadors up and down mid market corridor and across all of downtown and our waterfront. again, these are ambassadors who are watching our blocks and making calls for services for those who are struggling and given directions to those who are lost. offering a friendly face to those who are in need. but let's be clear. keeping our city safe also does require law enforcement. that means making sure we have officers on our streets walking the beat and responding to crime. right now every year we lose about 80 officers who either retire or leave the force for other reasons.

if we don't replace these officers with new recruits, our police force will shrink. we will lose foot beat. we won't be able to quickly respond to 911 calls. we won't be able to make arrests to hold people accountable. that will not make our city safe. so in this budget we are proposing two police academy classes to keep our ranks stable. the good news is -- the good news is as we add these academy classes, our police forces is also becoming more diverse. since 2009 the proportion of recruits in our classes have increased from the black community by 45%. the latino by 78%. and the asian community by 79%. removing the bias starts right there by making sure the people in uniform reflect and understand the communities they

serve. and we know that we can't stop every crime, and sadly, there will be victims in our city. but i want all residents to feel safe when they step forward to report a crime, especially our seniors, so we are creating a new office of justice innovation that will coordinate the city's response to victims across all communities including with targeted support for the api community. this new team will also continue our ground breaking work to find more effective ways to respond to people when they call for help no matter what neighborhood you live in. our street crisis response team is already taking our most challenging mental health call to the people who end up in bad situations when confronted by law enforcement.

we've got four teams already out on the streets with two more coming soon. we are adding a 17th in this budget. why? because the teams are working. i have seen the results myself. a few weeks ago i went out with a street crisis response team. we arrived on the scene on fisherman's wharf to find a man with no shoes, clearly in need of care talking to himself, walking in and out of traffic, and the kind of lost soul too many of us have seen too often and wondered why is no one doing anything? why? a police officer had arrived on the scene first, but when the street crisis response team showed up, i could see the relief in the officer's eyes. he knew he wasn't the one for this call. he knew there was a better way. i took time, over an hour and

multiple conversations, but eventually that gentleman ended up getting care from paramedics and a clinician. it didn't end in violence or everyone just walking away. better solutions deliver better outcomes. that's how we make a difference. and now in this budget we are expanding our street response teams to include wellness teams, composed of a paramedic and homeless outreach worker that will respond to even more calls, that would better benefit from a nonpolice response. and we're also adding street overdose response teams to help curb the crisis of overdoses in our city. fentanyl is destroying lives not just here in san francisco but across the country. that's why we will continue to pitch for overdose prevention programs with the help of senator scott weaner at the state level. and we will expand street

medicine team and treatment program that have been effective in preventing overdoses and helping people get off opioids and meth. as we increase these services, we also need to continue to enforce our laws against drug dealing. our police officers are on pace to seize more fentanyl this year than ever before. we need every level of our criminal justice system to step in to stop this drug dealing and especially the people in the tenderloin and other neighborhoods in the city. our residents and those who are suffering on the streets, they deserve better. as we change how we respond to people on the streets, we also need places for them to go. we can have all the outreach teems in the world, but if we don't have housing, shelter, and treatment bed, we are going to see those same people right back on the streets again and again

and again. but the good news is it's take an lot of work but we have a plan. starting with treatment beds n. this budget we are funding the acquisition and operation of over 340 new treatment beds. [applause] we have set aside funding to acquire facility for up to 300 more treatment beds so we can keep growing our pipeline. that is a plan for 640 new beds on top of the 2,000 beds we already have. that is real change. that is a long-term difference. and so when we see someone in need or a family member suffering, we can have some place for them to go and get healthy. and and we are taking the same approach with the homeless

recovery plan which will create more permanent and supportive housing places to go. the plan which launched last year by july of 2022, including -- i know, i am excited about it, too. including the largest expansion of permanent supportive housing in 20 years. and this plan is already working. we have fewer people living in tents on our streets than at the height of the pandemic than even before the pandemic. and we are moving people out of shelter in place hotels right now into permanent, supportive housing. each of these stories is a success and a life changed. people like the vulnerable senior who had been homeless in the mission for 45 years. let's call him tyrone, not call tyrone, but call him tyrone.

some of you got that. thank you. >> it wasn't until they got him into a hotel and connected to services that he began to relax. that he had the opportunity to heal. and tyrone moved into permanent supportive housing and 45 years homeless and now housed permanently. that is almost longer than i have been alive. actually, that is longer than i have been alive kinda. so yes, the homeless recovery plan is working and over the next years between local, state, and federal funding, we are putting in over a billion dollars into action in san francisco to address this. this is an historic investment

which will allow us to provide up to 4,000 more new placements to get people off the streets including 1,000 new unit of permanent supportive housing in addition to the 1500 units we already have. we will add two new safe parking sites and create a new 40 and to keep people housed is the easiest way to end homelessness. more housing, more placements, more people living indoors. yes, this is an historic investment for our city but we have to be honest with ourselves. if we're going to see change on our streets, it takes more than money. we also have to have the will to make the change. so to be clear, we will lead with services to get people housing and the help they need

for those with complex needs we will do everything we can to assist them and get them on the path of recovery. we know it's not easy, but that's our commitment. and for those exhibiting harmful behavior, whether to themselves or to others and those refusing assistance, we will use every tool we have into treatment and services to get them indoors. we won't accept people just staying on the streets when we have a place for them to go. if we focus and invest right, we have a real chance to make a fundamental change for those who are living on the streets for our city as a whole. we also know that our recovery isn't just about getting back to where we were. it's about taking on the existing disparities laid bare by this pandemic. we saw the devastating impact on the latino community. those who lived in crowded

conditions who didn't have access to health care and didn't have a lot of trust in government. we saw systemic racism that many of us have known all too well for far too long in the african-american community. exposed by covid and the murder of george floyd. we saw our transgender community suffer from disproportional impact. we saw the young people devastated and women pushed out of the workforce at higher rates than men when our schools shut down. we witnessed all of this and it's clear that we have a duty to commit so to an equitable community and will continue in the african-american community to fund the dream keeper's initiative.

we will include $57 million to fund programs and impacted communities to deliver on work force, small business support, economy relief, food security, testing, vaccine, and mental health support. all the things that got us through this. we will build on the guaranteed income pilot programs to deliver payment to members of the transgender community. we will offer women free child care so they can get back in the work force. we will fund mental health support for our public school students and continue our opportunities for all program

which is providing our young people with paid internship and setting them on the path to success. [applause] we are back filling our lost hotel taxes to ensure that the art and artist cans continue to thrive, deborah walker. and we are setting aside funding to purchase a site for the lgbt cultural museum to have a home to celebrate all those that fought for exneck this city, supervisor mandelman. we are funding affordable housing, improving playgrounds like this one we constant in today. and improving our streets and replacing aging city infrastructure. we are investing in our inspection system, delivering over $90 million to support muni and bike and pedestrian safety projects because if we don't have a fully functional

transportation system, people won't be able to get around in this city. we need testing, outbreak management, shelter in place hotels and to feed and supported those who are in need for months ahead. like i said, we are out of the woods, but one thing we have learned over the last year, we never know what lies ahead. this pandemic did not give us notice and neither will the next earthquake. that's why we have to do the hard work to prepare. remember over the last year during the worst of our budget, we did not have to lay off any city workers because we had a strong reserve to take us

through. we were so lucky to receive the tremendous support from the federal government to stabilize us. there are still challenging times ahead. i know responsibility doesn't grab headlines. but it's what leaders do. we don't raid our reserves unnecessarily so. we protect and we grow them. that's how we will weather any challenge that comes our way because we are a resilient city. the people of the city are strong and resilient. the people of the neighborhood, chinatown, they are strong and resilient. it is in their history, the oldest chinatown in the country. after the 1906 earthquake and fire, almost all of china town like much of san francisco burned to the ground.

people from outside this community said let's move china town to the southeast part of the city and to go across the river to oakland. and the people who lived there and their homes and neighborhood and community. the people who knew proud place and those who came before and welcomed those who stayed after. they fought for their home and they won. and out of the ashes of that great fire they rebuilt this incredible neighborhood. that is the story of china town and the story of san francisco. not even a global pandemic can knock us out. san francisco is coming back.

with these investments, we have a path to get us to where we need to be. it is the people of the city who will propel us to the place we know we need to go. in the challenging times, that is what held us together. san francisco isn't going anywhere except straight ahead into what i see is a bright and hopeful future. i am so excited to work with each and every one of you to make sure that our city continues to shine. we've been through earthquakes. we've been through fires. we've been through challenges. now we can check off the global pandemic box and guess what, san francisco, after we get this budget passed and we move these dollars into action, we are

going to see real change and things will look bet arenaed brighter than before the pandemic. you all are important part to thank in these efforts. thank you, all. looking forward to see this budget pass through the board of supervisors. [applause]

good morning and welcome to l a